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ANiC news
ANiC
and ACNA events calendar
July 31
– Aug 1 – ACNA Archbishop’s Cabinet meeting, Pittsburgh, PA
August 1-2
- ACNA Executive Committee meeting, Pittsburgh, PA
August 3
– ANiC House of Bishops meeting in Vancouver at Good Shepherd Church
August 5
- Jared Driscoll to be ordained a deacon (transitional) at Good Samaritan (St John's,
NL)
Aug 30 –
Ordination & installation of the Rev Dr Timothy Fong, St Matthias & St Luke’s
(Vancouver)
Sept 19
– Mr Lyle
Lewis to be ordained a deacon at Living Water Anglican Church (Athabasca, AB)
November
14-16 – ANiC Synod and episcopal election in Ottawa
March 12-14
– 2013 ANiC Clergy Retreat at Cedar Springs, Washington
May 2013
– GAFCon 2 (specific dates and location to be announced)
Synod
A webpage
is now posted for ANiC’s 2012
synod in Ottawa, November 14-16. While registration for synod is not open yet, you can book
your hotel. The theme Bishop Don Harvey has chosen for this year’s electoral synod,
“The night is far spent; the day is at hand”, comes from Romans 13:12.
Please
continue in prayer for this synod and especially the election that will take
place for a co-adjutor bishop designated to succeed Bishop Don when he retires
as moderator in 2014. See the notice of
election for more information.
Merger
approved
The congregations of ANiC’s Christ the King (Victoria, BC) and a Reformed Episcopal
Church in Victoria – Church of Our
Lord – have both voted in favour of merging their churches. While
currently in different dioceses, both congregations are in the same province –
the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). The transition will take several months with anticipated
completion this fall. Please
remember these merging congregations in prayer during the challenging days of
transition.
Welcome!
Bishop Don has welcomed a number of clergy into ANiC
recently.
Effective July 15, the following clergy, who
transferred from the Anglican Mission in the Americas (AMiA), became priests in
the Anglican Network in Canada.
| • |
The Rev Dr David Bowler, Church of Our Lord (a
missional community in Comox, BC) |
| • |
The Rev David Hollebone, Church of Our Lord (a
missional community in Comox, BC) |
| • |
The Rev Simon Neill, rector,
Immanuel Church (Vancouver, BC) |
| • |
The Rev Benjamin Paulus,
associate pastor, Immanuel Church (Vancouver, BC) |
| • |
The Rev Ken Bell, St Timothy’s
(North Vancouver, BC) |
These five join the Reverend Barclay Mayo who
transferred early this year, on the Feast of the Ascension.
Three priests were also welcomed into ANiC by Bishop
Don, transferring from the Reformed Episcopal Church Diocese of Western Canada
and Alaska.
A new ANiC project has launched in Sarnia, ON under
the leadership of the Rev Robert Roe – who was also welcomed into ANiC by
Bishop Don. The congregation held its first service July 22 with 88 people in
attendance. Please pray for
this congregation as it becomes firmly planted.
Also several churches are transferring to ANiC from
the Anglican Coalition in Canada (ACiC). While some church’s paperwork is still in process, two churches have been
received recently:
Please welcome and pray for these clergy and
congregations as they adjust to our diocese.
Good
bye!
The Rev Jennifer Wickham (Hub, Ottawa) has requested and received consent to be transferred from our diocese
into the Anglican Mission in the Americas (AMiA). Bishop Don says, “We thank Jennifer
for her labours from the early days of our Movement and pray for her and her
family as they make this transition.”
The Rev Jonathan Gibson,
having resigned as rector of Grace Anglican Church in Calgary, on July 15, the
following day renounced his orders as an Anglican priest and has reverted to
lay status. Bishop Don says, “We are grateful for Jonathan’s strong pastoral
leadership, especially during the sensitive years of transition as Grace Anglican
was launched. We pray for him and his family.”
Ordination
and installation of new rector for St Matthias & St Luke’s, Vancouver
The Rev Dr Timothy Fong will be ordained as an Anglican
priest and installed as rector of St Matthias & St Luke’s (Vancouver, BC)
by Bishop Stephen Leung. The
service will be held on August 30 (Thursday) at 7:30pm at Bethlehem Lutheran Church,
320 East 15th Avenue, Vancouver. Those
in the Vancouver area are urged to attend and everyone is invited to pray for Pastor
Fong and his family as they move into ANiC, Vancouver and St Matthias & St Luke’s.
Dr Fong has been pastoring a congregation in Plano, Texas
under the Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ (LCMC) denomination. He has also served churches in Hong Kong
and California before church planting in Plano.
Ordination on September 19 in
northern Alberta
Mr Lyle Lewis will be ordained by Bishop Don Harvey
to the diaconate on September 19. Lyle
has served as lay pastor of Living Water Anglican Fellowship in Athabasca, AB, assisted
by the sacramental ministry of the Rev Lynnette Kent. Please pray for Lyle as he takes this step of faith.
Job
openings
St John’s (Vancouver, BC) is seeking a full-time
children’s and family minister. See the St John’s
website for full details.
ACoC Diocese
of New Westminster looks for more money from ANiC churches
The AEC blog has
discovered that the Anglican Church of Canada Diocese of New Westminster
is searching for any possible additional monies it can collect from the four ANiC
congregations which were in legal dispute with that diocese. Apparently that diocese has completed an
audit of the congregations books from 2002 to 2011.
Parish
and regional news
Saint
Timothy’s Anglican Bible Church (Montreal area, QC) had a successful Great Garage Giveaway Sale on the campus of Emmanuel Christian
School, reports parishioner Lois De Jean. “We had gorgeous weather for the Giveaway. About 100 people came.
We were not as rushed as last year. We also had a better idea of what to
expect. The youth group gave out free hot dogs. There was good
fellowship. A couple from the parish who are members of the Gideons gave out
quite a few Bibles and did effective evangelising.” Photos are posted on the church website.
St Chad’s (Toronto, ON) is
moving. As of August 5, Sunday
services will be held at 260 High Part Avenue, in the High Park Korean United Church. Service time is 4:30pm.
St John’s Vancouver is
sending a team of four to serve with Helping Point India in August. They
will run Bible Camps at St Simon’s English School and the Children’s Hostel, as
well as lead Bible studies, preach at local churches and lead a church service
for widows. They will also take video footage for promotional materials and
give dental supplies and dental-hygiene lessons to the children. Please
pray for the team’s preparations and for the trip itself.
Please email parish news to Marilyn or call 1-866-351-2642 ext 4020.
ARFDC
update – Peru and Myanmar projects close to completion!
We have
the majority of the needed funds for our current project in Peru and all of the
needed funds for the Myanmar (Burma) project. These microfinance projects are helping women launch small
businesses to support themselves and their children – and, hopefully,
permanently escape the poverty cycle.
We have
100 per cent of the $40,000 needed for the project in Myanmar, thanks to a
large donation from Good Shepherd Vancouver, and over 60 per cent of the funds
needed for the Peru project. We’d
like to complete these projects by the end of August so we can launch a new
project in the fall in the Diocese of Recife, Brazil.
Thanks
so much for your faithful and generous support of ARDFC’s development projects
in Global South countries.
Anglican Church in North America (ACNA)
news
Women’s ordination to be studied
Forward
in Faith North America, a fellowship of evangelical Anglo-Catholics which includes
a number of churches, bishops and dioceses within the ACNA, has asked ACNA bishops to temporarily stop ordaining women to the priesthood while ACNA
studies Scriptural teaching. The
motion put forward by their council and approved by the assembly, which met
recently in Illinois, requests “a voluntary moratorium on
any further ordinations of women to the priesthood until a comprehensive theological
inquiry is undertaken and completed on the question of the ordination of women
as it relates to the wider question of the nature of faith and order (ecclesiology).”
ACNA Archbishop
Robert Duncan was consulted in advance about the courteously written resolution. Women’s ordination has been the “elephant
in the room” since ACNA’s launch with dioceses hold differing positions on Scripture’s
teaching. The July 27 Anglican Unscripted
podcast also addresses this development.
The Rev
William Taylor, rector of St Helen’s Bishopsgate in London, recently preached
on gender, authority and sexuality. The audio and video of this thought-provoking overview of Biblical
teaching is available on the church
website.
Church
planting interview
In an interview,
the Rev Alan Hawkins, the newly appointed Vicar for Anglican 1000, says he
hopes church planting will become the norm within ACNA in the next five years.
Israel tour
Bishop Neil
Lebhar (ACNA’s Gulf Atlantic Diocese) is leading a trip to Israel designed
specifically for those wishing to lead future tours to the Holy Land. The dates for this Shoresh Leaders Tour
are February 19-March 1, 2013. For
more information see the Gulf Atlantic
Diocese website.
Global Anglican Communion news
Global South Primates meet, denounce actions of TEC
VirtueOnline
reports that 17 Global South Primates and their representatives met
for three days in Bangkok recently as part of the week-long Global South Conference
on the Decade of Mission and Networking. Four US Episcopal Church (TEC) clergy represented Biblically faithful Episcopalians
at the meetings and apologized to the Global South for the action of TEC in
walking away from the Communion. Their
observations of the meetings are on the Communion Partner’s
website.
In their communiqué,
the Primates:
| • |
Announced a new Global South
Primates Steering Committee with Archbishop Mouneer Anis as chairman. |
| • |
Announced taskforces to
on economic empowerment, theological resourcing, emerging servant leaders and
inter-faith relations. |
| • |
“noted with sadness” the
actions of the US Episcopal Church in authorizing same-sex blessings, saying
this confirms their view that TEC “…has no regard for the concerns and convictions
of the vast majority of Anglicans worldwide”. |
Other news in brief
Canada
The current edition of the Anglican Planet has several articles related to Northern Canada, particularly the recently
completed translation of the Bible in the Inuit language, Inuktitut. The translation project, the work of 34
years, has been a labour of love for several clergy and bishops from the Anglican
church of Canada’s Diocese of the Arctic.
The Anglican
Church of Canada’s Diocese of Saskatchewan has elected an indigenous bishop in order to provide greater self-determination to its Cree
members – who, according to
the Anglican Journal, account for about 60 per cent of the diocese’s
23,000 members. Meeting on July 28,
the diocesan general assembly elected the Ven Adam Halkett, Archdeacon of Saskatchewan,
as its first Diocesan Indigenous Bishop. He will serve along side Diocesan Bishop
Michael Hawkins. His
consecration will be in mid-October.
Anglican
Communion Alliance (formerly Anglican Essentials Federation) chair Dr Murray Henderson has written ACA’s
membership regarding the Diocese of Toronto’s gift of $250,000 to the Diocese
of New Westminster to help with legal expenses incurred in extracting church
property from ANiC congregations. He
says in part:
“As a member of the Council which made the decision, I warned that conservatives
would regard this action as a slap in the face… The money, a tithe from Toronto’s
Ministry Allocation Fund, might well have been sent instead to a northern
diocese in need… Instead, the Diocese of Toronto has chosen to share the money
in a way which can only further divide the church. As one recommending that
conservative Anglicans remain within the Anglican Church of Canada, my task has
been made far more difficult.
“I further advocated at the Council Meeting that the announcement of the
gift make it clear that this was not our taking a stand on the issue of same
sex blessing, but strictly a matter of paying our fair share as a diocese and
parishes which are interested in maintaining our ownership of our property. The
Archbishop made this clear in his announcement last Saturday.”
United States
Nine TEC
bishops threatened with discipline
Just
prior to the start of the US Episcopal Church’s (TEC) tri-annual general convention,
nine theologically “conservative” TEC bishops were notified that they faced
possible disciplinary action for daring to publicly hold a view of church polity
that differs from that of the Episcopal Church (TEC) elite. In two separate court proceedings these
bishops had signed documents which challenged the official TEC position on the Church’s
polity.
Canon
lawyer Alan Hayley sheds light on the motivation behind these spurious charges. It would appear that the action was intended to
intimidate one of the bishops who was scheduled to appear as a witness in the Diocese
of Quincy court case. The charges
came only a day before both sides were to file a list of witnesses in the trial
scheduled for next April. Hayley
reports that the intimidation attempt failed, however, as that bishop allowed
his name to stand as a witness. Hayley further speculates – and provides
compelling reasons – that the complaint against the bishops was
instigated by the attorney’s working directly for the Presiding Bishop.
While
there was a push to
censure these bishops in the House of Bishops meeting held in
connection with General Convention, that attempt failed. However this does not necessarily end
the discipline process.
To
learn the full background on the stand these bishops have taken on the polity of
their Church, see the Titus
One Nine blog.
General
Convention report:
| • |
Same-sex
blessings were authorized at the discretion of the diocesan bishop. The rites were termed “provisional” rather than “trial”, as
previously intended, in order to skirt a canon that would have required assent
by a super-majority of Bishops. George Conger
writes that “While the resolution for “provisional rites” was
adopted by the bishops on a vote of 111 to 41 with 3 abstaining, a vote for “trial
rites” would have required 153 yes votes.”
|
| • |
As a result of
resolutions passed, “gender identity” and “gender expression” may
not be used to “discriminate” in employment, ordination and the life of the
church, meaning that, for example, transsexual individuals will now be ordained
and admitted to leadership positions in the church.
|
| • |
Twelve bishops released a
statement denouncing the decision to authorize the blessing of same
sex unions. Following Convention a
number of bishops wrote their clergy saying this rite would not be allowed
within their dioceses
|
| • |
The
bishop and the majority of the delegation from the Diocese of South Carolina walked out of the meetings in protest and to differentiate the diocese from the actions of
the Convention. Later, Bishop Mark
Lawrence wrote to the
diocese explaining that the “…actions taken mark a significant and
distressing departure from the doctrine, discipline and worship of Christ”. The Diocese of South Carolina bucked the
trend in TEC by reporting a 22 per cent increase in communicants
last year.
|
| • |
George
Conger on the Anglican
Unscripted podcast says that a big issue of General Convention was
the structure and order of the church. The fight was not between conservatives
and liberals but between those who wanted the Church to be smaller and leaner
and those who wanted a more hierarchical, top-heavy structure. The result was
that “lean” vision of the church won. |
Dr
Ephraim Radner, commenting in a National
Post article on the actions of the US Episcopal Church to admit
those of all gender expressions to church leadership positions, said “This is
crazy. They are getting their priorities wrong and it’s killing the church…
This move is part of changing the definition of God… And [saying] that
Scripture can no longer have any defining authority in human life… They’re
following the secular culture completely and applying those standards to the
church.”
In a detailed
paper, the Anglican Communion Institute explains how the action of
TEC’s general convention to permit the provisional use of rites of same sex
blessings was “…not just a legal nullity and theologically incoherent, although
it is that. It is also profoundly unconstitutional in that it purports to do
something General Convention is not authorized to do and encourages clergy to
violate the canons, the rubrics of the Book of Common Prayer and their vow to
conform to the worship of the Church. But this is only one instance of the proliferation of unconstitutionally
authorized liturgical materials for a church in liturgical, theological and
canonical chaos.”
The
American Anglican Council’s short Anglican
Perspective video of July 17 deals with the danger of basing church
policy and doctrine on the shifting sands of culture rather than the unchanging
Word of God. Canon Phil Ashey comments, “The real problem with the Episcopal
Church is the fact that, like Esau, they have given away their birthright in
the Holy Scriptures for a mess of cultural potage.”
An Anglican
Unscripted news video provides a summary of TEC’s convention with
commentary.
Commenting on
the Gospel Coalition website on the decline in mainline
denominations, Timothy George makes three points:
1. “There is an intrinsic connection
between spiritual vitality and theological integrity.
2. “The continuing saga and
approaching collapse of mainline denominations should prompt us to pray.
3. “Evangelicals have no room to
boast or gloat over the "sickness unto death" in the [mainline
churches]”.
Building
on George’s article in his July 26th
Anglican Perspectives 3-minute video, Canon Phil Ashey asks us to
pray for the ecumenical movement bringing together Biblically faithful
Christians from many denominations to work together in ways that minister to
and witness to our culture.
England
A
motion to allow women bishops was entertained by the Church of England’s
General Synod this past month. However, instead of deciding on the motion, debate was adjourned and the motion
was sent back to the House of Bishops to reconsider the amendments
added in May by the Bishops which provided some security for those who in
conscience cannot accept the ministry of female bishops. The House of Bishops will reconsider
those amendments in September, and General Synod will reconvene November 19 in
London.
Both
the Primate of
Jerusalem and the Middle East and the Primate-elect
of Uganda have weighted in on the selection of the next Archbishop
of Canterbury by expressing their concern that the Global South is no
represented in the selection committee and saying a theological liberal
successor to Archbishop Rowan Williams would only serve to further divide the
Communion. Both also registered
their support for the selection of Dr John Sentamu, who is currently Archbishop
of York.
The Telegraph
reports that the recent meeting of Global South Primates also wrote
a letter to the head of the committee selecting the next Archbishop of
Canterbury saying that “The next Archbishop must be willing to “uphold the
orthodoxy of the Christian faith” in order to secure the “future and unity” of
the church…”
New
Zealand
A General Synod in early July conclusively
rejected the Anglican Covenant. It also rejected a
motion calling for the blessings of same-sex partnerships, choosing
instead to study the nature of marriage.
Syria
A New York
Times article sheds light on the plight of Christians in Syria, who
make up about 10 per cent of the population and who are caught between a brutal
dictator and the radical Sunni Islamist insurgents. Thousands of Christians are fleeing. The Evangelical
Fellowship of Canada reports that, “This past June, a group of armed
rebels ruthlessly killed more than 200 Christians in the city of Homs, killing
entire families with young children. More than 138,000 Christians have fled the
city of Homs, where Christians have been tortured, terrorized, expelled and
murdered.” Please pray for
Christians in the Middle East.
Sudan
The Church of
England Newspaper (CEN) reports that the countries of Sudan and
South Sudan may be on the brink of full-scale war. On the first anniversary of the separation of the two
countries, the Anglican Archbishop Daniel Deng and Roman Catholic Archbishop
Paulino Lukudu issued a statement saying “We reject war as an option to resolve
disputes, and we call on all parties to respect the cease-fire and to withdraw
their forces from the border region,” CEN adds, “The archbishops also called upon the Khartoum government to
honor its commitment to allow a referendum for the oil-rich Abyei state, and
stated the unresolved disputes over territory had grave economic repercussions
for the two countries.”
The
Archbishop of Canterbury also called upon the international community to take action in restoring peace between the Sudan
and South Sudan and provide “urgent humanitarian assistance” to the more than
100,000 refuges who have fled to South Sudan where the camps have woefully
inadequate infrastructure and provisions.
East Africa
The Anglican
Journal reports that “Conditions in the Dadaab refugee complex in
northeastern Kenya are worsening, one year after thousands of Somali migrants
flocked to the settlement… The world's largest refugee camp is host to more
than 500,000 migrants who fled conflict and famine, but many are without
adequate shelter, water, sanitation, and health and security services, say the
agencies.”
Nigeria
Attacks of Christian villages continue in north and central Nigeria
with the Islamist group Boko Haram taking credit for the violence. International
Christian Concern recently reported that “More than 5500 people fled their homes after attacks this
month on mainly Christian villages in central Nigeria in which over 100 people
were killed, the Red Cross said…” Do
pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Egypt
The Christian
Post reports that a new study, co-authored by a George Washington
University adjunct professor, has found that Christian girls and women in Egypt
are increasingly being abducted and forced to marry Muslim men and convert to
Islam. Furthermore, this is a
deliberate and orchestrated strategy used to persecute Christians.
Brazil
Well over a million people participated in a “March for
Jesus” in Sao Paulo, Brazil recently. Evangelical churches are growing rapidly in Brazil.
Soul food
Anglican Expository
preaching
Reformed Episcopal priest
Father Bill Klock (Living Word Episcopal Church in Courtenay, BC) offers a blog “providing
resources to encourage expository preaching in the Anglican tradition”. Most recently, he published and is
offering a new edition of a19th century work by Isaac Williams entitled “Sermons
on the Epistles and Gospels for Sundays and Holy Days throughout the Year”. Of this volume, Father Bill says,
“These sermons are fine examples of the art of
expositional preaching. In each sermon Williams begins with a solid
exposition of the day’s Epistle as a lead-in to an exposition of the Gospel. He
ties both together with the unifying theme of the day and then concludes with
excellent devotional thoughts and practical application. Every set of “propers”
from the eucharistic lectionary of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer is covered. These
sermons are both an excellent devotional aid to the Church Year for laymen and
a homiletic treasure trove for the preacher.” This and many other
volumes are available via Father Bill’s
blog.
Christian internet radio
Ligonier
Ministries is offering 24/7 Christian internet radio featuring preaching,
teaching, Scripture, news, music, audiobooks, and more. You can listen online or download apps
for use on your iPhone or iPad. It
“…includes broadcasts from Alistair Begg at Truth For Life, John MacArthur at Grace to You,
John Piper at Desiring
God, Albert Mohler with The Briefing >and Thinking in Public,
and many others. And you’ll hear daily news briefs from World Magazine and SRN News to help you stay current with that day’s headlines.”
Are Christians
inconsistent eating shellfish but condemning sexual immorality?
Pastor
Tim Keller provides very
helpful insight into the relationship of Old Testament laws to New
Testament teaching and to our lives as Christians. He responds to the often heard accusation that Christians
are inconsistent, ignoring many Old Testament laws, such as the prohibition on
eating shellfish, and yet continuing to oppose sexual immorality and homosexual
behaviour.
Keller
distinguishes between moral laws and ceremonial laws. He says, “Once you grant
the main premise of the Bible---about the surpassing significance of Christ and
his salvation---then all the various parts of the Bible make sense. Because of
Christ, the ceremonial law is repealed. Because of Christ, the church is no
longer a nation-state imposing civil penalties. It all falls into place.
However, if you reject the idea of Christ as Son of God and Savior, then, of
course, the Bible is at best a mishmash containing some inspiration and wisdom,
but most of it would have to be rejected.
Just for laughs
An avid duck hunter was astonished to discover his
new bird dog could walk on water to retrieve ducks and was eager to show him
off. As soon as duck season
opened, he invited his friend, an eternal pessimist, to go hunting with him.
Soon, a flock of ducks flew by; they fired and a
duck fell. The dog immediately leapt into action, walked across the pond and
retrieved the duck, never getting more than his paws wet. This continued all
day. The pessimist watched carefully, but did not say a single word.
“Yeah, the poor thing can’t swim."
www.mikeysFunnies.com
Thought
Any compromise between right and wrong is a victory
for wrong.
And now
a word from our sponsor
Therefore
do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but
share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called
us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose
and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which
now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who
abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,
for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I
suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am
convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to
me. Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the
faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within
us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.
2
Timothy 1:8-14 ESV
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