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"Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies," says the Lord God. "Therefore turn and live!" Ezekiel 18:31-32
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Message from Bishop Anderson
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Sex, Money and the ChurchDear Friends in the Anglican Realignment, Of all of the issues confronting humankind, and certainly this includes Anglicans, sex and money capture people's attention and cause more slips and falls than almost anything else. Proper management of one's money can only begin when one acknowledges that God is in charge, and that the money we have and, by extension, the things that money can buy come to us from the hand of God. It is tempting to think that because we work so hard, we deserve the money we receive (or even more, perhaps!), or that we are so smart in making decisions, perhaps in buying and selling, that we have earned every cent which comes to us. The reality is that many do work hard, many are very smart, and sometimes great wealth comes to them. Sometimes, however, the ball takes a strange bounce and our hard work and brilliance come to naught, or worse, to disaster. In reality, hard work and good decisions do position a person for good things to happen, but some would say that chance (I would say God's grace), creates the actual delivery of the success and reward that we hope for. It is proper, therefore, to remember that God is the author and giver of our many blessings, our money, homes, automobiles, bank accounts, etc., and although the governments of the world will take some of those financial blessings away in the form of taxes, we owe the giver of our blessings his small portion, the tithe, in return. When we accept God's understanding of how we receive money and what his expectations are about how we will use it, we increase our capacity to receive all that God has for us. Money has to do with power and control, and we only find peace and prosperity when we acknowledge that we should manage our money according to God's plan, not ours. Following this keeps us out of all sorts of trouble in the financial realm.... Read the rest of Bishop Anderson's article here.
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Message from Canon Ashey
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Archbishop of Canterbury's Speech to House of Lords on Gay Marriage raises questions
Dear friends in Christ,
The British Parliament is considering a bill that would allow same-sex marriage. Earlier this week, the House of Lords defeated by a margin of 390-148 an amendment to the Gay Marriage Bill that would have "killed" it. Of the fourteen Church of England bishops in the House of Lords during the vote, nine voted to defeat the Gay Marriage Bill and 5 abstained. Parliament still has more work to do on The Gay Marriage Bill in committee. Some of that work, we hope, includes adding protections for the religious freedom and conscience of those (like teachers in Christian schools) who would object. But the wide margin of the vote in Lord's strongly suggests that the bill will be implemented in some form.
During the debate, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, gave a speech opposing gay "marriage." In that speech there are a number of positive things he said for which we can be thankful:
- He reaffirmed "traditional marriage" as a "corner stone of society" and as such is about "the general social good."
- He criticized gay marriage as undermining the good of traditional marriage because (a) the gay marriage bill effectively abolishes, redefines, and recreates marriage in ways that are unequal and different for different "gender" categories; (b) gay marriage abolishes the concept of marriage as "a normative place for procreation," (c) gay marriage diminishes "the idea of marriage as covenant," and (d) it weakens the family "in its normal sense" as our foundation for society.
While we can be thankful for these points, there are several statements ++Justin Welby made that raise serious questions for Christians - and Anglicans - who see the Bible as speaking with authority to every issue of life, including human sexuality and marriage. Here are three...
Read the rest of Canon Ashey's article here.
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Anglican Perspective: Inductive Bible Study
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Canon Ashey discusses the inductive method of studying the Bible in this week's Anglican Perspective.
View this week's Anglican Perspective video here.
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One Rule for Thee, A Different One for Me
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Source: Anglican Curmudgeon May 31, 2013 By A.S. Haley Episcopalians should remember the nine bishops who were subjected to proceedings under the new Title IV disciplinary canons for having the temerity to file papers opposing the Presiding Bishop's official position in U.S. courts that ECUSA is "hierarchical." Your Curmudgeon criticized those proceedings severely at the time, because the Presiding Bishop acted as chief complainant, prosecutor, judge and jury throughout. The proceedings ended in an "Accord," which stated the terms upon which the charges were settled. However, the Accord itself remained confidential at the time, under both the provisions of Title IV, and the Agreement to Mediate signed by all parties to the Conciliation that took place in Richmond, Virginia in January of this year under the direction of Prof. John Douglass.... ...I can now report that it appears the Church's litigation strategy took precedence over the terms to which all parties, including the Presiding Bishop, had agreed upon by signing the Accord with its incorporated Agreement to Mediate. Or, perhaps more accurately stated, the Accord was designed and intended by 815 from the outset to be used by the Church in litigation, in defiance of its express terms. Why can I now say this? Indeed: only because in the recent Quincy trial, the full Accord (with its attached Agreement to Mediate, and concurrence in the Accord signed by the Presiding Bishop) was offered and received into evidence as Exhibit 204B. So I now have a copy, as does every attorney who participated in the trial - and Judge Ortbal and his clerk have it, too. (Out of respect for the bishops who were falsely induced to sign it, I decline to publish or quote it to any further extent than I have already above.) Well, who offered the full Accord into evidence, in violation of its own terms? I can assure you that we (the attorneys for the Diocese of Quincy at the trial) did not obtain a copy of it from our witness, the Rt. Rev. Peter Beckwith, who was the Bishop of Springfield before Bishop Martins, and who was one of the bishops charged with violating Title IV. And we certainly did not offer it into evidence. No - by now, you must have guessed. The full Accord document was voluntarily offered into evidence at the trial by ECUSA's attorneys. (That would be David Booth Beers, the Presiding Bishop's own Chancellor, and Mary Kostel, the Presiding Bishop's "Personal Assistant for Church Litigation." They, along with local Illinois attorney Thomas Ewing, represented ECUSA and the Episcopal rump diocese of Quincy at the trial.) And they offered the document into evidence at the last minute, after the trial had already begun.... The rest of the article may be found here. Back to top
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ELCA Lutherans elect first openly gay bishop
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Source: Religion News Service
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R. Guy Erwin
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June 3, 2013 By Sarah Pulliam Bailey The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has elected its first openly gay bishop, the Rev. R. Guy Erwin, to oversee churches in Southern California, four years after the church allowed openly gay men and lesbians to serve as clergy. "It's historic and a turning point, as was the ordination of women," said Martin Marty, the dean of American church historians at the University of Chicago and a member of the ELCA. "This is just one of many indications that the culture has shifted."... The rest of the article may be found here.
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In Illinois, Redefining Marriage No Cake Walk
| Source: Family Research Council via email
June 3, 2013
In Illinois, redefining marriage was supposed to be a walk in the park. Homosexual activists had plenty of money, support from the media and outside groups, and the distinction of being the home state of the first President ever to endorse same-sex "marriage." In the end, even those advantages couldn't compete with a massive movement from the state's pastors -- who joined together across racial and denomination lines to sink a bill destined for passage.
Thanks to the Illinois Family Institute, which poured its blood, sweat, and tears into defeating the measure, there was an unprecedented army of opposition to the bill. Pastors' breakfasts, press conferences, and meetings helped pull together a fierce coalition from every corner of Illinois -- ultimately killing a bill that should have been a sure thing in a country that was supposedly racing to embrace homosexual "marriage." Black, Hispanic, Asian, Catholic, and evangelical church leaders were overwhelmingly engaged, speaking from the pulpit, sponsoring robo-calls, and even threatening primary challengers for any leader voting "yes."
The LGBT lobby, who assumed their bullying would have the same effect on these legislators as it's had in other states, were completely blindsided by the churches' powerful resistance. On Friday, while the Left was preparing for a victory lap, the bill's sponsor, Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago), tearfully announced on the last day of the session that he didn't have the votes to bring the bill to the floor.
For our side, which has had its share of setbacks, it was a reminder of what can be accomplished when we stand together. Illinois voters refused to buy the line that same-sex "marriage" is inevitable -- and because of their courage, it wasn't! Join us in congratulating the Illinois Family Institute and the hundreds of pastors who stood their ground on marriage! It was a victory well-deserved, and more than that, a success story every state can learn from.
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Roman Catholic William Blatty files canon lawsuit against Georgetown after invitation of pro-abortion Sebelius
| Source: LifeSiteNews
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William Blatty
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By Kirsten Anderson
June 3, 2013
One of the best-loved tourist attractions on the Georgetown University campus is the staircase from the 1973 film "The Exorcist," based on the 1971 novel of the same name by author William Peter Blatty. The book and movie, set in and around the Jesuit school's campus, portray the fictional exorcism of a demon from a young girl by a troubled Catholic priest and his mentor. It has long been considered a classic Catholic film.
Now Blatty, a 1950 graduate of Georgetown, has filed a canon lawsuit against his alma mater demanding the school either adhere to its Catholic identity, or be stripped of its Church affiliation. He is calling on alumni to withhold donations to the school for a period of one year while the administration decides whether to bring the institution into compliance or formally renounce its Catholic roots.
Blatty's petition was filed on behalf of 1200 Georgetown alumni, parents, students, faculty and other concerned Catholics, accusing the school of failing to comply with Ex Corde Ecclesiae, the 1990 Apostolic Constitution for Catholic Universities that demands church-affiliated institutions of higher learning promote and defend Church doctrine....
The rest of the article may be found here.
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England: House of Lords backs gay marriage Bill
| Source: Independent
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House of Lords Photo: PA
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June 5, 2013
By Andrew Grice
Plans to legalise same-sex marriage cleared their crucial hurdle in the House of Lords last night, with peers rejecting a move to "kill the Bill" which will implement the move. The first gay weddings are now expected to be held in July 2014 after the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill survived an attempt to block it after a heated two-day debate in the Lords.
A wrecking amendment was defeated by 390 votes to 148 and the measure was then given a second reading.
Opponents of the move will table [propose] amendments during the Bill's committee stage in the Lords, in the hope of winning further safeguards for churches and public servants such as registrars who oppose same-sex marriage....
The rest of the article may be found here.
Archbishop Welby's speech opposing the bill may be found here.
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Catholic Bishops: Gay marriage Bill must be amended
| Source: Catholic Herald
June 5, 2013
By Madeleine Teahan
The Catholic Church has urged the House of Lords to make sweeping amendments to the Bill legalising same-sex marriage after peers rejected an attempt to throw the Bill out on Tuesday. A spokesman for the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales said: "The Church's principled objection to the legal re-definition of marriage is consistently and clearly set out.
"Following the Bill's second reading in the House of Lords, the Church's aim is to ensure the Bill, as it goes to committee stage, is amended so that it effectively delivers the protections that the Government promised to provide for schools, religious organisations and individuals."...
The rest of the article may be found here.
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