"But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord; I say, "You are my God." Psalm 31:14 NKJV  |
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Message from Bishop David Anderson
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Bishop Anderson
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Dear friends who are supportive of the Anglican realignment,
Grace and peace to you as we begin our Lenten journey of faith and exploration.
This Monday began with a sad announcement from the Vatican. Dating from his time as Cardinal Ratzinger, Pope Benedict has been supportive of the orthodox realignment within Anglicanism, and especially of the work within the United States which was advanced in those early years by the American Anglican Council (AAC). For most of us, our first introduction to him and his interest came in the autumn of 2003.
Following the disastrous Episcopal Church General Convention in the summer of 2003 in Minneapolis, a small gathering of Episcopal rectors of larger parishes was being planned by Christ Church, Plano, Texas' rector, the Rev. David Roseberry, and the AAC's president, Canon David Anderson. Suddenly this gathering began to morph into something far larger and more historically important. Orthodox Episcopalians nationwide were asking, "What are we going to do?" Somehow word of the planned meeting, small though it was to be, got out, and the byword quickly became, "See you in Plano!" It was clear that a larger meeting was going to be required, and as the groundswell of interest grew, it became obvious that not even the ample meeting space of Christ Church Plano would be large enough for all those orthodox Episcopalians looking for a meeting to "do something."
At that meeting, the discouragement that so many laity, clergy and bishops had felt began to change as over 800 vested Episcopal clergy, deacons and priests, together with numerous bishops, processed into the huge meeting hall of a convention center. Although the great majority of those present were laity, the sight of over 800 ordained leaders following the processional cross of Jesus Christ into the gathering was worth the trip alone. During one of the plenary sessions, the Rt. Rev. Robert Duncan, Bishop of Pittsburgh, read aloud a letter of encouragement from someone named Cardinal Ratzinger. The realization that even one important person at the Vatican was aware of our difficulties within the Episcopal Church and was encouraging us to stand firm was a great emotional and spiritual uplift.
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When the AAC reported on this letter in the days following, I received several phone calls from Roman Catholic news media people expressing their apology and condolences that we had been scammed - they said that someone had sent us a phony letter purporting to be from a Cardinal. It was explained to me that we just wouldn't have gotten a letter such as this from an individual Cardinal; it would have come from an ecumenical office, and it would have had a certain type of letterhead, and certain file code in one corner, and so on. None of them would believe it was the real thing.
Each time I received such a phone call, I described the letter (we still have a copy), and where the file code was, read the code to the caller, answered other questions, and each time their disbelief gave way to puzzlement and cautious acceptance. It would seem that we did receive a real, valid, though very unusual letter of encouragement from Cardinal Ratzinger.
Many of us were joyful when Cardinal Ratzinger became Pope Benedict; we felt that we had someone in Peter's Chair who understood the battles that we were facing in the Anglican Communion and especially in the Episcopal Church. The Pope's decision to step down is therefore a shock, and for some of us a real disappointment. Although we fully intend to remain and die Anglicans, we feel that a friend is now stepping down and someone whom we don't know will replace him.
There is a realignment based on the uniqueness of Jesus Christ, the essence of the Holy Trinity, and the authority of the Holy Bible that is happening across most Protestant denominations, and a struggle of somewhat similar nature is present within the Roman Catholic Church as well. Those who believe the historic Christian faith are, within their own denominations, differentiating themselves from those who have made the Judeo-Christian God just one of many, those who assert that there are many ways to God and Jesus is just one of them so pick your favorite, and those who assert that the Church wrote the Bible, and the Church (or their small portion of the Church) can rewrite the Bible to better fit their point of view.
Although I am many years younger than Pope Benedict, and not everyone ages at the same rate, I can only imagine the burden of his office day by day. The need to keep his prayer life alive and vital while being handed folders with papers to read and digest, and decisions to make, together with the need for consultations with other Archbishops and Cardinals, lawyers and bankers, and traveling to far distant lands to greet his faithful members is almost an impossible job. The concept of an anointed and crowned leader holding the office until death is an ancient one, but often does mean there is a time of failing health and stamina, a time of diminution of mental acuity, and a season of less clear lines of authority. Kings, queens and popes have usually died in office, but Benedict's decision will allow his church to move from his still very capable leadership to the next prelate without a time of uncertainty or mourning. I do pray that whoever follows him will be equally resolute in defending the core tenets of the Christian faith, tenets that Protestants and Catholics alike can agree upon.
As Anglicans we also have a transition to deal with. The new Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, will be put through some introductory tests in trying to resolve several of the problems in the Church of England. One issue is that of women bishops and the question of proper provision for loyal church members who can't accept their ministry for theological reasons. Another has to do with all of the sexuality questions and in particular, same-sex unions among English bishops and their partners.
Until next week, God providing, hold fast to the truths brought to you by the saints.
+David
The Rt. Rev. David C. Anderson, Sr.
President and CEO, American Anglican Council
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A Message from Canon Ashey: Anglican Perspective
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Valentine's Day
Couples around the world celebrated Valentine's Day this week. Sadly, though, statistics say that many of those married couples will eventually file for divorce. In this week's Anglican Perspective, Canon Ashey addresses the reality of divorce and infidelity in marriages and the hope and example that Christ provides for all who are married.
View this week's Anglican Perspective here.
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Pope Benedict XVI's Resignation Letter
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January 10, 2013
Dear Brothers,
I have convoked you to this Consistory, not only for the three canonizations, but also to communicate to you a decision of great importance for the life of the Church. After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry. I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only with words and deeds, but no less with prayer and suffering. However, in today's world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the bark of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me. For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, entrusted to me by the Cardinals on 19 April 2005, in such a way, that as from 28 February 2013, at 20:00 hours, the See of Rome, the See of Saint Peter, will be vacant and a Conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is.
Dear Brothers, I thank you most sincerely for all the love and work with which you have supported me in my ministry and I ask pardon for all my defects. And now, let us entrust the Holy Church to the care of Our Supreme Pastor, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and implore his holy Mother Mary, so that she may assist the Cardinal Fathers with her maternal solicitude, in electing a new Supreme Pontiff. With regard to myself, I wish to also devotedly serve the Holy Church of God in the future through a life dedicated to prayer.
From the Vatican, 10 February 2013
BENEDICTUS PP XVI
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A message from the Archbishop of Canterbury on Pope Benedict's resignation
| Source: Anglican Communion News Service
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Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury
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February 11, 2013
It was with a heavy heart but complete understanding that we learned this morning of Pope Benedict's declaration of his decision to lay down the burden of ministry as Bishop of Rome, an office which he has held with great dignity, insight and courage. As I prepare to take up office I speak not only for myself, and my predecessors as Archbishop, but for Anglicans around the world, in giving thanks to God for a priestly life utterly dedicated, in word and deed, in prayer and in costly service, to following Christ. He has laid before us something of the meaning of the Petrine ministry of building up the people of God to full maturity.
In his visit to the United Kingdom, Pope Benedict showed us all something of what the vocation of the See of Rome can mean in practice - a witness to the universal scope of the gospel and a messenger of hope at a time when Christian faith is being called into question. In his teaching and writing he has brought a remarkable and creative theological mind to bear on the issues of the day. We who belong to other Christian families gladly acknowledge the importance of this witness and join with our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters in thanking God for the inspiration and challenge of Pope Benedict's ministry.
We pray that God will bless him profoundly in retirement with health and peace of mind and heart, and we entrust to the Holy Spirit those who have a responsibility to elect his successor.
+ Justin Cantuar
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TEC announces task force on marriage
| Source: The Living Church
February 14, 2013
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, president of the House of Deputies, have announced the 12 members of the church's new Task Force on the Study of Marriage.
Approved at the 77th General Convention in July 2012, Resolution A050 called for the creation of a task force of "theologians, liturgists, pastors, and educators to identify and explore biblical, theological, historical, liturgical, and canonical dimensions of marriage." The group is expected to consult broadly across the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion, develop tools for theological reflection and discussion, and make a report to the 78th General Convention in 2015.
"The theology of marriage has evolved over time, with biblical examples including polygamy, concubinage, and other forms of relationship no longer sanctioned in the Episcopal Church," the presiding bishop said. "We no longer expect that one partner promise to obey the other, that parents give away their children to be married, or that childbearing is the chief purpose of marriage...."
The rest of the article may be found here.
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Scotland: Aberdeen Church quits Kirk over homosexual clergy row
| Source: Christian Institute
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Rev Smart
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February 13, 2013
An Aberdeen congregation and its minister have become the latest to leave the Church of Scotland over its ordination of homosexual clergy. Gilcomston South's minister Reverend Dominic Smart has resigned from the Kirk and will start holding separate services in a hotel in March.
Rev Smart said he had no choice: "The decision by the Church of Scotland represented a clear and deliberate move away from the authority of scripture as the word of God and our supreme rule of faith and life."
He added: "We've experienced a great deal of unity and strength from within the congregation and we're looking forward to moving ahead and doing something new."...
The rest of the article may be found here.
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England: People who 'do God, do good', says Baroness Warsi
| Source: Telegraph
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Baroness Warsi
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February 14, 2013
By John Bingham
Britain is becoming increasingly reliant on churches and religious groups to meet "crucial" needs once met by the state, a minister will admit today. Baroness Warsi will defend the right of Christians, Muslims, Jews and others to publicly practise their faith insisting that "people who do God do good".
Her comments come in a speech in London marking the first anniversary of a landmark visit to the Vatican by a delegation of ministers in which she claimed that British society is under threat from the rising tide of "militant secularisation".
It comes as new research lays bare the scale of Britain's growing dependence on religious groups to meet social needs in the midst of recession. Churches alone are providing almost 100 million hours of unpaid volunteer work on social projects a year, up by more than a third in two years, while donations for such work are up by a fifth, it found.
Lady Warsi, a practising Muslim, will tell a meeting in the Houses of Parliament that faith groups can "reach areas of need that Government cannot".
Her comments echo a call last month by the new Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, for churches to step in and do things which the state has "run out of the capacity to do". He said the financial crisis could signal the "greatest moment of opportunity since the Second World War" for churches to grow....
The rest of the article may be found here.
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Crisis talks held in Egypt
| Source: Church of England Newspaper
February 13, 2013
By George Conger
The rector of the Al-Azhar in Cairo has convened an all-party meeting of government,
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Anglican Bishop of Egypt Mouneer Anis (left) participates in meeting
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opposition, and religious leaders to halt the slide towards anarchy underway in Egypt.
On 31 Jan 2013, Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayyeb, the Grand Imam of the al-Azhar University and the country's leading Islamic scholar, sat down with senior government leaders, the opposition and Muslim and Christian leaders to begin a national conversation "in which all elements of Egyptian society participate, without any exclusion."
Dialogue "is the only tool to resolve any problems or differences," Sheikh al-Tayyeb told the gathering, which included the Anglican Bishop of Egypt, Dr. Mouneer Anis.
"Political work has nothing to do with violence or sabotage and the welfare of everyone and the fate of our nation depends on respect for the rule of law," the sheikh said, according to Egyptian press accounts.
The intervention by the al-Azhar follows street fighting and protests in the wake of the second anniversary of the fall of President Hosni Mubarak's regime. Analysts fear the political crisis in Egypt may lead to national collapse....
The rest of the article may be found here.
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