Michael Green: Personal Evangelism

Hear audio of Michael Green's January 11, 2012 chapel sermon at Trinity School for Ministry.

Militants target churches in Nigeria

Suspected Islamic extremists detonated a bomb outside a church building Nigeria on Sunday, two months after Boko Haram Islamists killed 44 Christians and blinded seven in a church bombing in nearby Madalla.

Compass Direct News says Sunday's blast in Suleja, in front of Christ Embassy church during morning worship, injured five people, one seriously, according to sources.

Compass reports the bomb, planted in a parked car, was left by suspected members of Boko Haram, which seeks to impose sharia (Islamic law) throughout Nigeria, and authorities arrested some members of the sect the same day.

Triumphant Ministries International Church is also near the site of the explosion. Keep reading

Curiosity killed the cat

“Curiosity killed the cat” is the saying that rebuked many of us, when, as children we explored something dangerous or asked ‘why?’ too many times. But is it a true saying?

Curiosity aids learning

One of he key motivations to learn is curiosity. There is an excitement in exploring something that you do not know the answer to and a fulfillment in finding the answer. It pushes you to understand yourself and your world better. Seeking answers to questions like, Why? How? What else is affected? How do I apply this? push us to greater understanding. Keep reading

Reforming the Diocese from Within

What can you do if you are a small group of evangelicals in a diocese where it seems that nothing organized by the institution ever reflects a sound theological agenda or is likely to feed the mass of God’s people?

That was the question raised almost thirteen years ago at a committee meeting of the Chelmsford Diocesan Evangelical Association, following a diocesan conference for laypeople. By universal agreement it had been fantastically well-organized but lacked real ‘substance’.

After listening to the discussion for several minutes, I was moved to ask, “Why don’t we lay on something ourselves?” And that was how the Chelmsford Anglican Bible Conference was born. Keep reading

Brazil Becomes Second-Largest Christian Missionary Exporter in the World

Brazil has become the country that sends the second-most missionaries abroad across the world, according to the director of a Global Christianity study organization.

Of 400,000 global missionaries that were sent to foreign countries in 2010, Brazil sent 34,000, second behind the United States, which sent 127,000.

The statistics were presented by Todd Johnson, director of the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Massachusetts. Interestingly, even though the United States sends the most missionaries abroad, it is also the country that receives the most foreign missionaries as well; with 32,400 foreign missionaries arriving to the U.S. in 2010 – the majority of whom come from Brazil.

Beaten only by the United States, Brazil has the second largest protestant population in the world. The South American country also has a huge number of mission organizations, of which, Jovens Com Missao (Youth with Mission) alone has 16,000 people providing missions to 150 countries. Keep reading

Changing names is good, changing actions is better

This week an administrative committee for my denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention, approved a recommendation that the SBC adopt the informal name of "Great Commission Baptists."

The proposal will be presented at the SBC Annual Meeting in June, and I will support it.

Initially, I would have liked to see something more than an "informal name," but I think the change will help in many local church situations (though for the foreseeable future, my church will still list itself as SBC, rather than GCB).

I understand this is a tough decision with many layers of complexity ranging from legal issues to public perceptions to historical accords, and this gives churches a choice. I might have made a different choice, but I will support this one.

I agree with the task force that the equity we have in the SBC name is helpful in many respects and whatever could be gained by changing the name of the denomination cannot measure up to what would be lost from our nearly 170-year history. However, there is also much negative baggage that comes with the name -- some because of what we believe, but some because of how we act. Keep reading

An American Prayer Book (2009): A Penitential Service

A PENITENTIAL SERVICE

TO BE USED ON THE FIRST DAY OF LENT, AND AT

OTHER TIMES AS THE ORDINARY SHALL APPOINT

This service may be used after Morning or Evening Prayer, or after the Litany if the Litany follows Morning or Evening Prayer. It may be used as a part of the Second Alternative Form of Morning and Evening Worship, in which case it may replace the General Confession, the Absolution (or declaration of forgiveness), and the Prayers. It may also be used as a separate service.

When A Penitential Service is used as a separate service, it may be preceded by a Psalm, canticle, or hymn and one of the readings of the day.

The minister says

Brothers and sisters, there has been, from ancient times, a godly custom in the Church, that, at the beginning of Lent, Christian people should be warned and reminded in a special manner, of the wrath of God revealed by heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness, in order that they may take to heart their own sinfulness and continuing need to turn to God, and not become hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. It is therefore fitting, that at this time (in the presence of you all) should be read the general sentences of God’s cursing against impenitent sinners, gathered out of the twenty-seventh chapter of Deuteronomy, and other places of Scripture; and that you should answer to every sentence, Amen: to the intent that, being admonished of the great indignation of God against sinners, you may be moved to sincere and true repentance, and may walk more warily in these dangerous days, fleeing from such vices, for the which you affirm with your own mouths, the curse of God to be due.

Then the minister says

Cursed be the man who makes a carved or cast metal image, an abomination to the Lord, a thing made by the hands of craftsman, and sets it up in secret. AMEN
Cursed be anyone who dishonors his father and his mother. AMEN
Cursed be anyone who moves his neighbor’s landmark. AMEN.
Cursed be anyone who misleads a blind man on the road. AMEN.
Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. AMEN.
Cursed be anyone who strikes down his neighbor in secret. AMEN.
Cursed be anyone who lies with his neighbor’s wife. AMEN.
Cursed be anyone who takes a bribe to shed innocent blood. AMEN.
Cursed be anyone who puts his trust in man, and takes man for his defense, and in his heart departs from the Lord. AMEN.
Cursed be the unmerciful, the sexually immoral, and the greedy, the idolaters, slanderers, drunkards, and swindlers. AMEN. Keep reading

Churches use punk culture to reach Montana teens

It’s an especially cold December night, with the kind of cold that makes every muscle in a person’s body clench. Inside one of the few new buildings in East Missoula, Mont., sweaty students -- mostly middle- and high-school age -- are packing up speed bags, jump ropes and boxing gloves after two hours of boxing. Donni Brickyard, whose baggy sweatpants and Everlast hoodie make him appear even bigger than his bulky 5-foot-11 frame, calls the group together.

Everyone kneels on the concrete floor to pray. Because this is more than a boxing club: It’s part of River of Life Ministries, an evangelical church started in Missoula in 2008.

Like other churches in the West, the Brickyard Boxing Club is using new and unorthodox methods to reach out to youth –– including coffee shops, worship music that sounds more like punk rock than traditional hymns, church parking-lot spaces reserved for motorcycles, and a general acceptance of tattoos, piercings and other contemporary styles. Although the West is traditionally one of the least religious regions of the country, church leaders hope this kind of culture-based, bottom-up outreach will benefit young people, who, particularly in rural areas, are often at high risk for teen pregnancy and drug use. Keep reading

A Lentern pastoral letter from ACK Archbishop Eliud Wabukala

The disciplines of Lent, which begin on Ash Wednesday, are not intended to be burdensome, but to open our lives more fully to the transforming power of the gospel. Our mission as the Anglican Church of Kenya is simple, yet powerful: it is 'to equip God's people to transform society with the gospel'. This is an holistic transformation much deeper and more lasting than any government or international agency can bring because it addresses our deepest need, that of a restored relationship with the God in whose image we are made and whose workmanship we are.

The glorious truth of the gospel is that we are justified freely by God's grace alone, but far from making us complacent about doing good, the abundant grace and full forgiveness we have through the blood of Christ should be a great spur to Christ-like living, to walking in those good works 'which God prepared beforehand'.

Imagine the transformation if our nation heeded this call. As we prepare for general elections which will test the cohesiveness of our civil society, Christians need to model what it means to live in peace, practicing tolerance and forgiveness, with a new sense of urgency. Moreover, the foundation of our civic life is the family so it is vital that the love of Christ deeply infuses family relationships and that the shameful violence being reported in the media, not only of husbands towards wives but now even of wives towards husbands, is replaced by the kindness and gentleness of Christ. Keep reading

Rwanda bishop confronts Islam in Tanzania

Bishop Alexis Bilindabagabo heads international interdenominational church planting initiative

The spread of Islam in Africa, like the spread of communism in Europe after World War II, threatens to enslave the entire continent. Over 50 per cent of the inhabitants of Africa are Muslim and Islamic leaders have a stated goal of making it the first “Islamic continent.” East Africa, which includes the poverty-stricken nations of Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, and the Eastern Congo, has become a particular target for Islamic takeover.

In Tanzania, more than 30 per cent of the population is Muslim and churches in that country are, according to its own leaders, weak, fractured, and worldly. During the Global Anglican Future Conference in 2009, Bishop Alexis Bilindabagabo of the Gahini Diocese of the Anglican Church of Rwanda was asked by two Tanznanian church leaders to help combat the Muslim takeover. After prayerfully considering their request, the bishop invited them to attend the annual East Africa Revival Convention in Gahini. From that gathering was launched a new missionary initiative, the East Africa Revival Network. Eighteen lay evangelists were initially commissioned and sent to Tanzania. Since that time, the effort has expanded into an interdenominational and international movement, confronting the challenge of Islam with a renewed emphasis on evangelism and church planting.

Dr. David Cashin, Director of Intercultural and Muslim Studies at the Seminary and School of Missions at Columbia International University in Columbia, South Carolina, is an advisor to the Network. He and Bishop Bilindabagabo developed a close friendship during the bishop’s two year stint at the school from 2008-2009. Keep reading

Christians Tailor Lent Outside Catholic Traditions

The season of Lent begins not only for millions of Catholics by having placed a sign of the cross on their foreheads with ash on Wednesday, but with many Christians in and outside of denominations vowing to mark the season with acts of faith.

Though Lent is often seen as part of the Catholic tradition of fasting for 40 days (calculated sometimes to exclude the weekends in the days leading to Easter), many Christians view this time as serving as a reminder to the importance of getting closer to God.

Christine Smith, founder of the online site Womens Bible Cafe, wrote on Tuesday, "Throughout biblical history we see 40 days of testing, waiting and drawing closer to God."

Smith said that Lent typically marks a spiritual quest for Christians and the Bible has several examples of 40-day tests and journeys.

"Look beyond the face of religion and into the heart … and see if God is calling you for the next 40 days," she stated. "Does He want your attention and your heart focused on Him?"

While Protestants generally do not mark their foreheads with ashes from last year's Palm Sunday ceremonies – a tradition mainly observed in the Catholic and Anglican churches – they hold special services and give special prayers for repentance and renewal on the holiday. Keep reading

Guernsey parish church funding report could be blocked

Debate on the future funding of Guernsey's parish churches may be blocked as it could raise "significant constitutional issues".

A report recommending the ownership of eight of the island's rectories move from the church to parishes is due to go to the States this week.

If the legislation changes were agreed they would have to be approved by the Queen, who is also the head of the Church of England.

Chief Minister Lyndon Trott raised concerns that if a legal challenge was launched by the island's clergy it would place those advising the monarch in an "untenable position".

It follows comments from the Very Reverend Canon Paul Mellor, Anglican Dean of Guernsey, who said if the report was passed he would have no choice but to petition the Queen to protect the rights of the Church of England in the island.

Deputy Trott has written to deputies, after seeking advice from Her Majesty's Procureur, calling for the report to be withdrawn and if that is not done asking for their support for a motion to not debate the report. Keep reading

Report: Iran may be set to execute pastor

Iranian officials may have issued an order to execute a pastor at the center of a high-profile case that has drawn international attention, according to a legal group that has followed the case.

The statement asked for Christians worldwide to pray.

The American Center for Law and Justice Tuesday (Feb. 21) quoted its sources as saying pastor Yousef (also spelled Youcef) Nadarkhani could be executed at any time. Nadarkhani was convicted and sentenced to death for converting from Islam to Christianity. Keep reading

Related articles:
Iranian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani: Execution Order May Have Been Issued
Iran court convicts Christian pastor convert to death

Losing your religion has link with disorders

A draft of the new classification system for psychiatry is now public. Rarely has a set of dry guidelines from Washington DC caused such consternation. Outlets from The New York Times to the Hindustan Times heralded its arrival. You would think it was the work of the World Bank or International Monetary Fund, not a bunch of shrinks.

Already there is a howl of protest about the unending loosening of mental illness. There are fears mental illness will become the new normal. This would do wonders for reducing stigma, at the very least, but our natural resilience could be rendered powerless by the culture of therapy. We would be the nation that moved from Anzac to Prozac in a century, the critics say.

Such fanfare makes sense. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is as much a cultural institution as a clinical one. As an arbiter of what is normal and what is not, it plays an important role in insurance and disability determinations and can bear on criminal culpability in the courtroom. Keep reading

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Common Prayer, Uncommon Beauty

The magnificent Book of Common Prayer has been going strong for 350 years.

Last year, this column and the world celebrated the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible. This year brings the 350th birthday of another magnificent monument of early modern English—the 1662 Book of Common Prayer (BCP). All who savor the riches of our common linguistic heritage should rejoice in its commemoration. For the BCP's combination of spiritual wisdom and literary beauty gives it a following far beyond the ecclesiastical frontiers of Anglicanism, Episcopalianism, and the Church of England that originally commissioned it.

The BCP was the creation of Thomas Cranmer, a Tudor statesman blessed with a genius for the writing of prose bordering on poetry. A court favorite of King Henry VIII, who made him Archbishop of Canterbury, Cranmer compiled the various prayers, collects, and orders of worship that eventually emerged as the 1662 prayer book. However, before it could be published in its final form its principal author was burned at the stake for his Reformist sympathies during a period of Catholic repression.

Although these power struggles have long since been forgotten, Cranmer's majestic command of the English language lives on. In the words of his leading biographer, Diarmaid MacCulloch: "Millions who have never heard of Cranmer or of the muddled heroism of his death have echoes of his words in their minds." Keep reading

Rural churches disappearing

The last rites are being given to hundreds of churches across rural Victoria.

Closures show no signs of slowing, with one faith alone having shut dozens of places of worship in the last three years.

Church leaders of all denominations believe a third of all remaining churches in both the country and city will be lost in the next 15 years.

"The bank manager has gone, the policeman, the post office, now the clergy ... the last thing to go will be the footy club," said Anglican Archdeacon John Davis from Wangaratta.

"We are doing our darndest to make sure there are no gaps, but we are thin on the ground in some places," he said. Keep reading

Encouraging a culture of Bible reading

Last year someone pointed out to me we had no system at church for encouraging people to read the bible for themselves. My reaction to this was of course denial. But his analysis was on the money. Occasionally personal quiet times might be encouraged from a sermon, or I’d speak to people one to one about their bible reading. I’d obviously try and model it myself. But despite an evangelical commitment to the centrality of scripture we mostly just lived in hope that people might read it themselves. There was no system in place to build a culture where personal bible reading was encouraged.

Perhaps the strangest thing about that omission is that the need was so obvious. Negatively, we struggle and struggle against biblical illiteracy - many of our regulars would not have read the Old Testament. Positively, I’m convinced that encouraging better listening to God’s word has the most potential to see immediate and sustained growth in the love and knowledge of Jesus.

So this year we’ve tried these things to put a system in place to encourage personal bible reading.... Keep reading

Church Banned From School Building, Worships on NYC Street

The ongoing saga of New York City churches continued this past weekend with Heavenly Vision Christian Center opting to hold worship services on the street.

The church's pastor, Salvador Sabino, held an outdoor service Sunday with about 350 people gathering in 40 degree weather, because his congregation was denied a permit to meet in the public school they usually meet in.

He told The Christian Post that he is thinking about changing the name of his church to "Heavenly Vision Street Church" and that they are going to continue meeting on the street wherever they can regardless of the weather.

Sabino's church is one of the more than 60 churches in New York City that have been fighting a ban that went into effect last week barring them from meeting in the city's public schools.

He told CP that his congregation was disappointed by the ban, but "the church is going to worship God and that's what we did. People got saved and everybody was happy," Sabino said.

The street service consisted of a time of worship, a short sermon, and sharing of testimonies. Two women testified about how God healed them of cancer, three young people talked about how they had left gangs, and others shared how they had gotten out of jail and given up drugs. Keep reading

Atheist Alain de Botton Insists Society Needs Guidance From Religion

Famed atheist Alain de Botton, also a best-selling Swiss author and philosopher known for challenging Richard Dawkins and what he calls his "destructive" atheistic theology, has in a recent interview highlighted many ways in which religion is useful even for secularists.

De Botton and Dawkins most recently clashed over plans to build a 151-foot atheist temple in London. De Botton is helping fund the project, which will he says will symbolize more than 300 million years of life on Earth and be a place for "love, friendship, calm and perspective."

Dawkins, on the other hand, the author of The God Delusion, described plans for the temple as being "misplaced for non-believers to build quasi-religious buildings, because atheists did not need temples to probe the meaning of life."

"I think there are better things to spend this kind of money on. If you are going to spend money on atheism you could improve secular education and build non-religious schools which teach rational, skeptical critical thinking," Dawkins explained.

De Botton, however, argues in his new book Religion for Atheists that places of contemplation and community, such as temples, are one of the many positive aspects about religion that secular people need to adapt in their daily lives. In an interview with the Australian broadcaster ABC, the philosopher insisted that religious practice and secular ethics do not need to be so separate, and atheism can learn a lot from religion.

"This is, you know... I think religions are far too useful, complex, intelligent to be abandoned simply to those who happen to believe in them. They're for all of us, especially nonbelievers," he insisted. Keep reading

PEARUSA launches new website

PEARUSA has erected a new website. According to the new website:

PEARUSA is an association of Anglican churches that are committed to the historic biblical faith as passed on through the English reformers. We share a common zeal for communicating the Gospel of Jesus Christ by word and deed, and we are united in our strategy of growth through planting churches. We are the grateful heirs of the prayer-based evangelism, genuine reconciliation, and collaborative approach to ministry that characterized the East African Revival and has been embodied for us by the Anglican Church of Rwanda. PEARUSA is a movement of clergy and churches who are birthed in Rwanda, planted in North America, and bearing fruit in our communities, for the glory of God.

The new website has a multi-page FAQs answering your questions about PEARUSA. Click "next" at the end of each page to read the next page.

Russians regenerate flowering plant from 30,000-year-old frozen burrow of Ice Age squirrel

It was an Ice Age squirrel’s treasure chamber, a burrow containing fruit and seeds that had been stuck in the Siberian permafrost for over 30,000 years. From the fruit tissues, a team of Russian scientists managed to resurrect an entire plant in a pioneering experiment that paves the way for the revival of other species.

The Silene stenophylla is the oldest plant ever to be regenerated, the researchers said, and it is fertile, producing white flowers and viable seeds.

The experiment proves that permafrost serves as a natural depository for ancient life forms, said the Russian researchers, who published their findings in Tuesday’s issue of “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences” of the United States.

“We consider it essential to continue permafrost studies in search of an ancient genetic pool, that of pre-existing life, which hypothetically has long since vanished from the earth’s surface,” the scientists said in the article.

Canadian researchers had earlier regenerated some significantly younger plants from seeds found in burrows. Keep reading

Also Read

In Iran, government halts Farsi worship

Iran's Ministry of Intelligence has ordered the last two officially registered churches holding Friday Farsi-language services in Tehran to discontinue them.

Emmanuel Protestant Church and St. Peter's Evangelical Church were the last two official churches offering services on Fridays in Tehran in Iran's primary language, according to Middle East Concern (MEC). Officials issued the order on Feb. 10.

Emmanuel and St. Peter's, both Presbyterian churches, are among Tehran's few registered churches that mainly serve the Armenian and Assyrian communities. The churches' Armenian- and Assyrian- language services are typically held on Sundays.

In 2009, authorities had ordered an Assemblies of God congregation, Central Church of Tehran, to close its multiple Friday Farsi services. Friday services in Tehran attracted converts to Christianity as well as Muslims interested in Christianity, as Friday is most Iranians' day off during the week. Authorities told the churches they can hold the services on Sunday, a working day when most Iranians are not able to attend. Keep reading

How many woman priests?

The Vatican Insider section of La Stampa reports that there are now more women priests than men priests in the Church of England. This report in Italy’s largest circulation newspaper has been picked up by Catholic newspapers and blogs round the world. It has morphed into reports like that in CathNews New Zealand which states: “A first: Anglican women priests outnumber men in UK.”

The trouble is — the underlying claim is false. Keep reading

Survey: Very religious rate higher on “well being” scale

Very religious people rate higher – compared to the moderately religious and nonreligious – on a Gallup “well being” survey released Thursday.

According to the survey, very religious people from all religious groups surveyed higher than their nonreligious brethren. Very religious Jews scored highest on the survey with a score of 72.4. Very religious Mormons finished a close second with 71.5.

By comparison, moderately and non religious Jews scored in the 68 percentile, while moderately and non religious Mormons scored in the 63 percentile.

Gallup defines well being based on a number of emotional and physical health indexes in their Well-Being Index.

“The findings confirm that the strong positive relationship between religiosity and wellbeing that Gallup previously demonstrated holds regardless of faith,” stated a release by researchers Frank Newport, Dan Witters and Sangeeta Agrawal.

Though the difference from the top was only about 7 points, those who identified as not religious, atheist or agnostic finished at the bottom of the scale with 65.8 p points. Keep reading

NYC Restraining Order on School Eviction Only Applies to One Church

Churches across New York City were preparing to hold worship services in spaces rented from public schools Sunday before discovering that a court order this week did not apply to them.

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York had issued a 10-day restraining order Thursday as it waited to decide an appeal in a case that banned churches from renting space in public schools for worship services.

About 50 churches applied for permits after the decision. Even Mayor Michael Bloomberg believed the decision applied to all churches, and the city approved the permits.

The U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals announced Friday, however, that the decision had been misunderstood. It only applied to one church, Bronx Household of Faith, which initially brought the case to court.

The city then revoked the permits it had already granted, except the one for Bronx Household.

Some pastors complained that the mix-up caused logistical difficulties for their worship service plans. Keep reading

When the Accounts Are Called: A Christian Understanding of Gambling

The nationwide explosion of legal gambling may well be the most underrated dimension of America's moral crisis. With the expansion of state lotteries, casino gambling, and new technologies, the gambling industry is poised to grow even further in the next decade.

According to some estimates, as much as one-third of the nation's money supply now moves through the gambling industry each year. Looking at a recent annual economic report, management consultant Eugene M. Christiansen determined that "Americans spent more on gambling than they did on health insurance, dentists, shoes, foreign travel, or household appliances."

The Bible is clear on this issue. The entire enterprise of gambling is opposed to the moral worldview revealed in God's Word. The basic impulse behind gambling is greed-a basic sin that is the father of many other evils. Greed, covetousness, and avarice are repeatedly addressed by Scripture-always presented as a sin against God, and often accompanied by a graphic warning of the destruction which is greed's result. The burning desire for earthly riches leads to frustration and spiritual death.

As the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, "the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil." [1 Timothy 6:10] Greed was involved in Judas' decision to betray Christ, in the deceit of Ananias and Sapphira, and was the root moral issue in the Rich Young Ruler's refusal to follow Christ's command.

In the wisdom literature of the Old Testament, greed is presented as foolishness, and Jesus amplifies this teaching in His parable of the rich man [Luke 12:16-21]. Trusting in his economic prosperity, and planning to build even bigger barns to hoard his wealth, the man is called to account by God, who said to him, "You fool! This very night your soul is required of you." This is not likely to be found as a popular inspirational text at the local casino.

The Bible presents the stewardship of material possessions as a crucial issue of discipleship. The Christian understands that his possessions and money are not his own, but God's. We are trustees who will be judged for the quality of our stewardship. Those lottery tickets and trips to Atlantic City are going to be hard to explain when God calls stewards to account. Keep reading

Which Is the Treasure: Jesus or the Sacraments?

The season of Lent is once again at hand. It is observed by many Christians and receives special attention in Lutheran and Catholic circles. Traditions can often serve a good purpose in our spiritual lives. At the same time, they can also become entrenched in such a way that we are no longer able to view them objectively. The teaching about the sacraments is a good example of a church practice that can "take on a life of its own" after centuries of tradition. Where do the sacraments fit into the life of a believer? A Christian must be careful to view the sacraments through the lens of Scripture rather than only through the lens of tradition.

Jesus said, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:21) In other words, you will spend a lot of time thinking and talking about whatever it is you have made your treasure. Imagine someone having a treasure chest full of gold coins. What if he spent more time talking about the treasure chest than about the gold itself?

This can happen to any of us, including Lutherans and Catholics when it comes to the sacraments. They can get overly preoccupied with the treasure chest. It is an easy mistake to make. I have seen it firsthand. Some people spend an inordinate amount of time talking about the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper. Granted, those are important things which our Lord gave His disciples. They are signs and seals of the treasure. But they pale in comparison to the real treasure, namely, Christ Himself.

Obviously, there are many Lutherans and Catholics who love the Lord and who view the sacraments as a treasure chest rather than the Treasure. Not all of them, however, are able to make that distinction. Some of them have a pastor or priest who talks about the sacraments as much or more than he talks about Christ's death on the cross for our sins. Some religious leaders have been guilty of elevating a treasure chest above the Treasure.

How do you know if someone is thinking more about the treasure or the chest? Just listen to him speak. Jesus said, "Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks." (Matthew 12:34) When individual congregations decide to form into corporate institutions, they can develop a self interest as an organization to promote the treasure chest at least as much as the gold. After all, they believe they hold the keys to the chest. No keys – no gold. But what actually gives us access to Jesus…is it only the sacraments of the church, or is it faith in Christ in your heart?

Lutherans and Catholics interpret the words of Jesus literally when He said, "Take and eat, this is my body." (Matthew 26:26) That eating and drinking happens only in those brief moments when a Lutheran or Catholic is attending communion. Is there anything in the Bible that shows how a person can enjoy that same treasure all day everyday? Keep reading

Ask the Religion Experts: Are people inherently sinful?

Rev. KEVIN FLYNN is an Anglican priest and director of the Anglican studies program at Saint Paul University.

Whatever their differences, all the great spiritual traditions of the world agree that human beings, as they are commonly found, are not what they are intended to be. Christians believe that people are created in the image and likeness of God, but like a cracked mirror, we give back a marred and distorted reflection. The story of Adam and Eve is the story of all of us. We all carry a memory, as it were, of a paradise, of a happiness and wholeness that might have been, could be, but is forever escaping us, like a dream disappearing at the break of day.

To say that we are “inherently” sinful would be to deny the goodness of God’s creation. In fact, however, human beings do sin, do fall short of the ideal. Why this is so is a mystery. Perhaps the cause lies in the tensions of human freedom, where the possibility of wrong choice always is found. Anyone can relate to St. Paul’s experience: “I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want ... it is no longer I that do but sin that dwells in me ...” Rom 7: 14-25

The story of Adam and Eve — our story where something went terribly wrong after dinner one day in the garden, is redeemed and healed by God’s initiative in sending to all humanity prophets and sages who point the way back home to God. Christians believe that in Jesus we can encounter not only the model and image of the full human life, but one who gives the power to experience a recreation of our broken humanity. As the fathers of the Church taught repeatedly, God became a human being so that we might become divine. Keep reading

Compare the views expressed in this article with the view expressed in the ACNA "theological lens" and the view expressed in the Thirty-Nine Articles. Of the views expressed in the article and the ACNA "theological lens," who comes closest to the view of the Thirty-Nine Articles. Note the Thirty-Nine Articles link is to Philip Edgcombe Hughes' Restatement of the Thirty-Nine Articles in Today's English on the Church of England in South Africa website.

Sexed up tween advertising shows fashion needs to grow up

'Corporate paedophilia' is a worrying global trend on the rise.

For those who might have missed it, Witchery has just launched a new clothing range for eight- to 14-year-old girls called "8fourteen". In a brilliant stroke of imagination, the launch occurred on Valentine's Day – because, of course, girls from the age of eight need to understand that male romantic approval, and attracting it through your physical appearance (euphemistically termed "personal style"), is what really matters in life.

The advertising campaign presents two girls from Sydney, aged 11 and 12, as "little sisters" to Australia's Next Top Model Montana Cox, aged 18. Leaving aside some leopard print, the clothing range itself appears to be mainly age-appropriate (although, curiously, this isn't well indicated in the campaign). The list of "facts" presented about each girl appears unobjectionable enough (about which, more later). The accompanying films of the girls, however, artistically shot in black and white with acoustic music, made us gasp.

The overall mood is romantic, but the moves, and how they are cut together, gave us the creeps. The girls pout and smile, twist and turn in front of the cameras to display their faces and their bodies. "Oh, but they're displaying the clothes!" comes the reply. Yeah, right. They wear only one outfit each.

It's not just the "It's all about me" feel of the thing. It's the "I love to be looked at" and the "make love to the camera" messages. How can the footage not be referencing a male viewer?

The "sexualisation" of girls for the purpose of selling products has been condemned worldwide for several years now as a form of "corporate paedophilia". The Witchery campaign certainly shows signs of this problem.

Meanwhile, there is an even more worrying global trend towards mainstream business getting involved in the production and sale of pornified images of children. Keep reading

Why the seeming incessant spinning of Bishop Chuck Murphy’s break with the Anglican Church of Rwanda?

By Robin G. Jordan

Bishop Chuck Murphy’s wing of the Anglican Mission in the Americas that joined him in his break with the Anglican Church of Rwanda appears to have an obsession with justifying Bishop Murphy’s break with the Province of Rwanda, as do its supporters. One of the latest articles seeking to justify this break is Joe Boysel’s “The AMiA Leaves Rwanda: What Happened?” In the comment thread following the article Boysel claims that his article is not “spin.” The article, however, covers all the talking points of Pawley Island’s account of the break that his claim rings hollow.

In the early days of telegraphy the telegraph systems in the United States and other countries had what were known as “repeaters.” Signals were transmitted over the telegraph wires, using direct current from a chemical battery. The result was that the further along the telegraph wires a signal was sent, the weaker it grew. Repeaters were devices that relayed the signal in place of telegrapher at various points along the telegraph wires, enabling the signal to be sent at greater distances. They replaced the weak signal with a stronger one. This article, like a number of articles spinning Bishop Murphy’s break with the Province of Rwanda, serve as a repeater of Pawley Island’s account of the break.

Good propagandists and public relations specialists know that if you repeat a story enough times people will come to believe it irrespective of whether or not it is true. Adolph Hitler referred to this principle in Mein Kampf. He called it the “Big Lie.” The bigger the lie and the more you repeat it, the more people are likely to believe the lie. This includes the people telling the lie. If you repeat a lie enough times, it will acquire a life of its own. The lie will not require the expenditure of as much time and energy in repeating it as was required at the outset. The lie will over a period of time become accepted as truth. This principle is applicable to stories that are a mixture of truth, half-truth, and falsehood.

A number of assertions that Boysel makes in his article are clearly not supported by the facts. For example, he claims that the Anglican Church in North America is more structured than the Anglican Mission in the Americas on the basis of its retention of the diocese as a basic unit of organization and its adoption of canons. But anyone who has studied the structure of the AMiA knows that the AMiA in a number of ways is much more highly structured than the ACNA. ACNA dioceses are not required to seek the approval of the ACNA equivalent of the Board of Directors for mission projects as must AMiA church planting networks. Nor are they dependent upon the ACNA equivalent of the Board of Directors for funding as are AMiA church planting networks. An AMiA congregation must call a pastor recommended by the Council of Missionary Bishops or provide justification to the Council of Missionary Bishops for calling a pastor not recommended by the Council. The Council of Missionary Bishops may refuse to approve the congregation’s choice for its pastor. In the ACNA the laity have a role in the governance of the province and the diocese albeit a limited one. In the AMiA they have no role at all. They may at best have a highly circumscribed role at the local congregational level.

One of the talking points is “We only want to do mission.” This talking point on the surface appears to be reasonable. But what does it mean by “mission.” At one time the Anglican Mission in the Americas had adopted a fairly clear statement of its position on a number of key issues, its Solemn Declaration of Principles. But in the past eleven years the AMiA abandoned this statement. It has increasingly become more “Ancient-Future” in its theological outlook, moving away from authentic historic Anglicanism and embracing Convergence theology. Among the consequences it has become more tolerant or accepting of medieval beliefs and practices that the sixteenth century English Reformers rejected on solid biblical grounds.

Until Bishop Murphy broke with the Province of Rwanda, both wings of the AMiA—his wing and the wing that has remained with the Province of Rwanda—were operating under a code of canon law that extensively incorporated doctrine, language, norms, and principles from the 1983 Roman Catholic Church’s Code of Canon Law. This code of canon law had originated within the AMiA, Bishop Murphy had approved it, Archbishop Emmanuel Kollini had used his influence to fast-track its passage through the Rwandan Provincial Synod and House of Bishops, and Bishop Murphy as a member of the Rwandan House of Bishops and primatial vicar had endorsed it. Both the present Rwandan House of Bishops and a large segment of the AMiA wing remaining with the Province of Rwanda have expressed difficulty with this code of canon law, with its doctrine and other provisions. But little objection has been heard publicly from Bishop Murphy’s wing of the AMiA. In his A Pastoral Declaration for Ministry in The Anglican Mission in the Americas Canon Kevin Donlon who drafted the code put forward as a part of the proposal the continued use of the code in the AMiA. While a rumor has been circulated that Bishop John Rodgers has revised the code, no one has posted a copy of this revision on the Internet. The rumor may be just that a rumor and wishful thinking on the part of those who do not want face up to truth about the theological direction in which Bishop Murphy’s wing of the AMiA is going.

The slogan “We are a mission; nothing more, nothing less” is meaningless if the task Bishop Murphy’s wing of the AMiA conceives itself appointed to carry out is not the spread of the New Testament gospel but the transmission of “a different gospel.” Planting new churches that are not gospel churches does not serve the cause of the gospel. No matter how attractive may be the worship, how inspiring may be the sermons, and how winsome may be the worship leaders and preachers, if the true gospel is not proclaimed, all Bishop Murphy’s wing of the AMiA will be doing is digging empty cisterns, dry wells. It clearly needs to put its theological house in order before it does anything else.

Behind articles like Boysel’s is a desire to control perceptions of Bishop Murphy and his wing of the AMiA. If the two develop a serious public image problem, it will not only cost them in terms of congregations and clergy but also money. The Anglican Mission in the Americas’ financial support not only comes from its churches but also from mission partners, donors outside the AMiA as well as in it. It also reflects negatively upon those in Bishop Murphy’s wing of the AMiA that they are willing to follow a leader who is prone to outbursts of temper and is unwilling to defer to the judgment of others or to accept any real form of accountability. Consequently rather than admit these shortcomings in their leader, they must explain them away or deny them altogether.

There is also the tendency of a group to defend its embattled leader despite his failings and weaknesses in reaction to mounting criticism of his actions. This dynamic might have accounted for this kind of article two or three months ago but not at this stage. Rather the intent appears to be to reinforce in the minds of the public as well as the minds of members of Bishop Murphy’s wing of the AMiA Pawley Island’s account of what happened and having established this account as the accepted account to maintain its acceptance. The process is similar to that of keeping a vision before a congregation. Without constant repetition of the vision it is apt to quickly fade from the minds of members of the congregation.

The one thing that Pawley Island fears most is that a different view of what occurred will take hold in the minds of Bishop Murphy’s wing of the AMiA and its supporters. It could adversely affect Bishop Murphy’s influence with the group. It could also have a negative impact upon giving and media support. The AMiA (Bishop Murphy’s wing) might lose the backing of those who presently identify themselves as its friends and mission partners.

While Bishop Murphy’s break with the Province of Rwanda has helped to draw attention to the shortcomings of the Anglican Mission in Americas, the defects of the Anglican Church in North America unfortunately appear to have escaped notice in the process. The ACNA has similar problems with accountability, openness, and transparency as the AMiA. Archbishop Duncan’s declaration that the AMiA needs to become more Anglican, when viewed in the light of the ACNA’s own defects, brings to mind Jesus’ words about removing the plank from your own eye before pointing out the splinter in the eye of someone else. Both the ACNA and the AMiA fall short in such foundational areas as commitment to the Scriptures, to the classic Anglican formularies, and to responsible, synodical church government. As Archbishop Duncan acknowledges, AMiA leaders have shown ability to lead the churches of the AMiA in church planting and evangelism. Does this mean that the AMiA has evidenced a strong commitment to the Great Commission despites its other shortcomings? The answer to this question depended upon whether the churches that AMiA has planted are gospel churches and whether the gospel that AMiA pastors have been preaching is the New Testament gospel. At most we can say is that in some places gospel churches appears to have been planted and the New Testament gospel appears to be proclaimed. We can say the same thing in the case of the ACNA. The ACNA also needs to put its theological house in order.

There is a very real possibility that God allowed what happened to occur in order to draw our attention to the shortcomings of both ecclesial bodies. He is giving us an opportunity to recognize and correct them.

God overrules all things. He is also a God who does not hide things in the dark but brings them out into the open, into the light. As human beings we do not want to face up to our failings and weaknesses. But once they are exposed, we are forced to recognize that we cannot depend upon our own strength—our own ingenuity and whatever else we have going for us—but must turn to God and rely upon his grace.

This is a hard lesson for us—even a painful one. But it is a necessary lesson.

TAC Archbishop Issues Pastoral Letter Over Split

In recent months, a deep division has been created in the Traditional Anglican Communion. Bishops and Vicars General have threatened others with expulsion. Clergy and laity have been bullied and threatened. A minority of the bishops plan to meet shortly in South Africa with the openly published agenda of expelling all those who are at the various stages of discernment of the offer of the "fullness of Catholic Communion" contained in the Apostolic Constitution of Pope Benedict XVI.

This bullying reached new levels with the publication of letters from Canon Gray in England and Bishop Marsh in the United States, cancelling arrangements into which they entered that created a tolerant environment during this process. In the past few days, these events among others have greatly concerned me.... Keep reading

Related articles:
Resignation of Archbishop John Hepworth of TAC
African Bishop Michael Gill joins John Hepworth resignation push

New church in town

St. Paul’s Anglican Church holds Sunday services in Battle-Friedman House

There are hundreds of Christian churches in the Tuscaloosa area that represent a multitude of denominations.

One such denomination hasn’t had a presence in the area until now.

In mid-December, a small group of people brought the practice of an “ancient faith” to the Battle-Friedman House on Greensboro Avenue. Keep reading

St. Paul's Anglican Church (website)
St. Paul's Anglican Church (Facebook)

Related article: So what sort of Anglican are you?

AMiA Bishops try to answer the "Stay or Go" Question

AMiA's Council of Bishops Issues Letter on Their Future

In the weeks since Winter Conference, we have continued conversations about the Anglican Mission's future and are grateful for many of you who have responded positively, offering your valuable insight and perceptions.

Your questions and recommendations have contributed significantly to our ability to better serve you and work toward greater clarity as we move forward together.

Last week, we gathered in a special meeting of the Council with a deep desire to seek Jesus' heart for the Anglican Mission.

As we concluded our meeting, we were convinced that the Lord had truly met with us and had given us clear direction, enabling us to consider things in a new way with fresh insight.

We concluded our meeting united and confident that the Lord was showing us an exciting and challenging way forward. Keep reading

Fisking the AMiA “Letter on Their Future”

It’s been some time since we’ve had any official word out of the Design Group or AMiA in general about current events. The latest letter of February 16 doesn’t say much, but I’d like to read between the lines a bit and see what is there.

Last week, we gathered in a special meeting of the Council with a deep desire to seek Jesus’ heart for the Anglican Mission.

As we concluded our meeting, we were convinced that the Lord had truly met with us and had given us clear direction, enabling us to consider things in a new way with fresh insight.

We concluded our meeting united and confident that the Lord was showing us an exciting and challenging way forward.

Nothing that is said in the rest of the statement is new, and the bishops have made this claim of a new way for two or three months now, so it isn’t clear what the Lord showed the bishops this time that was new. Keep reading

A second anniversary for Sunday

Many North Americans readers will know the second great anniversary that occurs this Sunday is that 200 years ago today, Adoniram and Ann Judson sailed from Massachusetts, on February 19, 1812, apparently the first Protestant American missionaries to travel overseas.

(I wrote yesterday of the 70th anniversary of the bombing of Darwin which also occurs this Sunday, which not even many Aussies know much about.)

The Judsons became pioneers in Buddhist Burma, a nation of tyrants and no freedom of religion, of war with Siam (i.e. Thailand), of cholera, malaria, and dysentery. Six years passed before they saw their first convert. In that time, their first two children died. A few years later, Judson was imprisoned and tortured. Caring for him over those 17 months broke Ann’s health. Eleven months after his release, she died, soon followed by their third and last child. Keep reading

A Guide to Anglican Church Planting

The Great Commission can only be fulfilled by church planting. As neither the Old nor New Testaments know anything of mere private religion, there is no other way. It is not enough for people to hear the Gospel, or even to receive Christ as Lord and Saviour; they must be grafted into the Church - the Body of Christ - where they can share in its sacramental and corporate life. As the Scripture says, “the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved” (Acts 2:47). Scriptural Christianity is not a private religion. It is ecclesiastical. “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship, and in the breaking of bread [the Eucharist] and in the prayers” (Acts 2:42).

In 1838, the Rev. William Wilberforce, who would later become Bishop of Oxford, wrote: “The great object, I am sure, which we ought now to aim at in our missionary exertions is to give them a much more distinct Church character than we have done - to send out The Church, and not merely instructions about religion. This is the way in which in primitive times the world was converted” (Life of the Right Reverend Samuel Wilberforce, D.D., 1880, I, 109-110).

In the days of its orthodoxy, the Protestant Episcopal Church USA was a rapidly growing, mission oriented Church. In 1830, there were only 30,939 communicants, but in just 20 years that number tripled to 98,655! In 1870, some 20 years later, the Church more than doubled to 231,591 communicants. It more than doubled again in the next 20 years; and by 1900 there were 742,569 communicants. Now that is real growth! And the growth continued through the first half of the 20th century, until the pan-heresy of liberal-modernism began to cripple the Church and its outreach. Despite two World Wars and the Great Depression, there were 1,640,101 communicants in 1950. In 1830 there was only 1 Episcopal communicant for every 415 Americans; but by 1950, despite the rapid population growth of the United States, there was 1 Episcopal communicant for every 91 Americans! Historically the Protestant Episcopal Church was as evangelistic and soul-winning as any evangelical Church in America, and more so than most. Keep reading

The title of this article, "A Guide to Anglican Church Planting," is misleading. It suggests that there is only one approach to planting new Anglican churches, which is far from the case. The claim that the approach described in the article is apostolic is also misleading. A careful reading of the New Testament reveals that more than one approach was used in New Testament times. Moreover, because the New Testament may describes a particular approach to church planting does not mean that the New Testament prescribes that approach. There must be clear evidence that the author of the description intended it to serve as a precedent.

As Ed Stetzer and others have observed, there are as many approaches to planting new churches as there are new church plants. What may work in one area may not in another.

I also have problems with the use of the 1928 Prayer Book. My primary objections are to its doctrine and liturgical usages, and not to its traditional language. At the same time accessibility of liturgical materials is a consideration that should not be dismissed lightly. With some population segments its Tudor English may prove a significant barrier.

As for the 2003 REC Prayer Book, it has been strongly influenced by the 1928 Prayer Book. It may contain some material from the 1662 Prayer Book but not enough to support the claim that it is an American version of the 1662 Prayer Book.

Furthermore it strikes me as ironic that a presbyter of the Reformed Episcopal Church should be championing the use of the 1928 Prayer Book. The 1928 Prayer Book is the fruit of the Ritualist movement whose spread and growing influence in the Protestant Episcopal Church prompted the founding of the Reformed Episcopal Church in 1873. It embodies Ritualist principles and thinking. It stands for everything to which the founders of the Reformed Episcopal Church were opposed. Its doctrine and liturgical usages are even more Roman than the 1789 Prayer Book, which they became convinced contained “the germs of Romanism.”

The article, however, does contain useful information which is why I am posting it.

Moving Forward Together: The Next Step—Part 1

By Robin G. Jordan

The Moving Forward Together Statement identifies three options that congregations and clergy in PEAR USA have expressed an interest in pursuing as their next step. PEAR USA is the wing of the Anglican Mission in the Americas that did not break with the Anglican Church of Rwanda. These options are:

1. Full participation in an existing diocese of the Anglican Church in North America;

2. Remain affiliated with the Anglican Church of Rwanda while also forming a sub-jurisdiction of the Anglican Church in North America; and

3. Remain affiliated with the Anglican Church of Rwanda by establishing a missionary jurisdiction in North America..

In weighing the first option a congregation and its clergy need to size up the organization they will be joining—not only the diocese but also the Anglican Church in North America itself.

The Province. The Anglican Church in North America has adopted a constitution that waters down the authority of the classic Anglican formularies in matters of doctrine to the point that their authority is negligible in the ACNA. The ACNA constitution substitutes for the 1662 Book of Common Prayer its own nebulous standard of worship that permits the restoration of pre-Reformation medieval doctrines and practices. Rather than adopting a neutral position, it takes a partisan stance upon the historic episcopate, an issue over which Anglicans historically have been divided. It favors the Anglo-Catholic side of the issue over the evangelical, asserting that bishops and episcopacy are of the essence of the church.

ACNA canons take a number of doctrinal positions that are in conflict with the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion. For example, they classify confirmation and matrimony as sacraments. Like the canons of the Anglican Church of Rwanda, they incorporate doctrine, language, norms, and principles from the Roman Catholic Church’s Code of Canon Law (1983). As well as establishing the minimum age requirement of Roman Catholic bishops as that of ACNA bishops, they take Roman Catholic doctrinal positions on apostolic succession, ordination, and the sacraments.

Archbishop Robert Duncan, the Primate of the ACNA, has called for a new settlement. He has spoken of doing away with the Elizabethan Settlement and of regressing, of moving backwards, in response to a crisis. The Elizabethan Settlement has shaped the character of Anglicanism since the sixteenth century. In a number of areas Archbishop Duncan gives every sign of seeking to turn back the clock to a time before the English Reformation.

The ACNA College of Bishops has given its approval to a “theological lens” to guide the ACNA Prayerbook and Common Liturgy Taskforce in its creation of liturgies for use in the ACNA, which not recognize all Scripture as the word of God, gives a very large place to tradition in matters of faith and worship, and takes a Pelagian view of human nature, sin, grace, and salvation. This “theological lens” favors an Anglo-Catholic interpretation of Anglican Church history, the character of Anglicanism, and the development of the Book of Common Prayer and Anglican worship.

The ACNA “theological lens” contains only passing reference to the Thirty-Nine Articles and treats the 1549 and 1928 Prayer Books as if they are Anglican formularies. It views the 1928 Book of Common Prayer as a continuation of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. This is far from the case as a comparison of the doctrine of the two books show.

The ACNA “theological lens” does not contain a statement that affirms in no uncertain terms salvation by grace alone by faith alone in Christ alone as the essence of Gospel teaching. Rather its references to salvation by faith are open to a Roman Catholic interpretation.

ACNA College of Bishops has authorized an Ordinal that departs from the classical Anglican Ordinal at a number of points and which favors medieval doctrines and practices rejected by the English Reformers on solid biblical grounds. Among the doctrines this Ordinal countenances are the doctrines of transubstantiation and the sacrifice of the Mass. Archbishop Duncan has enthusiastically endorsed this Ordinal and has used the medieval ceremonies permitted by its rubrics in his consecration of new bishops, for example, anointing the head of Bishop Foley Beach with oil of chrism. Identical ceremonies are seen in the Roman Catholic Church. The ACNA College of Bishops is set to approve a Prayer Book that gives countenance to the same doctrines and practices.

The ACNA canons require all candidates for ordination, all clergy, all new congregations’ leaders, all new dioceses, and all ministry partner organizations to unreservedly subscribe to the ACNA constitution and canons. This means that they are expected to assent to doctrine that is contrary to the teaching of the Bible, that is antagonistic to the doctrine of the classic Anglican formularies, or about which they otherwise may have serious reservations. It also means that they are expected to sacrifice their own convictions.

A number of pastors in the Anglican Church in North America also preach “a different gospel” from the New Testament gospel. Congregations and clergy joining one of the ACNA dioceses will be expected to submit to their oversight as bishops, consult with them regarding major decisions affecting the life and ministry of their churches, and to welcome them to their churches. Congregations will be expected to call them as rectors or senior ministers and clergy moving to another charge or retiring from ministry to turn congregations over to their care.

Archbishop Duncan has shown impatience with deliberative assemblies and due process. He championed what he described as a “minimalist” constitution and canons for the Anglican Church in North America. These governing documents leave out critical details and dispense with needed safeguards. He has also shown little regard for constitutionalism and the rule of law. He has arrogated powers to his office that the ACNA governing documents to not give the office or recognize as inherent in the office. For example, he has created the offices of provincial archdeacon, provincial canon, and provincial dean and made appointments to these offices, which under the provisions of the ACNA constitution and canons he has no authority to do. He has also established an Archbishop’s Cabinet, modeled upon a similar body found in Roman Catholic archdioceses, and made appointments to this body, which under the provisions of the ACNA governing he also has no authority to do.

The Provincial Council is seeking to regularize these appointments with a series of amendments to the ACNA canons but the amendments that the Council is presenting for ratification at the upcoming Provincial Assembly are a further example of the tendency in the Anglican Church in North America to concentrate too much power in too few hands without requiring any real accountability from person or persons in whose hands the power is concentrated. Along with the lack of openness and transparency in the ACNA, the want of genuine accountability is a serious problem at the provincial level.

In the Anglican Church of Rwanda and the Church of Uganda the dean of the province is the senior most bishop according to date of consecration as a bishop or ordination as a priest. In the Anglican Church of Kenya the dean of the province is nominated by the House of Bishops and elected by the Standing Committee of the Provincial Synod from the bishops of the province. In the Church of Nigeria the dean of the province is “the provincial archbishop, senior by presentation as archbishop.” Provincial archbishops are nominated and elected by the episcopal synod. The Anglican Church of the Province of the Southern Cone does not have a dean of the province. It does have a vice president of the provincial executive council who is a bishop and is elected by the provincial synod. The canon that the ACNA Provincial Council is presenting to the ACNA Provincial Assembly would permit the Archbishop of the ACNA to handpick the dean of the province who would serve at his pleasure. This might be the way to appoint an officer in an Anglican diocese but not in an Anglican province.

The ACNA canons give powers to the Archbishop of the ACNA that other Anglican provinces do not give even to the metropolitan of the province and which represent a significant departure from Anglican practice. They permit the Archbishop to overrule a diocesan bishop’ suspension of clergy under his jurisdiction, require a diocesan bishop to obtain the permission of the Archbishop and the Executive Committee to reduce or terminate the sentence that the diocesan bishop imposed upon a member of the clergy under his jurisdiction, and require the College of Bishops to obtain his permission to reduce or terminate the sentence that the College of Bishops imposed upon one of its members.

The ACNA canons promote the practice of the College of Bishops’ election of the bishops of a diocese over that of the diocesan synod’s election of its bishops. If a diocese adopts this practice and adopts the provisions of the model diocesan canons governing nominations for the position of diocesan bishop, coadjutor bishop, and suffragan bishop, the diocese effectively surrenders the choice of its bishops to the College of Bishops since the College of Bishops can repeatedly turn down a diocese’ nominees until it finds one to its liking.

The ACNA College of Bishops has assumed powers that the ACNA constitution and canons do not vest in that body. This includes authorizing an Ordinal, which under the provisions of the ACNA constitution and canons it has no authority to authorize.

The ACNA Governance Taskforce discourages groups of churches seeking recognition as ACNA judicatories from incorporating provisions in their governing documents that are not prohibited by the ACNA constitution and canons such as mandatory retirement ages and other forms of term limits for bishops.

The ACNA Governance Taskforce developed a model diocesan constitution and model diocesan canons that give a very limited role in the governance of the diocese to the diocesan synod, relinquish powers to the province that dioceses are not required to yield under the ACNA constitution and canons, and thereby reduce the autonomy of the diocese. These model diocesan governing documents also permit the Archbishop of the ACNA to meddle in parochial matters.

The way that the ACNA is structured at the provincial level reveals a basic distrust of lay participation in the discussion and determination of major issues. The ACNA has no proper Provincial Synod. The governing body of the province is supposed to be the Provincial Council but the Archbishop’s Cabinet and the College of Bishops have been usurping its powers. The ACNA Provincial Assembly has an extremely limited role in the governance of the province: it ratifies changes in the ACNA constitution and canons and makes recommendations. In practice, the Assembly is bypassed on most important matters.

Under the provisions of the ACNA canons the Archbishop of the ACNA appoints the prosecutor and legal advisor to the court for the trial of bishops. He appoints the judges, prosecutor, and legal advisor for the court of extraordinary jurisdiction. This court tries clergy canonically resident in other provinces and clergy of dioceses that do not possess a trial court. His appointive powers in relation to these courts enable him to influence the outcome of hearings in them. Basic procedural safeguards necessary to guarantee a fair and impartial hearing are conspicuously absent from the disciplinary canons of the ACNA.

The Diocese. The trend in the Anglican Church in North America is to encourage a congregation and its clergy to affiliate with an existing judicatory in the region in which they are located. This means that there is a strong possibility that they may end up in a judicatory with which they are mismatched.

In sizing up the ACNA diocese that they are thinking about joining, congregations and their clergy exploring the first option need to take a close look at its constitution and canons. They particularly need to carefully study its constitutional and canonical provisions related to the ownership of property. The ACNA constitution and canons do not prohibit dioceses from taking the property of congregations in trust, only the province.

They need to closely examine the diocese’s leaders. What kind of leadership do they provide the diocese, particularly in the areas of church planting and evangelism? Would these leaders likely support members of their congregation seeking ordination? Would these leaders permit them to attend a seminary or theological college that stands in the same theological tradition as the congregation and its clergy?

They need to scrutinize the diocese’s culture and ethos. Would their church fit into this particular diocese? Would its people really feel at home? Would they experience constant pressure to adapt to the dominant culture and ethos of the diocese?

They need to explore whether the diocese offers the kind of environment in which they can grow and flourish as a church. If they are evangelical, Protestant and Reformed in their theological identity, would they be able to retain that identity over the long term? Would they be able to plant other churches with the same identity and see them grow and flourish and in turn plant more churches with that identity? Would they be free to network with like-minded churches in and outside the diocese for mission, mutual assistance, and other purposes?

They need to look at the basic orientation of the diocese. Is the diocese primarily viewed as a voluntary association of churches banded together to carry out the Great Commission and to help and support each other’s ministries—an evangelical orientation? Are the churches of the diocese seen as ancillary to the diocese and clergy of the diocese as auxiliary to the bishop—an Anglo-Catholic orientation?

They also need to investigate diocese’s position on key issues. Where, for example, does it stand on the issue of the ordination of women?

The preceding list is just a few of the areas that a congregation and its clergy need to cover in sizing up a diocese. It is not exhaustive.

If the diocese has adopted the model ACNA diocesan constitution and canons, they may need to first seek the approval of the ACNA Executive Committee before they may join that diocese. This requirement is not found in the ACNA constitution and canons but it is in the model diocesan governing documents. It is one of the powers that a diocese yields to the province if it adopts certain provisions of the model diocesan governing documents. The model diocesan constitution and canons also contain references to certain provisions of the ACNA constitution and canons, which have nothing to do with the governance of a diocese and are deliberately misleading.

They also need to remember that they are latecomers to the table. While some congregations and clergy in the diocese may welcome them, others may harbor resentment toward them because of their past affiliation with the Anglican Mission in the Americas. They may adopt the attitude that the congregation and its clergy must “earn” their acceptance. They may be unwilling to make room for the congregation and its clergy in the major decision-making bodies of the diocese. They may insist upon treating the congregation and its clergy as probationers.

Having weighed this option, congregations and their clergy will need to decide whether it is the best option for them. They need to ask themselves whether the second option or the third option identified in the Moving Forward Together Statement might be a better option for them.

If a congregation and its clergy chose to pursue the first option, they will need to consider whether they will maintain ties with the Anglican Church of Rwanda and other PEAR USA and former PEAR USA congregations and clergy. One way that the PEAR USA transition team can help congregations and clergy opting to join an ACNA diocese is to establish a network of such congregations and clergy linking them to PEAR USA bodies established in and outside the Anglican Church in North America. This will provide them with an ongoing support system, especially if they discover that they have made a bad choice in joining a particular ACNA diocese.