Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Anglican battle for orthodox Christian faith,

There are seven issues to cover this week; some weeks are like that, but all of these issues are important to flag for your further thought and prayer coverage.

The first is the ongoing battle between the U.S. Government and the Roman Catholic Church over the health care mandate that all institutions and organizations, including church-affiliated organizations if they provide health coverage for their employees, provide birth control and associated procedures.

Although the Roman Catholic Church is opposed to birth control, as contrasted with the majority of Anglicans, this issue is worth our attention and support for our Roman Catholic brethren. Although one can be sympathetic with the standpoint that if coverage is provided to men for reproductive issues, then they ought to be provided for women, the issue of the government mandating that churches provide things that violate their deeply and long-held theological positions is simply untenable. It is a sign of the times that the Constitutional guarantees with regard to churches are being eroded intentionally and submersed under new rights recently invented. If they are able to roll over the Roman Catholic Church on this, and they already have in many areas of the United States with regard to adoption by homosexual couples, they will roll over us on things important to Anglicans and hardly feel a speed bump. Religious institutions and churches need this exemption if they wish it, or most of them will drop all coverage for their employees.

Read here

Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Anglican family,

Over the last few months, the Anglican Mission and its relationship with the Anglican Province of Rwanda has been a subject of intense interest on blogs and internet postings. Various letters have circulated, and most of you have read them. This week, the Archbishop and Primate of Kenya and chairman of the GAFCON Primates Council, Eliud Wabukala, released a communique from the recent meeting in Nairobi between representatives of several Anglican provinces in Africa including Rwanda, and the Anglican Mission (AMiA) chairman, Bishop Chuck Murphy, and AMiA Suffragan Bishop John Miller. At the same time, the statements and papers from the Anglican Mission Winter Conference are now available, as is a communique from the Raleigh meeting of Archbishop Onesphore Rwaje and the House of Bishops of the Anglican Province of Rwanda (PEAR) representatives, Bishops Alexis Bilindabagabo, Laurent Mbanda, and Louis Muvunyi, as well as US bishops Thad Barnum and Terrell Glenn. Archbishop Robert Duncan and Bishop Julian Dobbs of the Anglican Church of North America (ACNA) joined the assembly in Raleigh as honored guests with many clergy and laity wishing to remain tied to Rwanda.

I am admittedly a bit perplexed, since the pieces do not match up well. Perhaps you are better at seeing a seamless garment in all of this, but I haven't grasped it yet. To me, it looks like different people still have different versions of what was or was not agreed upon, and that doesn't augur well for things working out nicely.

Read here

The Christian faith is under assault in many parts of the world, with different levels of severity. In some parts of the world, such as Nigeria and the Sudan, Christians – and in particular Anglicans – are being killed by Muslim extremists. In Nigeria, it appears that the Muslim killers have access to weapons to use against Christians, and the police and army arrive too late. It is a shame that the Christians don't have the means to defend themselves vigorously since they seem to be their own first line of defense.

It seems to me that the "peaceful" Muslims in Nigeria have a burden to help suppress the militants and their murder and kidnapping of Christians, and if they won't, they should not be surprised that others will lump them all in the same category as dangerous to the life and property of those who simply want to live out and share their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Things are polarizing quickly, and if the moderate Muslims want to assert that not all Muslims are violence-prone, then let them step forward and put action with their words, and help suppress the Muslim extremist killers who bomb and destroy.

The shedding of blood of Anglicans in some parts of the world is in contrast to the bloodless persecution of Anglicans in North America by the American Episcopal Church (TEC) and the Anglican Church of Canada, both official members of the Anglican Communion and in good favor with the present Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams. I say bloodless, though the pain and damage to the people and their churches are very real. One tactic of TEC is to sue a church that is departing from TEC, not only naming the church corporation, but each and every vestry member and clergy person, and then as new vestry members are added each year in a rotational cycle, their names are added to the suits, but those rotating off vestry are not deleted.

Read here

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus,

During the last several weeks, the American Anglican Council staff and I have read the letters from the Primate of Rwanda, other Rwandan bishops, AMiA Chairman Bishop Chuck Murphy, AMiA members in Washington DC, and other assorted news postings. We have refrained from commenting until more of the story emerged, and even now there is the sense that there is still more to be put on the table.

From our perspective this is so very sad, and with personal friends in AMiA, and a long time acquaintanceship with Bishop Murphy and retired Archbishops Kolini and Yong Ping Chung, the pain that so many are feeling is real and has faces that I recognize.

Read here

Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Lord Jesus,

This last week has seen some interesting developments in the Anglican/Episcopal world. The Episcopal Church's (TEC) Disciplinary Board for Bishops, chaired by retired Bishop Dorsey Henderson, has issued its findings on the charges filed by the "TEC loyalists" in the Diocese of South Carolina against their orthodox bishop, Mark Lawrence.

With TEC Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori's backing and support, the SC loyalists certainly had the time and advice to get the charges right against Bishop Lawrence, but since there isn't actually any hard evidence of his abandoning or intending to abandon the communion of TEC, their combined zeal for a hanging apparently caused them to level charges based on their hopes and fears.

Read here

[...]  Diocese of South Carolina

There was an interesting development in the Diocese of South Carolina this week. A Quit Claim Deed to the parish property was mailed to every parish in the diocese from Chancellor Wade Logan on Wednesday (the fact that it was coming I understand was announced to the clergy present at the clergy conference on Tuesday night). In Mr. Logan's letter, the following explanation was given:

Why would Bishop Lawrence and the diocesan leadership take such a step? I believe it was out of a desire to preserve the legacy of the gospel in the parishes, as well as to keep the parishes together with the diocese as the means by which the good news of Jesus could be proclaimed. (The fact is that without such deeds some individual parishioners and particular churches would not feel protected from potential threats).

You and I both know that both the diocese and the bishop are under growing pressure from the national church leadership. We also know that exactly those leaders will countenance all sorts of ruinous teaching of Christian doctrine and life, but suddenly when it comes to questions of property they insist that their new line (which is out of step with Episcopal polity and history) be toed.

Read here

As Christians, we are living in tumultuous times: old things, some of which were good, are passing away, and new things, some of which are frightening, are coming upon us. Many of us are asking what this means, and how we should live in the midst of this turmoil. What should we accept, what should we fight, and if the latter, how militantly should we conduct the fight? The changes fall into two broad categories – spiritual/religious and secular/civil, so most people are feeling the stress of change from two directions at once.

In the spiritual realm, we are seeing old churches fall into apostasy, marching straight to the gates of Hell in full formal attire. Things that were taught us from the church's nursery through confirmation and ordination are now discarded by some church leaders. Is Jesus the Christ the only begotten Son of God, the Way, the Truth and the Life, or is he just one of several valid ways to find the "god presence?" I stand by what I was taught, by what I have lived in this teaching of Christ, and the truth that has flowed from it, and I will not budge.

Did Jesus die on the cross in my place? Did he give his life for me and you and the person down the street that I don't like too much, so that the penalty for our sins will not have a death claim on our eternal souls? I do believe this, and it has changed how I treat other people, especially those I don't like. To love Jesus, to follow Jesus, means that one's character, one's actions, one's passions are reshaped and molded invisibly, perhaps supernaturally, but discernibly nevertheless.

Other aspects of spiritual change have been the importation into the church of sexual standards and behavior not in agreement with the Word of God. The list is long enough – Christian church leaders with multiple divorces, remarriages and infidelities; the increasing acceptance of homosexuality and related same-sex unions and marriage; and the increasing disintegration of heterosexual marriage and couples living together without marriage. Added to that are the instances where women wish to have children although there is no husband, so they use various means to begin their pregnancy, and raise their child as a single parent.Many circumstances, often heart-breaking, can cause a parent of either gender to be the sole provider and nurturer in child raising, and it is clear how hard this is, and how much they need a helping hand rather than extra criticism. Still, it is God's best plan that children be raised in a stable, loving, two-parent home where the child learns directly from spiritually and emotionally healthy parents what it means to be a man or a woman. If you have such a family, and you know of a child in a single parent family, why not include the parent and child in some of your family outings or celebrations? Children need good models, especially in this changing and uncertain world.

In reality, I think the sexual issues taken by themselves are tertiary, and the uniqueness of Christ and the authority of Holy Scripture are primary issues, but somehow all these issues seem to be inextricably linked together. The changes in sexual standards mean that Holy Matrimony is under assault both in and out of the church.

In the secular/civil arena, legislation being offered by CONSERVATIVE party leaders in the UK would FORCE all clergy in England to officiate at gay and lesbian civil unions in their churches or be severely punished. Unless we fight vigorously, this will come to North America as well, perhaps in Canada first. Be aware of where your candidates for governmental office stand, and hold them accountable for what they do after they are elected.

Many of our members in the church, perhaps nearly all of us, are in some way suffering from the bursting of the Western economic bubble, with many unemployed or under-employed, many who have lost their homes to foreclosure and many who have seen the value of their homes steeply decline. The Book of Proverbs is full of financial admonitions that we have forgotten to our great cost.

But in the midst of the civil and religious chaos of this world, there are some things I am sure of: I am clear about God and what He is up to, and I want to be a vital part of what God is doing, even in the face of adversity from a world gone crazy. I believe that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is to shape culture and society, not the other way around, and we must keep working on that. Whether we finish this earthly life wealthy or financially impoverished, let us stay the Gospel course to the end, participating with Jesus Christ in His and our Heavenly Father's business of grace, forgiveness and restoration.

May God bless you in all your steps that keep pace with Him,

+David

The Rt. Rev. David C. Anderson, Sr.
President and CEO, American Anglican Council

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus,

I want to continue my comments on the dire state of affairs in the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina and draw upon some expert legal and procedural analysis by the "Anglican Curmudgeon," which we have included in this Update.

I would like for you to stop here at this point, and read the Curmudgeon article titled "Bishop Henderson: It's 'business as usual' in the church." When you are finished, come back to this analysis of what happens next.

Note: throughout my article, the acronym TEC stands for The Episcopal Church, meaning the one which now claims it is multinational, but has executive offices at 815 2nd Avenue, in New York City.

With Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori now in possession of almost unchecked power in TEC, and with her judgment clouded by her animus toward Bishop Mark Lawrence and the Diocese of South Carolina, it appears that even sober advice from those around her and the Executive Council will not stop her from drawing first blood.

Read here

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In May and June, the American Anglican Council warned that with the implementation of the new American Episcopal Church (TEC) Title IV Canons, the Presiding Bishop would receive unprecedented power to directly intervene in a diocese or discipline a bishop. Our anticipation was that Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori would move quickly to punish South Carolina TEC Bishop Lawrence by inhibiting/suspending him and the Standing Committee of South Carolina and replace everyone at the top with her hand-picked "loyalists." Although such a "Blitzkrieg" approach would have drawn international alarm and censure from many quarters, it was the approach that we considered most likely, based on previous actions.

Apparently, the Presiding Bishop has decided to be more careful about how she drives Bishop Lawrence to the guillotine, and so an elaborate story has been concocted about how loyalists in South Carolina compiled the list of particulars on a grievance letter and sent the complaint to the the President of the Disciplinary Board for Bishops. Former Bishop of Upper South Carolina Dorsey Henderson is the President of this board, and so he was the one to communicate with Bishop Lawrence on the "serious charges," including "Abandonment of the communion of this Church."

Read here

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

During this past week, the Provincial Council of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) met for the third time, marking two years of growth. Although nearly all of the leadership of the ACNA has come out of the American Episcopal Church (TEC) and the Anglican Church of Canada, dating from the theological realignment of the last ten years, there is a desire to keep what was good from the former times, and discard what was erroneous or heretical. This is easier on a theological level and more difficult when it comes to things like canon law.

Based on canon law models from selected Global South provinces, an ACNA canon law structure is now in place, and it is influenced by the solid and thoughtful portions of North American canon law experience as well. It's quite interesting and actually exciting to look at the differences in organization and tradition between those who come out of the Canadian experience and those who come from the American Episcopal experience. Given that historically and culturally there are some significant differences and rivalries between the two nations represented, it is a real blessing to have an Anglican Province that spans the border and to be in a meaningful relationship with fellow believers. I do think that the delegates from the United States now know all of the words to all of the verses of "O Canada" and sing it as enthusiastically we "Americans" might sing "The Star Spangled Banner." I put 'American' in quotation marks since our brothers and sisters in other nations in both North and South America can also claim the word 'American.'

Read here

As we transition from the brief season of Ascensiontide into Pentecost and the Sundays following, the North American continent goes into summertime, with schools closed and neighborhood swimming pools open. Many families plan extended holidays, and some churches see a drop in attendance while other churches located near the mountains, the beaches or major attractions see their attendance rise. Although some of the staff at the American Anglican Council (AAC) will take vacations this summer, they will be sequenced so that our doors will remain open, our phone lines working, and our staff ready to bring you the truth of what is happening in the Anglican Communion. Churches or clergy who need advice or counsel will find someone ready to help them. We say this since we know that once the new Episcopal Church Title IV Canon Law revisions go into full force and effect on July 1, things may heat up for clergy, bishops and churches in the Episcopal Church (TEC).

The AAC and Sharing Of Ministries Abroad (SOMA) recently partnered to bring the retired Bishop of Rochester, England, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Michael Nazir-Ali, on a speaking tour of the United States. He spoke in the Pittsburgh area, then in Atlanta, then Newport Beach, Calif., then in the Ft. Worth, Texas area, in each case presenting a program called “Hold Fast: An Urgent Call to the Western Church.” Dr. Nazir-Ali was born in Pakistan to a Shia Muslim family. His father accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior and converted to the Christian faith, as did Dr. Nazir-ali, who has shared the Gospel around the world despite countless threats against his life and safety.

Read here

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ Jesus,

Many within the American Episcopal Church (TEC) have been sheltered from the worst of TEC's spiritual and theological innovations. Moderate to conservative bishops and stalwart orthodox parish rectors have often sheltered their people from the harsh reality of the new Episcopal Church, but those days are soon to end.

In July of this year, less than six weeks from now, the changes to the disciplinary canon (Title IV) go into full force and effect, and revisionist bishops will be able to remove parish leaders on the flimsiest of charges. Likewise, if a bishop doesn't fully go along with Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori's agenda, she will be able to remove the bishop on the flimsiest of charges. It no longer is required that someone has done something to damage "the church," only that they intend to do so, or that they might do so, as determined by the Presiding Bishop.

Rectors will no longer be able to protect their flock, nor will bishops, for the long arm of the national church will reach down even into the pew where Mom and Pop sit. If you are intending to stay in TEC for at least five years, I predict you will see the adoption of homosexual marriage with official prayer book liturgy accommodating it coming to your local church.

How can that happen when your priest doesn't permit it? A TEC priest has the right to refuse to marry any couple without offering an explanation. If, however, the implied reason is that the priest is opposed to homosexual Christian marriage, and he clearly refuses based on a "discriminatory attitude," then he or she would be liable for removal by the bishop, and could possibly be subject to a civil lawsuit.

Here is an example: Mr. Smith and Mr. Jones come to Father Brown to request marriage. They are not members of your local church, but they are Episcopalians. They are willing to go through the required marriage preparation that Father Brown has for all couples, but Father Brown discriminates against them based either openly or by implication because they are gay. TEC doesn't tolerate discrimination against gay, lesbian, bi-sexual or transgendered people, so a complaint is filed with the bishop by the couple. The bishop investigates, finds out the Father Brown did in fact refuse to allow Messrs. Smith and Jones to wed at your local church based on his beliefs about the spiritual impropriety of same-sex unions, and so suspends (inhibits) Father Brown, and he is subsequently removed from ministry (deposed). Meanwhile, an interim priest is placed by the bishop in your parish, who proceeds to wed the couple.

The story isn't over, though, because the same-sex couple, still feeling un-affirmed by Father Brown and the vestry, bring a lawsuit against the former priest and vestry for discrimination, and the diocese and TEC's own theological stand on same-sex marriage is used as evidence in court that the denomination does believe in such, therefore the priest can't rely on his own denominations' faith standards as a defense for his actions.

The coercive nature of this new disciplinary canon makes it the equivalent of "ecclesiastical waterboarding." Churches that aren't ready to be manhandled and taken over by such rough treatment newly available to the Presiding Bishop and her ecclesiastical apparatus have waited until perilously late in the process to do much about it, although there are a few things that can be implemented that could provide some help. Immediate action would be required.

Although same-sex issues are used as an example, they are not the crux of the immediate problem for orthodox TEC dioceses and parishes. The immediate problem is how the change in Title IV will redistribute authority and power and strip away safeguards and protections previously available. The crux of the matter is the change in governance, and the impact on the local church will be manifested in this changed system of governance.

On the positive side of the spiritual ledger, new dioceses are in the formation process in the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). Churches that are in definable geographic areas are coalescing into proto-dioceses, and are preparing to adopt a constitution and canons, and have episcopal elections. In existing ACNA dioceses, new congregations are being formed and are growing. Even in these difficult times, where the full and complete Gospel is preached with conviction, the power of the Holy Spirit causes changed and redirected lives. I thank God that I have been honored to live in these times of new reformation and renewal of His church, and with my own eyes to see the bravery and faithfulness of so many Anglicans.

Once churches move out of the TEC ecclesiastical structure and leave the threats and punishments of TEC behind, they are free to practice their faith with a new freedom, and to define themselves in positive terms for what they believe in and hope for. If a church comes out of TEC, but continues to define itself by what it is against, it quickly withers; negativity is counter to growth. But a church that comes out of TEC, and defines itself in terms of the Gospel imperatives that are historic to the church experiences a new zeal and new growth. Let us all walk in the light of the Gospel, and rejoice in what God is doing both in his church and in our lives.

Blessings and Peace in Jesus,

+David

The Rt. Rev. David C. Anderson, Sr.
President and CEO, American Anglican Council

It has been said by some that the Anglican Church's history is written in 500 year segments, and if this is so, then the beginning of the new millennium may have been the beginning of a new 500 year segment. As always, the preceding years leading up to a new block of time set the stage and provide the context for the new block of time to rest upon. As many would point out, it was the theological and spiritual decay within Anglicanism in the decades leading up to the new millennium that prepared the Anglican Communion for the new era.

This new era, beginning with the Anglican realignment, could not have happened as easily without technological breakthroughs involving computers, the internet and the ability to transmit information and photographs all over the world in an instant. With bishops and priests in widely diverse parts of the globe having access to the internet – even if only intermittently – it was more difficult for heresy to stay hidden, clerical lies to go unreported, and ecclesiastical misdeeds to be only locally known.

Read here

[...]  The world of the church, the state, and morality in our society has certainly changed over my 40+ years in holy orders. The governments of several nations have seemingly turned against sound morality and embraced homosexuality as one of the "in" things to be protected, even promoted. At the same time, those who resist will be crushed legally, as we already see happening in the UK, where a Christian family who ran a bed and breakfast within their home wished to restrict couples sharing a room to those who were husband and wife. This obviously meant that they wouldn't rent to unmarried heterosexual couples, nor would they rent to homosexual couples. The hand of the court struck them down, giving a huge award to the gay couple who filed suit and threatening bankruptcy to the Christian couple. May the hand of God vindicate them and come against those who would punish the righteous.

Now the English Parliament is preparing to consider changing the marriage and Civil Partnership rules. It is sometimes difficult for those of us "across the pond" to understand what is happening and what all the collateral effects might be when the British propose such laws. We have an excellent piece from the UK written by the Rev'd Peter Ould about the proposed changes, and I recommend your reading it.

Read here

Dearly Beloved in Christ,

Most of my readers are aware that the battles within the Anglican/Episcopal world are only a microcosm of the problems in the larger Christian world and the secular culture of the Western world. The words of Jesus when he said, "None come to the Father except through me," were offensive in the first century Jewish and Greco-Roman world, and yet were the very words of life that men and women turned to in faith and discipline. The words were true both then and now, and offensive both then and now. The pressure to be "nice" and not "offend" anyone else's beliefs has meant in our current time that many church leaders have backed off from the claims of Jesus. Jesus did say that those who deny him he will deny, but that judgment I leave for him.

It is not only recognition of the supremacy and personal atonement of Jesus Christ that is sliding in many areas of the Christian community, it is the discipline of life and the common-sense understanding of how to live which proceed from Christ's lordship. Take marriage, for example: you are probably aware that I was one of the original signers of the Manhattan Declaration which upholds marriage as between one man and one woman in a lifelong faithful relationship. The element of our culture and yes, even of our Christian churches, that wishes to reshape the nature of pretty much everything to conform to their idea of who God may be, is at work trying to promote homosexual marriage within the churches. Already many Episcopal Church dioceses are experimenting with liturgies as they morph from blessing same-sex "unions" to full-fledged marriage.

Read here

My attendance at the "Mere Anglicanism" conference in Charleston, SC last weekend was well worth the effort and cost. To have bishops Michael Nazir-Ali and Mouneer Anis in the same room, both speaking on global Anglicanism and the leadership of the current Archbishop of Canterbury, was very informative.

Orthodox Anglicans experienced something of a fracture at the time of the Jerusalem Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON). Many bishops who attended GAFCON went on to boycott the Lambeth Conference later that year. Presiding Bishop Mouneer Anis did not attend GAFCON but did attend Lambeth, and the same was true of Archbishop John Chew of Southeast Asia. The fracture, not a break but a stress fracture, really had to do with two ways of approaching the besetting problem of the American Episcopal Church's (TEC) misconduct and the Archbishop of Canterbury's action or lack thereof.

Those who were aligned with GAFCON generally felt that Dr. Rowan Williams had failed in leadership, deceived the primates by promising actions that he never took or enforced following their meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and would thus not do the right thing in the future. Some other bishops, led by John Chew and Mouneer Anis, felt that Archbishop Williams could be worked with and that he would finally come around for the salvation of the Anglican Communion. Williams, however, abused this additional chance afforded him by some of the orthodox primates, and there is now probably little differentiation between the GAFCON primates and those bishops led by Chew and Anis. A majority of primates within the Global South, those provinces south of the equator, are orthodox. However, some, certainly including South Africa, are very much supportive of TEC and aligned with the Archbishop of Canterbury. This divide in the Global South will have to be addressed at some point.

Read here

Raymond Dague, attorney and legal counsel for St. George's Anglican Church in Helmetta, New Jersey, tells about how his client and The Episcopal Church amicably settled their disputes. Mr. Dague says this outcome gives hope that future and current lawsuits can be avoided or ended. Read more about the story of St. George's Anglican here.