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"The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad! The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory."
Psalm 97:1,6 ESV
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A Message from Bishop Anderson
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Bishop Anderson
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Bishop Anderson is out of the office this week and will not be writing an article.
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A Message from Canon Ashey
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Canon Ashey
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Dear Friends in Christ, Is your congregation plateaued or in decline numerically, financially, or spiritually? Do you find the focus in your church more on survival than saving the least, the last and the lost? When the subject of church planting comes up, do you immediately dismiss it and wonder why the question is being asked when your church is struggling to survive and thrive? Are you feeling a lack of motivation, or perhaps even resistance, in becoming an outreach-focused church? Are you in need of a renewal of vision, passion and ministry in your church? By the time you read this, I will be returning from the Anglican1000 Regional Summit in Houston, Texas, where for the last three days the American Anglican Council addressed these very questions through our workshop on Church Revitalization and Renewal. For some time now we have been working to help the great number of Anglican churches in North America that are not new church plants but already in place, in some cases for many years. Partnering with bishops, dioceses, clergy and lay leaders, we are helping strengthen clergy and lay leaders who can work together as a team to revitalize local Anglican churches that may be plateaued, perplexed or in decline.... Read the rest of Canon Ashey's article here.
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A Response to Christopher Seitz' "Why Encouragement for North American Parishes and Dioceses Matters?"
| Source: Robert Munday blog
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Robert Munday
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October 10, 2013
By Robert S. Munday
The Rev. Professor Christopher Seitz has posted a piece on the Anglican Communion Institute website entitled, "Why Encouragement for North American Parishes and Dioceses Matters?" In it he raises the possibility (or hope) that the established structures in those parts of the Anglican Communion that are following a new theological agenda might make some accommodation for traditional Anglicans.
The thing that mystifies me when I read Seitz' piece is that he seems not to take into account much of recent Anglican history. The American Anglican Council, Forward in Faith, and others asked the same questions for twenty years about accommodation of traditional Anglicans that Seitz is asking now - to no avail.
The Anglican Communion Network of Dioceses and Parishes was formed in 2004 with ten dioceses and twelve bishops and asked repeatedly for some accommodation for traditional Anglicans, or even that the TEC leadership would take the concerns of traditionalists seriously. No accommodation was forthcoming. TEC continued its wayward direction and Canterbury did nothing to rein them in - in fact, Canterbury aided or acquiesced in the demotion of the Primates' meeting, the elevation of the Anglican Consultative Council, and the creation of a Joint Standing Committee to make sure the orthodox voices among the "instruments of unity" were marginalized.
The Global Anglican Futures Conference (GAFCON), which first met in Jerusalem in 2009 and will meet again this month in Nairobi, is precisely the result of this history....
The rest of the article may be found here.
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Does same-sex parenting really make "no difference"?
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Source: Mercator.net
October 10, 2013
Douglas W. Allen, an economist at Simon Fraser University, in Vancouver, has just published a highly controversial study in the journal Review of Economics of the Household. It breaks with the conventional wisdom that there is no difference between parenting by a mother and a father and parenting by a same-sex couple....
The rest of the article may be found here.
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GAFCON and the Archbishop of Canterbury
| Source: GAFCON
October 7, 2013
The Archbishop of Canterbury will visit GAFCON primates just before the opening of GAFCON 2013 in Nairobi.
GAFCON Primates are holding a two day meeting, then 1200 leaders and lay people from the UK, Asia, Africa, the Pacific and South America will fly in to Nairobi for the Global Anglican Future Conference starting on Monday, October 21st.
GAFCON Chairman Eliud Wabukala invited Archbishop Justin Welby to send greetings to the conference and he indicated he was unable to do so in person because of commitments during the week. His office has since confirmed he will make a flying visit to speak with the Primates.
The general secretary of the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, Dr Peter Jensen, says "The Archbishop's decision to come to the Primates meeting is a recognition of the importance of such a large and significant gathering of Anglicans from around the world and he will be made very welcome."
Editor's note: there are conflicting statements about the purpose of Archbishop Welby's visit to Kenya. Archbishop Welby's website states that the purpose of the visit is "to be in solidarity with the Kenyan people following the attack on the Westgate shopping mall last month" with no mention of GAFCON or a meeting with the primates. The Telegraph reports that "in a move seen as an olive branch to the traditionalists, it has now emerged that he [Welby] is to make a detour to Kenya on his way to Iceland to meet the group's leaders." George Conger comments on the situation here.
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Church of England: Enquirers' course moves spirituality to centre stage
| Source: Church Times 
October 4, 2013
By Madeleine Davies
A new course to introduce people to Christianity was launched at Lambeth Palace on Tuesday, accompanied by a warning that, in many parishes, the lack of such outreach had become "a scandal".
Pilgrim, which is being promoted as "a course for the Christian journey", is the culmination of the commissioning by the House of Bishops in 2011 of "new material to help the whole Church grow through the making of disciples".
Comprising eight six-session short courses, it is divided into two stages, "Follow", for enquirers or newcomers to the faith, and "Grow", for those who want to learn more. In the first stage, the courses are structured around four key texts: the credal questions asked before baptism, the Lord's Prayer, the Commandments, and the Beatitudes. Besides passages from the Bible, there are readings from sources such as St Augustine, Julian of Norwich, and St Anselm.
On Tuesday, the Bishop of Stockport, the Rt Revd Robert Atwell, one of the authors of the course, warned of a "culture of amnesia" in Church and society, which the course sought to address: "We trivialise the past or jettison our tradition. We want to enable a new generation to get the riches of the Christian tradition."...
The rest of the article may be found here.
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Fallout continues from misinterpretations of Pope Francis interviews
| Source: LifeSiteNews
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Pope Francis giving an interview with reporters during his flight back from Brazil from World Youth Day
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October 10, 2013
by John-Henry Westen
Pope Francis has the heart of a liberal, and I'm not speaking here of "liberal" in the pejorative sense, but in the positive sense - a generous and child-like heart. With this heart and his mandate to care for souls, Pope Francis can perform miracles, even the miracle of halting the downward spiral of the Catholic Church in the West. It will take radical action to achieve that miracle, and it is just such a heart that is needed to take such radical action.
In addition to having the heart for action, realistic perception is required, to see the needs of the Church all over the world. Those who advise the Pope on the status of the situation globally aid in this monumental task. The role is principally, but not exclusively taken up by clergy from all parts of the globe who have regular meetings with the Pope to advise him.
However, it seems that he has had some very questionable advice. This can be seen very clearly in his remarks from his interview on the return flight from World Youth Day in Rio....
The rest of the article may be found here.
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