"Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear Him, upon them that hope in His mercy" Psalm 33:18 KJ21
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Message from Bishop David Anderson
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Bishop Anderson
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Bishop Anderson is traveling today and was not able to write an article.
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| Chaplain's Corner |
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Canon Ashey
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Dear Friends in Christ, I have spent the last few days in Canada at the invitation of the Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC) to address their lay leaders and whole Synod on how to grow missional Anglican congregations. Bishop Don Harvey, Moderator of ANiC and Dean of the ACNA, and his suffragan and assisting bishops, clergy and lay leaders are founding members of the Anglican Church in North America. And they are growing in their mission to share the transforming love of Jesus Christ! I was blessed to hear the stories of approximately 10 new church plants ranging from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Calgary to British Columbia. These new churches have been planted and established in such a short time that not even Anglican1000 was aware of them. Each gave a brief testimony of how they are reaching out into their community and drawing unchurched, once-churched and non-believers into loving, Christ-centered communities that teach how Jesus Christ truly is Lord and Savior of all, and how he can and will transform our lives from the inside out - in a culture that is even more hostile to Christianity than it is in the United States. We also heard from the rectors of two Anglican congregations, one REC and one ANiC, who are in the process of merging their leadership and their congregations to worship in one building in the heart of Victoria, BC. Historic jurisdictional boundaries are disappearing as Canadian Anglicans discover common ground in fulfilling Christ's Great Commission. Please pray for these faithful brothers and sisters in Christ as they seek to bring others into a saving faith in Jesus Christ, and build up fully Biblical and missional Anglican churches. |
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This trip is part of the American Anglican Council's mission to build up Great Commission Anglicans in North America. While Anglican1000 serves as a resourcing agency and promoter of 1000 new churches in the next 5 years, we are focusing on the 700+ congregations in ACNA that are struggling to move beyond maintenance to mission - to the fulfillment of the Great Commission. Two weeks ago, I was in the Gulf-Atlantic Diocese at Bishop Neil Lebhar's invitation to introduce our Sure Foundation project for congregational growth to over 50 clergy and lay leaders from 14 different congregations. Here in Canada, I was privileged to present much the same material - "Plateaued and Perplexed: getting our Churches Growing!" - to over 100 lay leaders from ANiC churches all over Canada, including some who were there on a day pass just for this workshop. Drawing from Acts 2:42-47, and Nehemiah 1-9, we provide a biblical framework for leaders and congregations to develop vision, core values, and action steps for fulfilling Christ's Great Commission to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:16-20).
I want to assure you that there is extraordinary unity and passion for reaching lost people at the congregational level. I have never been more excited about the future of Anglicanism in North America, especially as I see face to face how the Lord is raising up Anglicans, young and old, with a passion to reach the least, the last and the lost with the love of Jesus Christ! Many lay leaders in Florida and Canada came up to me after these presentations with thanksgiving for the encouragement, more specific questions about how to grow their churches locally in the five "benchmarks" of Great Commission ministry (evangelism, discipleship, local outreach to the community, missionary partnerships with Global South Anglican dioceses, and church planting) that we teach through Sure Foundation, and with requests for more teaching and sharing.
I am confident from the feedback from these lay leaders, clergy and their bishops that there will be invitations to return for further teaching and on-site coaching towards those five benchmarks. Please pray for us as we share these resources all across North America, and please pray especially that the Lord will assist me in identifying, recruiting and deploying younger clergy to help share in the teaching and coaching regionally.
Yours in Christ,
Phil+
The Rev. Canon Phil Ashey
Chief Operating and Development Officer, American Anglican Council
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Anglican Perspective: The Battle for Anglicanism
| November 2, 2011
Biblical revisionism is threatening to engulf the Anglican Communion. The American Anglican Council is working to keep this third largest branch of Christianity faithful to the Gospel. This week, Canon Ashey talks about some of his recent work with the leaders of the Global Anglican Future Conference and what he calls the "battle for the soul of the Anglican Communion."
Key scripture - 2 Timothy 4
View this week's Anglican Perspective here.
*Editor's note: While compiling stories for this week's update, I found this remarkable comment from a priest in the Episcopal Church which illustrates some of the issues faced in the Communion today. Regarding a meeting of Episcopal clergy which she attended, The Rev. Elizabeth Kaeton said the following on her blog:
"At one point I asked, 'So, am I to assume that no one in this group believes in the 'bodily resurrection'?'
"There were giggles around the room. The obvious answer was 'no' - not unusual for a group of Episcopal clergy."
Later on in a comment, Rev. Kaeton said:
"Friends, Here's the thing - for me. I don't believe you have to believe in the bodily resurrection - or the virgin birth - or the ascension - in order to be a "good Christian", much less secure your own salvation.
"What I do believe is that all of these things are secondary to the incarnation - which is about as deep a mystery as I'm able to embrace and still claim to have any intellectual or spiritual integrity."
Rev. Kaeton's blog post is here.
- Robert Lundy, AAC Communications Officer
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October Encompass Online
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 The October 2011 edition of Encompass, the AAC's quarterly newsletter, is now available online.
In this edition you will find articles on a congregation that is already benefiting from the AAC's Sure Foundation program, the "contagion" that is the push for same-sex blessings in Anglican provinces around the globe, messages from the AAC's Bishop David Anderson and Canon Phil Ashey and more!
In this edition:
A Message from the President - We need your donation help!
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| Episcopal bishop withholds approval to form new (TEC) diocese | Source: Fond du Lac Reporter
November 3, 2011
APPLETON - After consultation with diocesan leadership, the Rt. Rev. Russell E. Jacobus, bishop of Fond du Lac, has announced he will withhold his approval to form a new diocese.
Separate conventions of the Dioceses of Fond du Lac and Eau Claire, meeting in  October, had mutually agreed to form a new diocese pending consent of the General Convention of the Episcopal Church. Church law also requires approval by the bishop of each diocese.
The vote to junction in the Diocese of Fond du Lac is now in question. At the request of members of the Standing Committee, the ballots were recounted and an irregularity discovered.
The clerical order of 32 "yes" votes and 28 "no" votes was confirmed. However, the lay order of 53 "yes" votes and 51 "no" votes may have been in error. The recount by two members of the Standing Committee - who voted on opposite sides - found a result of 51 "yes" and 53 "no" votes. That result was confirmed by an additional count by the diocesan staff.
"My concern as bishop is not the specifics of the vote in the lay order, but the closeness of a vote on so important an issue," Jacobus said. "The fact that one person changing their vote in the lay order or two changing their vote in the clerical order would switch the vote made me realize moving forward with junctioning now would most likely be divisive and pastorally damaging. I am called to guard the faith, unity and discipline of the church. Because of the uncertainty of the vote, I may not be living up to that vow if we move ahead with forming a new diocese at this time."
Jacobus said forming a new diocese may be in the future but now is not the time....
The rest of the article may be found here.
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'Personhood' prop divides Miss. religious leaders
| Source: Associated Press
November 3, 2011
By Emily Wagster Pettus
JACKSON, Miss. - In the Bible Belt state of Mississippi, people of faith are split on a "personhood" initiative that will be decided on next Tuesday's ballot.
Initiative 26 would amend the state constitution to declare life begins at fertilization.
The state's largest religious group, the Mississippi Baptist Convention, supports the proposal, as does the Tupelo-based American Family Association, a conservative Christian group that has a radio network and opposes abortion and same-sex marriage.
The Rev. Jimmy Porter, executive director of the Baptist Convention's lobbying group, the Christian Action Commission, said the convention has about 2,000 churches and 670,000 members in Mississippi. Porter has been campaigning for the initiative....
The bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi, the Rt. Rev. Duncan Gray III, said in
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Bishop Duncan Gray - opposes Personhood initiative
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an open letter recently that he believes in the sanctity of human life and he has "deep reservations" about abortion, but he does not support the initiative.
Gray wrote that he is "gravely concerned about the unintended consequences of this legislation."...
American Family Association president Tim Wildmon said he believes Mississippi voters will answer a simple question next Tuesday, "a question that we all knew the answer to in our 10th grade biology class: When does life begin?"...
The rest of the article may be found here.
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| Canada: Tentative agreement reached on shared episcopal ministry | |
October 29, 2011
By Harvey Shepherd
MONTREAL - Bishop Leonard Whitten, retired bishop of Western Newfoundland, will provide some guidance to several clergy and parishes in the diocese of Montreal who disagree with its bishop's positions on same-sex marriage if details of a tentative agreement can be worked out.
The tentative agreement on "shared episcopal ministry" was disclosed by Bishop Barry Clarke of Montreal Friday, Oct. 27, in his address at the opening eucharist of the annual diocesan synod. He described the move as a pastoral response to the concerns of parishes and clergy unable to accept positions he and the diocese have taken on the issue in recent years....
The rest of the article may be found here.
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UK: Gay couples allowed to host civil ceremonies in church
| Source: BBC
November 2, 2011
Same-sex couples are to be allowed to hold civil partnership ceremonies in churches and other places of worship in England and Wales. Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone said no religious group would be forced to host them, but those who wished to could apply by the end of the year.
The Church of England said it had "no intention" of blessing gay couples.
Gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell welcomed the move, but regretted it did not allow religious same-sex marriages.
The announcement was made in a written response to a consultation. Ms Featherstone, a Liberal Democrat MP, said: "The government is advancing equality for LGB (lesbian, gay and bisexual) people and ensuring freedom of religion for people of all faiths.
"No religious group will be forced to host a civil partnership registration, but for those who wish to do so this is an important step forward."
Civil partnership ceremonies are currently entirely secular. Marriage between people of the same gender is not legal in the UK, but civil partnerships were introduced in 2005 to give couples the same legal protection as if they were married....
The rest of the article may be found here.
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UK: Cameron says will cut aid to countries that have ban on homosexuality
| Source: Metro
October 30, 2011
By John Higginson
Britain will block aid payments to countries which fail to overturn bans on homosexuality,
David Cameron has warned. Downing Street is 'putting the pressure on' governments to reform their human rights legislation but admitted 'deep prejudices' meant the problem would persist. The prime minister said he raised the issue with 'a number of African countries' when he attended last weekend's Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Australia.
'We are not just talking about it. We are also saying that British aid should have more strings attached,' Mr Cameron told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show.
'Britain is one of the premier aid givers in the world. We want to see countries that receive our aid adhering to proper human rights.'
Ending bans on homosexuality was one of the recommendations of an internal report into the future relevance of the Commonwealth - authored by experts from across the member nations including ex-Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind. Mr Cameron admitted it would be a 'journey', conceding the issue would not be solved by the next time Commonwealth leaders are due to meet in Sri Lanka.
'We are dealing with deep prejudices in some places,' he added. 'We are pushing for movement and we are prepared to put some money behind what we believe. But you can't expect countries to change overnight.'...
The rest of the article may be found here.
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Irish Clergy Launch Petition Campaign
| Source: Church of England Newspaper
November 4, 2011
The Evangelical Fellowship of Irish Clergy (EFIC) has launched an online petition campaign calling upon the leaders of the Church of Ireland to "uphold and submit to the authority of the Scriptures" and not follow the Episcopal Church down the path of schism over homosexuality.
The Church of Ireland could split between Ulster and the Republic of Ireland, church leaders fear, in the wake of revelations the Bishop of Cashel and Ossory permitted the Dean of Leighlin to register a same-sex civil union....
The rest of the article may be found here.
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