Every night we would spend time together intentionally discussing the lives we were called to and how God makes them happen. I have been in youth ministry for over 15 years and have rarely heard the conviction and depth that came from these discussions. Each person seemed hand picked to share an experience that brought them to this trip. The Holy Spirit had prepared us all to share something special.

One person, someone newer to our group, summed up the idea that we were trying so hard to articulate.

Fraternity.

What we were experiencing was a brotherhood that goes beyond personal likes and dislikes, beyond our preferences of fellowship, and beyond so many of our expectations. God had called each of us into a special bond that recognizes faults and differences and yet accepts and gives grace.

The last night we spent our time together acknowledging what we saw that was admirable in each other. There was an air of transcendence among us. God was there, and he was using each of us to affirm and encourage each other in the path we have been called into.

There are many more stories than what is hinted at in this short post. God made amazing things happen with 10 people who came for mostly different purposes. I left thinking of Ephesians 2:10 which says,

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

We left knowing that we were made into something new that was infinitely better than we could imagine for ourselves. And if we were just faithful with what we were called to do, then we would live up to the best situation we could dream of. Thanks be to God.

What is God’s heart toward you?

We may intellectually believe that God has a heart of compassion and tenderness toward us. However, we often feel shame because of the turmoil of our lives. We have an underlying feeling that something is wrong with us at a deep level; this belief impedes our ability to receive God’s love and also keeps us from loving ourselves as well as others.

Through sound Biblical teaching, this conference will identify the primary emotions which can contribute to feelings of depression, anxiety and worthlessness.  Recognizing these key emotions will help us to learn how to have an emotionally healthy and faith-filled life.

Do you long to experience God’s tenderness in your life and to witness it in the lives of others?

Come glean new ways to experience God’s deep, compassionate love.  Listen as our speakers tell of their own faith journeys: how God met them in dark and dire circumstances, healed their hearts and gave them new joy and significance.

We invite you to come. . . to share. . .  and to fellowship with other women who are a lot like you in their struggle to find an intimate relationship with their Abba Father.  Journey with us as we search for God’s heart and, in doing so, find healing for our own.

Grace From Head to Heart - Rediscovering God’s Kindness in a Fallen World
Usually we have an easier time understanding God’s grace in our head than we do accepting it in our hearts.  God is love – He is kind – but in a fallen world His kindness is often obscured and experienced by those who live life “counter-intuitively”.  We often miss God’s grace because he gives it to the humble – to those who are learning to walk by faith in directions that confront their commitment to self.  This class will help you better understand how to internalize grace in a way that facilitates heart change. Attendees will find themselves opening up their hearts to God in fresh new ways.
This series will be led by Gordon Bals.

Contemplative Prayer
Though we think of prayer as thoughts or feelings expressed in words, this is only one expression. Contemplative Prayer is a prayer of silence, an experience of God’s presence the source from whom our life emerges at every moment. Contemplative prayer is the opening of mind and heart - our whole being - to God, the Ultimate Mystery, beyond thoughts, words and emotions. We open our awareness to God whom we know by faith is within us, closer than breathing, closer than thinking, closer than choosing - closer than consciousness itself. COme learn this ancient practice from one of our “desert father’s” William Wilson.

The Ancient/Future Church
The Church seen, in spite of all our wonderful experiences of church personally, is rather dismal. The church is shrinking in size. It is shrinking in influence. Have we lost our way? Some churches have hunkered down, even built foxholes and bunkers. While rightly holding to the truth, these traditional churches have resisted all change that would make the abiding truth understandable to successive generations. On other the hand, there are emerging churches that embrace innovation and change, sometimes to a fault. Ever changing forms have compromised content. Too often the baby has been thrown out with the bath water. Is their a third way? Indeed! It is what C.S. Lewis called deep church or mere Christians. It is what we call ancient future. We warmly embrace things ancient and yet we won’t be bound tradition for tradition’s sake. We warmly embrace innovation but we won’t compromise truth in adjusting form. We will engage the contemporary world but with an ancient faith once delivered to the Apostles by Jesus Himself.

For a better understanding of how God is re-shaping the church for His glory, come and explore the principles of a deep church, the Ancient-Future we are becoming. This class will be taught by John Richardson.

Wednesday Nights In 3D is provided for children ages Kindergarten up to 6th grade, and a well-staffed nursery is available for infants through 5K.

The church wedding took place on December 18, 2009 at 11:00 am. Various clergy including our own senior pastor and Archbishop Kolini officiated. The wedding was followed by a reception on the shore of Lake Kivu, over an hour away. The banter between families was revealing as how important families are in this culture, The Rukundos said that the Rucyahana could search the history.

They will find twenty generations have treated their wives well. Both families said again and again how grateful they were that Stephen brought their wedding and their pastor to Rwanda that family might be honored.

After three weeks in Rwanda, Stephen and Hope will return to Boston for graduate studies.

• 4:30 PM Family Friendly Celebration
  (Come as you are with kids.   Nursery available)
• 8:00 PM Classic Candlelight Service
  (Caroling and string quartet from the Alabama Symphony)

3207 MONTEVALLO RD
(between Mountain Brook Village and Crestline Village)
205 879-7173
www.stpetersbhm.org

Neverthirst

Neverthirst serves as a voice to the poor and powerless as we spread awareness and create accountability for our donors. After funding carefully screened projects, we travel into remote villages and urban slums, build relationships with our partners, monitor the work and document the people we meet and places we see.

Neverthirst Water
1919 Oxmoor Road, Suite 213, Birmingham, Alabama, 35209.

Restoration Academy

4600 Carnegie Ave
Fairfield, AL 35064-1430
(205) 785-8805
http://www.restorationacademy.org/

Mustard Seed/Sonrise

The Mustard Seed Project is a US not-for-profit corporation formed in 1993 to provide Acts of Mercy and Mission in East and Central Africa and to support the ministries of Bishop John K. Rucyahana in Africa, America and around the World.

Mustard Seed Project
1305 Merchant Street
Ambridge, PA 15003
724-266-6688
http://www.mustardseedproject.org/

410 Bridge

The 410 Bridge
35 Old Canton Street
Alpharetta, GA 30009
http://www.410bridge.org/

Global Teams

Global Teams sends Pioneer Teams to start church multiplication movements in areas with little or no exposure to the Gospel. One way to look at the work done by these teams is to think of them reproducing the book of Acts in a new culture.

212 21st Street, Suite 2
Bakersfield, CA 93301
United States of America
Phone: (661) 323-1214
Fax: (661) 323-1216
http://www.global-teams.net

For more than 1500 years the Church has set aside the 4 Sundays before Christmas as a special time of reflection and preparation for the coming of Christ, both remembering his birth and awaiting his return. We cry together:

“O come, O come Emmanuel” (God with us)

Advent is almost by definition counter-cultural, but this year we are excited to become part of a group of churches that form The Advent Conspiracy.

Together we will intentionally seek to turn away from some of the worldly trappings of Christmas, and really look for Jesus.

Our fourfold refrain will be to: Worship Fully – Spend Less – Give More – Love All.

Come worship, learn and grow with us, as we enter into this special time together.

Please have a look at the Advent Conspiracy video to help get a feel for what this thing is all about, and also check out the links to find out more about the groups we are focusing on for these next weeks.

Also, we do have plans to follow up with his teaching and process the application of those at a later date. Check back soon for more information about unpacking John Rosemond.

John Rosemond Pt. 1

John Rosemond Pt. 2

John Rosemond Pt. 3

After writing ten books for Andrews McMeel, John wrote his first faith-based parenting book, Parenting by The Book, which was published by Howard Books (a subsidiary of Simon and Schuster) in 2007. In less than six months, PbTB sold so well that John was lured, willingly, into a three-book deal with Thomas Nelson, the biggest Christian publisher in the world. His first book for TN, The Diseasing of America’s Children: Exposing the ADHD Fiasco and Empowering Parents to Take Back Control, written with pediatrician Dr. Bose Ravenel, will be published in September 2008. Next will come The Well-Behaved Child: Discipline that Really Works! (Note to other parenting authors: The title is trademarked, so don’t even think of appropriating it!!!) and then John and Diane Kottakis’ long-awaited treatise on toilet training, the title of which cannot be revealed at this time because of national security concerns.

At present, John’s nationally-syndicated parenting column appears weekly in more than 200 newspapers nationwide including The Charlotte Observer, Miami Herald, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Hartford Courant, Omaha World-Herald, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Raleigh News and Observer, Durham Herald, and Albuquerque Journal. “All the best papers,” John remarks, noting that the way a newspaper earns the status of “best” is to run his column (see Does Your Newspaper Run John’s Column? at the bottom of the Home page).

John is most definitely one of America’s most popular speakers in the parenting field. In a given year, he gives more than 150 talks to parent and professional audiences all over the map. His talks are provocative, informative, and always entertaining. John promises that his audiences will laugh…a lot.

John’s workshops range from Parenting the Strong-Willed Child to Motivating the Underachiever. John will be speaking at St. Peter’s on Sunday, November 8 from 4-6 PM. Childcare will be provided from children up to grade 6.

To see and hear John speak go to YouTube .

“Lord, I want to know you more.”

If that is the cry of your heart, come and be encouraged! If not, come and be challenged to grow!

This retreat will focus on living in love as Jesus defines it by his words and deeds is the sure way to know Christ in the modern world. On the other hand, if you are not reconciled to living in love as the center of your life, and actually living that way, any knowledge you may have of Christ will be shallow and shaky at best.

Eff and Patty Martin will be the keynote speakers for St. Peter’s Fall Conference! The Martins will be presenting two sessions on the conference theme:

“Lord, I Want to Know You More”

They will also share reflections from Dallas Willard’s book, “Knowing Christ Today, Why We Can Trust Spiritual Knowledge.”

This conference will be led by Rev. Glandion Carney and his wife Marion. Also speaking will be Eff and Patty Martin, teachers of Spiritual Formation, have taught at weekend retreats, church conferences, and in a variety of settings on this popular topic throughout the country.

Program

Friday night November 20  7 – 9 pm
Sandwiches and Refreshments offered at 6:30

Saturday morning November 21  9 – 12 am
including Music and Time of Worship
Continental breakfast offered at 8:30

Child care available for both sessions
(Please contact Mary Elizabeth Jenkins at 879-7173 to request)

We hope to fill the church at 5:00 this Sunday evening, October 4. 2009. As a member of the wider ministry of prayer, give much prayer before missing this event. Together let us honor John and be obedient to our church to gather when people are in need of prayer. If you attend two services on one day this year, let this be the day.

LUCKY SEVERSON: The dormant volcanoes that loom over the hazy Rwandan countryside can erupt as suddenly and violently as the country itself did 15 years ago. Over a million Rwandans, about an eighth of the population, were massacred in one of the worst cases of genocide in recent history. Then the volcanoes were silent, and it seemed that only the gorillas that live alongside of them were safe from slaughter.

Today Rwanda is a much different place thanks, in part, to this man—Anglican Bishop John Rucyahana

Bishop JOHN RUCYAHANA (Chairman, Prison Fellowship Rwanda): People are smiling because they have the hope, but the wounds and the healing is a process that we’ll continue to engage deliberately to tell people that they just can’t cover it up. We need to be able to unearth it and deal with it head on.

More here.

Dinner starts at 5:30 pm and all end promptly at 7:45 pm. and classes start at 6:15 pm. This term ends November 18. So come alone or come and bring friends, whatever is best for you. Please register you and your spouse and/or your children (where applicable) for programs especially tailored to them at stpeters@bellsouth.net.

As always, a nursery for infant-4K is provided, and special programming for kids in kindergarten through 6th grade begins at 6:30 in room 100.

Speakers include Thomas Oden, our own AMIA Bishop John Rucyahana of Rwanda, Beeson’s Dean Timothy George, Elizabeth Newman, Matt Pinson, Curtis Freeman, and David P. Nelson, along with Beeson faculty members Steve Harmon, Mark DeVine, Carl Beckwith, Frank Thielman, and Mark Gignilliat.

The conference is open to theologians, pastors, and all Christians concerned with how to present “faith once delivered to the saints” in an age of increasing syncretism and radical pluralism. The conference will deal with a variety of topics including the significance of the Nicene faith for pastoral work, evangelical worship, the emerging churches, biblical exegesis and vital expressions of orthodox Christian faith around the globe.

Cost is $95 and includes program fee and two meals (Monday dinner and Tuesday lunch).

Conference begins Monday, September 28 at 1:00pm and ends Wednesday, September 30 at 12:00noon.

For more information, click here.

Brothers and Sisters in Christ, God is up to some extraordinary things here at St. Peter’s, unparalleled in my experience of Kingdom life. One would necessarily have his eyes closed to things of the Spirit not to share my personal enthusiasm. You have my thanks and abiding gratitude for seeing where He is at work and coming alongside Him and each other to advance His cause, the cause of His son Jesus.

http://blog.al.com/birmingham-news-commentary/2009/08/your_views_trails_of_africa_ex.html

The Episcopal Church: Parsley’s comments heartbreaking

Recently, the Episcopal Church abandoned its place in the Anglican Communion. Scholar, and Bishop N.T. Wright opined that by “cynical double-think” to the contrary, “we should not be fooled.” The archbishop of Canterbury, sole arbiter of all things Anglican, agreed.

Far more appalling was Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori’s rather callous dismissal of apostolic teaching as “the great Western heresy.” Per Schori, the heresy is in “insisting that salvation depends on reciting a specific verbal formula about Jesus.” Do Romans 10:9, “Jesus is Lord,” and your own baptismal examination ring a bell?

The most appalling thing, primarily because he shepherds many beloved in our city, is Henry Parsley’s defense of her unbelief in The News: “She was talking about the concept of ubuntu, an African word for ‘person in community.’”

Schori speaks for herself. She was talking about salvation and the particularity of Jesus, which she subsequently confirmed. She did not alter the truth. She simply abandoned it.

Parsley’s comments obscure the fact the Episcopal Church’s head pastor doesn’t believe what Anglicans believe or, for that matter, what Christians always and everywhere have believed. That’s heartbreaking, given that he vowed “to guard the faith, unity and discipline of the church.”

The Rev. Dr. John D. Richardson
St. Peter’s Anglican Church
Birmingham

Dear Editors:

Recently The Episcopal Church abandoned its place in the Anglican Communion. Bishop of Durham, N. T. Wright, said resolution DO25 “marks a clear break with the rest of the Anglican Communion” By “cynical double-think” to the contrary, “We should not be fooled.” The Archbishop of Canterbury and sole arbiter of all things Anglican, agreed.

Far more appalling was the Presiding Bishop’s rather callous dismissal of received doctrine. For her, the idea that we can be saved as individuals is “the great western heresy.” Per Schori, the heresy is manifest in “insisting that salvation depends on reciting a specific verbal formula about Jesus.” Surely this PhD hasn’t overlooked Paul, in Romans10, relating salvation and confessing with your mouth that “Jesus is Lord”?

The most appalling thing, primarily because he shepherds many beloved in our city, is Henry Parsley’s defense of her unbelief in your paper:

“She was talking about the concept of ubuntu, an African word for ‘person in community,’” Parsley said. “None of us as Christians is alone, but we are all in community.”

She speaks for herself Henry! She said she was talking about the great western heresy and its foundational place in the crises facing TEC. Intentional or not, Henry’s comments hide the fact that the head of the Episcopal Church doesn’t believe what Anglicans believe or, for that matter, what Christians always and everywhere have believed. Heartbreaking given that he vowed “to guard the faith, unity and discipline of the Church.”

Sincerely,

Rev. Dr. John D. Richardson, Senior Pastor

St. Peter’s Anglican Church, AMiA

www.stpetersbhm.org  

The adoption of resolutions D025 and C056 by the 76th General Convention speaks to an unhealthy degree of theological ignorance and ecclesiastical incoherence at work within the higher councils of The Episcopal Church [TEC], Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said in a statement released July 27.

Read it all here: http://geoconger.wordpress.com/2009/07/28/assurances-on-convention-actions-%e2%80%98unpersuasive%e2%80%99-archbishop-says-living-church-7-27-09/

Greg Garrison missed some low hanging fruit on Saturday. Henry Parsley maintains the Episcopal Church did nothing to abandon its commitment to the Anglican Communion. Garrison could have held Henry’s feet to the fire on specifics from substantive players.

Ever conciliatory scholar Kendall Harmon says,

“There are now some participants in the 76th General Convention who are trying to pretend that a ‘yes’ to (the new resolution) is not a ‘no’ to (the moratorium).These types of attempted obfuscations are utterly unconvincing.”

Acclaimed academic and Bishop of Durham N. T. Wright, says DO25 “marks a clear break with the rest of the Anglican Communion” Wright adds that by “cynical double-think” to the contrary, “We should not be fooled.”

Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury and sole arbiter of all things Anglican, said it was for the bishops to block what the deputies endorsed in DO25 which was repudiation.

The best of the best in Anglicanism lump Henry in with all other prevaricators. And rightly so! Henry’s last act was to subscribe to the Anaheim Dissent distancing himself from the resolutions he now defends, one for which he voted. Why would Henry so awkwardly and obviously attempt to make clear his commitment to the Anglican Communion if the resolutions he now defends did nothing to undermine that very commitment?

I once gave Henry the benefit of the doubt - that he simply didn’t get it – honestly, that he couldn’t get it. But when Henry continually denies what the wisdom of many others sustains, the benefit ends. At best this is only disingenuous and it is increasingly likely that this is a calculated effort to keep sheep in the dark. One miscalculation - sheep may be dumb but they are not stupid.

Sincerely,

Rev. Dr. John D. Richardson, Senior Pastor

St. Peter’s Anglican Church, AMiA

www.stpetersbhm.org  

Sadly, on more than one occasion when I was a teenager, I along with a friend would tell my parents I was spending the night at his house and we would tell his parents he was spending the night at my house. The subterfuge of course was designed to avoid accountability and a curfew. And it worked well for a season. On one occasion we took off for the beach, a mere three hours to the south, hoping to arrive long before Victor’s or Cash’s last call. Honestly, I am grateful to have survived.

Could it be that the imagination capable of producing this ruse explains why I find my youthful indiscretion so eerily similar to what is done when a bishop votes affirmatively for a resolution, say BO56, and then joins dissenters in a resolution inspired by the passage of that same resolution, say BO56? The House of Bishops is told one thing. The Archbishop of Canterbury and the “I voted ‘for’ before I voted ‘against’ BO56” bishops’ sheep are told something else.

It could be my imagination that explains it. It could be a hint of cynicism born of decades of experience. It could even be explained by the bishops’ previously undisclosed battle with schizophrenia for which I will pray fervently if that is the case. More likely the similarity is explained by simple logic and the law of non-contradiction. I cannot be in my house or my friend’s AND in “FLA” at the same time. So where am I? And that was the point! If I am for BO56 here and against BO56 there, conveniently hidden is where I really am. One avoids accountability and a curfew.

It is stretches rational sensibilities but six or seven bishops, including two from Alabama, who affirmed BO56 (Bishop Rickel of Olympia - this resolution does in fact, open up access once again to gay and lesbian people, to the discernment process for the episcopate. To interpret this any other way would be dishonest. And Kendall Harmon - There are now some participants in the 76th General Convention who are trying to pretend that a ‘yes’ to (the new resolution) is not a ‘no’ to (the moratorium),” Harmon said in a statement. “These types of attempted obfuscations are utterly unconvincing.”) are listed among Anaheim Dissenters subscribing to dissent from the very resolution they affirmed. No one can simultaneously affirm moving forward “from” and being committed “to” a moratorium. There is a law of non-contradiction. Logic prevails, that is if the facts are known.

You know my parents were not nearly as gullible as I thought they were. As Mark Twain believed of his father, I thought my parents became smart while I was away at college. But the logic and law of non-contradiction were there all along. And my first clue should have been when they suggested they were going to compare notes in the future with my friend’s parents. Busted! Hate when that happens. Consequently, having been busted enough, I became a man and gave up childish ways.

So bishops, your “folks” have compared notes. You’re busted. So be men. Tell all precisely where you really are.

Dissenting Bishops Issue ‘Anaheim Statement’

Posted on: July 17, 2009

Twenty-nine bishops have endorsed affirming their desire to remain part of the Anglican Communion and Episcopal Church while being faithful to the calls for restraint made by the wider church.

Styled as the “Anaheim Statement,” the letter of dissent to the actions of the 76th General Convention pledged the bishops’ fealty to the requests made by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the 2008 Lambeth Conference, the primates’ meetings and ACC-14 to observe a moratoria on same-gender blessings, cross-border interventions and the ordination of gay and lesbian people to the episcopate.

In the hours after its release, the statement drew support from 23 diocesan bishops, four suffragan and assistant bishops, and two retired bishops and included bishops who voted on both sides of D025 and C056 — resolutions that rescinded the ban on two of the three Windsor Report moratoria.

Rising to speak on a point of personal privilege during the House of Bishops afternoon session July 16, the Rt. Rev. Gary W. Lillibridge of West Texas read a statement prepared by an ad hoc committee of concerned bishops.

“At this convention,” Bishop Lillibridge said, the house had “heard repeated calls for honesty and clarity” on The Episcopal Church’s stance on the contested issues surrounding sexual ethics.  The attempts to “modify wording which would have been preferable to the minority in the vote were respectfully heard and discussed, but in the end most of these amendments were found unacceptable to the majority in the House.”

The votes on Resolution D025 and C056 had made it clear that a majority of bishops believed it was time to “move forward on matters of human sexuality.”  While grateful for the “clarity” these votes had brought, Bishop Lillibridge asked his fellow bishops to join him seeking “to find a place in the Church we continue to serve” and endorse a five-point statement of loyalty to the Communion.

The statement:

reaffirmed the bishops’ “constituent membership in the Anglican Communion, our communion with the See of Canterbury, and our commitment to preserving these relationships”;

reaffirmed their “commitment to the doctrine, discipline, and worship of Christ as this Church has received them”;

reaffirmed their “commitment to the three moratoria requested of us by the Instruments of Communion”;

reaffirmed their “commitment to the Anglican Communion Covenant process currently underway, with the hope of working toward its implementation across the Communion once a Covenant is completed”;

reaffirmed their “commitment to ‘continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship’ which is foundational  to our baptismal covenant, and to be one with the apostles in ‘interpreting the Gospel’ which is essential to our work as bishops of the Church of God.”

At the close of the afternoon session, 20 bishops endorsed the letter, with nine morre adding their names during the evening.

“This was not a statement of division,” the Rt. Rev. Edward J. Konieczny, Bishop of Oklahoma — a conservative leaning bishops who had not signed the statemen —said at a news briefing after the session.  It was a “statement of unity” that acknowledged “we have listened to one another intently.”

The House of Bishops’ second media spokesman, the Rt. Rev. James Mathes of San Diego and a supporter of the actions taken this week in the House of Bishops, said he believed the statement offered “clarity of where they are.”

A copy of the letter has been forwarded to the Archbishop of Canterbury.  Its initial signatories include:

The Rt. Rev James Adams, Western Kansas
The Rt. Rev Lloyd Allen, Honduras
The Rt. Rev David Alvarez, Puerto Rico
The Rt. Rev John Bauerschmidt, Tennessee
The Rt. Rev Peter Beckwith, Springfield
The Rt. Rev Franklin Brookhart, Montana
The Rt. Rev William Frey, Rio Grande
The Rt. Rev Dorsey Henderson, Upper South Carolina
The Rt. Rev John Howe, Central Florida
The Rt. Rev Russell Jacobus, Fond du Lac
The Rt. Rev Don Johnson, West Tennessee
The Rt. Rev Mark Lawrence, South Carolina
The Rt. Rev Gary Lillibridge, West Texas
The Rt. Rev Edward Little, Northern Indiana
The Rt. Rev William Love, Albany
The Rt. Rev Bruce MacPherson, Western Louisiana
The Rt. Rev Alfredo Morante, Litoral Ecuador
The Rt. Rev Henry Parsley, Alabama
The Rt. Rev Michael Smith, North Dakota
The Rt. Rev James Stanton, Dallas
The Rt. Rev Pierre Whalon, Convocation of American Churches in Europe
The Rt. Rev Paul Lambert, Suffragan-Dallas
The Rt. Rev David Reed, Suffragan-West Texas
The Rt. Rev Sylestre Romero, Assistant– New Jersey
The Rt. Rev John Sloan, Suffragan–Alabama
The Rt. Rev Jeffrey Rowthorn, Retired-Convocation of American Churches in Europe
The Rt. Rev Don Wimberly, Retired-Texas

(The Rev.) George Conger reporting from General Convention in Anaheim.

An Open Letter to Believing Episcopalians

The Living Church recently chimed in on the extraordinary events taking place at the Episcopal Church’s General Convention underway in Anaheim California. Ultimately, the House of Bishops considered (ultimately for not so long) a quick and bold retreat from a progressive agenda after having brought fire down upon itself from around the world for abandoning its commitment to the Anglican Communion.

The hesitation over endorsing gay blessings comes not from a lack of votes for passage, or from fears of an international backlash from the Anglican Communion or the Archbishop of Canterbury. Rather, there is a sense that the progressive agenda can only go so far before a second conservative exodus takes place.

Episcopal believers take note. Nothing should offend you more! The Episcopal Church might hedge. Why? For lack of votes? No the majority is 2:1 or better. For fear of being exiled from the Anglican Communion? No. Indeed through the Presiding Bishop, the American church has not only given the proverbial finger to the Communion, they have insulted the Archbishop of Canterbury personally laying the blame for division at his feet.

Why then consider, even momentarily, hedging on the radical agenda? To enjoy your fellowship? No. You are bigots and anathema to them. They have hounded out those like you and defrocked your priests and bishops in droves. And absent a conscience clause more persecution looms large.

Why then?

Because they need you, bible believing, God fearing, mission minded, ministry engaged people. Without you and your dollars the national church will implode. Another fifty churches and a diocese or two opt out and the naked emperor will be exposed. They cannot sustain their cause if you flee for cover and band together with others who believe what the church has always believed. You are not brothers and sisters in Christ. You are tithes. You are real estate. You are a means to an end. Nothing should offend you more.

There are churches, Anglican and otherwise, all around this country that will care for your soul without ever caring for your money. Find one and run to it.

The Rev. Dr. John D. Richardson, Senior Pastor

St. Peter’s Anglican Church, AMiA

The Archbishop of Canterbury, the BBC, the New York Times and Integrity all see what is being done here. There are now some participants in the 76th General Convention who are trying to pretend that a yes to D025 is NOT a no to B033. Jesus’ statement about letting your yes be yes and your no be no is apt here. These types of attempted obfuscations are utterly unconvincing. The Bishop of Arizona rightly noted in his blog that D025 was “a defacto repudiation of” B033. . .

D025 is the proud assertion of a church of self-authentication and radical autonomy.

It is a particularly ugly sight.

–The Rev. Dr. Kendall S. Harmon is Canon Theologian of the Diocese of South Carolina

See entire article here:

http://www.standfirminfaith.com/?/sf/page/24199

. . . This marks a clear break with the rest of the Anglican Communion.

Granted, the TEC resolution indicates a strong willingness to remain within the Anglican Communion. But saying “we want to stay in, but we insist on rewriting the rules” is cynical double-think. We should not be fooled.

See the entire article here:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article6710640.ece

The best and brightest of the Episcopal Church interpret ECUSA’s recent actions here:

http://www.anglicancommunioninstitute.com/2009/07/statement-on-the-repudiation-of-b033/

Note specifically the Archbishop of Canterbury’s remarks prior to ECUSA taking the extraordinary measure last night:

Speaking at the close of the Council’s meeting, the Archbishop of Canterbury anticipated yesterday’s action and spoke directly to The Episcopal Church on its place in the Anglican Covenant when he said “Action to negate that resolution [the moratorium] would instantly suggest to many people in the communion that The Episcopal Church would prefer not to go down the route of closer structural bonds and that particular kind of mutual responsibility.”

The Archbishop of Canterbury said elsewhere as reported by Ruth Gledhill:

The Archbishop of Canterbury told General Synod today that he ‘regrets’ the decision by The Episcopal Church house of deputies to overturn the moratorium on the ordination of gay bishops. At the same time, the Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori has warned the Church of England that it should not recognise the new Anglican Church in North America, arguing ’schism is not a Christian act.’

Responding to a question by Chris Sugden of Anglican Mainstream, Dr Williams said: ‘As for General Convention it remains to be seen I think whether the vote of the House of Deputies will be endorsed by the House of Bishops. If the House of Bishops chooses to block then the moratorium remains. I regret the fact that there is not the will to observe the moratorium in such a significant part of the Church in North America but I can’t say more about that as I have no details.’

See full article here: http://timescolumns.typepad.com/gledhill/2009/07/archbishop-of-canterbury-regrets-tec-move-to-gay-ordination.html .

ECUSA’a response? Vote affirmatively anyway. Indeed, on behalf of ECUSA, the presiding bishop shows disdain for the head of the Communion going so far as to suggest he, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Church of England, are fomenting schism.

So ECUSA opts out in spite of Canterbury’s appeal. Alabama’s bishop is one among many who recognize that this is precisely how the vote will be received:

Bishop Henry Parsley of Alabama and others who voted “no” said passage of the resolution would not be well-received by some members of the Anglican Communion.

“I long for us to be an inclusive church, but not a polarized church,” he said. “We need to be a part of the larger Anglican Communion in what we do in this matter. I think it will be interpreted internationally as a rejection of B033. I actually think it’s more nuanced and subtle than that.

“I think it can be understood that B033 still has some effect among us in terms of exercising restraint as we act under the constitution and canons of our church.”

See the entire article here:

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_112523_ENG_HTM.htm

“Still has some effect among us” is not likely to be overly reassuring.

Even the normally cautious and careful George Conger suggests the act may place ECUSA outside the Anglican Communion. See his article here: http://geoconger.wordpress.com/. Evident in his article is that many bishops meant the adoption of BO25 to declare a parting of the ways and independence from the Anglican Communion.

Church of England’s Graham Kings said this in response to the repudiation:

Bishop of Sherborne Dr Graham Kings said: “The Episcopal Church has clearly signalled, against the specific plea of the Archbishop of Canterbury on this very issue, its choice of autonomy over interdependence in the Anglican Communion. Questions will now have to be asked about the full continued participation of Episcopal Church representatives in Anglican Communion meetings.”

Dr Kings’s comments are particularly significant because, as a founder of the open or moderate evangelical forum Fulcrum, he has been one of the strongest advocates in the Church for maintaining bonds between evangelicals and liberals.

See the entire TIMESONLINE article here: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article6707029.ece

One cannot dismiss the breach as a figment of the imagination of reactionary African bishops.

These are sad times for a once venerable institution. Believing members are being compelled to declare - Episcopal Church or Jesus Christ and the Anglican Communion.

In the tradition of Bishop Barnum’s Never Silent, I must say this statement and its timing make me wonder if the Presiding Bishop actually reads the lectionary. Sunday’s readings include Romans 10 which says:

“Because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. . . The Scripture says ‘No one who believes in him will be put to shame.’”

Admittedly I’m no scholar but it seems any simpleton could deduce from this text a very “specific verbal formula about Jesus” leading to salvation.

If anyone is in doubt about when the apostolic faith has been abandoned, let this be for him the very bright line. If you can’t say Jesus is Lord, you cannot be saved and therefore cannot be Christian. Next question: Can a church be Christian if it is headed by someone who is not?

No surprise but it’s always amazing. God’s grace that is!

The last two weeks we have looked at the early church, what Jesus started and what the Holy Spirit empowered. We’ve looked at how the first gift was one of proclamation and how the Holy Spirit enabled the first disciples to declare “the wonders of God” in languages that the multi-ethnic and multi-lingual crowd could understand. In response the people asked “what does this mean?” The story continues with Peter explaining precisely what this means. “When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’” They repented and believed. “Three thousand were added to their number that day.”

In the last two weeks, you, the people of St. Peter’s, stood before the crowd and declared the wonders of God. Some of you talked about how you have been healed. One of you talked of being touched by this assembly that so reflects the Kingdom of God. One of you confessed a bitter root and thanked God for both unearthing it and the mercy shown to you while the root endured.

Faithfully, one after another you declared the wonders of God. And the response? A woman visiting for her second time asked “what does this mean?” Then she declared “I’m going to be saved today.” During communion, she made her way to the prayer team and there she asked Jesus to dwell in her heart.

In that moment God redeemed one of His own and gave us, the people of St. Peter’s a sign. “If you build it, I will come.” Led by the same Holy Spirit we endeavored to be Kingdom people (as described in Acts) and it provoked a Kingdom sized response. We built it. He came.

This may surprise us. It shouldn’t but sometimes we are so engrossed in church life we have forgotten what Kingdom life looks like. Surprised or not, we should be amazed. His grace is always amazing.

To Him be all honor, glory and praise.

Under His Grace,

Senior Pastor John