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Friday, April 27, 2007 "The sting of death
is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us
the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
(1 Corinthians 15:56-57)
- AAC Note on May Encompass
- Upcoming Events in May
- Message from Canon David Anderson, AAC President
- Lambeth Conference 2008 Plans Move Forward
- Episcopal Church Leaders Persist on Current Path of Revisionism
AAC Note on May Encompass
The May issue of the American Anglican Council's monthly newsletter,
Encompass, is scheduled to be mailed next Tuesday, May 1. The issue
contains a feature story on Christ Church, Midland, Texas, as well
as an in-depth news analysis of the Episcopal House of Bishops' spring
meeting.
In addition, if you have not yet seen the March/April issue of
Encompass , you may download it directly here.
Upcoming Events in May
AAC/Southeastern Wisconsin Chapter Meeting
Thursday, May 3, 2007 - 7-8:30 p.m.
Nashotah House (Nashotah, WI)
Bishop Keith Ackerman (Diocese of Quincy) will address the theme "Orthodox
Spirituality in the Midst of Turmoil." RSVP to Bill Chapin, chapter
president: (414) 352-4586 or bchapin@execpc.com.
More Details
The Influence Index - Increasing a Leader's True Value
(Simulcast)
Friday, May 11, 2007 - 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Holy Cross Anglican Church (Loganville, GA)
Eight well-respected speakers, including John C. Maxwell, will speak on how
to become more effective Christian leaders during this simulcast hosted by
an Atlanta-area Anglican church. RSVP to Rev. Brook Batchelor: brook@hcanglican.org.
More Details
AAC/South Dakota Chapter Meeting
Saturday, May 12, 2007 - 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
Sioux Falls, SD
Episcopal/Anglican lay leader Sarah Hey will lead the chapter in a strategy
workshop for planning an effective Anglican witness for Jesus Christ in
South Dakota. RSVP by phone to the Rev. Tim Fountain: (605) 275-3741.
More Details
Good News Evangelism Training Conference (Anglican Communion
Network)
May 17-20, 2007
St. Clement Pro Cathedral (El Paso, TX)
The Rev. Canon Michael Green will be the keynote speaker of this evangelism
training event for clergy and laity. To register for this free event, e-mail
the Rev. Dr. Felix Orji at felixcorji@yahoo.ca,
or call the Cathedral at (915) 533–4915. (Note: Seven other Good News
conferences are tentatively planned this year for Illinois, North Florida,
South Carolina, Ohio, Georgia, New England and California. Contact Jenny
Noyes with questions: jnoyes@acn-us.org.)
More Details
Christian Men's Weekend 2007
May 18-20, 2007
Forest Falls, CA
This retreat for Christian men and friends is sponsored by St. James Men's
Commission, St. James Anglican Church (Newport Beach, CA). The keynote
speaker is the Most Rev. Henry Luke Orombi, seventh archbishop of the
Anglican Church in Uganda; Bishop John-David Schofield (San Joaquin) will
also minister at the retreat.
More Details
Message from Canon David Anderson, AAC President
Beloved in Christ,
An article by Bob Unruh on
WorldNetDaily details "a fast-tracked congressional plan to add special
protections for homosexuals to federal law [that] would turn 'thoughts,
feelings, and beliefs' into criminal offenses and put Christians in the
bull's-eye, according to opponents." The article goes on to say, "'H.R. 1592
is a discriminatory measure that criminalizes thoughts, feelings, and
beliefs [and] has the potential of interfering with religious liberty and
freedom of speech,' according to a white paper submitted by Glen Lavy, of
the Alliance Defense Fund." While those in the United States have watched
Europe and the UK go into freefall over expanding rights and special
protections for homosexuals, and have felt falsely secure that it couldn't
become that bizarre here in America, the reality is that it can and it may.
If you vote in the United States, you may wish to speak with your elected
Congressional representatives.
Within The Episcopal Church (TEC), there is an ongoing story of
litigation, most of which is filed by revisionist diocesan bishops and
directed against churches wishing to leave TEC. Stacy Sauls, bishop of the
Diocese of Lexington, chairs a committee concerned with how to deal with TEC
property issues, and how to fight against the "horrible" American Anglican
Council and Anglican Communion Network. It turns out that the Episcopal
Church, in the spirit of ecumenism, is secretly working with the
Presbyterians, who have been at this a little longer than TEC has. In fact a
small group of Presbyterian leaders and attorneys worked out a detailed
strategy on how to defeat any local Presbyterian church that tried to leave
with its property. The secret Presbyterian Plan made the leaked Via Media
USA "Day After" plan, penned by Joan Gundersen in 2005, sound like child's
play. (Background
on Via Media USA's "Day After" plan is here. )
Like the "Day After," the Presbyterian plan did not remain a secret. One
day a package arrived at the door of the Presbyterian Layman, an
orthodox publication by Presbyterian lay members who are pushing back
against the revisionism that has invaded their church as it has TEC. In the
package were two documents that someone leaked to them so the world could
know. These documents are available on the Presbyterian
Layman Web site , where you can download the PDF files from the front
page. The documents are dynamite, and everyone should read them so you know
what is coming to all orthodox Christian churches.
As a part of the ecumenical effort, the Presbyterians have filed a friend
of the court brief in California against St. James Anglican Church, Newport
Beach. The Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles is suing St. James, along with
All Saints' Church in Long Beach and St. David's Church in North Hollywood,
for their property and assets; and now the Presbyterians are piling on as
well—it must have been predestined! The advantage to the orthodox might be
that if/when St. James and the others win, it will hurt the
Presbyterian Church more, at least in California. Since this is clearly a
CHRISTIAN church battle and not just an Anglican family one, and since the
Presbyterian presbytery in that area has added to the St. James/All
Saints'/St. David's legal expenses, perhaps some of the orthodox
Presbyterian churches or individuals might wish to help by contributing to
those churches' legal defense. We are all in this together—just as the
attack on the orthodox is ecumenical, the defense of the
orthodox needs to be ecumenical as well.
Next week in northern Virginia there will be a celebration of new
ministry and installation of the Rt. Rev. Martyn Minns as Missionary Bishop
of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA), the U.S. missionary
branch of the Church of Nigeria. Please keep Bishop Minns in prayer as he is
installed.
Blessings and Peace in Christ Jesus,
The Rev. Canon David C. Anderson
President and CEO, American Anglican Council
Lambeth Conference Plans Move Forward
Source: Anglican
Communion News Service
From the Anglican Communion Office
April 26, 2007
Decision-makers met last week to continue their planning for progress
plans for the Lambeth Conference 2008.
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LAMBETH 2008 |
What is the Lambeth Conference?
The Lambeth Conference, one of the four instruments of unity for the
Anglican Communion, is the meeting of the archbishops and bishops of the
Anglican Communion. The first Lambeth Conference was held in 1867; it is
held once every 10 years.
When and where is Lambeth 2008?
The Lambeth Conference 2008 will take place on the campus of
the University of Kent in Canterbury, from July 16 to August 4, 2008.
For more information, visit www.lambethconference.org. |
The conference ‘Design Group’, appointed by Archbishop of Canterbury
Rowan Williams, spent five days from April 16 to 20 working on looking the
conference structures, purposes, issues and programme.
This international group is chaired by the Archbishop of Melanesia, Sir
Ellison Pogo.
He said:
“We feel excited as we prepare through prayer and meditation on the time
the bishops will spend together in July 2008.
“Perhaps most important will be the many opportunities for encounter,
fellowship and conversation that gathering provides.”
He has written on behalf of the group to all Anglican Communion bishops,
informing them of plans so far and asking them to pray.
The purpose of the Lambeth Conference 2008 is to enable bishops to
discern and share their Anglican identity and become better equipped as
leaders in God’s mission.
Archbishop Ellison said:
“We hope that at the conference, bishops will be refreshed, gain deeper
knowledge of each other, become more aware of the resources God has given
them to meet missionary challenges around the world, continue to address the
internal conflicts of recent years, discover a new level of trust and have
greater understanding of the special contribution Anglicanism can make to
the Church and the world.”
The Lambeth Conference in 2008 will be different: it will not resemble a
parliamentary debating chamber with a string of resolutions but aim to
provide time and space for spiritual reflection, learning, sharing and
discerning.
Amongst the topics it will address are the: Millennium Development Goals,
HIV/Aids, Ethical/Green living, Anglican identity and covenant, The
Listening Process and relationships with people of other Faiths. A fuller
programme will be available on the web site www.lambethconference.org
in the near future.
Episcopal Church Leaders Persist on Current Path of
Revisionism
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori: Episcopal Church Will
Not Turn Back, Communion Will Come to Accept Homosexual Lifestyle Eventually
The Boston Globe interviewed Jefferts Schori this week, and
individuals responding to the story have said they see her comments as not
only unorthodox but arrogant. The Globe reported on Wednesday,
April 25: "Saying 'I don't believe that there is any will in this church to
move backward,' the top official of the Episcopal Church USA said yesterday
that the election of an openly gay bishop in New Hampshire has been 'a great
blessing' despite triggering intense controversy and talk of possible
schism. ... Jefferts Schori said that it could take 50 years for the debate
over homosexuality to be resolved, but that she believes it will happen. She
said she hopes that the Anglican Communion, an umbrella organization
including the Episcopal Church and the Church of England, will stay
together. 'Where the protesters are, in some parts of Africa or in other
parts of the Anglican Communion today, is where this church and this society
we live in was 50 years ago, and for us to assume that people can move that
distance in a year or in a relatively instantaneous manner is perhaps
faithless,' she said. 'That kind of movement and development has taken us a
good deal of pain and energy over 40 or 50 years, and I think we have to
make some space so that others can make that journey as well.'
" Full
story
Bishop Gene Robinson (New Hampshire) to Seek Civil Union
After this week's move by the New Hampshire Senate to legalize civil unions,
the Episcopal Church's first openly gay bishop, Gene Robinson, announced
that he and his partner plan on "taking full advantage of the new law." Full
story
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