"The words of the wise heard in quietness are better than the shouting
of a ruler among fools." Ecclesiastes 9:17 NASB 
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Message from Bishop David Anderson
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Bishop Anderson
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Dear Friends in Christ Jesus,
May you have a happy and blessed new year in the Lord. December 2012 has come and gone, and as expected, the world is still here and the worry that the Mayans knew something that we didn't has passed us by. We do know that Jesus Himself is coming back, and that we won't know the date, so constant vigilance is needed. Loving God and doing acts of mercy for your neighbors are both required of those who have accepted the lordship and sovereignty of Jesus Christ and have given him authority over their lives.
This Sunday, January 6, 2013 is the Feast of the Epiphany, and remembers the arrival of the Magi from the East. They weren't kings, nor were they magicians, but they were very important. The Magi were a group of highly educated men who studied the stars. Aspects of their knowledge would include what we today call astronomy, astrology, and perhaps theology as well. They believed that future events were foretold in the movement and positioning of the stars, and so they advised their kings concerning war and government, of dangers and fortuitous opportunities ahead. They could tell from their reading of the stars that a king was about to be born in the land of Judah, so they set off to find this king and present appropriate gifts. Many scholars think that they arrived well after the birth of Jesus, but while the Holy Family was still in Bethlehem. Their inquiries of King Herod prompted Herod to order the massacre of all the young male babies in Bethlehem in an attempt to remove any threat to his own throne.
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The Magi did find the Christ child and subsequently the Holy Family fled to Egypt for safety, perhaps only slightly ahead of Herod's death squad. To those of us who enjoy and appreciate the science of astronomy and yet find the concept of astrology somewhat odd, the idea that God would use the heavens to write clearly his message to the whole world that his son was being born, is, well, maybe puzzling. At that time, however, most of the world did believe in astrology, and that the future was written in and controlled by the stars and planets. God acknowledged the world where they were, and sent a message in terms they could understand. What media would God use today to send us all a message? Television? The internet? Our iPhone or iPad? A text message or a tweet? Holy Scripture says that when the Lord Jesus Christ returns in power and glory, the heavens will roll up as a scroll. This image may not give us a clear picture, but if you imagine a pull-down window shade that is under spring tension, you know that if it gets away from you it rolls suddenly up to the top and disappears. When the heavens roll up we will all see it, and hear it, and the moment will be upon us.
Scripture is also clear that there won't be an advance warning specific to the day or time of the event, so we can't wait to prepare until we read the warning in the newspaper; the time to prepare is now - and then continue to live in a state of spiritual preparedness on through the year. It may well be that we live out our entire lives as faithful Christian men and women, but Jesus' return is sometime further in the future. Whether it is soon or still distant, we know it is coming, and being prepared becomes a way of life and a spiritual discipline that serves us well.
In some parts of the world, especially in repressive Muslim-controlled countries, Christians face a near apocalypse at any moment, and so being prepared for either Christ's return or their own sudden death is very relevant. The Islamic religious authorities that effectively run the country of Iran frequently use the Christmas season to crack down on Christians, and this Christmas they re-arrested Yousef Nadarkhani, the Iranian pastor imprisoned for apostasy from Islam. An international protest resulted in his release, but the hardliners are determined to make an example of him. What kind of a religion wants to kill people for converting, and if they can't kill them, to imprison them? I certainly prefer Christ's invitation and promises rather than the Islamists' threats and spiritual bullying. Please continue to pray for this pastor, husband and father, that he would be spiritually and physically sustained in these hours of trial and abuse, and that he would be released safely, and able to witness to the lordship of Christ.
Many in the Anglican world are asking when the new Archbishop of Canterbury Designate (ABCD) will be officially made the new Archbishop of Canterbury. It apparently is a multistep process and we have included a short article that lays out the timeline clearly. And in closing, we note that the British Prime Minister has announced that the Queen has given Dr. Rowan Williams a life peerage, and he will become Baron Williams of Oystermouth. I wish him well.
Blessings and Peace in Christ Jesus,
+David
The Rt. Rev. David C. Anderson, Sr.
President and CEO, American Anglican Council
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Message from Canon Phil Ashey
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Canon Ashey
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ACNA College of Bishops meets next week January 7-11, Orlando FL
Dear Friends in Christ,
I bid your prayers for the College of Bishops of the Anglican Church in North America as they meet next week to address a number of topics including the ordination of women to the priesthood, the formation of new and overlapping dioceses, church planting, a new Catechism, and the restoration of former AMiA bishops to the ACNA College.
Bishop David Anderson will be there as a member of the College and the Archbishop's Cabinet. I will be there in an advisory capacity due to our (AAC) work in supporting our emerging province through coaching new and forming dioceses, leadership and congregational development.
The realignment of Anglicanism in North America and the forming of the ACNA is not only a reformation of belief - a return to our Anglican roots in the authority of the Bible, the Creeds and the first four Ecumenical Councils - it is also a reformation of behavior. This reformation is also about identifying and living into the values of a church culture that will continue to build one, united, biblical and missionary Anglican movement in order to reach North America with the transforming love of Jesus Christ. Sometimes there is a "disconnect" between the values to which we aspire and the values from which we actually "operate." In both leadership and congregational development, the AAC has been emphasizing to clergy and lay leaders alike that it is precisely at these "disconnects" between aspired and operating values that conflict is likely to take place, and along with conflict, the failure of any strategy for mission and church growth.
But we also teach that though conflict is inevitable (because the "disconnects" are inevitable), conflict can be quite healthy and precisely what we need for the church to move out of maintenance and into mission. The challenge is how to deal with conflict in such a way that we remain focused on the core values, vision and mission that God has laid on our hearts.
As I look at the challenges before the ACNA bishops, and the way in which they will be addressing those challenges, I am enormously hopeful and encouraged. As the bishops take this opportunity to assess the health of the ACNA, they come with mutual goodwill and a willingness to face the "disconnects" under the authority of God's word, apostolic teaching and tradition, and the covering of intercessory, corporate and personal prayer. For many of us, this in itself is a sign of a new and healthy church culture! This in itself is the first fruits of a reformation of behavior.
Yesterday I was reflecting on the challenges before the bishops in the light of the reading from Hebrews 11:13-22:
"But having seen them [the things promised] and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth... they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city." (11:13b, 16 NIV)
Yes, there is no perfect church. Yes, we may not live to see God's promises come true. But what a wonderful stance of faith the author of Hebrews commends to the church! In faith, we are called to keep our hearts longing for our true home, our eyes fixed on that heavenly city where the Lamb himself is the light. This stance enables us to be like Abraham, who was able to obey God "even though he did not know where he was going." (Hebrews 11:8). With hearts and eyes fixed faithfully on that heavenly city, bishops and other church leaders, planters and builders are more likely to build a movement, a missional church, that reflects more of that heavenly city rather than less - even when they and we do not know the road ahead!
In The City of God, St. Augustine wrote about the difference between that heavenly city promised in Hebrews, and the earthly "city of man:"
"We see then that two cities were created by two kinds of love; the earthly city was created by self-love reaching the point of contempt for God, the Heavenly City by the love of God carried as far as contempt of self." (Book XIV, 28)
In a very real way, the Church should always be as Augustine suggests: a people who are already but not yet fully "the City of God." The Church is a people on pilgrimage to that heavenly city, carried by passionate love for God rather than self.
As the ACNA College of Bishops meets this coming week, please pray that they will continue to be motivated by the love of God and his heavenly city, and carried by such love even "as far as contempt of self."
Yours in Christ,
Phil+
The Rev. Canon Phil Ashey
Chief Operating and Development Officer, American Anglican Council
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Diocese of South Carolina Seeks Declaratory Judgement to Prevent Episcopal Church from Seizing Local Parishes and "Hijacking" their Identities
| Source: Diocese of South Carolina 
January 4, 2013
St. George, SC - The Diocese of South Carolina, the Trustees of the Diocese and congregations representing the vast majority of its baptized members today filed suit in South Carolina Circuit Court against The Episcopal Church to protect the Diocese's real and personal property and that of its parishes.
The suit also asks the court to prevent The Episcopal Church from infringing on the protected marks of the Diocese, including its seal and its historical names, and to prevent the church from assuming the Diocese's identity, which was established long before The Episcopal Church's creation.
"We seek to protect more than $500 million in real property, including churches, rectories and other buildings that South Carolinians built, paid for, maintained and expanded - and in some cases died to protect - without any support from The Episcopal Church," said the Rev. Jim Lewis, Canon to the Ordinary. "Many of our parishes are among the oldest operating churches in the nation. They and this Diocese predate the establishment of The Episcopal Church. We want to protect these properties from a blatant land grab."
The Diocese of South Carolina was established in 1785 as an independent, voluntary association that grew from the missionary work of the Church of England. It was one of nine dioceses that voluntarily joined together to form The Episcopal Church in October 1789, which eventually became an American province in the worldwide Anglican Communion, also a voluntary association.
"When the Diocese disassociated from The Episcopal Church we didn't become a new entity," Canon Lewis explained. "We have existed as an association since 1785. We incorporated in 1973; adopted our current legal name, 'The Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of South Carolina,' in 1987; and we disassociated from the Episcopal Church in October of 2012. The Episcopal Church has every right to have a presence in the area served by our Diocese - but it does not have a right to use our identity. The Episcopal Church must create a new entity."...
The rest of the article may be found here.
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Another Iranian Pastor...And Another...And Another
| Source: IRD
January 4, 2013
By Faith McDonnell
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Pastor Nadarkhani
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After the exoneration and release from prison of Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani in September, it was extremely disappointing to hear of his being arrested once again on Christmas Day. Although authorities indicate that he is only serving out the remaining 45 days of his original sentence, religious liberty advocates are concerned by this bold betrayal of what the courts themselves had previously ordered.
We will continue to monitor Pastor Nadarkhani's imprisonment and to urge his immediate release, as well as that of his attorney, Mohammed Ali Dadkhah. At the same time, we must remember other Iranian Christians - lay and clergy - as well as persecuted Baha'i believers. All are victimized by the Iranian Islamist regime's systemic oppression and persecution. When persecution intensifies, advocacy should intensify, as well....
The rest of the article may be found here.
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When will Justin Welby officially become Archbishop of Canterbury?
| Source: Archbishop of Canterbury website
January 1, 2013
...On 10th January 2013, the College of Canons will meet in the Chapter House of
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Bishop Welby
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Canterbury Cathedral to elect Bishop Justin as the new Archbishop, having received the Congé d'Élire and Letter Missive from the Crown authorising the Election to take place.
A further legal ceremony, the Confirmation of Election, will take place on 4th February 2013 at St Paul's Cathedral. The Dean of Canterbury will report to a commission of senior diocesan bishops chaired by the Archbishop of York that Bishop Justin has been elected according to statute, and the Archbishop of York, on behalf of his fellow bishops and the wider Church, will confer on him the 'spiritualities' of the diocese of Canterbury.
At this point, he becomes the Archbishop of Canterbury - until then he remains Bishop of Durham.
On 21st March, after paying Homage to Her Majesty in his new role, his public ministry will inaugurated in a colourful ceremony at Canterbury Cathedral, to which bishops from the whole Church of England, Primates of the wider Anglican Communion and many ecumenical guests will be invited. The new Archbishop will be installed in two places in the Cathedral - the diocesan 'cathedra' in the Cathedral Quire as the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury, and the Chair of St Augustine as Archbishop of Canterbury.
The rest of the article may be found here.
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Church of England: Bishops lift ban on consecration of civil-partner clerics
| Source: Church Times
January 4, 2013
By Ed Thornton
...Shortly before Christmas, Church House published a 13-point summary of business conducted by the House of Bishops when it met on 10 and 11 December. Point 7 of this, which has caused some confusion in online forums and among campaigners, said that the Bishops "considered an interim report from the group chaired by Sir Joseph Pilling on the Church of England's approach to human sexuality". This group was set up in January 2012, with a wider remit than the group chaired by Bishop Paterson, which was looking specifically at civil partnerships (News, 6 January 2012).
The summary said that the Bishops did "not intend to issue a further pastoral statement on civil partnerships" until the Pilling group concluded its work later this year. It did not mention the work of Bishop Paterson's group.
The summary, however, went on to say that the Bishops "confirmed that the requirements in the 2005 statement concerning the eligibility for ordination of those in civil partnerships whose relationships are consistent with the teaching of the Church of England apply equally in relation to the episcopate".
This amounts to a lifting of the moratorium on the appointment of clergy in civil partnerships as bishops. The 2005 statement on civil partnerships states: "The House of Bishops does not regard entering into civil partnership as intrinsically incompatible with holy orders, provided the person concerned is willing to give assurances to his or her bishop that the relationship is consistent with the standards for the clergy set out in Issues in Human Sexuality."
Issues in Human Sexuality, compiled by the House of Bishops in 1991, is the Church's definitive statement on same-sex relationships. It states that "the clergy cannot claim the liberty to enter into sexually active homophile relationships," and calls on "all clergy to live lives that respect the Church's teaching".
The rest of the article may be found here.
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A Hundredfold
| Source: St Mary's Maidenhead (UK)
January 3 2013
By Sam Allberry
We were having lunch together and I was praying like mad. My friend had been in a committed same-sex relationship for about 15 years. He was interested in Jesus; attracted to his teaching and message. But he wanted to know what implications becoming a Christian might have on his practicing gay lifestyle.
I had explained, as carefully and graciously as I could, that Jesus upheld and expanded the wider biblical stance on sexuality: that the only context for sexual activity was heterosexual marriage. Following Jesus would mean seeking to live under his word, in this area as in any other.
He had been quiet for a moment, and then looked me in the eye and asked the billion-dollar question: 'What could possibly be worth giving up my partner for?'
I held his gaze for a moment while my brain raced for the answer. There was eternity, of course. There was heaven and hell. But I was conscious that these realities would seem other-worldly and intangible to him. In any case, surely following Jesus is worth it even for this life. He was asking about life here-and-now, so I prayed for a here-and-now Bible verse to point to. I wanted him to know that following Jesus really is worth it - worth it in the life to come, but also worth it in this life now, no less so for those who have homosexual feelings. Yes, there would be a host of hardships and difficulties: unfulfilled longings, the distress of unwanted temptation, the struggles of long-term singleness.
But I wanted him to know that following Jesus is more than worth it, even with all it entails for gay people. And I also wanted to tell him that I had come to know this not just from studying the Bible and listening to others, but from my own personal experience.
Homosexuality is an issue I have battled with my entire Christian life. It took a long time to admit to myself, longer to admit to others, and even longer to see something of God's good purposes through it all. There have been all sorts of ups and downs. But this battle is not devoid of blessings, as Paul discovered with his own unyielding thorn in the flesh. Struggling with sexuality has been an opportunity to experience more of God's grace, rather than less....
The rest of the article may be found here.
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