VirtueOnline Digest, Vol 17, Issue 23

[virtueonli...@listserv.virtueonline.org]

=================================
VirtueOnline Weekly News Digest
http://www.VirtueOnline.org
=================================

Welcome to the VOL Weekly News Digest, an electronic communique of news about The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion is brought to you by VirtueOnline (VOL), a non-profit news and information ministry to the Anglican Communion. Subscriptions are offered free of charge.

For questions about the digest, to subscribe or modify your subscription:
a. Visit: http://www.virtueonline.org/listserv.html, or
b. Email your request to: in...@virtueonline.org

VOL depends on its readers for financial support. Please consider a tax deductible donation. You can do so via check or credit card. http://www.virtueonline.org/support.html

VIRTUEONLINE
570 Twin Lakes Rd
P.O. Box 111
Shohola, PA 18458

http://www.virtueonline.org
http://www.facebook.com/virtueonline
http://twitter.com/VirtueOnline

THANK YOU FOR READING AND SUPPORTING VOL

--

P.S. Direct replies to this digest do NOT go to VOL staff. If you wish to comment on today's digest, please address your email to in...@virtueonline.org

Today's Topics:

1. Table of Contents (David Virtue)
2. VIEWPOINTS: June 23, 2017 (David Virtue)
3. LOS ANGELES: Episcopal Church panel prohibits local bishop
from selling Newport Beach church (David Virtue)
4. LIMA, Peru: New Anglican Bishop Affirms the Mercy of God
(David Virtue)
5. JUBA: South Sudan Anglican church wants to mediate between
political rivals (David Virtue)
6. Guatemala elects LGBT-friendly Episcopal Bishop (David Virtue)
7. Archbishop Welby asks Lord Carey to consider his position as
assistant bishop over Ball abuse case (David Virtue)
8. Loose Canons? Andy Lines and the Canons of Nicaea (David Virtue)
9. Britain Fears a Culture War. But Evangelicals Aren't Going to
Fight. (David Virtue)
10. Hymn writer Keith Getty: Nominal, shallow Christianity has no
future, we must proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord (David Virtue)
11. Learning from the parable of Tim Farron (David Virtue)
12. Rebuild the Church (David Virtue)
13. Evangelism, Iranian Style (David Virtue)
14. What Does it Mean to be a Mature Christian Disciple?
(David Virtue)


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

Message: 1
Date: Thu, 22 Jun 2017 18:00:26 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: Table of Contents
Message-ID:
<1498168826.3277994....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

VirtueOnline Weekly News Digest - Desktop & Mobile Edition
www.virtueonline.org
June 23, 2017

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

1.Church Officials Prevent Bishop Bruno from Selling Property * South
American Anglicans ...http://www.virtueonline.org/church-officials-prevent-bishop-bruno-selling-property-south-american-anglicans-throw-colonial-past

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

2.LOS ANGELES: Episcopal Church panel prohibits local bishop from
sellin...http://www.virtueonline.org/los-angeles-episcopal-church-panel-prohibits-local-bishop-selling-newport-beach-church

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

3.LIMA, Peru: New Anglican Bishop Affirms the Mercy of God
http://www.virtueonline.org/lima-peru-new-anglican-bishop-affirms-mercy-god
4.JUBA: South Sudan Anglican church wants to mediate between
political rivalshttp://www.virtueonline.org/juba-south-sudan-anglican-church-wants-mediate-between-political-rivals
5.Guatemala elects LGBT-friendly Episcopal Bishop
http://www.virtueonline.org/guatemala-elects-lgbt-friendly-episcopal-bishop

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

6.Archbishop Welby asks Lord Carey to consider his position as
assistant.http://www.virtueonline.org/archbishop-welby-asks-lord-carey-consider-his-position-assistant-bishop-over-ball-abuse-case
7.Loose Canons? Andy Lines and the Canons of Nicaea
http://www.virtueonline.org/loose-canons-andy-lines-and-canons-nicaea


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

8.Britain Fears a Culture War. But Evangelicals Aren't Going to Fight
http://www.virtueonline.org/britain-fears-culture-war-evangelicals-arent-going-fight

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

9.Hymn writer Keith Getty: Nominal, shallow Christianity has no future,
we must proclaim Jesus Christhttp://www.virtueonline.org/hymn-writer-keith-getty-nominal-shallow-christianity-has-no-future-we-must-proclaim-jesus-christ
10.Learning from the parable of Tim Farron
http://www.virtueonline.org/learning-parable-tim-farron

11.Rebuild the Church
http://www.virtueonline.org/rebuild-church


***************************************
ISLAMIC EVANGELISM
***************************************

12.Evangelism, Iranian Style
http://www.virtueonline.org/evangelism-iranian-style


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

13.What Does It Mean To Be A Mature Christian Disciple?
http://www.virtueonline.org/what-does-it-mean-be-mature-christian-disciple

END

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.virtueonline.org/pipermail/virtueonline_listserv.virtueonline.org/attachments/20170622/cd303c8e/attachment-0001.html>

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

Message: 2
Date: Thu, 22 Jun 2017 18:40:36 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: VIEWPOINTS: June 23, 2017
Message-ID:
<1498171236.3285436....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Priest or pastor? It would be helpful to recover the New Testament
designation 'pastor'. 'Minister' is a misleading term because it is
generic rather than specific, and always therefore requires a qualifying
adjective to indicate what kind of ministry is in mind. 'Priest' is
unfortunately ambiguous. Those with knowledge of the etymology of
English words are aware that 'priest' is simply a contraction of
'presbyter', meaning 'elder'. But it is also used to translate the Greek
word *hiereus*, a sacrificing priest, which is never used of Christian
ministers in the New Testament --- John R.W. Stott

The alt-right is an evil movement, filled with hate disguised as pride,
and needs to be denounced by Christians everywhere - Ed Stetzer,
Missiologist, Billy Graham Center, Wheaton

We've beaten the odds that divorce would be the outcome of our
ill-advised union. We've weathered my breast cancer and melanoma. We've
survived the mental illness and suicide of our son Matthew. And now we
know. We know we are the best thing that has ever happened to each
other. -- Kay Warren, wife of saddleback preacher Rick Warren

Redemptive suffering is when you go through a problem or a pain for the
benefit of others. --- Rick Warren

The key to becoming a mature Christian disciple is to remain connected
to Jesus so that you are in him and he is in you. It is a daily, hourly
personal relationship that enables the life of Christ to flow through
you and produce fruit. Jesus said, "By their fruits you will know them."
You can tell those who are mature Christian disciples by their lives, by
their behavior, by their attitudes, by their conversation. --- Ted
Schroder

The best teachers. There is no doubt that the best teachers in any field
of knowledge are those who remain students all their lives. --- John R.
W. Stott

Dear Brothers and Sisters
www.virtueonline.org
June 23, 2017

A panel of officials from the national Episcopal Church issued an
emergency order Saturday, June 17, prohibiting J. Jon Bruno, Bishop of
the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, from selling a piece of prime real
estate on Lido Isle, previously occupied by congregants of St. James the
Great Episcopal Church.

The sanction came after members of the hearing panel, who presided over
misconduct charges against Bruno in March, said they have not received a
clear response from the diocese regarding whether the property at 3209
Via Lido has been sold or if the diocese has entered into a sales
agreement for the property.

The hearing panel has not yet made a determination regarding the St.
James congregation's allegations that Bruno acted in a manner "that was
unbecoming of a bishop" when he evicted congregants from the building
back in June, 2015, and entered into a contract with a developer to
build condominiums on the church property. You can read the full story
here: http://tinyurl.com/y9q68w86

*****

The Archbishop of Canterbury released a statement regarding an attack on
Muslims in London: "The freedom to worship without fear is a right we
cherish as a nation and was won at great human cost over many years. The
appalling attack on Muslims in Finsbury Park is an attack on us all and
on the culture and values of our country. At a time when we are all
grieving the loss of so many precious people in London and Manchester,
this brutal attack can only compound the trauma. Violence only begets
more violence -- it serves only the interests of those who would
terrorize others.

"This wanton and cruel act can produce no good and cannot be justified
or excused. In exactly the same way as previous recent attacks it is a
crime against God and against humanity."

The ABC has made it clear that Islam is a peace-loving religion. But VOL
writer Jules Gomes believes that the Archbishop of Canterbury says Islam
should 'take responsibility' for the London Bridge attack, just as
Christianity should for killing Muslims. Really! "So where on God's good
earth are Christians killing Muslims, just as Muslims are killing
Christians, Yazidis, Pastafarians and other Muslims?" asks Gomes. You
can read his piece here:
http://www.virtueonline.org/christian-violence-figment-welbys-imagination

*****

A new day is dawning for South American Anglicans as they throw off old
colonial habits. The gospel is taking hold in new and creative ways.
Bishop Jorge Luis Aguilar Ocampo, the new Bishop of Peru, believes that
mercy as Anglicans express it can be found clearly expressed and
embodied in a form not to be found in either the legalistic side of the
Roman Catholic Church or in the hardness of the application of the
Gospel by Pentecostal groups.

I recently interviewed the new bishop of Peru in Lima and found the
bishop ready to move the diocese forward from ex-patriot colonial church
history days to a fresh understanding of what it means to be an
Anglican, driven by gospel imperative yet liturgical and faithful to
Scripture. If there is one thing that defines what it means to be an
Anglican, it is God's mercy, he says. You can read my interview with the
bishop here:
http://www.virtueonline.org/lima-peru-new-anglican-bishop-affirms-mercy-god

*****

The long sticky fingers of The Episcopal Church and its desire to push
the LGBT agenda onto and into as many provinces as it can, found a home
in the Diocese of Guatemala. This past week, Guatemala elected an
LGBT-friendly Episcopal Bishop in the person of Silvestre Romero, who
could (and probably will) usher the pansexual agenda into the Central
American Anglican diocese.

The Rev. Romero, is priest-in-charge at an Episcopal Church in Salem,
Massachusetts, and was elected bishop coadjutor, following in the
footsteps of Bishop Armando Guerra Soria as the second Bishop of
Guatemala.

Even though the Diocese of Guatemala is not jurisdictionally a part of
the Episcopal Church -- it is the Anglican Church in Central America
(Iglesia Anglicana de la Regi?n Central de America) -- it has deep roots
and ties to the American church. Therefore, it was not unreasonable for
the Central American Anglican diocese to reach out to The Episcopal
Church for its next bishop.

The Episcopal Church should not whine about the inroads GAFCON is making
into the Global South when TEC is doing precisely the same thing from a
liberal/revisionist perspective. The Anglican Communion is slowly being
carved up and there is little Archbishop Justin Welby and his
reconciliation cohorts can do about it. He can push all his notions of
reconciliation, but they are clearly falling on deaf ears.

Recently, the new primate of Bangladesh was seen in a photo op with ACNA
Archbishop Foley Beach and ACNA ambassador Bill Atwood. Clearly lines
are being drawn up.

*****

Archbishop Justin Welby has said an independent report into sexual
misconduct by a disgraced Church of England bishop makes for "harrowing
reading." Archbishop Justin commissioned the report -- An Abuse of Faith
-- after Bishop Peter Ball was convicted in 2015 of misconduct in public
office and indecent assaults against teenagers and young men. Peter Ball
is a former Bishop of Lewes and of Gloucester.

The report's author, Dame Moira Gibb, states:

"This report considers the serious sexual wrongdoing of Peter Ball, a
bishop of the Church of England who abused many boys and men over a
period of twenty years or more. That is shocking in itself, but it is
compounded by the failure of the Church to respond appropriately to his
misconduct, again over a period of many years. Ball's priority was to
protect and promote himself, and he maligned the abused. The Church
colluded with that rather than seeking to help those he had harmed, or
assuring itself of the safety of others.

"We were asked to consider changes necessary to ensure that safeguarding
in the Church is of the highest possible standard. The Church has made
significant progress in recent years in its understanding of abuse. We
have no doubt that the Church has a genuine commitment to meeting its
responsibilities towards the victims of abuse. However, we can see how
difficult it is to make change across the complex structures of the
Church. Progress has been slow and continuing, faster improvement is
still required. It is the leadership of the Archbishops and Bishops
which will determine whether change is effective."

The report has 11 recommendations for the Church, focusing on a range of
issues including focusing on getting the right support in place for
survivors, the leadership of bishops, strengthening guidance, reviewing
the Archbishops' Lists and the effectiveness of disciplinary measures
with regards to safeguarding related cases.

Both the BBC and TIMES reported that Archbishop Justin Welby wrote to
his predecessor, George Carey, asking him to consider his position as an
honorary assistant bishop in Oxford over criticism of his conduct in the
case of the former bishop and convicted abuser Peter Ball.

The letter was written ahead of publication of a damning report into the
handling of Ball's case, by the respected former social worker, Dame
Moira Gibb, who concluded that the Church of England 'colluded' in abuse
by Ball.

At a press conference, Dame Moira confirmed that Archbishop Welby had
'written directly' to Lord Carey asking him 'carefully' to consider his
position.

Bishop Hancock said that 'this is now a matter for Lord Carey and the
Bishop of Oxford' who have been having conversations on the telephone
and are set to meet in the next two days.

*****

A Church in Wales deacon has spent the day prior to her ordination
fasting at a mosque to commemorate Ramadan.

In the spirit of the modern, kowtowing spirit of the CofE, Sara Roberts
said that there were "many reasons" why she did this, not least to "to
show solidarity to our Muslim neighbours" and to "share in this powerful
testament to faith". Goodness, what praise.

Maybe if Sara spent less time hanging around with her new mates and more
time putting in the hard yards to increase her Christian congregation,
then the pews would be a heck of a lot fuller than they are.

*****

If you want to read what the future of the Diocese of Huron, Canada
looks like, read this piece by the departing Ven. William Harrison.
Things are so bad in the diocese, that in the future congregations won't
have buildings, people will meet in coffee shops and private homes, all
in the name of "fresh expressions."
file:///C:/Users/David/Downloads/logan.pdf

*****

Increasingly in England, Christians are being ridiculed and vilified in
the public arena before the relentless drive of Secular and LGBTQ
activism. It is time for the intolerance, bigotry and intimidation of
so-called liberals to be exposed.

Tim Farron was hounded out of office because of his faith. The BBC
openly ridiculed supporters of traditional marriage in its election
coverage. Expressions of outrage come from both the Labour and Tory
parties when anyone dares express the view there are health risks
attached to the practice of homosexuality. The DUP is pilloried for its
Christian position and robust defense of traditional morality ...
Unremitting pressure on the Church to reinterpret core values so that
its teachings align with current morality. Where will it all end?

We would remind the people of this nation that the Church of England is
the established Church of this land, and the laws of this land since
before Magna Carta are founded upon Christian faith and belief. More
than that, in the coronation oath, the monarch undertakes to maintain
the established Protestant religion in the UK, and to uphold the laws of
God, while Members of Parliament are required to swear allegiance to the
Crown while holding the Bible in their upraised hand before taking
office.

Standing on Articles 9 and 10 of the Human Rights Act 1998 --
respectively protecting the rights to freedom of thought, belief, and
religion; and the freedom to hold and express your own opinions -- we
assert the right to follow and practice without impediment or restraint
our Christian faith, and to express without fear of condemnation or
intimidation the core beliefs on which our faith is founded and as set
down in the Bible. We call for freedom of belief and of speech for all.

And we call for all political parties to uphold the right of both
current and future MPs to express support for traditional Christian
belief, without fear of intimidation by activist groups seeking to
silence dissent by unjustified accusations of bigotry and hatred.

READ AND SIGN PETITION HERE:
http://www.citizengo.org/en/signit/71584/view

*****

The son of a former Church of Ireland Bishop, musician Neil Hannon of
The Divine Comedy, has backed the campaign for gay marriage equality in
Northern Ireland. The Londonderry-born singer has called for the
introduction of equal civil marriage rights for same-sex couples,
saying: 'I am one hundred per cent behind the fight for marriage
equality in Northern Ireland.'

The musician, who is the son of the former Bishop of Raphoe, sent his
best wishes to everyone who will be marching for equal marriage in
Belfast on Saturday 1 July. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK
or Ireland without equal marriage laws.

*****

Most religious groups support gay marriage, with the exception of white
evangelical Christians, according to a report in CHRISTIAN TODAY.

An extensive survey has found that most US religious groups now support
gay marriage, but white evangelicals still oppose it. It also found that
in no major religious group do adherents believe businesses should
refuse services to LGBT customers because of their religion.

The findings come from the 2016 Public Religion Research Institute
survey, in a study published this month, titled 'Who Sees
Discrimination? Attitudes on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, Race,
and Immigration Status'.

The study explored contrasting perspectives on the discrimination of
different groups, by different social, religious and ethnic groups in
America.

Most US religious groups, the survey says, support gay marriage -- but
white evangelical protestants, by and large, do not.

The study said: 'A majority of white mainline Protestants (63 per cent),
Catholics (62 per cent), and Orthodox Christians (59 per cent) favor
same-sex marriage. At least two-thirds of Hindus (67 per cent), Jews (73
per cent), the religiously unaffiliated (78 per cent), and Buddhists (85
per cent) favor same-sex marriage. Equal numbers of black Protestants
favor (45 per cent) and oppose (45 per cent) same-sex marriage.

'Similarly, Muslims (44 per cent vs 41 per cent, respectively) and
Hispanic Protestants (41 per cent vs. 46 per cent, respectively) are
about as likely to support same-sex marriage as oppose it.'

*****

The Diocese of British Columbia is desperately seeking same-sex couples
to marry, according to David of Samizdat, a conservative Anglican
blogger.

The dioceses of Niagara, Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto and British Columbia
are proceeding with same-sex marriages ahead of the final vote to
approve them in 2019.

"But, having scoured the province for likely candidates, poor Bishop
Logan McMenamie has yet to find any men willing to marry another man; or
a woman to marry another woman. If Anglicans in BC don't get with the
program soon, McMenamie will have to resort to compelling some of his
eligible male clergy to tie the knot.

A report said this: Bishop Logan McMenamie, of the diocese of British
Columbia, announced at a diocesan synod in autumn 2016 that he will
"move forward with the marriage of same-sex couples in the diocese" on a
case-by-case basis. When the Anglican Journal contacted McMenamie's
offce in March 2017, no same-sex couples had yet approached the diocese
about the possibility of marriage.

Niagara's Bishop Michael Bird currently has the competitive edge in the
same-sex marriage scavenger hunt: he has four couples under his belt.

"Bird, however, may have an unfair advantage since he has widened the
net by including bisexuals, who, presumably, would only be satisfied
with a menage ? trois, counting as 1.5 couples. Of course, if both
candidates are bisexual, we would need a menage ? quatre, a bonus that
would qualify as two couples. Transgender couples are also part of the
Niagara strategy. I'm not sure exactly how that would work, but I
estimate that, depending on the mood of the moment and assuming
part-time transgenderism, it would make a total of four possible
copulative combinations, one for each week of the month: man-man,
man-woman, woman-man and woman-woman. That's at least two couples.

"Bird said his thoughts on the matter have not changed and that he was
committed to continuing "to walk along the path of full inclusion and to
immediately proceed with marriage equality" with LGBTQ2 (Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, Two-Spirited) Anglicans in his
diocese."

*****

Next week I will be attending the ACNA Assembly in Wheaton, Il. It is
also the beginning of summer and income is usually low. We must have
funds to continue, so I can travel to these conferences for you our
readers.

Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution through PAYPAL at
the link here: http://www.virtueonline.org/support-vol/

Or you can send a snail mail check to:

VIRTUEONLINE
570 Twin Lakes Rd
P.O. Box 111
Shohola, PA 18458

In Christ,

David



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

Message: 3
Date: Thu, 22 Jun 2017 18:41:07 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: LOS ANGELES: Episcopal Church panel prohibits local bishop
from selling Newport Beach church
Message-ID:
<1498171267.3285498....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

LOS ANGELES: Episcopal Church panel prohibits local bishop from selling
Newport Beach church
A hearing panel that is deliberating over misconduct charges for the
Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles has ordered Bishop Jon
Bruno to stop the sale of the St. James the Great property

Deepa Bharath
Orange County Register
http://www.ocregister.com/
June 17, 2017

NEWPORT BEACH, CALIFORNIA -- A panel of officials from the national
Episcopal Church issued an emergency order Saturday, June 17,
prohibiting J. Jon Bruno, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Los
Angeles, from selling a piece of prime real estate on Lido Isle,
previously occupied by congregants of St. James the Great Episcopal
Church.

The sanction came after members of the hearing panel, who presided over
misconduct charges against Bruno in March, said they have not received a
clear response from the diocese regarding whether the property at 3209
Via Lido has been sold or if the diocese has entered into a sales
agreement for the property.

A spokesman for the diocese could not be reached for comment Saturday.

Trish Norman of Newport Beach, whose mother is buried in the rose
garden, right, of St. James the Great Episcopal Church. The Episcopal
Diocise of Los Angeles has shut down the church with plans to sell the
property to a developer to build luxury townhomes. The Diocese has said
the remains will be moved to a location in Los Angeles. However, a
hearing panel that is deliberating over misconduct charges for the
Bishop (of the Episcopal Diocese of LA) has ordered said Bishop to stop
the sale of the NB St. James the Great property. (Photo by Paul
Rodriguez, Orange County Register/SCNG)

The hearing panel has not yet made a determination regarding the St.
James congregation's allegations that Bruno acted in a manner "that was
unbecoming of a bishop" when he evicted congregants from the building
back in June 2015 and entered into a contract with a developer to build
condominiums on the church property.

That sale fell through, but the congregation has remained locked out for
two years, and still meets every Sunday in a community room at the
Newport Beach Civic Center.

In his statement, the president of the hearing panel, the Rt. Rev.
Herman Hollerith IV, said someone made what appeared to be a valid claim
that the diocese or Bruno may have entered into an agreement to sell the
Newport Beach property.

The panel sent an email to the attorney for the diocese asking for an
"exact status and related documentation of the alleged sales contract,"
according to their statement Saturday. But, officials said, the
diocese's attorney who responded Friday to the panel, did not provide
the answers or documentation they had requested.

An attorney for St. James argued that the diocese's attorney could have
easily found out from diocesan officials if there is a sales agreement.

The panel had strong words for the diocese and bishop stating that if
they have entered into such a contract before a decision from the panel,
such conduct "is disruptive, dilatory and otherwise contrary to the
integrity of this proceeding."

The diocese and bishop are "prohibited from selling or conveying or
contracting to sell or convey the St. James property until further
order" of the panel, the statement said.

Bill Kroener, the congregant who made the complaint, said he is pleased
with the panel's swift action.

"It represents a positive step forward for the St. James congregants,
and it's the first step for us to get the church back for Episcopal
worship," he said.

An attorney for the congregation had filed a brief with the panel
immediately after the misconduct hearing in March asking that the church
building be reopened to the congregation.

"This order from the panel leaves that option open and gives us hope
that we might be able to worship there again," Kroener said.

*****

CONGREGATION RESPONDS

Dear members of the L.A. Diocese, bishops, and friends:

We are grateful to the Hearing Panel for sanctioning Bishop Jon Bruno
for apparently attempting to sell our beloved church as we await the
outcome of the Title IV disciplinary hearing held this past March. In a
stunning move, it seems Bishop Bruno recently entered into an escrow
agreement with another local developer and has tried to sell our church
again while under the disciplinary process by the Episcopal Church
(TEC), showing little regard for the Title IV process. Thankfully the
Hearing Panel has issued an Order [printed below] saying "that (Bishop
Bruno's) conduct is disruptive, dilatory and otherwise contrary to the
integrity of this proceeding" and that "Respondent (Bishop Bruno) is
prohibited from selling or conveying or contracting to sell or convey
the St. James property until further order of the Hearing Panel."

We have further reason to believe he has entered into escrow on the
church's rectory, which is also extremely disconcerting and of grave
concern to us.

As we patiently await an answer from the Hearing Panel, we appreciate
the immense amount of support from all of you via emails, texts, and
calls, and want to thank you for your continued prayers throughout this
long process.

Yours In Christ,
The congregation of St. James the Great Episcopal Church
Newport Beach, California



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

Message: 4
Date: Thu, 22 Jun 2017 18:41:45 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: LIMA, Peru: New Anglican Bishop Affirms the Mercy of God
Message-ID:
<1498171305.3285523....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

LIMA, Peru: New Anglican Bishop Affirms the Mercy of God
Latin leader is moving diocese forward from ex-patriot colonial church
history days

Dr. David W. Virtue recently interviewed the Rt. Rev. Jorge Luis Aguilar
Ocampo, the new Anglican Bishop of Peru, at his diocesan headquarters in
Lima.

By David W. Virtue in Lima
www.virtueonline.org
June 18, 2017

If there is one thing that defines what it means to be an Anglican, it
is God's mercy, says Bishop Jorge Luis Aguilar Ocampo, the new Bishop of
Peru. Mercy, in such a clearly expressed and embodied form is not to be
found in either the legalistic side of the Roman Catholic Church or in
the hardness of the application of the Gospel by Pentecostal groups, he
says.

He is at ease, a translator sits at his elbow. He smiles. He is not
quite comfortable with the media, but he wants to tell his story. I ask
him what makes Anglicanism so attractive in a country that is nominally
Roman Catholic (82%) and becoming more secular as technology and tourism
take hold.

"We are in Peru, which is strongly Roman Catholic and many say we look
like the Roman Catholic Church and others say we are not. We have the
best of both worlds. As an Anglican Church, we profess the mercy of God.
In our human experience here, we have not experienced a very merciful
Church (or God) and maybe this has confused people. Mercy is so big that
anything can be forgiven. If there is something that the Anglican Church
excels in, it is mercy. I love that about Anglicanism."

Bishop Jorge was a Roman Catholic priest for 18 years (ordained in 1985)
before becoming an Anglican. He recalls the day Pope John Paul II laid
hands on him...it has not been an easy transition, but he has made it,
and he is clearly comfortable in his new role. Many years ago, via his
auxiliary Bishop, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Lima asked "if I was
happy and if I thought it was the will of God. I told him yes,
categorically. So, go in peace were his final words."

Now, he is an Anglican bishop in Peru in the Anglican Church of South
America. His archbishop is the newly elected Gregory Venables, an
Englishman who has lived in South America for more than 40 years. He is
a man he knows well and loves. (Archbishop Venables knew and is a close
personal friend of Pope Francis when he was Jorge Mario Bergogli, the RC
Archbishop of Buenos Aires, before he became Pope.)

The new Bishop of Lima has come a long way. A former Roman Catholic
priest he is married now with children. He has great hope and love for
his diocese he tells me.

One of the important reasons for the move to the Anglican Church has
been the love he has experienced between husband and wife. Of course,
marriage has played a big part in why many former Roman Catholic priests
are now Anglicans. Rome's strict position makes less and less sense as
the realization dawns that this was a 12th Century innovation brought on
by the Second Lateran Council in 1139, when a rule was approved
forbidding priests to marry. The Council of Trent reaffirmed the
tradition of celibacy in 1563.

VOL: You have been a bishop for nearly two years. One of three
indigenous bishops? How is that going for you?

JORGE: I have felt great being an Anglican Bishop because I am
accompanied by the annual synod and the permanent diocesan council. We
don't act alone and I like the collegiality of the decision making. I
know that in the end I am the leader and must make the final decision,
but I do that after seeking harmony through dialogue beforehand.

VOL: The Church in Peru was created to serve the English-speaking
expatriate community from Britain and North America; but it is now
strongly committed to all of Peruvian society. I am told that Peruvian
congregations are now the overwhelming majority, even though there is
still a live English-speaking congregation at the Cathedral. Is that
still true?

JORGE: We started as a chaplaincy in English, closer to the center of
Lima and finally moved to Miraflores (a suburb of Lima). The Anglican
Church of Peru was the first non-Roman Catholic Church recognized by the
Peruvian government (in the 19th century) and our Cathedral, built in
the 20th century, was the first non-Roman Catholic church building
officially recognized by the government. Our work with Peruvians started
in the 1970s during a difficult time for democracy in Peru -- it was a
period of time that including military governments. Since then, the
church has survived the 1980's and 90's, despite the activity of the
Shining Path terrorist group and the more recent problems with the drugs
trade. The English speaking cathedral congregation currently has around
20-30 members, but is growing steadily. But the great majority of our
members of the Anglican Church here are now Peruvians.

VOL: I am told you have about 650 Peruvian Anglicans spread over 26
parishes. Are these converts from Catholicism or from tribal groups with
no religion or from animism?

JORGE:There were reports that we had about 3,000 members of the Anglican
Church here, but after an investigation by the "Vida Cristiana y
Formaci?n" (VCF) group, we found that we really only had between
650-700. Historically, there were a couple of large charismatic
congregations, but as their understanding of Anglicanism deepened
through the Bishop of the time, many members left and some are now
leaders in other denominations. The Charismatic evangelical influence
was reduced and under our last bishop we became more Anglo-Catholic, as
many people came from a more Roman Catholic background. Only a small
group within the Church here are cradle Anglicans. We are now seeking to
promote unity in diversity of Anglicanism and grow.

VOL: How do your clergy and lay ministers make the Church and its
worship relevant to the people they serve in Christ's name, and how does
music enhance the worship in your Latin congregations?

JORGE: A number of years ago, people could not identify with our worship
and hymns. The Roman Catholic Church has become more radical in defining
what is Catholic worship and, through its webpages, promotes its music.
Protestant Christian worship also takes place in Protestant churches,
but we asked what is our Anglican identity? Currently, we have great
diversity in our worship, drawing on music from each of these sources,
but we look for points of unity. It is still under construction, it is
not uniform. We are learning. We seek unity in diversity. When people
ask are you Catholic or Evangelical, I say no, we are Anglicans. There
is great depth in Anglican hymns. We want to worship with Anglican hymns
for the words, and also for the music, we want to bring in Anglican
hymns in Spanish. We want to worship by developing the spirituality
expressed in the interpretation of Anglican hymnody, but with Peruvian
rhythms and styles.

VOL: I am told you have some 38 points, churches and missions situated
in Lima and Arequipa, as well as church-planting missions in Juliaca,
Puno, Cabanaconde, and the outlying poorer areas of Lima. How is that
going?

JORGE: We commissioned a ministry called "Vida Cristiana y Formaci?n"
(Christian Life and Formation) to look at how we form people in the
Anglican Church of Peru. The report that was produced challenged us
greatly, including details of our current status. We have 26 principal
communities and missions. We have 36 clergy members, of which only some
are full-time priests; many priests must have other work to sustain
themselves. Of the clergy, only seven are former Roman Catholic priests.
Ten have come from Anglican congregations. We have pastors from
evangelical congregations and others who have been trained in
seminaries, from Roman Catholic to Evangelical, but who have only been
ordained in the Anglican church.

VOL: I understand you have a three-year plan to grow the diocese. Can
you tell me more about this?

JORGE: On April 17, I took on the responsibility of the church to walk
with my clergy and visit and listen to them. We looked for forums to
share. We had deanery meetings. After 9 months, we produced a pastoral
letter based on the story of the Prodigal Son, "I will get up and go
with my father." It was symbolically to give birth to a new vision for
the diocese.

VOL: How do you do evangelism? What is your primary method of
evangelism?

JORGE: We want to take the good out of the last 18 years and take things
forward from there. It is not easy to do in a Peruvian culture, which
tends to throw out everything a predecessor has done.

We designed a program which contains Six Good Seeds, or Six Good Things,
some from my predecessor:
1. Desire for growth.
2. To be Peruvian and Anglican
3. To have a Social Conscience
4. Promote formation of young and lay people
5. Solidarity in stipends...sharing what we have.
6. The Mission of the Church.

The VCF ministry which I mentioned earlier is based on six strands: A
relationship with Jesus Christ, the Holy Scriptures, the Church, Prayer
and Spirituality, Beliefs and Testimony. As a diocese, these six strands
are key and are brought together around four axes: growth, knowledge,
worship and communication. We seek to keep these six strands and four
axes as part of everything we do as we build on the six good seeds.

This year we have three key objectives:
1. Consolidate what we have
2. Train up and build capacity in our people
3. Learn to communicate well

VOL: Every week through your schools, and your nutrition programs,
medical and development projects, you help over 2,000 people. You say
your aim is to reach out and show Christ's love in a practical way, to
be his hands and feet. How is that working?

JORGE: As an ideal, we would like each community of faith to have a
church, a school and a clinic. Most of our churches have at least a
school or a social work as well as their congregations.

VOL: I am told that you have begun to build new relationships with your
people, that you stand for common sense and putting the diocese back on
its feet. How are you doing that? What is your vision and how do you see
the future of the church?

JORGE: The church has grown a lot, but a fat person is not necessarily a
healthy one. The Church should be athletic. We are not primarily looking
for growth, but to strengthen and consolidate what we have. We have
agreed not to ordain anyone over the next two years.

VOL: What is your stand on the ordination of women?

JORGE: We recently had our synod. We talked about our differences, but
there was no strong drive for women's ordination. The first step we
considered was to allow female priests who visit us from other parts of
the Anglican Communion to serve here as priests, but there was not a
consensus around this proposal either. We do have six women deacons.

VOL: What sort of training do you have for your clergy?

JORGE: We found we had also lost the rhythm of training for the clergy
and this has had repercussions. We don't have the tools. We also have
difficulty with the diversity that we have in what is still quite a
small church. Some here think that their way of being Anglican, be it
Anglo Catholic or Evangelical, is the only way of being Anglican. We
still need to build more unity in diversity.

VOL: Is there an issue with homosexuality in the diocese?

JORGE: We see the issue from afar, something that is happening elsewhere
in the communion, but we feel the pain and suffering in other places as
if it was happening to us. The hurt from these difficult situations
affects us. We do not have any openly gay priests, so the issue has not
directly affected us.

VOL: How do you avoid suffering here from what is happening in North
America?

JORGE: We are concerned that the unity of the Communion could end. We
suffer when everyone forms their own groups. We suffer as spectators.

VOL: Have the floods in Northwest Peru been an opportunity to bring the
gospel to people in a new way? I understand a series of devastating
floods left 100 dead and tens of thousands homeless since the start of
the year. We read that entire roads and bridges were swept away, cities,
towns and villages were engulfed and farmland was turned to muddy swamp.
Food prices rose and police were deployed to help those in flood-ravaged
areas. How was the diocese able to help people?

JORGE: Even though we are very small part of what could be done, we set
up an emergency group, and have been working with the victims of the
flooding and landslides with support from around the Communion.

VOL:

Were any Anglican churches affected?

JORGE: No.

VOL: Is the diocese a member of GAFCON?

JORGE: When I went to our provincial meeting, we heard about what is
happening in the Communion. We have felt distanced from it but are
concerned, of course. If I was invited to the next Lambeth Conference, I
would go. We are praying for our Primate Greg. It is not easy for him
and he has asked us for much prayer.

VOL: What would you like to see the most happen in your diocese that
other parts of the Anglican Communion can bring you?

JORGE: We need people to help us in the area of formation. We need
Anglican literature in Spanish. We know we need more English, our
younger priests need to learn English. Because of the language barrier,
we do not have access to the full depth of Anglican literature. It is
very difficult for us. Clergy formation is urgently needed.

VOL: How are diocesan finances?

JORGE: In recent years, the support we receive as a diocese from
overseas has reduced sharply and we have had to become much more
self-sustaining. Our schools generate significant income, a significant
portion comes from the parish share and we rent out a number of our
properties. Most clergy get a moderate monthly wage and a number also
hold part time or full-time jobs.

VOL: Thank you, bishop.



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

Message: 5
Date: Thu, 22 Jun 2017 18:42:20 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: JUBA: South Sudan Anglican church wants to mediate between
political rivals
Message-ID:
<1498171340.3286032....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

JUBA: South Sudan Anglican church wants to mediate between political
rivals

http://www.sudantribune.com
June 19, 2017

The Anglican Church in South Sudan has said the national dialogue
initiative launched by the president is an opportunity to end the over
three-year conflict between South Sudan's main rival factions.

Speaking at an extraordinary church conference of bishops held in the
capital, Juba, the Archbishop of Anglican Church, Daniel Deng Bul said
the suffering of the innocent civilians should come to an end.

"We as ECS [the Episcopal Church of Sudan] think that the national al
dialogue is an opportunity to talk to all the parties and the church has
resulted to be going between the parties to reach a peaceful resolution
to the conflict," said Deng.

South Sudan President Salva Kiir launched the national dialogue steering
committee last month and immediately announced a unilateral ceasefire in
the country. The committee comprises of church and Islamic council
leaders, among other officials.

Archbishop Deng, however, said the church can play instrumental roles in
the dialogue initiative even if it's not leading the process.

"The church has always been for peace and we will engage fully the local
communities, the political leaders and everybody who is interested in
peace in the country, diaspora, displaced persons and refugee camps," he
said, without specifying steps the church will take that are not covered
by the national dialogue committee.

Previous church efforts to reconcile rival communities in Jonglei state
failed in what Deng described as government's "inability" to disarm
youths and inadequate deployment of the police to ensure rule of law.

The national dialogue, launched last month, is both a forum and process
through which the people South Sudan shall gather to redefine the basis
of their unity as it relates to nationhood, redefine citizenship and
belonging, as well as restructure the state for national inclusion.

END



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

Message: 6
Date: Thu, 22 Jun 2017 18:43:01 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: Guatemala elects LGBT-friendly Episcopal Bishop
Message-ID:
<1498171381.3286136....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Guatemala elects LGBT-friendly Episcopal Bishop
Silvestre Romero could usher gay agenda into Central American Anglican
diocese

SPECIAL REPORT

By Mary Ann Mueller
VOL Special Correspondent
www.virtueonline.org
June 20, 2017

The Anglican Diocese of Guatemala recently elected a gay-friendly
Episcopal priest to be its new bishop. The Rev. Silvestre Romero,
priest-in-charge at an Episcopal Church in Salem, Massachusetts, was
elected bishop coadjutor and will follow Bishop Armando Guerra Soria as
the second Bishop of Guatemala.

Even though the Diocese of Guatemala is not jurisdictionally a part of
the Episcopal Church -- it is the Anglican Church in Central America
(Iglesia Anglicana de la Regi?n Central de America) -- it has deep roots
and ties to the American church. Therefore, it was not unreasonable for
the Central American Anglican diocese to reach out to The Episcopal
Church for its next bishop. The first missionary bishop to Guatemala was
an American -- Bishop William Frey, an orthodox bishop, who later became
the VIII Bishop of Colorado.

Fr. Romero is a native Guatemalan. In 1996, he received his diaconal
ordination in the Episcopal Diocese of El Camino Real, but travelled to
the Central American Diocese of Belize for his priestly ordination. He
was ordained by Bishop Sylvester Romero Palma (XIII Belize). Belize is
within the jurisdiction of the Anglican Province of the West Indies.

In 1999, Fr. Romero transferred back into The Episcopal Church under the
auspices of Bishop Frank Terry (VII Spokane). Since returning to the
United States, he has served in the Diocese Spokane, the Diocese of El
Camino Real and the Diocese of Massachusetts.

While in the U S., he was fully involved at the national church level of
The Episcopal Church. He was a member of the Executive Council
(2009-2015); a General Convention delegate (2006 & 2009); on the
Standing Commission for Domestic Mission and Evangelism (2003-2009); a
member of the Council of Advice for Latino Ministry (2000-2005); and a
member of the Youth Ministry Council (2002-2003).

He was also pressed into service as a Spanish-English translator at four
Episcopal General Conventions (1994,1997, 2000 & 2003); and was the
first Latino Chaplain to the House of Deputies (2006).

In late 2009, he was on a slate of six vying for two Diocese of Los
Angeles suffragan post bishops' positions. The diverse slate included
two homosexuals, two Latinos and three women. He lost out to two women,
Diane Jardine Bruce and Mary Glasspool, a partnered lesbian.

St. Peter's ~ San Pedro

Fr. Romero is currently priest-in-charge at St. Peter's ~ San Pedro
Episcopal Church in Salem, Massachusetts. The small Episcopal
congregation was initially established as a Church of England
congregation in 1733, forty years after the infamous Salem Witch Trials
and more than four decades before the Revolutionary War. The
congregation is proud of the fact that an early rector was Alexander
Griswold, who became the fifth presiding bishop and a distant cousin to
Frank Griswold, the 25th presiding bishop of The Episcopal Church.

Through the years, the two century-plus old congregation has undergone
several spiritual makeovers. It started out as a Church of England
mission, then the Revolutionary War severed its colonial ties from the
Mother Church. Slowly the church shook off its colonial links and as the
Oxford Movement unfolded, the congregation took on a social justice
trajectory. Now the church, under the continuing leadership of its
current priest, has become an "intentionally inclusive" congregation.

"We believe that whatever race, ethnicity, gender, marital status, or
orientation; we are all one in Christ," the church's website declares.
"This simple declarative statement has caused worldwide controversy."

Since the rise of Donald Trump to the presidency, the immigrant priest
has signed a petition for the passage of Salem's Sanctuary for Peace
Ordinance. He is also prepared to provide short-term sanctuary at St.
Peter's if necessary.

Homosexual Friendly

Fr. Romero has also been active in Salem Gay Pride events. He
participated in a Salem Interfaith Pride service held at a local
Congregational church, which included a Jewish rabbi and a Wiccan
priestess.

The Episcopal priest, who considers himself as an "agent of change on
the issues that we face in the church and the community" has offered to
officiate at gay weddings. He also took an active part in Salem's Gay
Flag Raising Ceremony to celebrate June as LGBT Pride Month.

St. Peter's ~ San Pedro is an Integrity-USA/Believe Out Loud welcoming
congregation, the only one in Salem. The other Episcopal church in Salem
is Grace Episcopal, which is one of St. Peter's daughter congregations.
The gay-friendly church congregation prides itself in being
opened-minded when it comes to Holy Matrimony.

"Christian marriage is intended by God to be a life-long union between
two persons. Typically, this configuration is between a man and a woman,
but not always. There have been life-long unions between persons of the
same-sex from the beginning as well," the church website explains.
"While the church is not yet permitted to officiate at same-sex unions
in the Diocese of Massachusetts, blessings of such unions may be
arranged under special arrangement with the priest-in-charge." The
priest-in-charge is Fr. Silvestre Romero, now the bishop-elect for the
Diocese of Guatemala.

Anglicans in Guatemala

In the early 1500s, New Spain conquistadors colonized Guatemala to help
increase the growing Spanish Empire and they brought with them their
Spanish language and their Catholic religion.

By the mid-18th century Anglicanism was brought to Central America by
the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, a missionary arm of the
Church of England. Evangelical Anglicanism spread eventually to
Guatemala.

History revealed that in 1867, Iglesia de Cristo (Christ Church) was
established in Guatemala's British Consulate and that the Church of
England chaplain was considered to be a part the British diplomatic
corps.

The snaking Central American territory includes those Latino countries
located south of Mexico connecting to Colombia on the South American
continent. The seven countries include: Belize, Honduras, El Salvador,
Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and Guatemala.

All the Central American countries except Belize and Honduras, are part
of the Province of the Anglican Church in Central America. Honduras is
affiliated with the Episcopal Church's Province XI, making it the
largest of TEC's foreign dioceses, while Belize is attached to the
Church of the Anglican Province of the West Indies.

Eventually, the Church of England turned its missionary territories in
Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala over to The Episcopal Church. The
Central American landmass was physically closer to the American daughter
church than the Mother Church in England.

Episcopal Missionary Diocese

In 1957, the Missionary District of the Episcopal Church in Central
America was created drawing in Anglican congregations in Guatemala,
Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. David E. Richards was consecrated
its first bishop based in Costa Rica.

While the creation and shifting of missionary districts was going on, an
American priest, Fr. William Frey, was quietly laboring in Costa Rica as
the publisher of a newspaper for The Episcopal Church in Latin America,
as well as operating a Spanish language publishing house for the growing
Anglican presence in Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and
Guatemala geared towards meeting the spiritual needs of immigrants and
their descendents coming to Central America from the West Indies.
Spanish publications helped to keep them connected.

In 1964, the Episcopal General Convention saw the need to create a ninth
province to deal with a growing number of "foreign" dioceses. The
Central American dioceses were scooped into that new American "foreign"
province with an eye on eventually providing an opportunity for those
dioceses to become localized.

As explained in the Historical Perspective of the Iglesia Anglicana de
la Regi?n Central de America: "Supported by Lambeth 1958 and 1968,
serious efforts were made in Central America to change from the system
of chaplaincy (foreigner in a foreign land) to that of an indigenous,
national, autochthonous church. Consequently, in 1967 missionary
dioceses of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica
were created with the purpose of spreading the Kingdom of God in each
nation bringing the unique Anglican message to the local culture, as
well as forming an autochthonous Anglicanism."

The perspective continues: "From that moment on the Episcopal Church in
Central America tried to become incarnate into the local situation, to
enculturate itself into each Central American country. It did not want
to continue being the U.S. Episcopal Church in Central America, but the
Episcopal Church of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa
Rica, and Panama."

When the Missionary Diocese of Guatemala was formed, the American priest
in Costa Rica, who was busy running a Spanish-langue publishing house,
was tapped to be the first Missionary Bishop to Guatemala and Honduras.

Bishop Frey tossed out of Guatemala

"It was a total surprise," explained now Bishop William Frey in a 2015
interview with Duane Alexander Miller, recounting his experience as the
first bishop of Missionary Diocese of Guatemala.

"I was a priest in Costa Rica. The National Church decided that Diocese
of Central America should be divided into their own dioceses: Costa
Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador," the bishop said,
explaining that he was not only the Missionary Bishop of Guatemala, but
of Honduras, too.

William Frey was consecrated bishop on Nov. 26,1967, in an outdoor
ceremony in Guatemala City.

"The consecration was in a vacant lot in Guatemala because we didn't
have a church large enough for a consecration to be held because there
were only several small churches of the city," he recalled. "We had a
plot of land, so we did it outside."

Bishop Frey began to cross swords with Guatemalan governmental
authorities by making public statements about peacemaking during an
undeclared civil war in Guatemala. As a result, he was kicked out of the
country. He and his family fled to Arkansas.

"When we were evicted on Oct. 3, 1971, a friendly bishop gave me
sanctuary in Arkansas," Bishop Frey remembered. "I got a job as chaplain
of the University at the University of Arkansas. I have discovered that
it is not possible to be bishop-in-exile. You have to be with the people
and see them physically."

Bishop Frey went on to become the VIII Bishop of Colorado.

In 1972, Anselmo Carral-Solar was chosen as the second Missionary Bishop
of Guatemala by the Episcopal House of Bishops, to take over from the
country's exiled bishop. The Cuban-born bishop was the first Latino
bishop to serve in Guatemala. It was under his reign that Guatemala
ceased to be an Episcopal missionary diocese in 1980.

Bishop Carral-Solar's successor is Bishop Armando Guerra Soria (I
Guatemala). When Silvestre Romero is consecrated bishop, he will become
the second Bishop of Guatemala, and a native son.

The LGBT Creep

The LGBT agenda was slowly creeping toward the Diocese of Guatemala.
Politically, Guatemala has allowed private homosexual activity, since
the behavior was decriminalized in 1871. However, because the Roman
Catholic and Bible-believing Evangelical churches predominate in the
country, the gay agenda is frowned upon in the public square.

A Roman Catholic priest who travelled to Guatemala last week as a part
of his parish cluster's annual Catholic Youth mission trip explains:
"There are a lot of religious and Bible believing fundamentalists in
Guatemala," Fr. Jerry Hagen told VOL. "They would never embrace the LGBT
kind of stuff."

Fr. Hagen and his youth group were in Guatemala City, preparing to fly
back to Wisconsin, when the 6.9 earthquake struck near Mexico on June
14. He and his group were safe, but shaken.

In all the years the Wisconsin priest has travelled to Guatemala for
summer mission trips he has never met an Anglican there. There are only
35,000 Anglicans in the entire Central American Anglican province which
includes Costa Rica, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama and Guatemala in a
combined population of more than 30 million!

Theologically, Central America is conservative. Although provincial
canons allow for the ordination of women deacons and priests and the
consecration of female bishops, no women bishops have been ordained.

When Vicky Gene Robinson was consecrated the IX Bishop of New Hampshire,
the only Central American bishop to attend was Archbishop Martin
Barahona, who the first Bishop of El Salvador, the second Primate of the
Anglican Church in Central America.

Bishop Guerra-Soria distanced himself from his brother bishop (Barahona)
for attending Bishop Robinson's controversial consecration as a
practicing and partnered gay.

"The Episcopal Church of Guatemala hereby disassociates herself from the
action of the Primate of Iglesia Anglicana de la Regi?n Central de
America (IARCA), specifically in his participation in the consecration
of Gene Robinson, recognizing that such a wanton act willfully causes a
certain degree of IMPAIRMENT within IARCA." The Guatemalan bishop wrote:
"There exists among the Bishops, Provincial Council and the Anglican
Church de la Iglesia Anglicana de la Regi?n Central de America in
general, necessity to pronounce authoritatively on the subject, (the
participation and its implications) and to take the corresponding
corrective measures."

Bishop Barahona took definitive action to heighten the presence of the
LGBT community in his local diocese, thus paving the way for the gay
agenda to get a foothold with Central America Anglicans.

In 2014, the Episcopal News Service featured a story championing Bishop
Barahona's LGBT stance. The headline reads: "El Salvador Anglicans lead
church, society in LGBT full inclusion."

As bishop, he created the Ministry of Sexual Diversity of the Episcopal
Anglican Church in El Salvador, which offers a place for lesbians and
gays to express themselves freely. He travelled to Washington, DC, to
participate in panel discussion along with Bishop Robinson following the
screening of "Before God, We Are All Family." He also attended Gay Games
at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Cleveland, Ohio. He encourages a
support group LGBT families as a part of the ministry of sexual
diversity of the Anglican-Episcopal Church of El Salvador. He allowed a
group of 12 Americans to study LGBT rights in El Salvador. That group
was part of a pilgrimage of LGBT rights organized by the Washington
National Cathedral and the Global School of Fundaci?n Cristosal.

The El Salvador bishop strove to have the LGBT community become
integrated into the life of a local parish and not become a separate
congregation of homosexuals, and he has openly praised his friend Bishop
Robinson.

"Bishop Robinson is a true champion of human rights and dignity," Bishop
Barahona said at a Gay Pride service at San Juan Evangelista in San
Salvador.

In 2011, Guatemalan Bishop Guerra-Soria followed Bishop Barahona as
Iglesia Anglicana de la Regi?n Central de America as its third primate.
He kept that post until 2015. The current primate is Archbishop Sturdie
Downs, the Bishop of Nicaragua. Bishop Barahona retired as bishop of El
Salvador in 2015. He was followed in his diocese by Bishop Juan David
Alvarado Melgar.

LGBT Agenda Spreading

The Anglican welcoming of the LGBT agenda has spread from El Salvador to
Costa Rica.

The Episcopal News Service reported: "In your first step to welcome to
the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender [LGBT] The Episcopal Church
of Costa Rica was associated with other religious and human rights
organizations to sponsor a forum on faith, the Bible, sexual orientation
and gender identity."

The Episcopal Church of Costa Rica joined the Lutheran Church of Costa
Rica, the US-based Campaign for Human Rights and two other local groups
-- the movement of the diversity and the Student Federation of the
University of Costa Rica -- for the screening of Before God, We Are All
Family.

"The first step is to promote dialog, learn, listen and say what we have
always said," explained Bishop Hector Monterroso Gonzalez.

We want to heal the wounds that many people who are LGBT have with
religion. We must understand that they are the creation of God, and God
does not make mistakes. We must accept them as God created them," said
the bishop.

So far, the Diocese of Nicaragua and the Diocese of Panama along with
the Diocese of Guatemala, have stood firm against the creeping LGBT
tide. However, with the election of a gay-friendly bishop in Guatemala,
LGBT push may quickly cross diocesan lines.

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



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

Message: 7
Date: Thu, 22 Jun 2017 18:43:33 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: Archbishop Welby asks Lord Carey to consider his position as
assistant bishop over Ball abuse case
Message-ID:
<1498171413.3286185....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Archbishop Welby asks Lord Carey to consider his position as assistant
bishop over Ball abuse case
Lord Carey of Clifton, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, who has
received a letter from Justin Welby asking him to consider his position
as an honorary assistant bishop in Oxford

By James Macintyre
CHRISTIAN TODAY
https://www.christiantoday.com/
June 22, 2017

Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has written to his
predecessor George Carey asking him to consider his position as an
honorary assistant bishop in Oxford over criticism of his conduct in the
case of the former bishop and convicted abuser Peter Ball.

The letter was written ahead of publication today of a damning report
into the handling of Ball's case by the respected former social worker
Dame Moira Gibb, who concluded that the Church of England 'colluded' in
abuse by Ball.

At a press conference with Dame Moira launching the independent report
today, Peter Hancock, the Bishop of Bath and Wells and the lead bishop
on safeguarding in the Church, confirmed that Archbishop Welby had
'written directly' to Lord Carey asking him 'carefully' to consider his
position.

Bishop Hancock said that 'this is now a matter for Lord Carey and the
Bishop of Oxford' who have been having conversations on the telephone
and are set to meet in the next two days.

Steven Croft, the Bishop of Oxford, said in a statement: 'With reference
to the criticism of former Archbishop George Carey in the report, the
Archbishop of Canterbury has written to Lord Carey and asked him to
carefully consider his position as honorary Assistant Bishop. As I hold
responsibility for granting him a licence to enable him to carry out his
duties, Archbishop Justin has asked Lord Carey to talk to me and we have
agreed to meet in the coming days for that conversation. In the meantime
he has voluntarily agreed to step back from public ministry.'

There was no further comment from Lambeth Palace or, at the time of
writing, from Lord Carey.

Receiving the report on behalf of the Church, Bishop Hancock said: 'I am
truly sorry that as a Church we failed the survivors of Peter Ball;
having read the report I am appalled and disturbed by its contents; as
Dame Moira says...we colluded, we failed to act and protect those who
came forward for help. There are no excuses. We accept all the
recommendations and we are working to action them.'

Bishop Hancock added that for the survivors, 'it may feel like this is
all too late'. He said that he is aware from his meetings with survivors
they 'live with the effects of this abuse for their whole life'.

Bishop Croft added: 'I want to give my heartfelt apologies to the
survivors of Peter Ball's abuse. The Church of England has let them down
by failing to act on the reports of his actions and there are no excuses
for this.

'We must now act on the recommendations put forward by Dame Moira Gibb,
and all bishops must demonstrate our accountability for making sure
everyone in our church is kept safe. The church set up the National
Safeguarding Team in 2015 and since then we have had a range of policies
and training alongside new legislation covering clergy and other church
officers and their responsibility to protect people.'

*****

MY STORY WAS POSTED LATE LAST NIGHT BEFORE THE STORY BROKE IN ENGLAND. I
WAS ASKED TO TAKE IT DOWN AND DID SO. I AM NOW REPOSTING IT.

Justin Welby calls on George Carey to resign as Assistant Bishop of
Oxford over Ball Affair

By David W. Virtue, DD
www.virtueonline.org
June 21, 2017

The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has called on the former
Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey to resign as Assistant Bishop in
Oxford over allegations that he knew about Bishop Peter Ball's sexual
activities with young boys and failed to act on the information.

Ball, the former Bishop of Lewes, in the Diocese of Chichester, was
jailed for abusing 19 young men after being identified by an individual,
Neil Todd, who first complained in 1993, about the horrific sexual and
sadistic abuse he had suffered at the hands of Ball.

The Church of England went into cover-up overdrive. Leading
establishment figures in the nation, including senior clergy, colluded
to protect Bishop Ball. A BBC report said that "another person in the
church who helped one of Ball's victims tried to raise concerns with 13
different bishops who appeared to take no action." It was only through
the heroic persistence of priests like the Rev. Graham Sawyer, one of
Ball's victims, that Ball was sentenced in October 2015 to 32 months in
prison for the grooming, sexual exploitation and abuse of 18 vulnerable
young men between 1977 and 1992.

At the time of Ball's arrest Lord Carey admitted he deserved "explicit
criticism" over his handling of the ex-bishop's sex abuse.

Lord Carey, was a friend of Ball's. "Clearly the Church didn't handle it
well and Lord Carey was naive in trusting Peter Ball. The acknowledgment
now is he wasn't doing the Christian thing by the victims of Ball. He
would accept he didn't discharge the pastoral duties to the victims very
well," according to one newspaper report.

However, the Church of England has been fraught with other "false
accusation" cases recently brought against bishops for failing in their
duties in which proper support was found to be lacking for the bishop in
the firing line. These have not been handled well by church authorities.
Carey could hardly be accused of being the first accused of not doing
due diligence and also seems like others to be being hung out to dry.
"It seems the church is running scared of any possible guilt by
association rather than offering pastoral support for those who have
been duped by others", according to one source.

The deeper question is, of what or whom is Justin Welby afraid in
seeking the removal of Carey from what is essentially an honorary
position?

"There was a knee jerk reaction from Lambeth in standing the Very Rev
Robert Key down as Dean of Jersey when questions were raised about his
handling of a matter. That was actually beyond his pay grade because the
Dean of Jersey is a crown appointment. Robert Key was eventually
completely exonerated and reinstated but not after a lot of grief," a
source told VOL.

The deeper question is, "Whose back is being covered?" Is Lord Carey
being made a scapegoat for someone else?

END



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

Message: 8
Date: Thu, 22 Jun 2017 18:44:08 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: Loose Canons? Andy Lines and the Canons of Nicaea
Message-ID:
<1498171448.3286215....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Loose Canons? Andy Lines and the Canons of Nicaea
Mark Smith examines Justin Welby's use of ancient canons to oppose
"cross-border interventions.

by Mark Smith,
http://churchsociety.org/
June 20, 2017

On Friday 30th June, Andy Lines will be consecrated at a meeting of the
Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), as a 'missionary bishop' for
Europe. This is in response to the recent decision of the Scottish
Episcopal Church (SEC) to modify its definition of marriage to include
same-sex couples, placing it at variance with scripture and with the
majority of the Anglican Communion.

In a letter to the Primates of the Communion, Archbishop Justin Welby
expressed profound concern over the upcoming consecration of Canon
Lines. For Welby, the Church's continued commitment to "those with
differing views" (exemplified by the role of the Bishop of Maidstone in
providing oversight for those who oppose the ordination of women), made
the appointment of a missionary bishop unnecessary. Such an argument
rests, of course, on a theological parity being drawn between
disagreements over ordained ministry, and over sexual ethics - a parity
that is by no means self-evident, as Lee Gatiss argued last week.

What was most intriguing, however, was what the Archbishop went on to
say next:

"The idea of a 'missionary bishop' who was not a Church of England
appointment, would be a cross-border intervention and, in the absence of
a Royal Mandate, would carry no weight in the Church of England.
Historically, there has been resistance to cross-border interventions
and ordinations from the earliest years of the universal Church's
existence. Such weighty authority as canons 15 and 16 of the First
Council of Nicaea in AD 325 are uncompromising in this regard and make
reference to the "great disturbance and discords that occur" when
bishops and their clergy seek to minister in this way."

Here, the claim is made that the consecration of Andy Lines, and the
episcopal ministry he would exercise, would be contrary to Canons 15 and
16 of the Council of Nicaea. If Welby is correct in his interpretation,
then it is indeed a palpable hit - for Canon Lines' ministry, far from
strengthening the cause of orthodoxy, would be in direct transgression
of that most 'orthodox' of all councils.

This is not the first time that appeals have been made to Nicaea in the
context of disputes over Anglican jurisdiction. The Windsor Report
(2003), written in the aftermath of Gene Robinson's consecration,
condemned (in para. 29.3) similar cross-border interventions as contrary
to "some of the longest-standing regulations of the early undivided
church (Canon 8 of Nicaea)".

The Archbishop's statement, then, fits within a wider context of
reaching back to the canons of Nicaea as a means to critique (and so
delegitimise) various attempts by conservative Anglicans to preserve
episcopal integrity. The question remains, though - is this appeal to
the Nicene canons persuasive?

The Council of Nicaea issued twenty canons, which sought to regulate a
range of church practices, and eliminate a number of growing abuses. As
practical measures to deal with particular issues of the day, the canons
do not claim for themselves a timeless authority - indeed, as one might
expect, many of them now have limited direct relevance to the life of
the church. Canon 1, for instance, maps out the fine disciplinary
distinction between a clergyman who has been castrated by barbarians,
and a clergyman who has chosen to castrate himself. Canon 18 forbids
deacons to sit on the same bench as presbyters. Canon 19 deals with
those who had followed the heretical teaching of Paul of Samosata. The
majority of parishioners in the Church of England have probably violated
Canon 20 at some point or another, since it rules that prayer on the
Lord's Day must be offered whilst standing, and not whilst kneeling.

It is fair to say, then, that although the Nicene canons preserve some
helpful theological principles for church governance, they cannot be
applied straightforwardly, or without remainder, to the contemporary
scene. So what are the theological principles that Canons 15 and 16
embody and commend? Here is their text in full:

Canon 15. On account of the great disturbance and discords that occur,
it is decreed that the custom prevailing in certain places contrary to
the Canon, must wholly be done away; so that neither bishop, presbyter,
nor deacon shall pass from city to city. And if any one, after this
decree of the holy and great Synod, shall attempt any such thing, or
continue in any such course, his proceedings shall be utterly void, and
he shall be restored to the Church for which he was ordained bishop or
presbyter.

Canon 16. Neither presbyters, nor deacons, nor any others enrolled among
the clergy, who, not having the fear of God before their eyes, nor
regarding the ecclesiastical Canon, shall recklessly remove from their
own church, ought by any means to be received by another church; but
every constraint should be applied to restore them to their own
parishes; and, if they will not go, they must be excommunicated. And if
anyone shall dare surreptitiously to carry off and in his own Church
ordain a man belonging to another, without the consent of his own proper
bishop, from whom although he was enrolled in the clergy list he has
seceded, let the ordination be void.

These canons address a growing problem in the church of the early fourth
century. Some bishops (and, as Canon 16 notes, other clergy too),
tempted by the prospect of greater wealth, influence, or prestige,
sought to move from less important sees to more important ones. This
kind of worldly 'see-hopping' resulted in disruption to diocesan
affairs, and brought scandal upon the church. So, for instance, the
sleek and upwardly-mobile Eusebius, Bishop of Berytus, wangled for
himself the see of Nicomedia, and with it a position of great influence
at the imperial court. Subsequently, through further politicking, he
managed to migrate to the even more impressive see of Constantinople.

What is condemned in Canons 15 and 16, then, is translation for improper
motives, rather than translation per se. This is supported by the
evidence of other episcopal 'promotions' around this time that did not
result in controversy or criticism - indeed, the translation of Bishop
Eustathius from Beroea to Antioch was approved either at the Council of
Nicaea itself (as Sozomen claims, H.E. I.2) or a few months earlier at
the Council of Antioch (as Schwartz argued, 'Zur Geschichte des
Athanasius VI'). When, a few decades later, Gregory of Nazianzus was
accused of transgressing this canon simply for taking up the see of
Constantinople, he recognised the attack as a deliberate misuse of the
tradition (De vita sua, 1810). Writing in the early fifth century, the
church historian Socrates gave a long list of eminent bishops who had
undergone translations entirely properly (H.E. VII.36). Ironically, were
it mere translation being attacked by Nicaea, then Justin Welby himself
would come under censure, having moved from the see of Durham to that of
Canterbury!

It is just possible, if one squints a bit, to interpret the final
sentence of Canon 16 as affirming the principle that, if a clergyman is
to be ordained outside his diocese, the ordaining bishop should first
obtain the consent of the diocesan bishop. Even if understood in this
way, however, the canon cannot be said to bear on the case of Andy
Lines. Nicaea's legislation, after all, works on the assumption of a
single, genuinely 'catholic' church - it knows nothing of the kind of
legitimate overlapping episcopal jurisdictions which have developed in
the centuries since. In England, for instance, the Roman Catholic
Church, the Free Church of England, the Moravian Church, the British
Orthodox Church, and the Church of England, are all episcopally
governed, yet not in communion with one another - the fact that the
bishops of each denomination cover the same territory is therefore not a
cause for strife or disruption. Similarly, Andy Lines will be
consecrated into the ACNA, which is not in communion with either the
Church of England or the Scottish Episcopal Church - he can thus
legitimately minister in those territories without any
'border-crossing', for, from the perspective of the jurisdictional
geography of the ACNA, there are no borders to cross.

Finally, it is worth briefly considering Canon 8, since, as we noted
above, the Windsor Report claimed that this canon explicitly prohibited
cross-border interventions. Canon 8 was written to address a very
specific and troublesome sect - the self-styled Cathari ('pure ones'),
that is, the followers of Novatian. These were moral rigorists who took
a dim view of those believers who had lapsed under threat of
persecution. In bringing the Church's discipline to bear upon this
group, Canon 8 explains that "there may not be two bishops in the city".
It is presumably this comment that got the authors of the Windsor Report
so excited. However, the point being made here in Canon 8 is an entirely
mundane one - namely, that for the sake of good order, there cannot be
two competing diocesan bishops in the same see. Again, the issue of
overlapping episcopal jurisdictions is simply not in view.

In short, the Nicene canons to which the Archbishop refers in his letter
to the Primates have little, if anything, to say on the issue of Andy
Lines' consecration. Not even Canon Lines' sharpest critics have
suggested that he is seeking episcopal preferment for worldly gain,
which is the fault these canons are primarily concerned to extirpate. It
is undeniable that the notion of a 'missionary bishop' for Europe raises
genuine ecclesiological questions, but these must be confronted on their
own terms, and not through a specious appeal to ancient rulings that
neither condemn, nor even envisage, the situation we now face.

Revd Dr Mark Smith is Chaplain of Christ's College, Cambridge and
teaches Patristics in the Divinity Faculty at Cambridge.
Photo by Fresco in Capella Sistina, Vatican -
http://ariandjabarimchenry.com/first-council-of-nicaea/, Public Domain.



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

Message: 9
Date: Thu, 22 Jun 2017 18:44:34 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: Britain Fears a Culture War. But Evangelicals Aren't Going to
Fight.
Message-ID:
<1498171474.3286277....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Britain Fears a Culture War. But Evangelicals Aren't Going to Fight.
Despite scrutiny of the recent election, Tim Farron, and the DUP, UK
believers won't push party politics.

By ANDREA C. HATCHER
www.christianitytoday.com
June 16, 2017

Britain Fears a Culture War. But Evangelicals Aren't Going to Fight.

Little more than a week has passed since yet another election has turned
British politics on its head. One of the most prominent themes: the role
of evangelicals in politics.

With her loss of 13 seats, Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader
Theresa May was sent scrambling to form a coalition government in what
is now a hung Parliament. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is in
negotiations to be the likely partner.

Founded by pastor Ian Paisley as the political arm of the Protestant
factions during The Troubles in Northern Ireland, the DUP gained
notoriety for its fiery social conservatism. Even as social policy
across Britain liberalized, the DUP held the line to protect abortion
restrictions and to ban the expansion of same-sex marriage in Northern
Ireland.

These policies drew public attention in the aftermath of this year's
general election as some speculated what price May would pay to form a
majority and hold her place as prime minister. A current YouGov poll
finds 48 percent of Britons disapprove of this would-be coalition.

Amid this frothy speculation, Tim Farron, an avowed evangelical and
leader of the Liberal Democrats, resigned. In his speech, he described
the tension between his public service and his sincerely held religious
beliefs. This contrast was presented in stark relief by a recent radio
interview in which Farron refused to answer questions about whether or
not he believes homosexuality is a sin. Despite reciting his party's
stance on LGBT rights, Farron was repeatedly pushed to publicly confess
his own personal religious beliefs.

At the center of both events lies the media's fascination with
evangelicals.

Whether a result of religious illiteracy or a desire for salacious copy,
there is a fundamental misunderstanding of British evangelicals and
their politics. The extremist depiction of evangelicals has become far
too easy a crutch for sensible public discourse, and is at odds with the
reality in which British evangelicals situate within the cultural
mainstream.

Following up on interviews with a variety of political and religious
elites (including members of Parliament, activists, journalists, and
high-ranking clergy), I conducted a series of focus groups in 10
evangelical congregations across Britain. These represented a variety of
denominations and geographic locations, and are striking for what they
revealed about the religious and political identities of British
evangelicals--in their own words.

To puncture one errant assumption, British evangelicals do not
prioritize their social conservatism. It's true they are largely
conservative on issues of sexuality, hewing to theological and cultural
orthodoxy about marriage and family. However, issues of abortion and
same-sex marriage are not salient to British evangelicals because they
view these issues as settled law. No group I spoke with demonstrated any
enthusiasm for a political movement to change these policies. Indeed,
only a single participant (1 out of 81) voiced any hope that the status
quo would change--and that she expressed as a simple matter of faith
that "all things are possible."

FOR THE REST OF THE STORY CLICK HERE:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2017/june-web-only/britain-fears-culture-war-evangelicals-tim-farron-dup-uk.html



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

Message: 10
Date: Thu, 22 Jun 2017 18:45:03 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: Hymn writer Keith Getty: Nominal, shallow Christianity has no
future, we must proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord
Message-ID:
<1498171503.3286299....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Hymn writer Keith Getty: Nominal, shallow Christianity has no future, we
must proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord

By Ruth Gledhill
CHRISTIAN TODAY
https://www.christiantoday.com/
June 20 2017

The first hymn writer to be honoured by the Queen for contemporary
Christian music has described how his music is an expression of one
thing -- that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Keith Getty, awarded OBE in the annual Queen's Birthday Honours, told
Christian Today that at the heart of all his remarkable hymns, which are
among the most popular modern worship hymns ever written, is the
conviction that we are all fearfully and wonderfully made -- and that
music is an expression of that.

'But even more than that -- that it points ultimately to Christ -- that
even the rocks and the hills could cry out that Jesus is Lord,' he says.

Every new song or production or company or idea is aimed at drawing
people towards Christ.

'We live in what John Stott described as the most exciting generation in
history to be Christians, with the growth of Christianity around the
world, the potential of the Bible in every language but, to quote
Dickens, it is the "best and the worst of times". The challenges are so
great that I don't believe nominal or shallow Christianity has any
realistic future.

'We need to build believers, churches and children who are deep
believers and part of how that happens is through the songs we sing. May
all of us work together to share in that vision.'

The OBE was awarded in recognition of Getty's contribution to music and
hymn writing through his re- popularising of hymns. It is the first such
honour given to an individual who is actively involved in the world of
contemporary Church music.

Getty's hymns, often written in collaboration with Stuart Townend,
include the the popular In Christ Alone -- the number one
most-frequently-sung in UK churches for a record-setting nine
consecutive years. An estimated 40-50 million people sing Getty hymns in
church services each year,

Getty, raised in Northern Ireland, told Christian Today: 'I was
introduced to faith and music by my parents and started to get involved
while at our local church, Elmwood Presbyterian in Lisburn outside of
Belfast.'

It grew from there -- the music groups at his church grew to attract
others from other areas. His parents had an open house for everyone and
over time they created their New Irish Arts organisation, involving
hundreds of people from throughout Ireland in music and particularly
church music.

Although he's not now involved personally, it is still flourishing under
the leadership of Jonathan Rea and regarded as a great example of how
the arts can shape lives and communities.

Getty has always written music but it was meeting Stuart Townend that
changed his life.

'He is just an unparalleled talent and really helped me shape and focus
my writing through some pretty tough love and critique. Our first song
was "In Christ Alone" and that really opened the doors for an interest
and revival in hymn writing.'

Getty became a Christian as a child. 'Key to everything were great older
Christians and having great older heroes.

'As I grew up those guiding stars continued to be an extraordinary help
in everything we did. I think older Christians we can look up to is so
crucial and vice versa - the responsibility to be encouraging the next
generation in deep faith is profound.'

Along wth Stuart, his wife Kristyn is integral to the creative process.

'I've never been that good at creativity by myself and whether it's
Stuart or Kristyn or Fionan who helped create the "Irish Christmas"
show, I have always leaned heavily on others.

'Kristyn however has been the most influential person in my life -- I
often get asked, "Who is the most influential theologian?" or "Who are
your closest confidants?" and Kristyn is the answer to all those
questions. Even when I've heard a profound sermon, or read a deep book
she actually shapes how I distill, practise and really adopt ideas and
patterns at a daily level.

'That's the beauty of marriage. We were married 13 years on Friday and
while not always easy, it has been a blast -- we have never had a night
apart -- come to think of it she deserves an award.'

Music -- singing in particular -- helps them express and shape their
faith

'What we sing affects our personal lives -- how we understand, feel,
memorise, pray and ultimately live our life; our family lives -- the
quality of family devotional life and ultimately both relationships and
kids spiritual growth; our church and sense of fellowship with each
other as well as our witness to those beyond the church.

'That's why it is so crucial and why every minister, pastor, elder and
parent needs to take so seriously what they and those under their care
sing.'

He offers no illusions that the writing process itself is the
realisation of some fantasy of straightforward divine inspiration.

'I can't speak for others but for me I'm afraid it's just plain old hard
hard work. I was never good enough for it just to "be inspired". I have
to graft writing hundreds of tunes and Stuart Townend or sometimes
Kristyn usually is the one who has the wisdom to know what works.

'Hearing them performed -- well it's really wonderful. At one level,
kind of like when someone cooks a meal and then gets to eat it and watch
others eat it, as we have worked so hard to write something for families
of believers to sing.

'But at an altogether deeper level the idea your creativity can help
people sing to the Lord and enrich their spiritual walk is incredible.'

END



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

Message: 11
Date: Thu, 22 Jun 2017 18:45:29 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: Learning from the parable of Tim Farron
Message-ID:
<1498171529.3286320....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Learning from the parable of Tim Farron

COMMENTARY

By Andrew Symes,
Anglican Mainstream.
http://anglicanmainstream.org/
June 20, 2017

NEWS ITEM: In England Tim Farron resigns and admits it would be
'impossible' for him to be Liberal Democrat leader and 'remain faithful
to Christ'.

The Church often seems keen to skate over or even deny what it really
believes, in an effort to be taken seriously. Do we have something to
learn from recent political events?

Tim Farron, former leader of the Liberal Democrats, has been seen by
most people as a decent chap, intelligent, compassionate, giving a
difficult job his best shot. During the election campaign, he wanted to
talk about politics, and to suggest distinctive new approaches to
government. But he was constantly dogged by attacks on his Christian
faith. Journalists had dug up comments he had made years earlier, and
kept pressing him on these issues, not satisfied when he tried to turn
the criticisms aside by referring to his voting record in the Commons
and his proven commitment to liberalism generally.

He denied that being gay is a sin, and tried to turn the conversation
away from his theological views; when pressed more specifically on
whether gay sex and abortion is sinful he finally was forced to say
"no".

Whether he lied about his real convictions for the sake of his career,
or whether he had genuinely changed his mind, it has not been enough; we
learned a week after the election that he had stood down as leader of
his Party. The reason he gave was that it was not possible to be
faithful to Christ and hold that particular public office.

Did Farron have a guilty conscience that he had lied about his beliefs
on sexual ethics, and repented? Or perhaps it broader than that -- no
matter how much he tried to appease the secular humanist liberals in his
party, it would never be enough -- they just didn't like his Christian
faith.

There has been a lot of comment on this story, and what it means for
Christians in public life, especially Christians who take their faith
seriously like Tim Farron. But this issue also serves as a parable for
the Church and its mission. Many church leaders have taken the view,
like the former LibDem leader, that if only we can get Christians
talking about positive things which will resonate with he public, and
simply not answer controversial questions about sex, or even about
theology (eg why does God allow tragedies to happen?), our mission will
succeed. But just as with Tim Farron, society isn't satisfied, knows
that there must be something distinctive about Christians, and keeps
pressing us on what we really believe. So the church leaders begin to do
what Tim Farron did when pressed -- they deny central tenets of their
faith as a way, they think, of focusing more on what they have in common
with people of goodwill in society who are not Christians. Although the
triune God is sovereign and not elected, the church somehow thinks that
like a politician it is in a popularity contest.

So this year we have seen an Archepiscopal call for 'radical inclusion'
in the C of E. The commendable Thy Kingdom Come campaign is promoted by
the leader of an Anglican Province (TEC) which has torn the fabric of
the Communion with its arrogant and cavalier disregard for Christian
orthodoxy. The decision by the Scottish Episcopal Church to change its
canons on marriage is, we're told by our leaders, "a matter for
Scotland", while Gafcon's decision to send a missionary Bishop to care
for faithful Episcopalians there is strongly criticised. General Synod
next month will be asked to provide liturgies to mark gender transition,
and to distance itself from ministries which help people live according
to the teaching of the bible and the church in the area of sexuality.
The evidence is strong that the Church of England leadership, under
pressure from a hostile culture, is saying, first, that there is 'plural
truth' on these issues, and then, when pressed, that they no longer want
to apply the word 'sin' to certain sexual behaviours.

But if we heed the parable of Tim Farron, we know the outcome of this
approach. First, the world says "why be a Christian then? You're just
the same as us". This could partly explain the continued decline in
numbers attending church. Why bother, if being a Christian is just the
same as being, well, a Liberal Democrat? In the end, though, after
giving up our distinctiveness and integrity, we find that they still
don't like us. After all that, they just "don't do God".

It may be true that the sort of Christian in public life who is not too
enthusiastic about personal faith, not too into the Bible and
evangelism, "moderate C of E" in the eyes of the opinion formers, does
not have such a hard time from the media as a born-again non-conformist.
But in the eyes of an influential section of society, anyone who
believes in the "sky fairy", and who admits to praying to him, is
suspect -- hence the continued call to remove even the most liberal
Bishops from the House of Lords, and abolish even those faith schools
which have moved away from any kind of confessional ethos.

Now that Tim Farron has movingly and publicly stated that he is putting
discipleship of Jesus first, there is a final reminder for us:
Christians should be true to what the Bible believes and what Christ
commands, and not try to water these things down to try to be more
popular. Otherwise, first we will be telling lies about God and his
word, and second it won't work -- rather than help our mission it will
make no difference to it, because people have already decided that we
are irrelevant at best and dangerous at worst.

This is not a call to be obnoxious, but to be faithful. Many have
interpreted the parable of Tim Farron as being about individual
Christians in public roles, but it is just as much about the Church's
position in society, and the message and method of church leaders among
their own members. While there is no guarantee that those who are
disliked, even persecuted for holding to the truth will see church
growth, the bible and mission history shows that there will certainly be
blessing, and probably growth, because this is how God normally works.

END



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

Message: 12
Date: Thu, 22 Jun 2017 18:45:54 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: Rebuild the Church
Message-ID:
<1498171554.3286375....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Rebuild the Church

By Duane W.H. Arnold, Ph.D
www.virtueonline.org
June 15, 2017

"...Go and repair My house which, as you can see, is falling into
ruins."

Politics had ripped apart the Church. The disputes had grown so
rancorous that both sides were willing to resort to violence.

The world had become one of fabulous wealth for the one percent and a
descent into poverty for everyone else.

Now that the Church had joined itself to political power, it felt free
to strike out against dissenters with an almost fanatical ruthlessness.

Meanwhile, the Middle East was coming to pieces, with a resurgent Islam
driving Christians from areas where they had lived for generations. It
had become so dire that other global powers were now prepared to send
troops to the trouble spots.

As large farming conglomerates bought up family farms, rural areas
descended into poverty, and small churches, beloved by generations of
believers, fell into ruins and dotted the landscape.

A young man of 22 years of age used to seek out these small ruined
churches as he hiked through the countryside. He was a deep
disappointment to his parents. They had given him everything. He on the
other had, had done very little. He was not interested in his father's
business enterprise and rejected the offer of a job. He had considered
joining the military, but backed out at the last moment. He had become
enthusiastic about social work, but after his parents found out that he
had taken money out of the business to finance what he was doing, they
considered filing charges against him and had decided instead to throw
him out of the house. Today, as he visited a small ruined chapel, famous
for the bits of art that remained, including an Byzantine styled painted
cross, he heard a voice speak to him three times, "Francis, go and
repair My house which, as you can see, is falling into ruins."

The young man was Franceso di Pietro di Bernardone, known to us as
Francis of Assisi, and the year was 1204.

Biographers of Francis always recount this as a turning point in his
life and almost immediately move from what Francis heard in that small
ruined chapel to his wider universal mission to rebuild the Church. In
doing this, however, they miss a salient point: "What did Francis
actually do after hearing the voice?" We know what he didn't do. He did
not pick up a rock and throw it in anger and frustration at the pitiful
state of the church. No, he started picking up stones and laying them
one atop the other. He began to rebuild the Church of San Damiano. The
greater work, arose out of the simple singular work of rebuilding the
Church where he was... right then, right there.

Today, in the United States we are in a state in which politics has
ripped apart the Church. A minority of voters elected a thrice married,
lying, schoolyard bully who knows little, if anything, of the Christian
faith, and evangelicals were a large part of the equation. Say what you
will, the public perception of evangelical support for Trump is real and
is being continually bolstered by the members of his so-called Faith
Advisory Council and the likes of Franklin Graham and Jerry Falwell, Jr.
If Trump succeeds, evangelicals will own it. If Trump fails,
evangelicals will own it. If Trump is impeached, evangelicals will own
it... and they will own it for years to come, further alienating not
only younger people, but the majority of the country who voted against
him.

As the perception of evangelicals being joined at the hip with Trump
becomes firmly set in the minds of most Americans, the other
manifestation of "Church" is that of historic denominations, whose
steeples and towers are simply part of the American landscape... and
those denominations, almost without exception, are in real trouble, if
not failing altogether.

I have watched my own old denomination, The Episcopal Church, become
something that is almost unrecognizable as a Christian entity over the
course of just thirty years. Perhaps it began with the illegal
ordination of women in 1974, being done without the consent of the
General Synod. (I am not speaking here of the theological issue of
women's ordination, only of how it came to be accomplished.) Or maybe it
was the election of the first openly Gay bishop, Gene Robinson, in 2003
in defiance of the views of the wider Anglican Communion and the Lambeth
consultative process. My guess, however, is that it is something far
deeper. If I had to speculate, I would say that it was a smug
self-satisfaction within both the Church of England and the Episcopal
Church in America that given money, endowments, property, pensions and
positions, these churches simply could not fail, no matter the cultural
issues that might arise from time to time. Worse than that, good men and
women allowed it to happen until they too realized that they had passed
the tipping point and that what had been lost, could no longer be
recovered. The very heart of the church was gone.

If it were only a matter of the Episcopal Church it would be a tragedy,
but the same story may be told of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America and, indeed, the Presbyterian Church, USA. The United Methodist
Church as well has passed its tipping point and is beginning its descent
into the maelstrom. We will watch the UMC as sexuality issues tear it
apart. We will watch as American Methodists fight for budget control
over against the rising tide of conservative African and Asian
Methodists. We will watch as clergy retire with fewer and fewer clergy
available to take their place. We will watch as smaller churches close
and seminaries merge hoping for survival. Yet, in the end, as aging
congregations fade from the scene and all the attempts to reach "young
people" come to naught, we will be left with only memories of what once
was, is no more, and will never return from the obscurity and shadows
into which a once great denomination will fade.

Of course, there are those associations and denominations slightly less
known to the public at large. Some readers will be aware of the
difficulties experienced by the Calvary Chapel Association and the
Calvary Chapel Global Network. While both claim descent from the
Christian youth movement of the late 1960s, each group has morphed into
faith communities far removed from their origin. Regardless of issues
concerning polity, structure, finance, pastoral accountability and all
the rest, each group now occupies the borderland between mainstream
evangelicalism and fundamentalism and have grown increasingly
reactionary with the passing of years, along with many other similar
independent churches. Through these last number of years, a singular
pastoral and didactic style, pioneered by Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel
Costa Mesa, has been codified into particular "distinctives" with little
appreciation of the historic Church, scholarship or, indeed, an
appreciation of other traditions, moving it further into a identity
which, in truth, is more closely aligned with the fundamentalism of
the1920s. As the current leadership ages and disappears from the scene
and particular pastoral scandals come to light, the long-term viability
of both groups is uncertain, especially as the number of adherents
continues to diminish and as a portion of the leadership is openly
identified with the far right of American politics.

Then there are those groups, once identified with mainline
denominations, that are separate from the larger denominations either
through history or in protest. The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod and
the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod exemplify this for Lutherans.
Both were born of immigrant populations, both are neo-confessional and
both are wholly at odds with other Christian bodies who do not
subscribe, not only to an inerrant Bible, but with the additional
provision that the Bible is only rightly interpreted in the light of the
Lutheran Confessions. Their isolation may be witnessed with regard to
even praying with those outside of their denomination, for the LCMS bars
its clergy from "worshiping" with other Christians. As a result of this,
a LCMS pastor in Connecticut was asked to apologize by the president of
the denomination (and did so) for participating in a prayer vigil for
the 26 children and adults killed at the Newtown elementary school.
Another LCMS pastor in New York was suspended for praying at a similar
vigil in 2001, 12 days after the September 11th attacks on the Twin
Towers in which 2,996 people were killed and over 6000 were injured.

The casual observer, looking for what it means to be a Christian, just
having the most simple and basic idea that Christians love one another
and pray together, especially in times of tragedy, might well wonder
what sort of insanity they are witnessing. Meanwhile, we parse another
Greek verb and argue over the right interpretation of 16th century
documents that have no claim to inerrancy or divine inspiration.

Separation, lack of charity, building of fences and mutual suspicion
have become endemic in American Christianity. Liberal churches drive out
conservatives and conservatives regroup and build the walls higher,
pushing out supposed liberals in their midst. Even the definition of
"liberal" and "conservative" differs as you slide along the scale from
left to right and back again, with people constantly pushing to the
extremes. Mix this with politics, liberal or conservative, and it
becomes a deadly brew, alienating large segments of an unchurched
population. All the while, churches, both liberal and conservative, are
aging and dying at an unprecedented rate. If you believe that you or
your church is immune, you are sadly mistaken. Whether newer Church
bodies such as the Anglican Church in North America (formed in protest
to the policies of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church in
Canada) will learn the lessons of the past remains to be seen.

Of course, this is only to speak of Protestant America.

The Roman Catholic Church is the 800-pound gorilla in the room. It is
the largest Christian body in the United States. Yet even here the story
is similar. Losing over 12 million adherents in the course of a decade,
the only real growth being experienced is through immigration. This,
however, comes with a caveat. The vast majority of second generation
immigrants do not remain in the church. Priests are in short supply and
are aging to such an extent that a crisis looms on the horizon. The
religious orders which once staffed Roman Catholic educational
institutions across the nation are dying and, within our lifetime, many
will be only a memory. The innate tribalism of American Roman
Catholicism mitigates against meaningful evangelism and growth and,
therefore, most converts come through marriage, not conviction of
conscience. In an attempt to slightly "expand the tent" of the church,
Benedict XVI, established an extra-territorial diocese for the Anglican
Ordinariate, allowing a place for married Anglican clergy and, it was
hoped, their congregations, to join the Roman Catholic Church. It was to
have a distinctive Anglican liturgy. The purpose was to bring the riches
of the Anglican patrimony back to Rome. In the main, however, those
attracted were ritualists who, in many cases, preferred the Latin Mass.
Currently, the Ordinariate is more interested in celibate clergy... and
another opportunity for outreach is lost.

Finally, there is the Orthodox Church with its rich and ancient
tradition. In the late 1970s , it appeared as though evangelicals
looking for a home, might find it in Orthodoxy. Peter Gillquist, once of
Campus Crusade, had established house churches, mainly in the Chicago
area, eventually forming a group called the Evangelical Orthodox Church.
They were steeped in church history and considered Orthodoxy their
natural destination. In 1987 Gillquist led 17 churches with a combined
membership of about 2,000 members into the Antiochian Orthodox Church as
a distinct body named the Antiochian Evangelical Mission with a vision
of attracting other evangelicals to come along. Once within the
hierarchical confines of the church, however, continued outreach flagged
and by 1995, the group was absorbed into the standard diocesan
framework. All this is to say, Orthodoxy may be an option for some, but
it will not be an Orthodoxy tailored to evangelicals, Anglicans or
Reformed. It will be Orthodoxy with it's own hierarchy, culture,
politics and traditions... and it will not change to suit you. Even here
there is a shortage of priests and almost a quarter of these clergy are
uncertain about the future of Orthodoxy in this country. Moreover, the
Orthodox churches in America (some 20 National bodies and 6 Oriental
bodies) struggle with ethnicity and, it must be said, are very much
bound by national cultures in their orientation.

So, here we are in the second decade of the twenty-first century looking
at a landscape of uncertainty, dying churches, split denominations, and
politicized Christian movements. We look for the Church and, like
Francis, we are confronted with broken walls, smashed windows and
scattered stones, with a single cross remaining, reminding us of what
once was... But do we hear the voice?

"...Go and repair My house which, as you can see, is falling into
ruins."

Like Francis, I believe we have to set aside the idea of a "great life
work" and, instead, deal with the stones that are lying on the ground in
front of us. I'm not asking you to change the world. I'm asking you to
pick up one stone, walk with it over to the broken wall and set it in
place. Then, walk back, find one more stone, walk it over to the wall
and set that one in place... and keep doing it, one stone at a time.
This is not about hiring an architect, commissioning a feasibility
study, organizing a fund raising campaign, getting three bids from
construction companies and then deciding if it's a good idea. The stones
are lying at your feet. Pick one up...

"...Go and repair My house which, as you can see, is falling into
ruins."

Many have been hurt by the church. I understand that, because I've been
hurt as well. Pick up the first stone. Go to church. Find one that fits
you as well as one can and go. If the pastor ignores you, seek him out
and introduce yourself. If you can't find a church in the first
instance, start one. Find one other person who feels like yourself, make
a time to meet at Starbucks on Sundays. Bring your Bible, or prayerbook,
or devotional and talk together. Share your needs and pray together.
Maybe even find one or two more. It may not be St. Paul's Cathedral with
a choir, but for you, right now, it's church. Then, together, find a
body of believers that all of you can join. Pick up the first stone.

Church, however, is not just about what we receive, it's also about what
we give. Pick up the second stone. Find a place to give of yourself. God
has given you gifts to share. You have the ability to give a cup of
water to someone who is thirsty. When you find a church, ask what you
can do. You might have half an hour to go visit someone in a nursing
home and bring some comfort. There might be a church, that's not even
yours, but that has a ministry to the homeless that has need of
volunteers. There are opportunities all around us to share the love of
Christ in practical ways. Pick up the second stone.

"...Go and repair My house which, as you can see, is falling into
ruins."

If it is going to happen, we have to do it ourselves. We can't simply
wait for someone else to provide us with the "perfect church..." the
"perfect opportunity" for service. With God's help and God's grace, it
has to happen here and now starting with each one of us. If we cannot
stand the hate speech of some, we have to speak of Christ's love. If the
separation of Christians is something we find scandalous, we must reach
across the divide. It can be done... It must be done... God give us
grace and strength to pick up that first stone, not to throw in anger or
frustration, but to build.

duane millerDuane W.H. Arnold, PhD, is an Anglican priest and author.
Among his books are Francis: A Call to Conversion, Prayers of the
Martyrs, and The Early Episcopal Career of Athanasius of Alexandria. He
is also a member of the musical collective, The Project, which has
produced two critically acclaimed albums, Martyrs Prayers and Mystic
Chapel.



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

Message: 13
Date: Thu, 22 Jun 2017 18:46:24 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: Evangelism, Iranian Style
Message-ID:
<1498171584.3286900....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Evangelism, Iranian Style
Amid persecution and a travel ban, Iran's youth want community and
transformation from within.

By K. A. ELLIS
www.christianitytoday.com
JUNE 21, 2017

When I first met Hormoz Shariat in 2016, I expected the president and
founder of Iran Alive Ministries to be a larger-than-life figure who
matched the legendary stories of his sacrificial and protective love for
Iran's underground church. I was instead greeted with warmth and
humility by him and the staff of his prominent television and evangelism
ministry. Though Shariat is constantly in danger, his eyes sparkled with
excitement as we talked.

As recent US foreign policy decisions about Iran made news headlines, I
caught up with Shariat by email to hear his thoughts about this year's
travel bans, Iran's next generation of Christian leaders, and the work
of Iran Alive.

The Iranian church is seeing explosive growth, despite every effort to
silence it. How is this?

There is a very special grace on Iranian Christians living inside Iran.
Through satellite TV, we teach them to love their enemies and pray for
them. We not only help persecuted and isolated Christians grow strong in
faith and action, but we also teach them to share the gospel with their
persecutors.

I have many stories about how persecuted Iranian Christians love their
persecutors. Many experience the presence and power of Jesus while in
jail or when tortured. Our best underground house church leaders are
women who were formerly oppressed and desperate but are now attracted to
Christianity, where women are respected.

What has been the response to President Donald Trump's temporary travel
bans?

Feelings were mixed. Some were directly affected and were not happy.
Iranians both in America and outside America were concerned that they
wouldn't be able to see their loved ones. Those who were hoping to
immigrate to America lost hope. Iranians love America, and succeeding
there is an ultimate dream.

Many Iranians say they understand that the President must put US
interests first. I've heard this even from those who were negatively
affected by the ban. Iranians are both hopeful and afraid of Trump. And,
they're hoping that their Islamic government will be replaced by a
secular democracy, but they don't want war or violence to achieve it.

Many young people around the globe are taking up justice causes. What
about Iran's young people?

There are some similarities between Iranian and American millennials:
Both are looking for a worthy cause to believe in and give their lives
to. Both are interested in social justice and solving social ills, with
many helping the homeless and poor. Community is important to both, and
they are not interested in superheroes of faith.

The under-20 generation has the greatest potential to transform Iran.
Most Iranian youth are secular in thinking, and the spirit of Islam has
no control over them. They're not afraid of Allah, the government, or
death. They're not interested in religion until they are presented with
Christ, in whom they find salvation and purpose. Because of the killings
after the 2009 election results, they are against public protest or
violent uprising, but they're open to the message that we share on
satellite TV: Transform Iran without violence by first being transformed
yourself, and then become an agent of transformation.

FOR THE REST OF THE STORY CLICK HERE:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2017/july-august/evangelism-iranian-style.html



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

Message: 14
Date: Thu, 22 Jun 2017 18:47:07 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: What Does it Mean to be a Mature Christian Disciple?
Message-ID:
<1498171627.3287005....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

What Does it Mean to be a Mature Christian Disciple?
1.LOVE: John 15:1-10

By Ted Schroder,
www.tedschroder.com
June 25, 2017

My Vision for the next three years is to develop mature Christian
disciples who will be able to compassionately respond to the needs of
others. But what does it mean to be a mature Christian disciple? Randy
Frazee in his book, Think, Act, Be Like Jesus: Becoming a New Person in
Christ, answers the question by asking another one: Who am I becoming?
He then goes on to list ten virtues or fruit of the Spirit. "Jesus used
the analogy of fruit to teach about the spiritual growth process. He
said becoming like him is much the same as growing a crop."

John 15:1-10 describes the process in terms of the true vine and its
branches. If we want to bear fruit we have to remain connected to the
vine. "No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine.
Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me." Jesus is the true,
the authentic, vine which is cultivated by God as his people. "I am the
vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will
bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."

The key to becoming a mature Christian disciple is to remain connected
to Jesus so that you are in him and he is in you. It is a daily, hourly
personal relationship that enables the life of Christ to flow through
you and produce fruit. Jesus said, "By their fruits you will know them."
You can tell those who are mature Christian disciples by their lives, by
their behavior, by their attitudes, by their conversation.

What is this fruit? Jesus goes on to say, "As the Father has loved me,
so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you
will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and
remain in his love." God has loved us into a personal relationship with
him and wants us to reflect that love in our relationships with others.
The Great Commandment is to love God and our neighbor as ourselves. God
enables us to love others by pouring his love into our hearts by the
Holy Spirit whom he has given us (Rom 5:5).

But what do we mean by love? It is not just sentiment, or good feelings,
or reciprocal love, whereby we love others for what they can do for us.
"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his
Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." Christian love is sacrificial
love, a free gift of grace. It enables us to love the unlovely, to even
forgive and love our enemies.

St. Paul expounds the meaning of love in 1 Corinthians 13. Henry
Drummond was born in Stirling, Scotland on August 17, 1851. When he
died, aged 45 in 1897, his life was described by his friends and
admirers, as the most Christian life they ever knew. His biographer, the
noted biblical scholar, George Adam Smith, wrote that he "was one of the
purest, most unselfish, most reverent souls you ever knew; but you would
not have called him saint. The name he went by among younger men was
'The Prince'; there was a distinction and a radiance upon him that
compelled the title." Henry Drummond is remembered for an address he
gave to students in 1890 at D.L. Moody's school in Northfield, Mass.
entitled The Greatest Thing in the World. It is an exposition of 1
Corinthians 13, and it is still in print.

This is what Dwight L. Moody says about its author. "No words of mine
can better describe his life and character than those in which he has
presented to us The Greatest Thing in the World. Some men take an
occasional journey into the thirteenth of First Corinthians, but Henry
Drummond was a man who lived there constantly, appropriating its
blessings and exemplifying its teachings. As you read what he terms the
analysis of love, you find that all its ingredients were interwoven into
his daily life, making him one of the most lovable men I have ever
known. Was it courtesy you looked for; he was a perfect gentleman. Was
it kindness; he was always preferring another [putting others before
himself]. Was it humility; he was simple and not courting favor. It
could be said of him truthfully, as it was said of the early apostles,
'that men took knowledge of him that he had been with Jesus.' Nor was
this love and kindness only shown to those who were his close friends.
His face was an index to his inner life. It was genial and kind, and
made him, like his Master, a favorite with children... Never have I
known a man who, in my opinion, lived nearer the Master, or sought to do
His will more fully."

Drummond divides his exposition into three parts. The first part is
headed, Love Contrasted. He contrasts love with eloquence, with
prophecy, with sacrifice and martyrdom. It is possible to be a great
speaker or preacher and yet lack the fruit of love. You can know
everything about the Christian faith, be a theologian and a pastor and
yet lack the fruit of love. It is possible to be a visionary, a genius
of great intellect, a successful leader and yet lack the fruit of love.
It is possible to be a great social reformer, a champion of the
underdog, a critic and revolutionary and yet lack the fruit of love.

The second part is headed, Love Analyzed. He uses the analogy of light,
which when passed through a crystal prism is broken up into its
component colors. So Paul passes love through the magnificent prism of
his inspired intellect, and it comes out on the other side broken up
into its elements. He describes this spectrum of Love as Patience,
Kindness, Generosity, Humility, Courtesy, Unselfishness, Good Temper,
Guilelessness and Sincerity. Life is full of opportunities for learning
Love. The world is a schoolroom in which to learn to love. Life is not a
holiday, but an education in love. The one eternal lesson for us all is
how better we can love. Love is not a thing of enthusiastic emotion. It
is a rich, strong, vigorous expression of the whole round Christian
character -- the Christ-like nature in its fullest development. And the
constituents of this great character are only to be built up by
ceaseless practice. He asks how we can bring Love into our nature. Love
is an effect. The cause of Love is: "We love, because He first loved
us." (1 John 4:19) Our heart is slowly changed by Christ. Contemplate
the love of Christ and you will live. Stand before that mirror, reflect
Christ's character, and you will be changed into the same image. There
is no other way. You cannot love to order. You can only look at the
Perfect Character, this Perfect Life. Look at the great Sacrifice as he
laid down himself, all through life, and upon the Cross of Calvary; and
you must love Him. And loving Him, you must become like Him. Love begets
love. We love others, we love everybody, we love our enemies, because He
first loved us.

The third part is headed Love's Defense. Love lasts. To love abundantly
is to live abundantly, and to love for ever is to live for ever. Eternal
life is inextricably bound up with love. We want to live forever for the
same reason that we want to live tomorrow. Why do we want to live
tomorrow? It is because there is someone who loves you, and whom you
want to see tomorrow, and be with, and love back. There is no other
reason why we should live on than that we love and are beloved. Eternal
life also is to know God, and God is love. Love must be eternal. It is
what God is. On the last analysis, then, love is life. Love should be
the supreme thing -- because it is going to last; because in the nature
of things it is an Eternal Life.

Read 1 Corinthians 13 once a week for the next three months. It will
change your life. It is for the greatest thing in the world. It is worth
doing. It is worth giving time to. Address yourself to that one thing.
Everything else in all our lives is transitory. Every other good is
visionary. But the acts of love which no one knows about, or can ever
know about - they never fail.

If you want to become a mature Christian disciple you will remain in
Christ and produce the fruit of love.



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

Subject: Digest Footer

VirtueOnline Weekly News Digest
http://www.virtueonline.org/listserv.html


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

End of VirtueOnline Digest, Vol 17, Issue 23
********************************************