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1a) http://www3.telus.net/st_simons/nsnews019.html RG Letourneau: A Model for Generosity -an article for the North Shore News 'Spiritually Speaking' column
One of the most amazing 'rags to riches' stories is the life of RG LeTourneau, as told in his biography "Mover of Mountains and Men". LeTourneau began his career in obscurity in Stockton, California, where his first job was transporting earth to level out farmland. His frustrations with moving dirt drove him to find a better, more efficient way. In 1922 he constructed the first all-welded scraper that was lighter, stronger and less expensive than any other machines.
G. LeTourneau became the greatest obstacle-mover in history, building huge earth-moving machines. During World War II he produced 70% of all the army's earth-moving machinery. He spoke of God as the Chairman of his Board.
As a multi-millionaire, LeTourneau gave 90% of his profit to God's work and kept only 10% for himself. A special friend of Billy Graham, in his early days, LeTourneau designed a portable dome building intended for Graham crusades. He also founded a university that is thriving to this day.
LeTourneau said that the money came in faster than he could give it away. LeTourneau was convinced that he could not out-give God. "I shovel it out," he would say, "and God shovels it back, but God has a bigger shovel."
Many people see Letourneau as one of the most influential people of the past hundred years. http://www.letu.edu/about_LU/museum/Museum_Online/ . As the father of the modern earthmoving industry, he was responsible for 299 inventions. These inventions included the bulldozer, scrapers of all sorts, dredgers, portable cranes, rollers, dump wagons, bridge spans, logging equipment, mobile sea platforms for oil exploration, the electric wheel and many others. He introduced into the earthmoving and material handling industry the rubber tire, which today is almost universally accepted. He invented and developed the Electric Wheel. His life's verse was Matthew 6:33: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you."
LeTourneau's example reminds me that we too can be Mountain Movers. As the Great Physician said in Matthew 17:20, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." RG LeTourneau once said: "You will never know what you can accomplish until you say a great big yes to the Lord." My prayer for those reading this article is that God may raise up many creative leaders who, like LeTourneau, will be movers of mountains and people.
The Rev. Ed Hird Rector, St. Simon's Church North Vancouver Anglican Communion in Canada
1b) http://www3.telus.net/st_simons/cr0510.html Say No to Fear an article for the October 2005 Deep Cove Crier
If you had just a few months to live, what would you most want to say to friends? What would have priority and what would become secondary? The famous Apostle Paul knew that he was about to have his head chopped off by the crazed Roman Emperor Nero. So he wrote his final letter, known as Second Timothy, to his key assistant, Timothy. Second Timothy was really Paul's last will and testament.
Paul had been in jail many times for the faith. It was his favorite place to write letters like his unforgettable letters to the Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians, and Philemon. If Paul had not been sent to jail so often, half the New Testament would likely never have been written. In the past Paul had always been let out of prison. But this time he knew that the only escape was death.
Have you ever lost a key leader and mentor who has helped you reach heights that you never thought you would reach? To lose such a person can bring deep feelings of loneliness and abandonment. Bishop Handley Moule of Durham, England, commented that "Timothy stood awfully lonely, yet awfully exposed, in face of a world of thronging sorrows. Well might he have been shaken to the root of his faith."
Young Timothy was by nature an insecure, sickly and timid person, but Paul saw potential in Timothy far beyond his outward appearance. Paul had been closely associated with Timothy ever since he 'discovered' him in Lystra, Turkey, some fifteen years before.
Paul knew that it was time for the changing of the guard, the passing on of the baton of leadership. Paul was determined that Timothy not drop that baton in the midst of Emperor Nero's onslaught.
You've probably heard the expression: "Rome burned while Nero fiddled". Nero set Rome on fire in AD 64 as an urban renovation project, and blamed the early Christians as convenient scapegoats. The historian Tacitus commented that the early Christians "were killed by dogs by having the hides of beasts attached to them, or they were nailed to crosses or set aflame, and, when the daylight passed away, they were used as nighttime lamps. Nero gave his own gardens for this spectacle..."
Christianity was on the verge of extinction, and the dying Paul saw Timothy as the key to its very survival. The famous Dr. John Stott comments, "Greatness was being thrust upon Timothy, and like Moses and Jeremiah and a host of others before and after him, Timothy was exceedingly reluctant to accept it."
Paul strengthened Timothy by reminding him how much he meant to him, and how often he prayed for him day and night. He also strengthened Timothy by reminding him of the faithful examples set by his grandma, Lois and his mother, Eunice. As Dr. John Stott put it, "good biographies never begin with their subject, but with his parents, and probably his grandparents as well." Paul was saying to Timothy: "don't lose touch with your roots".
What do you know for sure if you see a turtle on a fencepost? The answer is that it didn't get there itself. We are who we are, in large part because of people who have believed in us and invested in us. Many of us as Canadians have forgotten the remarkable spiritual heritage we have been given by our ancestors, our Loises and Eunices. I think of our Judeo-Christian heritage in Canada as like crabs hidden under the rocks at the seashore. Only when one uncovers the rocks does one discover the greatest riches of life just below the surface.
The dying Paul knew that Timothy had so much going for him. So he told him to fan into flame the wonderful God-given gift that had been given to him. It is so easy to let our gifts and abilities lie dormant, when we need to rekindle and stir up the smouldering flame.
Fear can cripple our future. So Paul said to Timothy: "God has not given you a spirit of timidity but of power and love and a sound mind." Timidity, says Douglas Milne, is a chronic fear of people, suffering or responsibilities that paralyzes the will from giving effective leadership.
Paul is saying to Timothy, and to each of us: "Say no to fear. Don't let anxiety crush your life. Live life free and unfettered." At the heart of every addiction is the bondage to fear. My prayer for those reading this article is that the Great Physician will set each of us, like Timothy, free from fear, and fill us instead with the Spirit of power and love and a sound mind.
The Rev. Ed Hird Rector, St. Simon's Church North Vancouver Anglican Communion in Canada
2) http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=3090 Posted by David Virtue on 2005/10/10 10:10:00 ECUSA House of Bishops, Adding Insult to Injury by The Rev. Canon Dr. Bill Atwood
I suppose I naively believed that the depths of heartbreak in the Episcopal Church had already been plumbed, but I was gripped by a new wave of grief when I read the communication from the Episcopal leadership after their gathering in Puerto Rico.
Most painful was the unanimously supported task force to maintain control of property in situations where there is conflict with clergy and parishioners who refuse to accept unbiblical innovations in the Episcopal Church. They said they acted to limit the "profound loss [which] does harm to the past generations who contributed to the mission of the Episcopal Church and denies future generations rightful resources."
These same leaders have failed to give any thought to their actions that repudiated the Gospel of transformation that was the heart and soul of the faith of past generations who consecrated property to serve Biblical mission.
To hijack the sacrifices previous generations made to erect Gospel serving buildings and divert those resources for the vapid and spiritually bankrupt message of uncritical "acceptance," may sound good to them, but it squanders the opportunity for redemptive change offered by the Cross. It forfeits the chance to become more like Jesus and know His peace. Picking and choosing which parts of our heritage to preserve is selective responsibility and it is reprehensible.
Though it is obviously possible for those ordained in apostolic succession to go off into error, the historic promise has been that the church catholic will reject false teaching and restore Biblical order. The inability of ECUSA to either maintain orthodox teaching or to correct dramatic theological errors speaks volumes. It raises the question as to what, if any, part of ECUSA is part of the church catholic.
While the ultimate judgment of that is not ours, we have a responsibility to point people to safe spiritual ground. However welcoming, nostalgic, or magnificent parts of the life or pageantry may be in ECUSA, the evidence against its agenda is damning. Today, there is absolutely no assurance that life under the Episcopal shield is spiritually safe.
The flow of teaching from the historic (and Biblical) church is the heart of what determines what "right" teaching is. When the institution is spiritually healthy, it manifests and authenticates Biblical teaching. We can have confidence in teaching when it has been guarded by the apostolic line who have measured it against the Biblical plum line.
Sadly, we are in a season in ECUSA where the bishops are not the guardians of the faith they swore to be, but the source (or at least the promulgators) of much of the problem. Interesting to note that the Quadrilateral which was intended to describe the minimal basis around which we can have full Eucharistic fellowship, has now been wounded, perhaps mortally, in all four of its areas. (Scripture, Creeds, Sacraments, Episcopate)
* ECUSA has departed from the historic understanding of Biblical authority
* "Re-interpreted" parts of the Creeds
* Departed from disciplined administration of the Sacraments with the new "open communion teaching," and
* Ravaged the meaning and ministry of the episcopate. With reckless abandon, the bishops have distorted the faith, have allowed faithful congregations to be dismantled, and have exported poisonous divisions into the Communion.
No wonder the church is in a mess. But God will not be mocked. He is raising up new structures that proclaim the Gospel of transformation in Christ and are faithful to Scriptural truth. While we pray for the repentance of errant Episcopal leaders, the kyrigma proclaiming the Gospel will not wait for their repentance. The news of Jesus Christ is just too good to ignore, replace, or keep secret.
Canon Bill Atwood is General Secretary of Texas-based Ekklesia
http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/4Oct05.html http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=3075 Posted by David Virtue on 2005/10/6 15:20:00 Gloves are off evangelicals told By Chris Sugden, Church of England Newspaper
LONDON: (October 7, 2005)--Evangelicals were warned this week that "the gloves are off" in the fight for the Gospel. Speaking at the Anglican Evangelical Assembly, the Archdeacon of Exeter, Paul Gardner, said: "The gloves are off as we fight for the gospel now. The liberals see this as a fight to the death - and think we will lose."(...)
The annual meeting of the Anglican Evangelical Assembly was held at St Helen's, Bishopsgate, in London last week and much of the discussion focused on the situation in Brazil. Bishop Robinson Cavalcanti of the Diocese of Recife, who with 32 of his clergy who had been deposed by the Archbishop of Brazil, had that week been received into the Province of the Southern Cone, said: "The great danger in a situation like ours is to spend all energies in the conflict in its several areas: theological, political, legal and paralyse the life and mission(...)
3b) http://www.acl.asn.au/ http://www.americananglican.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?content_id=%7BBE7ECCDD-0CEC-4EE9-9A08-1214C754F95D%7D¬oc=1&c=ikLUK3MJIpG&b=691897&printmode=1 http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=3069 Posted by David Virtue on 2005/10/5 11:20:00 AAC RIPS ANGLICAN COMMUNION WEBSITE FOR DUMPING RECIFE BISHOP October 4, 2005 A Statement by the American Anglican Council Regarding Anglican Communion Website Alterations
We note with deep concern that the Anglican Communion website has altered its listing for the Diocese of Recife, Province of Brazil (see http://www.anglicancommunion.org/tour/diocese.cfm?Idind=58&view=alpha). Diocese: Recife Position: Bishop of Recife Name: The Rt Revd Filadelfo Oliviera Neto Address: Rua Virgilio Mota , 70 - Parnamirim - 52060-582 , Recife , PE , Brazil Office: +55 (0)81 3441 6843 Email: Click for email Web: www.dar.ieab.org.br
Rather than listing the Rt. Rev. Robinson Cavalcanti as Bishop of the Diocese of Recife, the web page currently identifies the Rt. Rev. Filadelfo Oliviera Neto as bishop of that diocese. We believe this change sends a confusing and disturbing message to the Communion.
The Primate of Brazil, Archbishop Orlando Santos de Oliveira, has sought to remove and depose Bishop Cavalcanti over the protest of diocesan clergy and laity in a number of extra-canonical and highly questionable acts; in addition, Archbishop Oliveira has excommunicated 40 clergy in the Diocese of Recife.
Bishop Cavalcanti has been a bold defender of the faith once delivered and has stood firm against the tide of secular revisionism threatening the Anglican Communion.
The Primate of Brazil is clearly meting out punishment in the face of theological disagreement and has essentially established a rival diocese and bishop even as Bishop Cavalcanti's deposition is under synodical appeal in the Province. It is also our understanding that under Brazilian law, the Diocese of Recife with Robinson Cavalcanti as bishop is the lawfully incorporated Diocese of Recife and that no other entity may be legally recognized. Archbishop Oliveira seems to be flouting both ecclesiastical and civil due process.
Bishop Cavalcanti and a significant number of Anglican Communion leaders have appealed to the Archbishop of Canterbury for his direct intervention and have also requested that the Panel of Reference immediately address the situation in Recife. To date, neither the Archbishop of Canterbury nor the Panel of Reference has acted, and therefore this matter remains unresolved.
We find it highly inappropriate for the Anglican Communion Office to bow to pressure from the Province of Brazil to change the website listing while the leadership of the Diocese of Recife is in serious ecclesiastical dispute. For the Anglican Communion Office to recognize Archbishop Oliveira's appointment of another bishop in Recife implies undue preference to a primate who is disregarding canonical and Communion process as well as Brazilian law. This action by the Anglican Communion Office seems tremendously disrespectful to the person and office of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Is the Anglican Communion Office staff attempting to preempt the authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury as well as that of the Panel of Reference, thereby pre-determining the outcome of this situation without benefit of due process? Or, are they acting with the support of influential, higher-level individuals of authority in the Communion? Do these staff members have the authority to make unilateral decisions that recognize a rival entity with a bishop not acknowledged by the laws of Brazil in a case pending ecclesiastical adjudication?
We call upon the Panel of Reference to gather in an immediate emergency session in order to address this dispute, and we urge the Anglican Communion Office to return the website listing for the Bishop of the Diocese of Recife to the proper, legal bishop, the Rt. Rev. Robinson Cavalcanti
Recife bishop is thrown a lifeline by Archbishop Gregory Venables Number: 5789 Date: Oct 7 By George Conger
ARCHBISHOP Gregory Venables has intervened in the Brazilian standoff between liberal Archbishop Orlando de Oliveira and evangelical Bishop Robinson Cavalcanti, extending his licence to Recife evangelicals.
By taking Bishop Robinson and 40 Recife clergy under his wing, Archbishop Venables has effectively created a second diocese, annexing 90 per cent of the communicants of Recife to the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone of America.
He said: "I am issuing this statement of support for Bishop Cavalcanti and his clergy to provide a special status of extra-provincial recognition by my office as Primate of the Southern Cone". The licence will remain in force until the Panel of Reference, the Archbishop of Canterbury, or the Anglican Communion attempt to untangle the schism. The Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil deposed Bishop Robinson Cavalcanti and 40 Recife clergy for contumacy this summer. Appeals have been forwarded to the Archbishop of Canterbury's Panel of Reference and are awaiting arbitration. Speaking on behalf of Archbishop Venables, Canon Bill Atwood said the decision had been backed by the Global South primates and was an extraordinary pastoral response to the situation. He said: "Although there is a Panel of Reference that has been created to deal with exactly this sort of theological disagreement, the slow pace at which the Panel has been moving has left Bishop Cavalcanti and his clergy vulnerable." He continued: "These letters and licences from the Primate of the Southern Cone are intended to bring some stability to the situation and to make it clear that many leaders around the world do not accept the actions of the Brazilian Province in attempting to eject the Bishop and clergy from the Anglican Communion." The rump loyal to Archbishop de Oliveira in Recife has argued the split is political and not due to a conflict between orthodox evangelicals and revisionist liberals.
Suffragan Bishop Filadelfo Oliveira said the Brazilian Church was "not a dead church, made up of revisionist liberals, heretics and apostates," but a progressive evangelical community. In a statement Bishop Oliveira charged Bishop Cavalcanti with fomenting a schism for factional gain. He wrote that Bishop Cavalacanti and his allies possess an "unscrupulous, pragmatist, messianic mentality, incompatible with the best of our evangelical tradition".
3d) http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/29Sept05a.html Text of Abp Venables' letter
3e) http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/10Oct05.html (click to see) Photo: Bishop Robinson Cavalcanti with his clergy receiving their acceptance of the oversight of Archbishop Gregory Venables
4) http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=3055 Posted by David Virtue on 2005/10/2 8:00:00 FLORIDA RECTOR BIDS FAREWELL TO DIOCESE AND THE ECUSA Anglican Alliance of North Florida formed with seven parishes. More will join.
By David W. Virtue
TALLAHASSEE, FL (10/2/2005)--The rector of the 2,000-strong evangelical St. John's Episcopal Church, the second largest parish in the diocese and one of the top 50 in the Episcopal Church, and the mother church of the Diocese of Florida, announced at the 9am service Sunday that he was resigning from the church, the diocese and the Episcopal Church.
The Rev. Eric D. Dudley, 46, an evangelical priest said in a written statement from the pulpit, that his reasons for leaving were the deeply embedded unrepentant heresies in the Episcopal Church; that he saw no chance of "changing the fabric of the church"; disillusionment with his Bishop John Howard, and that he saw no hope for the future for a truly orthodox rector or bishop in the Episcopal Church(...)
The majority of St. John's will leave to hold their first worship service next Sunday as St. Peter's Anglican Church under the authority of an overseas bishop. Dudley was joined in his departure by two Associate Rectors, the Rev. Michael Petty and the Rev. Brad Page, who also serves as Chaplain at Florida State University. The vast majority of the lay staff and the vestry will also join the new congregation at St. Peter's. (...)
4b) Letter from the Rev Eric Dudley (Florida, USA) http://www.acl.asn.au/ (Anglican Church League, Australia) http://www.saint-peters.net/index.cfm/referer/content.contentList/ID/419/ October 3, 2005
To The Members of St. John's Episcopal Church
From: Fr. Eric D. Dudley
As you may know by now, I resigned as Rector of St. John's Church this past Sunday morning. Over the past two years it has become increasingly difficult for my family and me to remain a part of the Episcopal Church. After two years of prayerful struggling as well as thousands of conversations with fellow priests and bishops, I have come to realize that the roots of heresy are so deep in the Episcopal Church (in seminaries, among priests and bishops) that there really is no possibility of changing the fabric of this Church. I have arrived at a place where I do not feel comfortable using Episcopal literature, sending youth and college students to Episcopal conferences (even in the Diocese of Florida), or affirming my vows as a priest (to the "Doctrine, Discipline, and Worship of the Episcopal Church"). When, last Spring, I had a lengthy conversation in my office with a young man who is just beginning to believe in Christ, I felt sick that I was leading him to new faith in a church that has turned its back on the very foundations of faith. I cannot do that ever again!
No truly orthodox rector or bishop I know has any hope for the future of the Episcopal Church. One priest suggested to me that even though he saw no chance of change in my lifetime, or my children's, that if I would stand steadfast, and teach my children to do the same, that MAYBE my grandchildren would benefit from a healthy Episcopal Church. This would mean that for the remaining twenty years of my ministry I would have to fight this negative battle and hope that my children would be willing to give their lives to do the same, in the feeble hope that some fragment of orthodoxy might survive. I would much rather pour my life and ministry into building a strong Anglicanism in America based on the solid Gospel of Jesus Christ. From my perspective, the Episcopal Church is a Church that has lost its moorings and has left the fleet (the larger Anglican Communion), cut free from its anchor (Christ), and is being tossed about by all the whims of modern-day secularism. I am not called to stay in that boat. I will instead remain solidly anchored to Christ with the larger fleet of Anglicanism.
I do want you to know how very thankful I am for the ten years of ministry I have enjoyed as rector of St. John's Parish. Together, by God's grace, we have done many wonderful things to shape hearts and minds for Jesus Christ, and I will treasure the memories of my time in this parish. However, for me faithfulness requires a willingness to let go of buildings, and money, and even relationships for the sake of the truth of Scripture and the person of Jesus. Several people have been to see me to suggest that I wage a legal battle for the property of St. John's. I have made clear many times over that I would never do this, not because such a battle could not be won legally, but because to enter such a battle is not only unscriptural, but would leave us all losers spiritually.It is my heart's desire to leave St. John's respectfully, lovingly, peacefully(...)
I cannot neglect telling you how greatly disillusioned I have been by the actions of the present Bishop of Florida and by some of the members of our parish who call themselves "Parishioners For Hopeful Reconciliation." While the actions of some of these people have been deeply distressing to me, my family, and the staff of St. John's, ultimately I do not make the choice I make because of those actions. The real rift in our Church, while brought to the fore by sexuality, exists because we have allowed this church for forty years to move away from Scripture as the foundation for our life together.
I realize that I said at our Annual Parish Meeting I would wait until after General Convention in June to take this step. However, I choose to take it now for the following reasons: 1) Neither I nor my family can walk through another year of the emotional upheaval and turmoil we have withstood for the last two. I find myself becoming a cynical and resentful priest, something I would never want to be. 2) I think we all realize clearly that General Convention cannot and will not change the ultimate direction of this Church (especially after the Nottingham report offered by ECUSA to the Anglican Communion this past summer. Michael Petty reviewed the report for us in the last Proclamation!, pointing out that the Episcopal Church has made a very strident commitment to move ahead with what ECUSA sees as a prophetic call, leading the Church to a "new truth").3) Knowing in my heart that I would be leaving at least by June, I could not in good conscience go through a stewardship process this fall calling on you to give sacrificially for 2006 when I myself am not committed to 2006. 4) Orthodox people at St. John's have begun to leave, and others to tell me they are on the verge of leaving.I could not sit around and watch solidly orthodox people continue to leave with no strong Anglican place to go. Numerous members of the parish have come to me asking me to consider this move, and I do so as much for their sake as for my own convictions.
I have, therefore, resigned as Rector of St. John's and have placed myself under the authority of an Archbishop in the Anglican Communion, thereby remaining true to the larger witness and tradition of Anglicanism. Beginning this Sunday, October 9 at 10:00 a.m., I will establish St. Peter's Anglican Church. A group of people have purchased the old Church of Christ building immediately adjacent to Kool Beanz restaurant on Thomasville Road and have made it available to me freely, for 3-5 years, as a transition space while we grow a congregation, buy property, and build other buildings. Fr. Petty and Fr. Page have chosen to come with me, sacrificing their own security for what they too believe to be the call of Christ(...)
May the peace of God be with you, Eric Dudley+
5a) http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/news05030101.asp Nairobi Statement - Global South Primates A Statement from Global South Primates meeting In Nairobi January 27th/28th, 2005 (10 months ago)
1. We are gathered in Nairobi, Kenya to strengthen our shared ministries and in anticipation of the third South-South Encounter that will take place in Egypt October 25th/31st 2005(...)
5b) http://www.wfn.org/2005/09/msg00228.html From Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org> Date Mon, 19 Sep 2005 10:56:21 -0400 Anglican Bishop of Nigeria did not invite Brazilian bishop
PORTO ALEGRE, Sept. 16 (ALC). The Anglican primate of Nigeria, Archbishop Peter Akinola told his Brazilian colleague Orlando Santos de Oliveira that the Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil (IEAB) was not welcome at the III Anglican Global South meeting.
The event will bring together Anglican provincials from the Southern Hemisphere in Alexandria, Egypt from October 25 - 31, under the slogan "One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church."(...)
5c) http://www.thinkinganglicans.org.uk/archives/001348.html Monday, 3 October 2005 plans for the Egypt meeting Here is a press release from the host diocese: 30 September 2005 The Episcopal Diocese of Egypt welcomes the Third Anglican Global South to South Encounter
From 25th - 30th October 2005, about 120 delegates, representing 20 provinces within the Anglican Communion, from Africa, Asia and Latin America, will be meeting in Egypt for their third Global South Encounter. The Conference will take place at the Red Sea.(...)
It is worth mentioning that the first South to South Encounter was held in Limuru, Kenya, 1994 and the second was held in Kuala Lampur in 1997(...)
5) St Timothy's North Shore October Newsletter (The Revs. Paul Carter and Ken Bell) http://www.st-timothy.com/newsletters/16newsletter.pdf (html) http://www.st-timothy.com/newsletters/index.php?index=16 (html)
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