"Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man."
Luke 21:36 NKJV
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Message from Bishop David Anderson
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Bishop Anderson
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Dear Brothers and Sisters in orthodox Anglicanism,
Why is it that Western "progressive" Anglicans both in North America and the British Isles are so fixated on sex, and, in particular, homosexuality? It is hard to read very far into either Episcopal Church (TEC) news, or Church of England news, without the issues of gay, lesbian, transgendered, bisexual, and who knows what else being the centerpiece of an article, event, new policy or canon law. Because conservative Anglicans would prefer NOT to focus on sex, particularly homosexuality, and are willing to say so, they are accused of fixating on homosexuality. Makes your head spin, doesn't it.
The President of the United States, Barack Obama, who was recently elected to a second term, is putting together the final plans for his inauguration ceremony and that means appointing various people to do or say important things. It is no secret that President Obama is very supportive of homosexual issues, having overturned the "don't ask, don't tell" policy in the military, and making homosexual behavior permissible in the military's ranks and aboard ship. He has also come out in favor of same-sex partnerships and homosexual marriage, and has begun surrounding himself with people who will fall in line with his point of view.
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Recently, he asked the Rev. Louie Giglio, a very successful pastor with young people in
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Rev. Giglio
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the Atlanta, Georgia area to give the benediction at his inauguration. Giglio pastors The Passion City Church. His current emphasis is on youth and, in particular, human sex trafficking, for which Atlanta seems to be a crossroads in the Southeast.
After Mr. Obama added Rev. Giglio to the ceremony, the gay watchdogs went to work to out this Atlanta pastor and discovered that 16 or 17 years ago Giglio preached a sermon critical of homosexuality. Immediately the watchdogs began to pressure President Obama to dump the Atlantan and find someone gay friendly. If you are in a pinch and want someone gay friendly, the first place to look these days is the Episcopal Church (TEC), and the President did find a gay-friendly speaker just across the street at St. John's Episcopal Church. The Presidential Inaugural Committee summed it all up, saying, "As we now work to select someone to deliver the benediction, we will ensure their beliefs reflect this administration's vision of inclusion and acceptance for all Americans."
Since he had obviously offended so many gay and lesbian people with his ancient sermon, and since the unwanted battle could obscure his current work, Pastor Giglio withdrew from the ceremony. This then freed the President to choose a pastor who was on the left side of the page on sexual issues. One can only wonder which phone from the White House was used to call Pastor Giglio and inform him of the kerfuffle and explain what his preferred response should be.
It is perhaps unfortunate that Pastor Giglio didn't demur and force the President to remove him for his long-ago sermon, thus publicly exposing the unattractive underbelly of the homosexual agenda. What is the homosexual agenda? First, to sensitize the media and community to their human-ness, their desire to be just like everyone else, and why they should be treated fairly, and this, of course does resonate with most of us. Step one, Sensitize.
Step two is to demonize all who disagree with the practice of homosexuality. Make them look uncaring, unloving, fearful, and call them homophobic, labeling them with names that no one would want to associate with. Step two continues, however, step three is also begun.
Step three is to normalize homosexual practices and their incorporation into the structure of society, first, through same-sex unions and partnerships, then, through gay marriage, adoption, and any other relationship or benefit given to heterosexuals in our culture. Even as this third stage works its way through our institutions and structures, the second stage of demonization, punishing and silencing, grows ever more harsh. If you are identified as a non-supporter of homosexuality, then your business will be punished or disrupted, or you may be fired. If you are in academia, your writings will be marginalized and you may not make tenure. Or if you are asked to do something in the government, and then outed, you will be forced to step down and make way for a more "sensible, right-thinking, modern" human being.
Across the street from the White House is historic St. John's Episcopal Church, Lafayette
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President Obama and Rev. Leon
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Square, often called the Church of the Presidents. The rector of the parish, the Rev. Luis Leon, was asked by former President George W. Bush to give the invocation at Bush's 2005 inauguration. President Bush frequently attended this church as well. Leon, however, has become quite outspoken about his support of gay and lesbian issues, and the Episcopal Church is rife with homosexual clergy and has a number of gay and lesbian bishops as well. Appointing the rector of St. John's to pray at an inauguration is convenient for anyone living in the White House. In this present situation, the sexual ideology of the White House and the rector, Rev. Luis Leon, seem to track together.
Any president is within his rights to make his own choice about who gives the invocation or benediction at his inauguration, but this incident exposes the ugly underside of the homosexual lobby's demonization and punishing efforts, and their ability to move the President in lockstep with them.
There were good reasons for President Obama to have chosen the Atlanta evangelical pastor Louie Giglio in the first place. He is well known for his work combating human trafficking, but in the new battle for normalization, the gay community is not taking any prisoners. I am sure that Pastor Giglio feels his work is too important and crucial for it to be smeared by someone else's agenda, and on that I agree with him. May God bless him in his work.
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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Anglican Perspective: Abortion
January 18, 2013
Next weekend will see thousands of pro-life demonstrators march in Washington D.C. for the annual March for Life. This week Canon Ashey asks the question, "Why should Christians oppose abortion and stand for life?" View this week's Anglican Perspective here.
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South Carolina: St. Matthias joins lawsuit against The Episcopal Church
| Source: Clarendon Sun
January 15, 2013
By Sharron Haley
Summerton - St. Matthias Episcopal Church in Summerton has joined hands with dozens
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The Very Rev. David Thurlow in front of church
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of other Episcopal churches statewide against The Episcopal Church to protect the diocese's real and personal property and that of its parishes, according to the Very Rev. David W.T. Thurlow, rector of St. Matthias.
Filed on Jan. 4, 2013, in South Carolina Circuit Court by several churches within the Diocese of South Carolina, along with the Trustees of the Diocese, the lawsuit asks the court for a declaratory judgement 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 Episcopal Church from assuming the diocese's identity.
"It is beyond belief what The Episcopal Church is attempting to do," Thurlow said last week. "What it amounts to is corporate identity theft."...
The rest of the article may be found here.
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Egypt's Coptic Christians fleeing country after Islamist takeover
| Source: Telegraph
January 13, 2013
By Richard Spencer
Tens of thousands of Egyptian Christians are leaving the country in the wake of the Egyptian revolution and subsequent Islamist takeover of politics, priests and community leaders say.
Coptic Christian churches in the United States say they are having to expand to cope with new arrivals, as priests in cities like Cairo and Alexandria talk of a new climate of fear and uncertainty.
"Most of our people are afraid," Father Mina Adel, a priest at the Church of Two Saints in Alexandria said. "Not a few are leaving - for America, Canada and Australia. Dozens of families from this church alone are trying to go too."
Father Mina's church has an important place in the history of the Arab Spring. It was struck by a car bomb on New Year's Eve 2010, Egypt's worst sectarian attack in recent decades, in which 23 people were killed. After the bombing, liberal Muslim groups staged protests in support of Christians, printing posters showing the cross and the crescent interlinked which then went on to be symbols of inter-faith unity during the Tahrir Square protests three weeks later.
But the victory of the Muslim Brotherhood in parliamentary and presidential elections has changed the mood - particularly as the biggest opposition party is the even more hardline Salafist movement which wants strict Sharia law implemented....
The rest of the article may be found here.
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European Court judgements send wrong message about religious freedom, says Theos
| Source: Theos (UK)
January 15, 2013
Today's judgements on religious liberty have sent out the wrong message about the position of religious faith in Britain today, Theos, the religion and society think tank, has said.
Of the four discrimination cases, only one, Nadeia Eweida, was ruled for the Christian in question. The other three - nurse, Shirley Chaplin; marriage counsellor, Gary McFarlane; and registrar Lillian Ladele - all lost.
Although each case has mitigating details, and there was a dissenting judgement in Ladele's case, the general impression is that the default position is a narrow interpretation of the right to manifest religion.
Elizabeth Oldfield, Director of Theos, said:
"Disputes around freedom of religious belief and manifestation are an inevitable part of living in a free and diverse society. However, it seems as if the courts are erring on the side of limiting rather than accommodating religious freedom.
One does not have to agree with the beliefs of the applicants to support their cases. It should not be beyond the wit of an employer to work with strongly-held religious commitments, rather than dismiss them. However, what we are increasingly seeing is an unwillingness to accommodate them reasonably....
The rest of the article may be found here.
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1.3 million demonstrate against same-sex "marriage" and adoption in Paris
| Source: Turtle Bay and Beyond
January 16, 2013
by J.C. von Krempach
The turnout was overwhelming and dwarfed even the most optimistic forecasts. While  official police sources, apparently under pressure from the government, sought to downplay the number of demonstrators who, despite the biting cold, came to Paris last Sunday to rally against the socialist-led government's plans to legislate for same-sex "marriages" (including a pretended "right" for homosexuals to adopt children or to obtain them through medically assisted procreation techniques), it now turns out that the number of protesters amounted to 1.3 million rather than the official number of 340,000....
The reality is: in France, one of the most secularized countries on this planet's most secularized continent, opposition against same-sex "marriage" is not limited to religious believers, be they Catholic or Muslim, but it comes from the heart of society, including many atheists and secularists, supporters of President Hollande's Socialist Party, and even many homosexuals who say that they, having never wanted to marry and adopt children, do not feel represented by the President's radical social agenda....
The rest of the article may be found here.
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England: Church leader Dr Philip Giddings wins confidence vote
| Source: Independent
January 18, 2013
By Lauren Turner
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Dr Giddings
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A senior member of the Church of England today survived a bid to oust him from his position after he spoke against the introduction of female bishops ahead of a crucial vote.
Dr Philip Giddings, chairman of the House of Laity, will continue in his role after 80 people voted against the motion of no confidence, compared with 47 voting for it and 13 abstaining, in a meeting at Church House in Westminster, central London.
Canon Stephen Barney moved the vote of no confidence after controversial legislation to allow women to become bishops failed in the House of Laity, one of three houses which makes up the Synod, by just six votes.
Dr Giddings said he was grateful for the vote of confidence but that discussions were needed about how the House of Laity should proceed in future.
"I hope and pray we can put this behind us and that the temperature can be lowered," he told lay members.
Today's vote came after the Church was hit by fierce recriminations following the legislation's failure in November.
The General Synod houses of bishops and clergy carried the legislation to introduce women bishops, but in the House of Laity it was six votes short of reaching the two-thirds majority.
Addressing lay members, Canon Stephen Barney, from the Leicester diocese, said the House of Laity had damaged the reputation of the Church.
"The House of Laity is seen as the body which frustrated the will of the Diocesan Synods," he told them. "There is widespread anger and disbelief at what we did."...
Emotions ran high during the open section of the meeting, which had been called especially to debate the issue of Dr Giddings' position.
Some claimed Canon Barney wanted to make a "scapegoat" of Dr Giddings....
The rest of the article may be found here.
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