VirtueOnline Digest, Vol 17, Issue 39

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=================================
VirtueOnline Weekly News Digest
http://www.VirtueOnline.org
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Today's Topics:

1. Table of Contents (David Virtue)
2. VIEWPOINTS: October 13, 2017 (David Virtue)
3. Thoughts on the Primates Meeting from Archbishop Gregory
Venables (David Virtue)
4. GAFCON Spokesman Denied Access to Primates' Final Press
Conference (David Virtue)
5. Anglican Diocese of Sydney donates $1 million to 'no'
campaign in same-sex marriage poll (David Virtue)
6. Celebrated Church of England bishop accused of child abuse
'will have his good name restored' by an inquiry (David Virtue)
7. Why can't a Welby be more like a man? (David Virtue)
8. Nashotah House Culture Wars (David Virtue)
9. Concord NH police, St. Paul?s School review their
understanding on crime reporting (David Virtue)
10. Sale of Newport's St. James church called off; long-locked
doors will reopen (David Virtue)
11. "Have It Your Way" (David Virtue)
12. Response from GAFCON Bishop Andy Lines to the Primates'
Communique (David Virtue)
13. Anglican Communion News Service smears GAFCON and manipulates
Archbishop of Canterbury (David Virtue)
14. Thousands of Christians 'Take a Knee' on National Mall to
Repent for Racial Injustice (David Virtue)
15. A CHURCH IN NEED (David Virtue)
16. BECOMING A NEW PERSON IN CHRIST: 2 Corinthians 5:17 (David Virtue)


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Message: 1
Date: Thu, 12 Oct 2017 17:17:34 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org
Subject: Table of Contents
Message-ID:
<1507843054.3114441....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

VirtueOnline Weekly News Digest - Desktop & Mobile Edition
www.virtueonline.org
October 13, 2017

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

1. Primates' Summit a Bust says South American Primate * SC Diocese
wants Conflicted Justice Removed * St. James Newport Beach Deal
Cancelled * Nashotah House Culture Wars * Episcopal Academy Sexual
Assault Review * Sydney Diocese Donates $1M to S-S Fight
http://www.virtueonline.org/primates-summit-bust-says-south-american-primate-sc-diocese-wants-conflicted-justice-removed-st


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

2.Thoughts on the Primates Meeting from Archbishop Gregory Venables
http://www.virtueonline.org/thoughts-primates-meeting-archbishop-gregory-venables

3.GAFCON Spokesman Denied Access to Primates' Final Press Conference
http://www.virtueonline.org/gafcon-spokesman-denied-access-primates-final-press-conference

4.Anglican Diocese of Sydney donates $1 million to 'no' campaign in
Same-Sex Marriage Poll
http://www.virtueonline.org/anglican-diocese-sydney-donates-1-million-no-campaign-same-sex-marriage-poll


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

5.Celebrated Church of England bishop accused of child abuse 'will have
his good name restored' ...
http://www.virtueonline.org/celebrated-church-england-bishop-accused-child-abuse-will-have-his-good-name-restored-inquiry

6.Why can't a Welby be more like a man?
http://www.virtueonline.org/why-cant-welby-be-more-man


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

7.Nashotah House Culture Wars
http://www.virtueonline.org/nashotah-house-culture-wars

8.Concord NH police, St. Paul=E2=80=99s School review their
understanding on crime reporting
http://www.virtueonline.org/concord-nh-police-st-paul%E2%80%99s-school-review-their-understanding-crime-reporting

9.Sale of Newport's St. James church called off; long-locked doors will
reopen
http://www.virtueonline.org/sale-newports-st-james-church-called-long-locked-doors-will-reopen


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

10."Have It Your way"
http://www.virtueonline.org/have-it-your-way

11.Response from GAFCON Bishop Andy Lines to the Primates' Communique
http://www.virtueonline.org/response-gafcon-bishop-andy-lines-primates-communique

12.Anglican Communion News Service smears GAFCON and manipulates
Archbishop of Canterbury
http://www.virtueonline.org/anglican-communion-news-service-smears-gafcon-and-manipulates-archbishop-canterbury


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

13.Thousands of Christians 'Take a Knee' on National Mall to Repent for
Racial Injustice
http://www.virtueonline.org/thousands-christians-take-knee-national-mall-repent-racial-injustice


************************************
REFORMATION & REVIVAL
************************************

14.A CHURCH IN NEED
http://www.virtueonline.org/church-need


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

15.BECOMING A NEW PERSON IN CHRIST: 2 Corinthians 5:17
http://www.virtueonline.org/becoming-new-person-christ-2-corinthians-517


END



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

Message: 2
Date: Thu, 12 Oct 2017 17:18:46 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: VIEWPOINTS: October 13, 2017
Message-ID:
<1507843126.3114576....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

'Holy gossip'. We are a very media-conscious generation. We know the
power of mass media on the public mind. Consequently, we want to use the
media in evangelism. By print and tape, by audio and video cassettes, by
radio and television we would like to saturate the world with the good
news. And rightly so. In principle nobody should quarrel with this
ambition. We should harness to the service of the gospel every modern
medium of communication which is available to us. Nevertheless there is
another way, which (if we must compare them) is still more effective. It
requires no complicated electronic gadgetry; it is very simple. It is
neither organized nor computerized; it is spontaneous. And it is not
expensive; it costs precisely nothing. We might call it 'holy gossip'.
It is the excited transmission from mouth to mouth of the impact which
the good news is making on people. 'Have you heard what has happened to
so and so? Did you know that such and such a person has come to believe
in God and has been completely transformed? Something extraordinary is
going on ...' --- John R.W. Stott

Perhaps (!) the last vestige of Christendom that needs to be abolished
is Christian recognition of state-granted marriage licenses as
completely valid for us Christians and establishment of Christian
marriage apart from state-granted marriages. What I am suggesting is
that we, Christians, in a post-Christian society, go "the rest of the
way" with separation of church and state and, for ourselves, separate
government granted and recognized "civil unions" (our term for
state-granted and recognized marriages) from Christian marriage. ---
Roger E. Olson

The Reformation was not a break with the historic Church of Christ
(catholic as in universal) but rather a cleansing and healing process
within the ailing body of believers who were denied the clarity of the
gospel and ready access to the teaching of the Bible as the ultimate
authority for faith and comfort in the salvation wrought through Jesus
Christ. The intent of the Reformation was benign, magnanimous, and
pastoral. The character of the Reformation was Augustinian, the classic
theology of grace defined by the Bishop of Hippo and endorsed by several
important church councils. --- Roger Salter

Here we sit by the rivers of New Babylon, believing Catholics and
Protestants alike, paradoxically linked in a love for Jesus Christ, but
wrapped in a hundred new forms of entangling captivity--sex, food,
money, drugs, ambition, technology, noise, more sex, anxiety, distrust,
loneliness, the politics of victimhood and resentment, feelings posing
as truth, emotion posing as reason, moral indifference and cowardice
posing as compassion, imaginations strip-mined of the sacramental and
supernatural, and then colonized with the relentless teasing of material
appetites. A place where the horizons of the eternal disappear into a
fog of the urgent now. A mighty fortress is our gaud. --- Charles
Chaput, Archbishop of Philadelphia

A loss of faith. The principal reason in my judgment why there is so
little effective evangelism to-day is that we clergy have, in many
cases, ceased to believe in it. We are no longer expecting to see moral
miracles. --- John R.W. Stott

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
www.virtueonline.org
October 13, 2017

GLOBAL NEWS

The primatial summit of 33 archbishops meeting in Canterbury is over.
And, like most summits that we have come to know and see, there are two
very opposing views on what really took place there.

There is the official communique and press releases saying it was all
very wonderful and grand, with mighty issues focusing on the Five Marks
of Mission of the Communion, talking about compassion and reconciliation
offered by Jesus with those in need around the world, including climate
change, slavery, safeguarding children etc. etc. most of which the
primates can do very little about, if anything, but it is nice to be
able to make grand pronouncements dressed in red robes of righteousness
sitting in the safe and well-guarded environment of Canterbury
Cathedral.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said that "in the best
possible sense, it has been a 'business as usual' Primates' Meeting,
which hasn't been usual for 20 years. The primates seem to be going away
very full of hope." Really.

Then there is the other side of the story about what really took place
in Canterbury which had more to do with same-sex marriage and the fact
that three of the largest provinces of the communion were not present
because they believe the fabric of the communion has been broken and is
unlikely to be repaired any time soon, if at all.

We got this report from the Archbishop of South America, the Most Rev.
Gregory Venables. He had a decidedly different take.

First of all, he clarified that there were three groups identified
during the meeting: those who were walking together, those walking
apart, and those walking together at a distance.

He then questioned the accuracy of the Communique and the process by
which it was produced and he expressed concerned about the danger of the
appearance of orthodoxy without its substance.

He took a hard swipe about the necessity of discipline, and the
inability of the Anglican Communion to function coherently as a church.

Are the Primates Walking Together, asked Venables? Not exactly. "The
meeting revealed that some aren't walking together, some are walking
together but at a distance, and some are walking together. But even
those three ways of grouping that situation doesn't deal with the issue.
The issue is, why aren't people walking together? And we aren't walking
together because the situation has not been dealt with.

"People are being led away from the truth. People are being led away
from the safe place that God has provided in his Son Jesus Christ who
died for our sin. He didn't just die to affirm us and get on because
everything is alright. He died because we were in rebellion and
separated eternally from God. So a sort of "sanction" might look fine
for those who are looking for some way of saying, 'well, it's not
right.'

Venables then took the gloves off and said this, "It's more than 'not
right.' It's life and death, and it has to be dealt with. That was
expressed clearly in the meeting, but of course isn't there in the
Communique.

There you have it.

This of course begs the deeper question of who wrote the Communique?

Well, VOL got the scoop on that and this is what we learned from a
spokesman who told us this; "Work began on the communique on Wednesday.
A drafting group of three primates was established: Archbishop Philip
Freier, Archbishop Paul Kwong and Archbishop Jackson Ole Sapit. This
group liaised with staff from the Anglican Communion Office as material
was collated and a draft communique was produced. The draft communique
was then presented to all of the Primates and amendments were made as
required. The final version, approved by all of the primates present,
was then published on Friday afternoon."

So two liberal primates and one orthodox primate (from Kenya), working
in consort with the Anglican Communion office pulled it altogether. That
should tell you just about everything you need to know. With Fearon's
fingers all over the communique, it would never pass muster with the
GAFCON primates. It was spin all the way.

Here is what Venables concluded; "Every other Primates' Meeting I have
been a part of has begun with a moment when we set up a communique
commission; a draft commission whose job it was to prepare a draft
communique which we checked every morning and every evening of every day
to see how we were doing. Admittedly, I left on the lunch on Wednesday,
but I heard nothing about a draft communique. So who wrote it? It does
not reflect what I experienced and heard in the meeting.

Venables attacked the root of the problem when he said this; "Why do
people not get that the Bible is the Word of God? That God has expressed
his opinion on this issue clearly, in the way that nobody can doubt.
It's not down to my opinion. It's not down to how I see it. The whole
question of Christianity isn't, "What do I think?" but "What does God
think?" And God has said, very plainly, he has made us male and female,
and that relationships of that nature are between a man and a woman in
marriage. Everything else is sin. It doesn't matter what the elements
are, it's sin. It is forbidden by God, and he has told us so in his
Word."

He finished with this blast; "In all our services we read the Word and
say, "This is the Word of the Lord." If scripture is not our final
authority then we have no authority."

It was agreed that the Archbishop of Canterbury be invited to regional
meetings of Primates and others during 2018 and 2019 so that the vision
for the 2020 Lambeth Conference can be shared. The Archbishop of
Canterbury will consider whether another full Primates' Meeting will be
held before the Lambeth Conference. Probably not, but who cares, the
major players will not be there.

You can read a number of stories on all this in today's digest,
including a story I wrote about how GAFCON spokesperson, Canon Andy
Gross got kicked out of the final press conference because they didn't
like what he had to say earlier about the way primates were being
manipulated by Welby.

IN OTHER NEWS, Welby said Christians should be "reconciled reconcilers",
as he launched the Reconciling Leaders Network (RLN) -- a new
international movement of peacemakers. The RLN will train "the next
generation of leaders to be reconcilers within their churches,
communities and nations," Lambeth palace said.

In a statement, Lambeth Palace said that the new network "is mobilizing
and resourcing an international movement of mediators and reconcilers --
both ordained and lay -- to equip their local communities, churches and
workplaces to serve in the midst of conflict.

"The network will equip experienced lay and ordained peace-builders to
use their experience to resource the Church and mentor the next
generation. It will also have a focus on supporting women in the midst
of conflict in their vital roles as reconcilers."

Perhaps the Archbishop of Canterbury could use his immense reconciling
skills to squaring the circle between his fellow primates and GAFCON.
That would be a great start.

UNITED STATES

Attorneys for a breakaway Episcopalian diocese in South Carolina want a
deeply conflicted state Supreme Court justice to be taken off of their
case. Not only that, they want a prior opinion issued in the case by the
justice -- Kaye Hearn -- to be vacated, according to FITSNews.com

In a motion filed before the S.C. Supreme Court last month, attorneys
revealed the extent to which Hearn was conflicted when she ruled in
favor of the liberal national Episcopal Church (TEC) in this
groundbreaking case -- which was first reported by FITS news site five
years ago.

"Justice Hearn had a duty to disclose various facts concerning her
relationships," the motion to vacate Hearn's opinion stated. "Further,
based on the facts and her relationships, she had a mandatory duty to
recuse. Justice Hearn did not disclose the relationships, nor did she
ultimately recuse."

Not only did she fail to disclose her conflicts and recuse herself,
Hearn cast the deciding vote in this case -- a lapse in judgment which
we believe could create a chilling effect on religious liberty across
the Palmetto State. You can read more about this in today's digest.
Clearly this story is going down to the wire. Bishop Mark Lawrence is
calling for a major prayer effort to obtain a true outcome for over half
a billion dollars' worth of properties.

The latest planned sale of the shuttered St. James the Great Episcopal
Church in Newport Beach has been canceled, and the building will be
reopened to worshippers, according to the Episcopal Diocese of Los
Angeles, according to the LA Times.

The move would end a more than two-year drama in which the diocese's top
bishop, J. Jon Bruno, tried twice to sell the church property to
developers, locked out the congregation and kept the church closed even
after the first sale attempt fell through. The actions resulted in Bruno
being sanctioned by the Episcopal Church.

The Right Rev John Taylor, bishop coadjutor for the diocese and the
successor to Bruno, who is retiring soon, said in an interview Wednesday
that the church's reopening date is to be determined, but that it will
be as soon as pastorally and practically possible. You can read the full
story in today's digest.

Nashotah House is back in the news, and, again not favorably. The
seminary has been floundering and simmering with ecclesiastical rage
ever since they got rid of the Very Rev. Dr. Robert Munday as its
President and Dean.

The seminary roils from crisis to crisis unable, it seems, to comprehend
the damage it is doing to itself and the effect it is having on those
who still believe in its mission.

Its board chairman is Episcopal Springfield Bishop Dan Martins, who
embraces a Church standing in a theological and spiritual septic tank of
its own making, in clear opposition to the catholic faith espoused by
the 175-year old seminary. You can read the full story here or in
today's digest. http://www.virtueonline.org/nashotah-house-culture-wars

In the ongoing history of sexual abuse in Episcopal academies that never
seems to end, comes yet another twist. St. Paul's School (Episcopal) and
the Concord, NH police signed a Memorandum Of Understanding in 2012. The
school had a history of not reporting sex crimes. The MOU spells out the
school's obligation to report on-campus crime, and, in particular,
sexual assault, to the police. The parties have taken note of an MOU
recently signed between Phillips Exeter Academy and Exeter police.

There are two related developments. The New Hampshire Supreme Court has
accepted a request for review from Owen Labrie, a former student at the
school. And the school has asked for a delay in the civil trial
surrounding charges against the school by Labrie's victim.

Both Saint Paul's and Phillips Exeter made national headlines in recent
years for their handling of sexual misconduct allegations against
students and former teachers. The boarding schools also independently
hired law firms to investigate claims brought by students against former
faculty and staff spanning decades. You can read the full story in
today's digest.

AUSTRALIA

The Anglican Diocese of Sydney has donated $1 million to fund the
campaign against same-sex marriage in Australia, according to a
Christian News report.

The Archbishop of Sydney, Glenn Davies, confirmed on Monday his heavily
conservative diocese, the largest in the country, had backed the 'no'
campaign in Australia's forthcoming postal survey on gay marriage.

'The stakes are high and the cost is high,' he told a meeting of all the
churches in Sydney on Monday. 'Yet the cause is just and it is a
consequence of our discipleship to uphold the gift of marriage as God
has designed it -- a creation ordinance for all people.'

He added he would 'make no apology' for urging Australians to vote 'no'
in the poll, which was commissioned by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull
to advise parliament, but is not legally binding.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Mercy always triumphs over judgment.

In Christ,

David



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

Message: 3
Date: Thu, 12 Oct 2017 17:19:09 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: Thoughts on the Primates Meeting from Archbishop Gregory
Venables
Message-ID:
<1507843149.3114611....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Thoughts on the Primates Meeting from Archbishop Gregory Venables

GAFCON Press Release
October 9, 2017

Archbishop Gregory Venables, Primate of South America, was one of the
founding Gafcon Primates and attended the Primates Meeting between 2002
and 2011 before stepping down as Primate. He was re-elected as Primate
in 2017 for another term, succeeding Archbishop Tito Zavala (Chile).
Archbishop Venables shared his experience of the recent Primates Meeting
in Canterbury.

He recently spoke about his experience at the Primates Meeting. In the
conversation, Archbishop Venables expressed his strong desire for Gafcon
to improve the communication amongst the movement's members, be robust
enough to attract new members, and to hold together in the face of
powerful challenges to the word of God.

Below are a few more of the topics he covered:
1. He clarified that there were 3 groups identified during the
meeting: those who were walking together, those walking apart, and those
walking together at a distance

2. He questioned the accuracy of the Communique and the process by
which it was produced.

3. He expressed concerned about the danger of the appearance of
orthodoxy without its substance

4. He speaks about the necessity of discipline, and the inability
of the Anglican Communion to function coherently a church.

Below are quotes from Archbishop Venables on each theme.

Are The Primates Walking Together?

What was identified clearly in the meeting is that some aren't walking
together, some are walking together but at a distance, and some are
walking together. But even those three ways of grouping that situation
don't deal with the issue. The issue is, why aren't people walking
together? And we aren't walking together because the situation has not
been dealt with.

Does it Matter?

People are being led away from the truth. People are being led away from
the safe place that God has provided in his Son Jesus Christ who died
for our sin. He didn't just die to affirm us and get on because
everything is alright. He died because we were in rebellion and
separated eternally from God. So a sort of "sanction" might look fine
for those who are looking for some way of saying, 'well, it's not
right.'

It's more than 'not right.' It's life and death, and it has to be dealt
with. That was expressed clearly in the meeting, but of course isn't
there in the Communique.

Who Wrote the Communique?

Every other Primates Meeting I have been a part of has begun with a
moment when we set up a communique commission; a draft commission whose
job it was to prepare a draft communique which we checked every morning
and every evening of every day to see how we were doing. Admittedly, I
left on the lunch on Wednesday, but I heard nothing about a draft
communique. So who wrote it? It does not reflect what I experienced and
heard in the meeting. That's fine, it might be somebody's perception,
but it wasn't my perception and that leads me to ask more serious
questions.

The Authority of God's Word and Sexuality

Why do people not get that the Bible is the Word of God? That God has
expressed his opinion on this issue clearly, in the way that nobody can
doubt. It's not down to my opinion. It's not down to how I see it. The
whole question of Christianity isn't, "What do I think?" but "What does
God think?" And God has said, very plainly, he has made us male and
female, and that relationships of that nature are between a man and a
woman in marriage. Everything else is sin. It doesn't matter what the
elements are, it's sin. It is forbidden by God, and he has told us so in
his Word."

The Word of God is always going to be questioned, but it's God's Word.
And I believe that The Anglican Communion has lost touch with the plain
truth as revealed in Scripture, and that's a tragedy, but we've gotta
keep on being there proclaiming it and speaking it. Not walking away,
but not pretending either that we are walking together with people who
are ignoring the plain truth of scripture, even though they might appear
to be orthodox."

What worries me far more now is the appearance of orthodoxy. We might be
in language, but are we in our attitude to the Word of God. What did the
Reformation take as fact? The Word of God.

In all our services we read the Word and say, "This is the Word of the
Lord." If scripture is not our final authority then we have no
authority.

Discipline in the Anglican Communion

Every time that [discipline] came up, what was said was, "We don't have
the authority to do this. The question is, 'Well why give the impression
at the beginning that we do?'"

Maybe the Anglican way doesn't have a way of doing this. Maybe that is
what we just have to accept. The problem is part of the role of church
leadership is discipline. If we cannot exercise discipline when people
wander away from the truth, then the church cannot function as the
church, and that's where the wheels have dropped off. Because when push
comes to shove, and we make the decisions as we did in Dar es Salaam, we
talked about them in Dromantine, we talked about them again in
Alexandria, it was talked about again last year in January, and then
someone says, 'But we don't have the authority to do it.' Then it means
that we are not able to fulfill our responsibility as church leaders,
because there has to be discipline.

If you read the New Testament, Paul does not assume some sort of Papal
figure. There is no one overall leader in the New Testament, and I don't
believe there's meant to be. Maybe there's meant to be a group of people
who come together and come to some decision, but certainly there is a
need for leadership to exercise discipline. And we haven't found it. And
I don't know who now is going to sit down now and say, 'How do we do
that?' Although we talked about it in the Primates Meeting, we did not
get to a place where we were really becoming pragmatic in what we were
talking about. And that's a great pity. I'm looking for cohesion and
accountability, and people being able to do what they are called to do
as church leaders.

What is the Message Coming Out of the Primates Meeting?

Maybe the message is, you have to either be a relativist, pluralist or
there's no place for you. Maybe that's the message, but I don't see that
very many people within the Anglican Communion have actually understood
that. don't see that people have realized that we do not really agree on
the essential salvation issues, because if we did we would not be in the
situation that we've been in for a long time. It was marked in 1998, we
discussed it in Lambeth 1998, it was absolutely confirmed in November
2003 when Gene Robinson was consecrated, and it's gone on being
confirmed in the time up until now. In that sense, one of the messages
from the Primates Meeting was it's "business as usual." Things haven't
changed. This is how it's going to be, and that saddens me deeply.

Archbishop Gregory Venables is Primate of South America. He is a
personal friend of Pope Francis



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

Message: 4
Date: Thu, 12 Oct 2017 17:19:27 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: GAFCON Spokesman Denied Access to Primates' Final Press
Conference
Message-ID:
<1507843167.3114614....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

GAFCON Spokesman Denied Access to Primates' Final Press Conference
South American Archbishop leaves early after advising GAFCON Primates to
Stand Firm

By David W. Virtue. DD
www.virtueonline.org
October 8, 2017

GAFCON press officer, Canon Andy Gross was told he was not welcome at
the final press conference of the Primates' meeting in Canterbury and
was ushered off the grounds of Canterbury Cathedral.

In an e-mail to VOL, Canon Gross explained how a deeply seated double
standard is at work in the official structures and staffing of the
Anglican Communion, and this double standard is used to hamstring those
members of the Anglican Communion whose theology the Anglican Communion
Office does not like, while rewarding those who have torn the fabric of
the Communion.

Here is the story in his words.

"At the 2016 Primates' Gathering I attended the press conference in my
capacity as the GAFCON Press Officer. As I recall, at that press
conference there were staffers from other provinces and organizations in
the room, as well as a diverse set of journalists.

"This year I reached out to Mr. Adrian Butcher, the Anglican Communion
Office Communications Director, ahead of the meeting. He came on staff
with the Anglican Communion Office in the spring of 2016, and wasn't at
the last meeting, but over the last year, he and I have traded a couple
of cordial emails.

"Two weeks ago, I sent him an email asking for credentialing. He stated,
"There will not be any communications staff from provinces in
attendance. Are you planning to be in Canterbury? If so, I would very
much like to meet up.

"I responded by saying, "At the 2016 gathering a number of
Communications Directors were present and in attendance at the press
conferences. Is there a reason that you wouldn't extend credentialing to
Communications Directors again this time? I'd be glad to meet up while
we are there.

"If he did not want to credential me as the GAFCON Press Officer, or the
Anglican Church in North America Communications Director, he could have
easily done so in my capacity as the Editor of the Apostle Magazine, or
simply as a professional courtesy.

"He did not respond to my email.

"This year, when the Tuesday press conference came around, I went and
was admitted as usual. As usual I stood in the back and didn't ask any
questions. I looked around the room and saw The Rev. Paul Feheley there.
Paul is a senior staff member of the Anglican Church of Canada and has
often helped run communications at these events. In fact, he has helped
run so many of them that Anglican Communion News Service reported he
received an honorary doctorate for his work":
http://www.anglicannews.org/news/2017/05/canadian-pioneer-of-church-communications-awarded-honorary-degree.aspx

"It is a significant conflict of interest to have the Anglican Church of
Canada, a province identified by the Windsor Report for having torn the
fabric of the Communion, helping to run communications for the Lambeth
Conferences, Anglican Consultative Council, and Primates' Meetings, but
it has been the pattern for many years.

"After the press conference was over, I stayed in the room (it was a
small room), in order to say "hello" to Mr. Butcher, and see if we could
find a time to meet. Unfortunately, Mr. Butcher left before I could
greet him. I was instead greeted by David Porter, the Archbishop of
Canterbury's Chief of Staff and Strategy, who falsely accused me of
politicizing the previous night's Evensong service. An accusation that I
assured him was inaccurate, and one that has since been correctly
identified as such:
http://archbishopcranmer.com/anglican-communion-news-service-smears-gafcon-manipulates-welby/

"On Friday, the Canterbury campus was closed. A security guard informed
me that those attending the press conference were being held in a
waiting room, separate from the building that was to hold the press
conference, and he walked me there.

"As we walked across the cathedral grounds the Rev. Feheley came around
a corner, gave me a very surprised look, and then walked briskly into
the building where the press conference was being held.

"I was ushered to Diocesan House just off the campus, was given a press
badge, and spent a half hour waiting with the others. When the press
conference was ready to start, we were then directed back onto the
grounds. As we walked, I was suddenly confronted by Mr. Drake, an
Anglican Communion Office communications staff member, and told that I
was not credentialed to attend. I asked him why I had not been informed
previously, and asked why Paul Feheley was allowed to be present. Mr.
Drake informed me that Mr. Feheley was helping to run communications. I
asked how it was that The Anglican Church of Canada's communications
staff could help run communications, but GAFCON'S Press Officer wasn't
allowed to even listen to the press conference? Wasn't this a double
standard? The question was not answered.

"I explained that I had not previously been denied access, and had tried
to follow the process by corresponding the previous week with Mr.
Butcher, but my email had not been returned. I then reminded Mr. Drake
that I had allowed him to attend my press briefing even though he did
not even attempt to follow the process for credentialing. After this
professional courtesy had been extended to him, would he not return the
gesture?

"He assured me he would not, and that I must leave, which I did."

IN OTHER NEWS, the Archbishop of South America, the Most Rev. Gregory
Venables, a GAFCON primate, told VOL that he came but left early. "I was
there for a short time to support the new Primates and to say what was
needed."

While both Venables and Welby are English Evangelical Anglicans, the
Archbishop of South America has spent most of his life in Latin America.
He served as the Primate of the Southern Cone in South America from 2001
until 2010, and once again in 2016 when the province was renamed South
America. He is also diocesan bishop of Argentina.

During his time in Argentina, he became a close personal friend of then
Cardinal Bergoglio (later Pope Francis.) He has steadfastly refused to
tolerate Welby's stance on homosexuality, is a leading player among the
GAFCON primates and adheres to a strictly Biblical worldview on
homosexual behavior. He also views homosexuality as an affront to a
Latino culture where traditional masculinity is an aspect of machismo
culture and homosexuality is seen as an affront to manliness.

END



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

Message: 5
Date: Thu, 12 Oct 2017 17:19:44 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: Anglican Diocese of Sydney donates $1 million to 'no'
campaign in same-sex marriage poll
Message-ID:
<1507843184.3114639....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Anglican Diocese of Sydney donates $1 million to 'no' campaign in
same-sex marriage poll
Glenn Davies is the Archbishop of Sydney in the Anglican Church of
Australia

By Harry Farley
https://www.christiantoday.com/
October 9, 2017

The Anglican Diocese of Sydney has donated $1 million to fund the
campaign against same-sex marriage in Australia.

The Archbishop of Sydney, Glenn Davies, confirmed on Monday his heavily
conservative diocese, the largest in the country, had backed the 'no'
campaign in Australia's forthcoming postal survey on gay marriage.

'The stakes are high and the cost is high,' he told a meeting of all the
churches in Sydney on Monday. 'Yet the cause is just and it is a
consequence of our discipleship to uphold the gift of marriage as God
has designed it -- a creation ordinance for all people.'

He added he would 'make no apology' for urging Australians to vote 'no'
in the poll, which was commissioned by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull
to advise parliament but is not legally binding.

'I consider the consequences of removing gender from the marriage
construct will have irreparable consequences for our society, for our
freedom of speech, our freedom of conscience and freedom of religion,'
he told the synod. 'It is disingenuous to think otherwise.'

He added: 'We find ourselves being moved in a more libertarian direction
under the influence of those who want to abandon the mores of the past.

'These permissive forces who espouse the virtue of tolerance are seeking
to impose restrictions upon those who wish to maintain the values on
which our nation has been founded,' he said according to The Australian.

'This has become nowhere more apparent than in the current debate
surrounding the postal survey on same-sex marriage.'

Moving on to discuss abortion and assisted suicide, Dr Davies said he
had written to the area's parliamentarians on behalf of all the churches
to oppose any attempts at liberalisation.

But the Anglican Church of Australia is split on the issue with the
newly elected first female Anglican Archbishop, Kay Goldsworthy,
strongly hinting that she personally backs same-sex marriage. She said
she has an 'inclusive' approach to the issue but respects the wider
position of the Church.

Both sides in Australia's increasingly toxic debate over gay marriage
claim to have been outspent by their opponents.

Executive director of the Equality Campaign, Tiernan Brady, said the
donation was evidence that 'opponents of equality have radically
outspent the Yes side'.

He told The Australian: 'But what they have in buckets of cash, we make
up with in hundreds of thousands of Australians making the case for a
fairer, more just and inclusive society.'

However despite repeated claims from the Yes side they were being
outspent, it emerged last month Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce also
personally donated $1 million to the campaign in support of same sex
marriage.



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

Message: 6
Date: Thu, 12 Oct 2017 17:20:01 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: Celebrated Church of England bishop accused of child abuse
'will have his good name restored' by an inquiry
Message-ID:
<1507843201.3114750....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Celebrated Church of England bishop accused of child abuse 'will have
his good name restored' by an inquiry
Official review will criticise Church investigation into Bishop George
Bell
Bishop Bell was praised for speaking out against Hitler in the 1930s
But Church said he has sexually assaulted a child on the 'balance of
probabilities'

By Mail on Sunday Reporter
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/
7 October 2017

A celebrated bishop whose reputation was destroyed when the Church of
England labelled him a paedophile is set to have his good name restored,
The Mail on Sunday has learned.

An official review of the handling of abuse allegations against the late
Bishop George Bell will criticise the original Church investigation as
flawed and unfair, it is understood.

Bishop Bell the wartime Bishop of Chichester who died in 1958, was
praised for speaking out against Hitler in the 1930s -- and he was
granted the Anglican equivalent of a Saint's Day, an annual
commemoration.

But to the fury of devotees, his character was blackened when the Church
declared two years ago that 'on the balance of probabilities' he had
sexually assaulted a child in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

Senior Church officials apologised and paid ?15,000 compensation to the
anonymous complainant, known only as 'Carol', who said she had been
molested during visits to the Bishop's Palace in Chichester.

But insiders said the review, commissioned last year after criticism of
the Church's handling of the case and which was led by top lawyer Lord
Carlile, is believed to be critical of the investigation, although it
does not rule on the bishop's guilt or innocence.

Lord Carlile handed his report to the Archbishop of Canterbury last
week. The Church of England said it would issue a response when it was
published.

END



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

Message: 7
Date: Thu, 12 Oct 2017 17:20:22 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: Why can't a Welby be more like a man?
Message-ID:
<1507843222.3114819....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Why can't a Welby be more like a man?

By Rev. Jules Gomes
https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/
8th October 2017

'Why can't a woman be more like a man?' sings Professor Henry Higgins in
the musical comedy My Fair Lady. Higgins is a misogynistic snob. His
diatribe against the fairer sex cascades out of control. 'Women are
irrational, that's all there is to that! Their heads are full of cotton,
hay, and rags! They're nothing but exasperating, irritating,
vacillating, calculating, agitating, maddening and infuriating hags!
Pickering, why can't a woman be more like a man?'

Feminists would dismiss the professor's rant as sexist, but transgender
lunatics now have an answer to his question. A woman can be more like a
man; she can actually transition into being a man and vice-versa!
However, I'm not going to talk about transgenderism or sexism but about
the outlandish space alien from the planet of Yabbadabbadoo known as a
Welby.

Science fictionologists are not even sure whether to categorise this
being as 'a' Welby (there could be more of the kind on Planet Zog) or
'the' Welby (a sui generis organism) because of its amorphous nature
which is constantly evolving and transmogrifying into different shapes.

In the last few weeks, the Welby phantasmagoria has been thrashing
around in the media. This remarkable creature has been putting its foot
in its mouth so frequently that its ability to do this with one leg and
hobble around on the other is becoming the staple of fable and legend,
especially on Twitter and Facebook.

Mainstream media, alternative media and social media have been competing
for observation rights on the Welby -- studying it under a microscope
and taking readings from electrodes attached to its uncontrollably
throbbing tongue, currently detached from the prefrontal cortex of the
Welby brain.

The public verdict is unanimously Higginsonian: 'Why can't a Welby be
more like a man?' Observers have it that the Welby is irrational. Its
head is full of cotton, hay and rags. It is exasperating, irritating,
vacillating, calculating, agitating, maddening and infuriating.

Does the reader seek empirical evidence for this claim?

Exhibit A: 'A boy wearing a dress to school is not a problem,' says the
Welby on LBC radio. A Church of England school on the Isle of Wight
allows boys to come to school wearing dresses (lipstick is optional). A
Christian family remove their son from the school after a male classmate
dons girlie apparel and decide to sue the school, arguing that it has
not respected their rights to raise their children in line with biblical
values. The Welby is asked to comment. It says it has been 'struggling'
with the question.

The Welby could have talked about gender dysphoria. It could have quoted
the binary category of gender in Genesis 1, where God creates Homo
sapiens male and female. No. The Welby's reply is a discharge of yucky,
viscous postmodern psychobabble. 'The other family are making up their
own minds. The other child is making up their own mind. Talk to your
child. Help them to understand. Help them to see what's going on and to
be faithful to their own convictions.' Make up your mind about what,
Welby? Understand what, Welby?

Exhibit B: The Welby solemnises the marriage of his divorced aide and
manages to lose the bride's ring. Ailsa Anderson, the Welby's head of
media relations, is believed to be the first divorcee to be married by
an Archbishop of Canterbury in recent times. Henry VIII would have loved
having the Welby as his favourite pet (alongside his poisonous
tarantula).

Meanwhile conservative clerics are popping the question on social media:
did the Welby examine the couple and call for repentance in the light of
biblical teaching before pronouncing them man and wife?

Exhibit C: The Welby is interviewed by the BBC Today programme. It
imitates another one-of-its-kind creatures called 'the Donald' and
blames the Beeb for its response to the Jimmy Savile sex abuse scandal.
The Welby claims that Auntie has not shown the same integrity over child
abuse accusations when compared with its own C of E.

Survivors of sexual abuse in the C of E hit back, accusing the Welby of
'breathtaking hypocrisy'. They issue a statement: 'Far from the
'rigorous response and self-examination' he (the Welby) claims, our
experience of the church, and specifically the archbishop, is of long
years of silence, denial and evasion. The Church of England needs to
confront its own darkness in relation to abuse before confronting the
darkness of others.'

Auntie Beeb is no saintly nun. She is more akin to the Whore of Babylon.
She has dumped her founding principles in the deepest sea and put up a
notice saying 'No Fishing Here'. So why is the Welby drawing a moral
equivalence between a secular broadcaster committed to 'fake news' and
the sacred body and bride of Christ -- the Church -- committed to
preaching the gospel, i.e. good news?

The Welby should know that the church is sui generis. It cannot be
compared to a human organisation. It is undoubtedly flawed. It has
repeatedly failed. But its DNA is supernatural. When it is complicit in
abuse, it cannot dodge the bullet by comparing itself to other
organisations. It holds itself to a divine moral standard and by that
standard it must stand or fall.

But one of the chief characteristics of the Welby is that it is allergic
to theology. It excels at media spin, manipulation and monkey tricks,
but it quickly disintegrates if it attempts even the most basic
theology.

In the interview, the Welby suddenly jumps on a unicycle, tooting his
horn and grinning at his audience like Bozo the Clown. 'I think we are a
kinder society,' he hollers. Melanie Phillips swiftly slams this circus
act. 'Welby is deluded to think we're a kind society,' she writes. 'The
church confuses virtue-signalling with true virtue, while cruelty and
indifference abound.'

Are we a kinder society, Welby? In 1940, teachers were asked to list the
seven most serious problems they faced in school. Their answers were:
talking out of turn, chewing gum, making a noise, running in corridors,
cutting in line, not wearing school uniform, and dropping litter. In
1990, a group of teachers were asked the same question. This time their
answers were: drug abuse, alcohol abuse, teenage pregnancy, suicide,
rape, robbery, and assault.

Exhibit D: Alastair Campbell, who was once spin-doctor to an abominable
ectoplasmic creature called 'the Blair', interviews the Welby for GQ
magazine. 'Is gay sex sinful?' he asks. The reader will recall
Campbell's famous statement from the Blair years: 'We don't do God.' Yet
Campbell's question is phrased with theological accuracy. He doesn't ask
about same-sex relationships, but about homogenital acts.

A number of biblical scholars who are gay, lesbian, and atheist have
shouted out the answer from the rooftops. The Bible is unambiguous! Gay
sex is sinful! There is no wriggle room. We reject the biblical teaching
on sexuality but at least we are honest that the Bible condemns gay sex.

But the Welby, who doesn't do biblical scholarship, squirms like a
constipated worm. 'You know very well that is a question I can't give a
straight answer to. Sorry, badly phrased there. I should have thought
that one through. I know I haven't got a good answer to the question.'
Campbell squashes the Welby. 'Is that not morally a cop-out?' The Welby
decomposes with a splat. 'Yes. I am copping out because I am struggling
with the issue.'

Selwyn College, Cambridge, my alma mater, has a one-word motto. It is a
Greek word from St Paul's first letter to the Corinthians (16:13). The
King James Version translates it as 'quit ye like men' while the New
American Standard Version renders it as 'act like men'. The whole verse
reads: 'Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be
strong.'

These virtues are not the characteristics of a Welby. They are rarely
found among other Welby-like species that are also known as bishops.

'Why can't a Welby be more like a man?' Simply because it is a Welby.
Please have pity on a Welby. The next time you meet a Welby, forgive it,
for it knows not what it does or what it says.

The Rev'd Dr Jules Gomes is a doctoral supervisor on the faculty of the
Oxford Centre for Religion and Public Life



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

Message: 8
Date: Thu, 12 Oct 2017 17:20:43 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: Nashotah House Culture Wars
Message-ID:
<1507843243.3114858....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Nashotah House Culture Wars

By David W. Virtue, DD
www.virtueonline.org
October 11, 2017

Nashotah House, the Wisconsin-based Anglo-Catholic seminary, finds
itself once again embroiled in an ecclesiastical battle, as it seeks to
find its place in the turbulent Episcopal culture wars. Can it continue
to embrace its traditional views and expand its base even as the Church,
to which it is loyal, moves further to the left and away from catholic
faith and order?

The seminary has been floundering and simmering with ecclesiastical rage
ever since they got rid of the Very Rev. Dr. Robert Munday as its
President and Dean.

The seminary roils from crisis to crisis unable, it seems, to comprehend
the damage it is doing to itself and the effect it is having on those
who still believe in its mission.

Its board chairman is Episcopal Springfield Bishop Dan Martins, who
embraces a Church standing in a theological and spiritual septic tank of
its own making, in clear opposition to the catholic faith espoused by
the 175-year old seminary.

The latest eruption involves giving liberal Presiding Bishop Michael
Curry the Archbishop Ramsey award for excellence in the areas of
Ecclesiology, Ecumenism and Liturgy, an act that brought a tsunami-like
wave of outrage from San Joaquin ACNA Anglican Bishop Eric Menees right
across Martin's bow.

In a scathing letter, Bishop Menees lit into Martins saying he was
surprised and confused at the decision of Nashotah House to award Curry
the Archbishop Ramsey award because he failed on all three counts.

"Regarding ecclesiology Bishop Curry has chosen to disregard the will of
the primates of the Anglican Communion and continues to act willfully as
one not under authority.

"Regarding ecumenism relations between TEC and the vast majority of
Catholic, Orthodox and Evangelical churches are at an all-time low.

"Regarding liturgy, Bishop Curry is presiding over the creation of new
rites that defy scripture, tradition, and reason. In the last few years
Seabury, General and EDS have all but folded. Recently, with the abrupt
transitions of the dean and several faculty members I suspect that
Nashotah House will not be far behind."

Then he tore into Martins saying, while Bishop Curry preaches
reconciliation at every turn he fails to practice what he preaches with
his continued support for the ongoing lawsuits in Quincy, Fort Worth and
South Carolina. Given this reality, Bp. Martins, can [you] give me a
reason to send my men to Nashotah House? San Joaquin has had a long and
positive past with Nashotah but at this point I am really shaking my
head and wondering what in the world has happened?"

When VOL approached Martins for a comment all he would say is, "The
letter was unfortunately leaked before I even received it...when I
officially receive the letter, it is my intention to reply, but
privately."

Privately or publicly it makes little difference. Whatever he says, it
will not assuage Menees or the fact that Nashotah House is, to all
intents and purposes, throwing away its spiritual heritage for a mess of
ecumenical pottage, hoping it can play both ends against the middle,
that is, keep TEC in play while trying to meet the needs of churches
like ACNA. It would seem now that that option is fast disappearing.

ACNA is a member of GAFCON which has separated itself from TEC, and its
leaders will have nothing to do with Curry or Fred Hiltz, Archbishop of
Canada, and the Scottish Episcopal Church. As a sign of their defiance
they even consecrated a GAFCON bishop for England and Europe!

Martins thinks he can hold it altogether but that is increasingly a
fiction. It can't be done. Reconciliation is impossible if you believe
the fabric of the communion has been torn and unrepairable. When a
bishop, even an Anglican one, says that ongoing lawsuits make a mockery
of reconciliation, and when you accuse the leader of the US Episcopal
Church of initiating new rites that defy scripture, tradition and
reason, what sort of comeback does Martins have?

The answer is none, unless he admits he is in the wrong and that
Nashotah House is throwing away its legacy and tradition by compromising
with an apostate and heretical church!

Reconciliation talk is ultimately about compromise, and Anglo-Catholic
bishops and some Evangelical bishops will not do that. One has only to
witness the fact that three African evangelical Primates refused to
attend Welby's call for a summit in Canterbury this week, because they
say the fabric of the communion has been torn and seemingly irreparable.

BISHOP ED SALMON

The initial crisis began when the retired, (now deceased) Bishop of
South Carolina, Ed Salmon was installed in 2011 as the seminary's new
dean and president, succeeding the Very Rev. Dr. Robert Munday, who had
served in that position since 2001 and who led the House during his
deanship to its largest enrollment in thirty years.

Salmon had served as the Chairman of the Nashotah House Board of
Trustees for 13 years prior to ousting Munday as Dean and assuming the
deanship himself. This unusual move drew the attention of the
Association of Theological Schools, which slapped the seminary with
Notation N8.3: "The governing board exercises its authority or
discharges its responsibilities ineffectively or inappropriately."
Salmon alleged that Munday had gotten the House into trouble with the
Episcopal Church by building relationships with ACNA dioceses and aiding
the establishment of a local congregation (St. Michael's, Delafield)
that began on the Nashotah campus and which eventually affiliated with
the ACNA.

Then in February 24, 2014 Salmon did something that was seemingly
inexplicable for an Anglo-Catholic bishop who had led one of the most
respected and growing dioceses in TEC. He announced that he had invited
then Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori to address the
student body there.

Her theological views had been well documented. She had, over the course
of seven years, made un-Biblical statements about the person of Jesus
Christ, the authority of the Bible, heaven and hell, the Resurrection,
attributing a demon to St. Paul, and made the statement from the 2009
General Convention that the "great heresy of Western Christianity" is
the belief that one can have a personal saving relationship with Jesus
Christ.

That he acquiesced to the request of three students to invite Jefferts
Schori to "come and see" and then attempted to wash his hands of the
event has been typical of the history of this bishop. He once famously
said to his clergy, when he was bishop of South Carolina, that if TEC
ever allowed the gay agenda to take hold he would take the diocese out
of the Episcopal Church. He didn't and later denied saying that he ever
said it. It was up to his successor Bishop Mark Lawrence to take that
action.

Outrage followed. Salmon revealed himself to be a prevaricator, a fence
sitter and useful idiot for the episcopal administration. There were
calls for his resignation.

He was called out for his action by his predecessor Dean Robert Munday
who said at that time that what Salmon did was totally contrary to the
faith we are called to believe and teach.

"One of the things that saddens me most about this whole affair," Munday
wrote, "is what it models for students at the House. These students are
no longer being taught to be valiant for truth and to take risks for the
sake of the Gospel, they are being led by example to 'go along to get
along,' and that dialogue with heretics and even having them in your
pulpit is a good thing if it promotes better relationships."

Them's fightin' words.

Salmon responded saying, "The name of leadership is relationships -
people connecting with each other and working together. Our broken
relationships in the Church are a testimony against the Gospel."

Not true, wrote back Munday. "The heterodoxy of the Episcopal Church, in
general, and of Katharine Jefferts Schori, in particular, is a testimony
against the Gospel. We are called to separate ourselves from false
teachers; and a shepherd, whether of a diocese, a parish, or a seminary,
is called to protect his flock from wolves. In the words of the
ordination vows Bishop Salmon took: 'Are you ready, with all faithful
diligence, to banish and drive away all erroneous and strange doctrine
contrary to God's Word; and both privately and openly to call upon and
encourage others to do the same?' To lead a seminary like Nashotah House
in these days, and to fail to keep that ordination vow, is to see your
seminary turn into another Seabury-Western, or General, or worse."

What is doubly ironic is that Jefferts Schori had spoken vigorously
against students wanting to study at Nashotah House. She specifically
told one of her Executive Council members not to seek his theological
education at Nashotah House. This negative advice was also delivered to
two other co-ed students while they were in discernment about their
seminary training at The House.

And now the battle has heated up again, this time between the chairman
of the board and an Anglican bishop even as a new acting dean, one
Garwood P. Anderson, takes the place of Dr. Steven A. Peay who recently
stepped down.

If Nashotah House cannot appeal to future Anglo-Catholic ordinands from
bishops like Menees, Jack Iker, Keith Ackerman, William Wantland and
Juan Alberto Morales, then who will it appeal to? What future does
Nashotah House have?

END



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

Message: 9
Date: Thu, 12 Oct 2017 17:21:03 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: Concord NH police, St. Paul?s School review their
understanding on crime reporting
Message-ID:
<1507843263.3114888....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Concord NH police, St. Paul?s School review their understanding on crime
reporting

John Chilton
https://www.episcopalcafe.com/
Oct. 8, 2017

Does your school have a policy on reporting crime to civil authorities,
especially sexual assault? Is it part of a memorandum of understanding
with those authorities? Does it include misdemeanors as well as
felonies?

St. Paul?s School (Episcopal) and the Concord, NH police signed a
memorandum of understanding in 2012. The school had a history of not
reporting sex crimes. The MOU spells out the school?s obligation to
report on-campus crime, and, in particular, sexual assault, to the
police. The parties have taken note of an MOU recently signed between
Phillips Exeter Academy and Exeter police.

There are two related developments. The New Hampshire Supreme Court has
accepted a request for review from Owen Labrie, a former student at the
school. And the school has asked for a delay in the civil trial
surrounding charges against the school by Labrie?s victim.

Both Saint Paul?s and Phillips Exeter made national headlines in recent
years for their handling of sexual misconduct allegations against
students and former teachers. The boarding schools also independently
hired law firms to investigate claims brought by students against former
faculty and staff spanning decades.

The latest memorandum of understanding (MOU) reached between Phillips
Exeter and Exeter police incorporates reporting requirements set forth
in three statutes: the Child Protection Act, the Safe Schools Act, and
the Student Hazing law. In contrast, the current MOU between St. Paul?s
and Concord police cites just the Safe Schools Act, which law
enforcement officials and advocates say has ?a glaring omission.?

Under New Hampshire?s Safe Schools Act, schools are not legally required
to report misdemeanor-level sexual assault to police; the law only
references felony-level sex crimes. However, the act is in direct
conflict with the state?s Child Protection Act, which mandates the
reporting of suspected instances of child abuse and neglect.

The MOU between Phillips Exeter and Exeter police closes that gap. ?The
MOU outlines the duty of all adults, and underscores PEA?s commitment to
immediately report any act of sexual assault, regardless of the possible
legal classification of the act or the time the act occurred,? officials
wrote, using the acronym for Phillips Exeter Academy.

Hirschfeld [head of school at St. Paul?s] previously told the Monitor
that ?anything we think that might be sexual assault is reported to
Concord police.?

N.H. Supreme Court to review Labrie?s request for new trial, Concord
Monitor
St. Paul?s School graduate Owen Labrie will have his argument for a new
trial reviewed by the state?s highest court.
?
Labrie maintains that his high-profile defense team, funded by St.
Paul?s alumni, erred by not conducting basic legal research, by not
impeaching certain witnesses and by not challenging the sole felony
computer charge. The legal team was led by Boston-based attorney J.W.
Carney, who testified about the defense?s trial strategy during a
three-day evidentiary hearing in late February.

Carney told the court that throughout the August 2015 trial, his biggest
fear was jurors hearing from the three girls whom the victim had
confided in. The victim spoke to those friends immediately after her
encounter with Labrie, and told them she had not given her consent.

The report of another person?s words by a witness is considered hearsay
and usually not allowed as evidence in court. However, if Carney or his
co-counsel did not walk a tight rope, numerous witnesses could have been
permitted to testify that Labrie forced himself on the girl, which would
have corroborated her story, he said.

AG?s criminal probe prompts St. Paul?s to ask for delay in civil trial,
Concord Monitor

St. Paul?s School says next March is too soon for a civil trial in the
lawsuit filed by the family of Chessy Prout now that the institution is
also the subject of a criminal probe led by New Hampshire?s attorney
general.
?
The attorney general?s office launched its investigation into the elite
boarding school?s handling of sexual assault and misconduct claims in
early July. At that time, authorities said the investigation will
initially focus on issues of possible child endangerment and obstruction
of justice, but could expand if the evidence warrants such action.
?
Chessy Prout was sexually assaulted as a freshman by senior Owen Labrie
in May 2014, a Merrimack County jury found. She chose to shed her
anonymity less than a month after St. Paul?s objected to her family?s
use of pseudonyms in the civil lawsuit?.
?
The Prout family has objected, in part, to the school?s request to
extend deadlines, arguing that St. Paul?s is seeking ?far more than mere
logistical accommodations.? Alex and Susan Prout, the parents of former
St. Paul?s student Chessy Prout, filed their lawsuit against the school
in spring 2016, but note in their partial objection that not a single
witness has given sworn out-of-court testimony, also known as a
deposition.



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

Message: 10
Date: Thu, 12 Oct 2017 17:22:05 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: Sale of Newport's St. James church called off; long-locked
doors will reopen
Message-ID:
<1507843325.3115376....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Sale of Newport's St. James church called off; long-locked doors will
reopen

By Hillary Davis
DAILY PILOT
http://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/news/tn-dpt-me-stjames-sale-canceled-20171011-story.html
Oct. 11, 2017

The latest planned sale of the shuttered St. James the Great Episcopal
Church in Newport Beach has been canceled, and the building will be
reopened to worshippers, according to the Episcopal Diocese of Los
Angeles.

The move would end a more than two-year drama in which the diocese's top
bishop, J. Jon Bruno, tried twice to sell the church property to
developers, locked out the congregation and kept the church closed even
after the first sale attempt fell through. The actions resulted in Bruno
being sanctioned by the Episcopal Church.

The Right Rev John Taylor, bishop coadjutor for the diocese and the
successor to Bruno, who is retiring soon, said in an interview Wednesday
that the church's reopening date is to be determined but that it will be
as soon as pastorally and practically possible.

"These matters are sensitive and involve the feelings and prerogatives
of a lot of folks," he said.

Taylor said the diocese will encourage people to go to the church to
worship and enjoy "the refreshment of being in that beautiful place."

Taylor said the second planned buyer for the property, Newport Beach
developer Burnham Ward Properties, pulled out of the sale.

In an email Wednesday, Burnham Ward principal Scott Burnham said: "Our
pending purchase of the property was imminent before we made the
decision to step aside this week. ... Ultimately, we felt that stepping
aside -- despite our significant investment of time and expense in the
acquisition process to date -- was the right thing to do and was in the
best interest of the community at this time.

"We became involved ... with the goal to preserve and protect the church
from other out-of-town suitors who may have intended to demolish the
church for what they considered 'higher and better uses' of the
property," Burnham added. "It was always our plan to maintain the church
improvements and to preserve a continued place of worship for the local
community.

"We now believe that the church and its improvements will be preserved
for the foreseeable future."

Representatives of Save St. James the Great, a group that formed after
the church's closure, did not immediately respond to requests for
comment Wednesday.

In a statement Tuesday co-signed by the Rev. Rachael Anne Nyback,
president of the diocesan Standing Committee governing body, Taylor
said: "This event, we believe, gives our diocesan community a renewed
opportunity for careful discernment about our mission and ministry in
south Orange County. We again pledge to do all we can pastorally,
logistically and financially to assist the St. James congregation should
it wish to regain mission status in the diocese."

Bruno told the congregation in May 2015 that he had committed to selling
the site at 3209 Via Lido for $15 million to would-be luxury townhouse
developer Legacy Partners. He locked the church doors and kept them
closed even after the transaction fell through when Legacy's investment
partner dropped out.

Worshippers have since held services at multiple sites in the area and
currently meet in a community room at the Newport Beach Civic Center.

Bruno has faced a string of ecclesiastical disciplinary orders this year
related to his attempts to sell the St. James property.

In March, a church panel conducted a three-day hearing similar to a
trial in which Bruno answered allegations of misconduct related to his
2015 sale attempt.

In June, before the hearing panel reached its decision, it warned Bruno
not to close on a second sale -- this time to Burnham Ward -- before it
reached its verdict. The developer had agreed to buy the property for an
undisclosed amount.

In August, the hearing panel recommended a three-year suspension from
ministry for Bruno, plus halting his renewed efforts to sell the St.
James site. It also recommended unlocking the building so the
congregation could resume worship there.

However, the diocese later said it planned to proceed with selling the
property to Burnham Ward, citing a legal obligation created by Bruno.

Also in August, the highest-ranking bishop of the Episcopal Church in
the United States, the Most Rev. Michael Curry, removed Bruno from any
jurisdiction over St. James and transferred pastoral and property
oversight to Taylor.

Last month, the Episcopal Church's Disciplinary Board of Bishops ordered
that Bruno refrain from ministry and exercising any authority over
property or church affairs while he appeals the hearing panel's finding
that he had engaged in misconduct when he first tried to sell the site.

Taylor said Wednesday that guest clergy will be invited to lead St.
James' Sunday services. But that doesn't mean the Rev. Canon Cindy Evans
Voorhees, who has continued to lead the church's flock since the
building's closure, would be blocked out, Taylor said.

"I can't think of a priest in our diocese who we would exclude from the
privilege of leading worship under the proper time and under the proper
circumstances," he said.

Voorhees did not immediately return a message seeking comment.



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

Message: 11
Date: Thu, 12 Oct 2017 17:22:53 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: "Have It Your Way"
Message-ID:
<1507843373.3115475....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

"Have It Your Way"

By Duane W.H. Arnold
www.virtueonline.org
Oct. 7, 2017

In the next week, somewhere between 150 and 220 churches will close
their doors for good. During that same week, about 20 new churches will
open their doors with about an 80% success rate in remaining open for
the first five years. Now, math has never been my strong point, but I
think I can figure this one out and the result is not comforting. Our 16
surviving new church plants will not make up what has been lost. The new
churches will, of course, mitigate the loss, but only by about 10%.

For many reading this post, the figures above will not matter. Some have
already abandoned the idea of ever finding a place within a local
community of faith. Others have a community of faith with which they are
satisfied. Still others simply have no interest in what is taking place
in the larger context of church life in America as, for whatever reason,
it does not affect them directly.

For myself, I find the numbers to be wholly expected having watched the
downward trend over the last few decades. I also, however, find the
numbers deeply disturbing.

Now it's time for a confession. Although I often write about the
importance of the local church and its attendant ministries, I generally
have to force myself to go to church. Much of the time I really don't
like it. (It's one of the reasons that I will occasionally visit other
churches.) I don't like it to the extent that sometimes I wonder why I
am there. I try to filter out the "professional" side of things. Having
taught liturgy and participated in churches with a high standard in the
area of worship, I find the local expression of liturgical life less
than satisfying. Having spent the majority of my adult life being
concerned about history, doctrine and their cogent presentation in
well-chosen words, either in lectures or in books, I find most preaching
less than inspiring. Yet, there I am in my pew... and I'm wondering,
"Why am I here?".

At this point, I could try to reclaim my piety and simply say that I am
there to take part in the Eucharist, but even that's not wholly true.
After all, I could don an alb and stole, invite my wife and a couple of
friends and celebrate the Eucharist in my home. My wife could read the
first lesson, my friend, Michael, the second and I could proclaim the
Gospel, give an abbreviated homily and move straight to the Lord's
Supper. It would be a valid celebration. It would certainly be
acceptable to me and my preferences, but would it be "church"?

Perhaps if we were living in a time of persecution and having to live
out our faith in secret, I could call it "church". Regardless, however,
of what you read on the internet, we are not undergoing a persecution of
the Church here in the United States. If anything, we have been given so
many perquisites and privileges in this country that we no longer
understand what real persecution is all about. The last time I read one
of Michael Newnham's columns, he might have had some comments in a
thread that took issue with one or more statements he made, but I've yet
to see his column written to us as a letter telling us that he is on his
way to Rome to be fed to wild beasts in the arena!

So, why is church so difficult and, again, why should we be concerned
with the numbers that are being reported?

Here I can speak only for myself. Church is not about us as individuals.
It is not about our preferences. It is not about our likes and dislikes.
It is not about our contemporary consumer culture, but that culture, in
my opinion, has influenced our expectations.

Allow me to illustrate...

Once upon a time in the dark and distant past, when dinosaurs roamed the
planet, I used to buy albums - LPs - by artists that I liked. I might
have only heard one song, but I bought the whole album. I would read the
liner notes. Sometimes the album only had that one great song, but most
of the time I discovered new songs that I had not heard before. Often, I
fell in love with music that, apart from buying that album, I would
never have discovered. In that same distant past, I went to bookstores.
(For the uninformed among you, these were large buildings with thousands
of books for sale, that you could look at first, then buy and take home
with you. Most cities in the distant past had many such emporiums.)
Often, I would go to buy one book and emerge with several others that I
had chanced upon and perked my interest.

Then along came iTunes and I could purchase just the one song that I
liked, without bothering with the others. Still later came streaming
services that would create playlists based upon what I had listened to
earlier. If I wanted a book, I could order it in one click and not be
distracted by other titles on the shelf. Now my purchases, my listening,
my reading, could be all about me... my preferences, my likes and
dislikes. Moreover, we've grown to expect it in almost every area of our
lives, from the movies we can view on demand, to cable news that
espouses or echoes our point of view, to the cars that we can order to
our specifications.

I also think that many of us have come to expect this of church. As a
fast food chain would say, "Have It Your Way"... and it is killing us.

Like it or not, church is a corporate experience of give and take, not
in terms of doctrine or creedal affirmations, but in terms of
personalities, preferences, likes and dislikes. It is a place of
discovery where we hear songs that we did not know in the lives of
others; where we read books of which we have been unaware in the
experiences of others. It is ultimately a family and, as in any family,
there will be arguments and disagreements but, (and this is in the best
of families) there will be a bond of love that rises above all of the
rest.

So, once again, why is church so difficult and, again, why should we be
concerned with the numbers that are being reported?

I would like to suggest that the difficulty is not primarily that of the
church, it is us. Our expectations have become shaped by a contemporary
culture that tells us at every turn that we should have what we want
when we want it. It is a culture that is built around immediate
gratification in which patience is not a virtue, but rather, it is a
vexation. It is a culture that says your choice is paramount and that
commercial enterprises and institutions (including the church) should
cater to that choice because, after all, if they don't, someone else
will.

The closing of churches should concern us, because it tells us much
about ourselves. Yes, it tells us about aging congregations, shifting
demographics and changing rural and urban population patterns. It also
tells us that many of us, including myself, have imported many of the
expectations of contemporary consumer culture and, if and when our
expectations fail to be met, we are perhaps too willing to depart.
Certainly, many have... and churches continue to close their doors.

Duane W.H. Arnold, PhD
The Project



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

Message: 12
Date: Thu, 12 Oct 2017 17:23:15 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: Response from GAFCON Bishop Andy Lines to the Primates'
Communique
Message-ID:
<1507843395.3115481....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Response from GAFCON Bishop Andy Lines to the Primates' Communique

Bishop Andy Lines
October 6, 2017

The Primates' Communique appears to continue promoting the narrative of
Anglicans 'walking together' despite the absence of four Provinces
representing millions of Anglicans, and despite profound disagreement
expressed within the meeting on understandings of what it means to be
Christian, and how we know what is right and wrong.

The Bishop Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church played a leading role
in the Primates' Conference. Although there was talk of 'consequences'
for SEC's action, he was unrepentant, and showed no concern for those
under his care who cannot accept the decision to redefine marriage. They
now feel betrayed and de-churched. Meanwhile millions of Anglicans will
be concerned that the Communique does not appear to express any view on
the actions of SEC or the thinking behind it.

The document does not criticise false teaching, but focuses on 'border
crossing' as if it is more harmful. I take the long-established view of
orthodox Anglicans across the world, that we cannot make an equivalence
between Provinces who choose to abandon key aspects of biblical theology
and ethics, tearing the fabric of the Communion and putting souls in
danger, and those who respond to calls for help from faithful Anglicans
within those Provinces. My role as Gafcon missionary Bishop is clearly
needed more than ever: to provide ministry to and encourage emerging
congregations of faithful Anglicans in Britain outside the official
structures.

They, along with many within those structures want to be part of a
global movement based on the unchanging truths of God's word, and
obedience to that word which includes ministry mentioned in the
Communique: evangelism and discipleship, and also compassionate response
to those suffering in contexts of violence and poverty; ministry of
which Gafcon-aligned provinces are at the cutting edge.

Primates Communique can be seen here:
http://www.anglicancommunion.org/media/311326/communiqu%C3%A9-primates-meeting-2017.pdf



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

Message: 13
Date: Thu, 12 Oct 2017 17:29:29 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: Anglican Communion News Service smears GAFCON and manipulates
Archbishop of Canterbury
Message-ID:
<1507843769.3116516....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Anglican Communion News Service smears GAFCON and manipulates Archbishop
of Canterbury

Archbishop Cranmer
http://archbishopcranmer.com/
October 6, 2017

You'd think, wouldn't you, that you could trust the news reports which
emanate from the official Office of the Worldwide Anglican Communion.
You'd hope, wouldn't you, that the Anglican Communion News Service
(ACNS) might issue factual statements of reliable and verifiable truth,
as all good reporting should be, instead of tinted opinion with a
tainted political agenda, as all journalism so often is.

A few days ago, the ACNS carried an account of the Primates' Meeting in
Canterbury Cathedral, entitled: 'Archbishop Welby "taken aback" by Las
Vegas prayer criticism'. It was shocking in its content -- that,
basically, conservative Anglican Primates were "put.. in a difficult
spot" when Bishop Michael Curry, the Presiding Bishop of the US
Episcopal Church (currently under discipline for permitting same-sex
marriage), had been asked to lead them in a prayer at Evensong following
the Las Vegas shooting atrocity. Speaking at a press conference, the
media spokesman for the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), the
Rev'd Canon Andrew Gross, who also speaks on behalf of the Global
Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON), was reported to have said that the
GAFCON Primates were "forced to look like they are walking together when
they are not walking together".

So trustworthy and reliable was this report deemed to be that it circled
the Worldwide Anglican Twittersphere and Blogosphere in 40 minutes: 'Las
Vegas shooting: Anglican Primates complain about having to pray
together'. Tweet after condemnatory tweet after incredulous Facebook
post followed. What petty, narrow-minded, not to say bigoted and
self-righteous pharisees these GAFCON Primates must be. And what a piece
of uncharitable work the Rev'd Canon Andrew Gross must be, totally
devoid of grace, mercy or compassion.

At some point the next day (and certainly after this blog had published
its comments on the matter) the Anglican Communion News Service issued a
correction, or, rather, a clarification:

This article was amended on 4 October, to make clear that Canon Gross
was not thought to be speaking on behalf of any Anglican primates and
that his church, the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) is not part
of the Anglican Communion or involved in the Primates' Meeting.

Not thought to be...?

Didn't they bother checking?

Setting aside the status of the ACNA, how can the official Press Officer
@Gafconference & Director of Communications @The_ACNA speaking at an
official press conference not be speaking on behalf GAFCON Primates, on
whose behalf he speaks?

It is interesting, is it not, that while the ACNS was eager to correct
the impression (which they certainly gave) that GAFCON Primates had
objected to being ambushed by Bishop Michael Curry's prayer, they were
content to leave the Rev'd Canon Andrew Gross hanging out for the crows
and vultures to peck and pick at his Christian sincerity and character
integrity. And so they did: "What a marvellous model of mission he must
have. What a vision of visible unity he must possess. What an
inspirational witness to the world his purity must be..."

For which comment this post is an unequivocal apology to the Rev'd Canon
Andrew Gross, and a sincere attempt to set the record straight.

And doing so must begin with the observation that the Anglican Communion
News Service is not merely an Anglican news service, but a journalistic
enterprise with a theo-political bent and a distinctly smeary mission to
defame Anglicans whose moral worldview it doesn't particularly like.

In fact, it is not beyond the wit of the ACNS to propagate Anglican Fake
News to tarnish ACNA/GAFCON Primates (and other members) for holding
their divisive orthodox Anglican views. The article 'Archbishop Welby
"taken aback" by Las Vegas prayer criticism' is a misleading story which
has propagated a number of falsehoods. It appears that the Rev'd Canon
Andrew Gross was, in fact, set-up and has been unjustly accused.

Long before this Primates' Meeting, the leaders of GAFCON recognised the
difficulty (but necessity) of keeping church politics out of worship at
such gatherings. For them, divisions in the Anglican Communion are
perceived to be very serious indeed, and they are of the view that the
Communion's entire future demands honesty about this lack of unity. For
others, the issues are secondary theological matters which do not affect
the fundamental Anglican koinonia. At a Primates' Meeting,
notwithstanding some notable absentees, there is a temptation to convey
a unity -- "walking together" -- which not all feel is remotely near the
truth.

The agreement that was put in place at the 2016 Primates' Meetings was
that no act of worship would be publicised, precisely because such
publicity could be improperly used (or at least be perceived to be used)
for political gain. GAFCON Primates assumed that the same agreement
would obtain in 2017, by which their members might come to Canterbury
and worship without distraction (or fear of being 'used').

Unfortunately, pictures and reports about Bishop Michael Curry's leading
prayer dominated the front page of the ACNS website, publicising what
should have remained a private moment among the Primates. This was
perceived as a breach of trust. GAFCON Primates had no problem with his
prayer, or any objection to praying with him: what they found difficult
was the politicisation of the praying.

On Tuesday, GAFCON held one of their regularly scheduled press briefings
which covered a range of topics. An ACNS representative, Gavin Drake,
arrived at this press conference without accreditation, and without
agreement. There was some discussion about whether he ought to be asked
to follow agreed procedures and withdraw, but generosity of spirit was
considered the nobler course of action, so he was permitted to stay.
After all, neither the ACNA nor GAFCON have anything to hide.

Although they were not happy with the ACNS publicising the worship in
Canterbury Cathedral, the GAFCON comms team had no intention of bringing
the matter up. But the Rev'd Canon Andrew Gross was asked directly by a
Times journalist whether it was difficult for GAFCON to have the
Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church preside over worship at
Evensong. Canon Gross, hearing that key word 'preside', said that it
puts those Primates in a difficult spot because it can portray a false
sense of unity. It was a straightforward answer to a direct question
which simply reiterated the 2016 agreement. It was certainly not said
with any animus, but was merely the re-stating of a fact. The
conversation swiftly moved on.

Gavin Drake, who is also staffing the official Primates' Meeting
communications team, used their official press conference later that
afternoon to ask the Archbishop of Canterbury about Canon Gross's
answer, giving Justin Welby an impression which was some distance from
Canon Gross's intention and meaning: the context was transported from
the Primates' 2016 agreement and the question of TEC's bishop presiding
at Evensong to an issue about the TEC's bishop praying at Evensong about
the Las Vegas atrocity. Mr Drake then turned the Archbishop's "taken
aback" reply into the next front-page story on the ACNS website. It was
not accurate: it was a smear. It was fake news at its Anglican worst.

The Times journalist was perfectly free to ask a leading question: the
task of the Christian press officer (and certainly of a Christian
director of communications) is to respond factually and truthfully,
mindful of the questioner's motive. It appears that Gavin Drake took
Canon Gross's response, manipulated it, and planted it at another press
conference for the Archbishop of Canterbury to condemn.

Indeed, the Archbishop could do nothing but condemn it.

If all he had to respond to was a terse oral extract from the ACNS
report, he would be wholly justified in castigating Canon Gross for his
grossly insensitive remarks.

But the purpose of putting the question to Justin Welby (presumably
without warning) was to slander the ACNA and the GAFCON coalition of
Primates. And to that end, it appears to have been successful. They have
been universally scorned and derided (including on this blog).

It helps to know some of the relational history.

At the 2003 Primates' Meeting, the Archbishop of Nigeria, Peter Akinola,
and two others, refused to participate in a service of Holy Communion
with the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, the Most Rev'd Frank
Griswold. The Very Rev'd George Conger broke that story for the Church
of England Newspaper (which the ACNS said was a lie, but he had the
account first-hand from Archbishop Akinola himself). That fissure in
communion has evolved over the years so that the Primates as a collegial
body have not worshipped together at the Eucharist since.

When Canon Gross was asked by a journalist to comment on the matter of
Bishop Michael Curry presiding at Evensong, the context was not linked
to the Las Vegas shooting. Only later, in fact, was it learned that the
Primates had asked Bishop Curry to lead them in prayer for Las Vegas,
but he had not presided over anything, as Canon Gross had been led to
believe.

When Gavin Drake (who, you must remember, is editor of the Anglican
Communion News Service) put his question to the Archbishop of Canterbury
(his ultimate boss), it was not a casual query to elicit grace and
enlightenment, but a pointed attempt to score a hit against GAFCON. It
was not only premeditated slander wholly lacking in Christian virtue and
professional journalistic integrity, but an egregious manipulation to
elicit outrage from the Archbishop of Canterbury who was asked to
respond to a false accusation that GAFCON had said it was wrong for
Bishop Curry to lead prayers in the wake of the Las Vegas shooting.

They had said no such thing.

The Rev'd Canon Andrew Gross had never said any such thing.

Apologies to him, once again, for simply trusting the ACNS story, which
was, in fact, nothing but Anglican fake news.

END



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

Message: 14
Date: Thu, 12 Oct 2017 17:29:48 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: Thousands of Christians 'Take a Knee' on National Mall to
Repent for Racial Injustice
Message-ID:
<1507843788.3116521....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Thousands of Christians 'Take a Knee' on National Mall to Repent for
Racial Injustice
Christians gathered for The Call's Rise Up rally kneel in prayer

By Samuel Smith
CHRISTIAN POST
http://www.christianpost.com/
Oct 10, 2017

WASHINGTON, DC -- Thousands of Christians from across the United States
took a knee in prayer on the National Mall on Columbus Day, just blocks
away from the U.S. Capitol, to ask God to forgive the racial sins of
America's past and let reconciliation and healing sweep the land.

This weekend's "Awaken the Dawn" festivities, in which Christians from
every state in the nation set up tents in the nation's capital to
proclaim the name of Jesus Christ, culminated Monday in the form of a
women-focused prayer rally attended by Christian women of all different
ethnicities, races and denominational backgrounds.

Despite a downpour in the morning, droves of Christian women trudged
through the mud and the precipitation as they participated in "Rise Up,"
a worship assembly organized by charismatic Christian leader Lou Engle's
The Call to pray for racial reconciliation, an end to gender-based
injustices and an end to abortion in the U.S.

Nearly two months removed from the violence that occurred during a white
nationalist rally held in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August, "Rise
Up" participants cried out for God to forgive the nation's tolerance
toward the injustices that have impacted the lives of racial minorities.

The niece of American civil rights icon the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr., Alveda King, said in a morning prayer over the loudspeaker that
"we, as a nation, have rejected [God's] truth of Acts 17:26" and have
"embraced a sinful lie of racial division" that has led to the "sin of
injustice and racism."

"Acts 17:26 says we are one blood -- of one blood, God made every person
to live together," King, a pro-life activist, explained later in the
program. "So we break the sin of the lie of racism. We are not separate
races. We are one blood. We can live together as brothers and sisters. I
decree that we will not, in this nation and across the world, we will
not perish as fools. We will return to God."

As the ongoing national anthem protests by NFL players seeking to raise
awareness about police violence against African-Americans has continued
to put police brutality and the country's racial division in the
national spotlight, "Rise Up" worshipers made their own statement of
unity by kneeling in prayer.

"Let's show the world what taking a knee really means," one
African-American rally leader told the audience. "Let's show the world
what it means to deal with a holy and righteous God, who is bringing
healing for the pain that so many African-American women have faced when
they got the phone call that their child had been shot in the street,
that so many African-American woman feel when they leave that abortion
chamber and they had to leave their babies in the containers after being
targeted by the abortion industry.

"Can we feel that pain and can we take a knee that our most holy and
righteous God would sweep away that pain now?" the woman continued.
"When we stand up, I want us to stand up in the affirmation that God was
heard and healed our land in Jesus name."

Nicole Johnson, an African-American woman who traveled from Yorktown,
Virginia, to attend "Rise Up," told The Christian Post that she was glad
to see everyone taking a knee.

"I am actually glad this is happening. This is what is needed. This is
what is supposed to be going on in the Christian body. We are supposed
to be effecting the change and not relying on the government," Johnson
said. "I bless President Trump and his administration. But at the end of
the day, we, the people of God, are supposed to take charge on this. I
am thankful and blessed this is happening and I am glad to be here.

"We are supposed to be the ones picking up the cross and taking care of
all these issues and I really believe, I really believe that if we begin
to understand and walk in our authority as God has called us, we could
get a lot more stuff done as a Church and the body of Christ."

Saadia Sullivan, a Hispanic Christian from Newport News, Virginia, told
CP that seeing Christians of different races coming together to pray for
racial healing and pray for the nation showed the desire for "unity" and
the desire to "break the racial divide."

"You see some churches that are predominantly white and some churches
predominantly black. God wants us together," Sullivan stressed. "It's OK
to have your separate church, but come together for a cause."

Before the crowd knelt in prayer, Cindy Jacobs, a white Christian
ministry leader who founded the prayer ministry Generals International,
apologized directly to a group of African-American mothers and
grandmothers for the "culture of fear" that has been created in the
nation.

"I talk to so many African-American mothers and grandmothers who say, 'I
am afraid to send my baby out.' I am so sorry that you are afraid that
if your sons drive a car, they are going to be shot. I am so sorry. We
can't gloss over it! We can't gloss over it! It's sin and causing lots
of pain!" Jacobs cried into the microphone. "I am sorry that we have
made your sons and daughters fear for our police, many of them are so
good, there is a fear. I'm so sorry for the injustice. I'm so sorry.

"A baby shouldn't be afraid they are going to be shot when they drive,
that they are not going to come home," Jacobs continued, as she and the
mothers sobbed on stage. "Every baby counts -- red, yellow, brown, black
and white.

Jacobs admitted that despite this "culture of fear," Americans don't
quite know how to "fix it."

"We are so sorry. This is wrong. Lord, we don't know how to fix it. We
don't know how to fix it," Jacobs distraughtly cried. "Father, forgive
us for hatred. Forgive us for murder. Forgive us God! Help us to love
the way you love Jesus. Give us more love."

After those in attendance rose from their knees, King told Jacobs that
she is forgiven, saying that she must forgive the sins of racism so that
she receives forgiveness from God.

"[My uncle] continually said to forgive, be one blood, one race, learn
to live together as brothers and sisters," King said. "My sons have been
to jail and I know many black men have been to jail and been killed.
It's an unjust unbalanced system. Lou [Engle] is right. He called of us
together under God so that we could get right down to it."



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

Message: 15
Date: Thu, 12 Oct 2017 17:30:06 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: A CHURCH IN NEED
Message-ID:
<1507843806.3116569....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

A CHURCH IN NEED
What Western churches can learn from Christians in Nigeria

NOTE: This story is being posted because it mentions Anglican Archbishop
Ben Kwashi and his wife Gloria, whose home I have visited in Jos. They
have a superb ministry, unequalled in Nigeria.

By Matt Woodley
https://www.intouch.org/read/magazine/faith-works/a-church-in-need
Oct. 9, 2017

My American friends often want to know about my trips to Jos, Nigeria.
"What's it like?" they ask. "What did you do for them while you were
there?" I usually say something like this: "Let me just tell you about
Nigeria. It's beautiful!" The open markets filled with vendors hawking
fresh-cut bananas and tomatoes; the dusty streets thronged with cars and
wandering pedestrians; the lush green valleys and majestic rolling hills
of Plateau State; the moi-moi (smashed, spicy beans) and tasty pounded
yam served with goat meat; the Nigerian women with their color-splashed
traditional dresses, no two alike--it's a beautiful land.

But, as recent events of violence and terror show, Nigeria is also a
suffering land. On May 18 and 19, 2015, armed militants descended on
four small villages an hour outside of Jos. These members of the
increasingly radicalized Fulani tribesmen killed 21 people--including a
local pastor--and reduced many of the buildings to rubble. When I
visited the largely abandoned villages in November of 2016, the ground
was still littered with piles of bricks and tin sheets, remnants of the
former church. One of my guides pointed to the dead pastor's shoes,
still strewn on the dirt floor of the desecrated church--a lingering
symbol of his people's grief.

The world hardly noticed. Just try Googling Lo-Biring, Nigeria, Jong,
Rabuk, or Zim. You won't find them on a map or read about them in The
New York Times. And yet the people returning to these tiny shattered
villages are almost all followers of Jesus. Their faith is often simple
but mind-boggling. When we asked one of the village pastors why he
didn't flee even though terrorists were coming, he stared at us,
speechless. Then, as if we were children, he said, "Because I am a
shepherd. Like Jesus, a shepherd does not leave his sheep."

This combination of deep faith and deep sadness filters into their
worship services. It's not surprising to hear my Nigerian brothers and
sisters routinely praying in their Sunday morning worship times (which
can last up to three or four hours) for those whose homes or businesses
have been destroyed or for those who have seen loved ones killed. They
live with trauma and tears, lament and longing for peace.

But I also tell my American friends about the joy I've seen in the
Nigerian church--a joy that always catches me off guard. The government
is rife with corruption. The economic picture looks bleak. Terrorists
still roam the northeast quarter of the country. People like my friend
Hassan, a pastor and journalist for CNN, have witnessed dozens of
bombings. He still bears the traumatic memories in his body and mind.
And yet, my brothers and sisters laugh often. They play practical jokes
on each other. They sing and dance. If you want to see embodied joy,
just watch Nigerian believers--young adults, old men and women, little
boys and girls--dance as they stream forward to drop their money into
the offering plate.

We have so many things a lot of them don't have--professionally managed
retirement accounts, first-rate medical and dental care, shiny new cars
and iPhones. But they have something we often lack--a deep, unshakeable
confidence in the gospel. Every year the Christian Institute in Jos
trains church planters, evangelists, and health care workers for
ministry in Nigeria's northeastern states, the very places that have
been leveled by the terrorist group Boko Haram's violence.

Two of my spiritual mentors, the Anglican Archbishop Benjamin Kwashi and
his wife "Mama" Gloria Kwashi, have adopted 60 children, victims of
disease, terror, and tribal warfare. About a fourth of them have
witnessed the murder of one of their parents. But the Kwashis and the
churches in their network have a simple outlook for their home (and you
better not let Mama hear you call it an "orphanage"): Christ can heal
the most profound trauma and loss, but that healing occurs in the
context of a loving Christian community. As Mama Gloria says, "Orphans'
greatest needs are parents. It was the loss of parents that made them
orphans." And so for Mama Gloria the solution is simple: Root them in a
new family called the church of Jesus Christ, the family of God. That is
why they are not orphans--they have a home.

Christ can heal the most profound trauma and loss, but that healing
occurs in the context of a loving Christian community.

With a humble heart, they feel deep sorrow for the ways some Christians
tend to dilute the gospel, cool our faith, and pervert our morality. The
Archbishop often shows visitors two gravestones that belong to the two
British brothers who brought the gospel to Jos in 1907. Both brothers
died tragically, the older at the age of 32. But their untimely deaths
opened the floodgates for the gospel to stream into the land. Then the
Archbishop says, "You in the West, you brought us the good news about
Jesus, and we remain eternally grateful. But now many in the West have
abandoned the gospel. We must help you now. We must reintroduce the
gospel to you and your troubled land."

The church family in Jos can truly say and feel and mean Paul's words in
2 Corinthians: "We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed;
perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck
down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of
Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body" (2
Corinthians 4:8-10).

So ask me that typical question about my visit--What did you do for
them?--and I could talk for a few minutes. I guess I helped. I preached
often, usually on the spot and off the cuff. We talked as friends do. We
ate together. We blessed the Christian Institute's new Resurrection
Health Center, funded largely with our church's Good Friday offering.

But I would rather you ask me this: What did they do for you and your
faith? Ah, I could talk all day.

END



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

Message: 16
Date: Thu, 12 Oct 2017 17:31:24 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: BECOMING A NEW PERSON IN CHRIST: 2 Corinthians 5:17
Message-ID:
<1507843884.3117108....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

BECOMING A NEW PERSON IN CHRIST: 2 Corinthians 5:17

By Ted Schroder
www.tedschroder.com
October 15, 2017

Jesus invites us to become a new person in the kingdom of God. "I have
come that you may have life, and have it to the full -- abundant life"
(John 10:10). He wants to:
* Heal us from our past -- to put shame, and guilt in the rearview
mirror.
* Make a difference in our present -- to experience the fullness of
Christ's blessing today and to share that blessing with others.
* Invite us to be fully involved in his future plans -- to enter into
and serve in the new kingdom he is building for all eternity.
* Little by little, day by day, through faith and the power of his
presence, he wants to transform us into his image and likeness.

The entire movement of Jesus is empowered by his presence. The wind of
the Spirit is activated in our lives when we live as Jesus did every day
of his life while on earth -- align his life to the Father's will and
rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish all things.

Dallas Willard lays out an important threefold process, using the word
VIM to get Christians motivated and moving. Vim comes from the Latin
word vis and means "to have direction, strength, power, motivation,
energy and vigor." V stands for Vision, I stand for Intention, and M
stands for Means.

The first step is to embrace the Vision of Jesus in your life. Jesus
wants you to follow him and become like him. Ask yourself: How would my
life improve and my relationships be strengthened if:
1. I sacrificially and unconditionally loved and forgave others?
(Love)
2. I had inner contentment and purpose in spite of my circumstances
(Joy)
3. I was free from anxiety, because things are right with God,
others and myself (Peace)
4. I took a long time to overheat and instead endured patiently
under life's pressures? (Patience)
5. I chose to do the right things in my relationships with others
(Kindness/Goodness)
6. I established a good name with others, based on my long-term
loyalty in those relationships? (Faithfulness)
7. I was thoughtful, calm and considerate in my dealings with
others? (Gentleness)
8. I had the power through Christ to control myself? (Self-control)
9. I coped with the hardships of life and faced with courage the
prospect of death through the hope I have in Jesus Christ? (Hope)
10. I chose to esteem others above myself? (Humility)

If you became this type of person, what difference would it make in your
life? What difference would it make to the people around you? This is
the description of life in the kingdom to come. Jesus invites us to
start living this new way of life now. Is this your vision?

The second step is Intention. Intention follows Vision. A person who has
a vision but no intention is a mere dreamer. In the spiritual life we
must be intentional -- deliberate, premeditative, calculating and
purposeful -- about becoming a mature Christian disciple. We must make
time in our lives to become the person God means us to be. The road to
hell is paved with good intentions -- people who never get around to
making the decisions in the management of their time, in identifying and
working on deficiencies in their character and behavior, in their
relationships, in the attention they give to what ought to be important
to them.

Over the years I have kept a journal where I noted my intentions to work
on different aspects of my life. I go back and review them from time to
time to see what progress I have made. I look at my calendar to see
where I am spending my time -- or is it God's time, the time he has
given me on earth to prepare for heaven? I look at my finances to see
where I am spending my money -- or is it God's money, the money he has
made me a steward of? Am I intentional in how I plan my life and how I
take into consideration the needs of my loved ones and others who have a
claim on me? If I am not intentional it will not happen.

The third step is Means. To move beyond mere "good intentions," we need
to put in place a thoughtful, practical plan for developing Christian
maturity. We need to identify the spiritual disciplines that move our
belief from our heads to our hearts. These are:

1. Bible Study that helps us focus on what God wants us to know and
think. "Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever
is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if anything is
excellent or praiseworthy -- think about such things" (Phil 4:8-9).
Every morning I spend the first hour of the day meditating on the
Scriptures and other devotional material. I use the Scripture Union
Encounter with God notes. They lead me through a comprehensive Bible
reading program with historical background and contemporary application.
I participate in a Bible Study group each week.
2. Private, Daily, Worship and Prayer. I turn the truths I learn
from the Scriptures into prayer. I begin with praise: focusing on the
descriptions of God as good, holy, love, creator, redeemer, forgiving.
Then there is thanksgiving for all of God's gifts and his answers to
prayer. I confess my sins, my pride, hardness of heart, selfishness,
lack of love. Then I pray for the day ahead of me, for the people I will
meet and the work I need to do; for my family and friends, for members
of my church and other ministries. All this requires solitude and
silence -- the ability to be alone with God, to enjoy fellowship with
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The more we cultivate these
virtues the less we will feel alone and lonely, the less we will feel
the need for activity and society to fill our lives. Jesus went off by
himself to pray -- if he needed to how much more do we need to?
3. Public, Weekly, Worship and Fellowship. I join together with all
the saints to sing praises, hear the Word of God taught, pray for one
another, gather around the Lord's Table, and strengthen the bonds of
love with other members of the Body of Christ. We receive and give
mutual encouragement that moves us beyond our individual concerns to the
concerns of others. It also enables us to fly the flag for Christ and
the Gospel in our community.

All these steps are needed if you are become a new person in Christ.
Commit yourself to these steps as you are able and you will become a
mature Christian who will grow in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, hope and humility.

(Taken from Think Act Be Like Jesus, Randy Frazee, pp.240-251)



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