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1a) http://acicanada.ca/node/39 http://www3.telus.net/st_simons/cr0511.html -Lt General Romeo Dallaire: Canada's Unsung Hero -an article for the November 2005 Deep Cove Crier
November 11th is sometimes hard for many younger Canadians to access. How can one remember on Remembrance Day when it all seems so long ago?
This November 11th I invite you to access Remembrance Day through remembering one of Canada's unsung heros: Lt General Romeo Dallaire. Recently named to the Canadian senate, Lt General Dallaire embodies the best of what needs to be remembered each November 11th.
Dallaire led the 1994 UN Mission to Rwanda where he saw 800,000 men, women and children slaughtered by extremists. Before the genocide, Rwanda had been the largest recipient of Canadian aid proportionally in all of sub-Saharan Africa.
Abandoned during the 1994 crisis by the world community, Rwanda's greatest advocate was one lonely Canadian, Romeo Dallaire, who forced the tragedy of the Rwandan genocide onto the world stage. "The people of Rwanda", said Dallaire in his book/DVD Shake Hands with the Devil, "were not an insignificant black mass living in abject poverty in a place of no consequence. They were individuals like myself, like my family, with every right and expectation of any human who is a member of our tortured race."
"Too little and too late" summarized the response of the UN bureaucrats and the international power-brokers. Dallaire wrote in his book: "There was a void of leadership in New York (UN). We sent a deluge of paper and received nothing in return; no supplies; no reinforcements, no decisions." The UN did produce numerous resolutions about Rwanda, but as Dallaire noted, "The resolution's phrases were pure UN-ese: 'having considered...express regret...shocked...appalled....deeply concerned...stressing...expressing deep concern...condemns...strongly condemns...demands...decides...reiterates...reaffirms...calls upon...invites...decides to remain actively seized of the matter.'" Dallaire sadly described the UN as "an organization swamped and sinking under the dead weight of useless political sinecures, indifference, and procrastination."
In the midst of this betrayal, Dallaire stood strong and made a powerful difference in saving thousands of Rwandans. As a man of deep Christian faith, Dallaire faced the reality of cold-blooded evil, but was not defeated by it. In his acclaimed book "Shake Hands with the Devil", Dallaire commented: "After one of my many presentations following my return from Rwanda, a Canadian Forces padre asked me how, after all I had seen and experienced, I could still believe in God. I answered that I know there is a God because in Rwanda I shook hands with the devil. I have seen him, I have smelled him and I have touched him. I know the devil exists, and therefore I know there is a God."
One of Dallaire's chief way of saving Rwandan lives was in his intentional cultivation of the media. "The media", said Dallaire, "can be an ally and a weapon equal to battalions on the ground." The CBC Radio show 'As It Happens', with Michael Enright, played a key role in waking up a very sleepy, apathetic Canadian population. Dallaire commented: "The media was the weapon that I used to strike the conscience of the world and try to prod the international community into action."
Dallaire shows the gift of remarkable vulnerability in talking about his feeling and core beliefs: "My Christian beliefs had been the moral framework that had guided me throughout my adult life. Where was God in all this horror? Where was God in the world's response?" He suffered deeply from Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome upon returning to Canada, and has taken many years of counseling to recover. Dallaire wrote: "I wanted to scream, to vomit, to hit something, to break free of my body, to end this terrible scene. Instead I struggled to compose myself..."
Near the end of the Rwandan UN Mission, Dallaire was so exhausted by the trauma that he started to collapse internally: "...my manners and my sense of humour, two essentials of leadership, were fading fast..." His own staff noticed that 'The General was losing it' and rightly concluded '...if I (Dallaire) wasn't replaced, I would be dead in less than two weeks' Dallaire vulnerably shared (in his book) "...how guilty I felt abandoning my troops before the mission was over, how guilty I felt that I had failed so many people and that Rwandans were still dying because of it." Dallaire's self-recriminations and 'what ifs' nearly ate him up inside: "After nearly a decade of reliving every detail of those days, I am still certain that I could have stopped the madness had I been given the means."
"Why", asked Dallaire, "were we so feeble, fearful and self-centered in the face of atrocities committed against the innocent?" Dallaire concluded that "We are in desperate need of a transfusion of humanity."
I thank God this November 11th for Lt. General Romeo Dallaire's courageous role in saving so many Rwandan lives. Rwanda means a lot to me, as St. Simon's North Vancouver and 10 other Anglican Churches were adopted almost two years ago into the Anglican Province of Rwanda. Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini, our Rwandan Primate, said that they were committed to rescuing us in North America, because no one was there for them when they were in their 1994 crisis. They would not leave us as orphans.
The Reverend Ed Hird+ Rector, St. Simon's Church North Vancouver http://www3.telus.net/st_simons/
1b) http://www3.telus.net/st_simons/nsnews020.html Nov 4th 2005 North Shore News "Spiritually Speaking' Column, p. 36 Breaking the Power of Shame By Rev Ed Hird+
The teenaged Roman Emperor Nero started off in AD 57 as a idealistic reformer, banning capital punishment. He forbade killing in circus contests, emphasizing instead athletics, poetry, and theater. He reduced taxes and permitted slaves to file complaints against unjust masters. But absolute power absolutely corrupted him.
Nero was born at Antium (Anzio), Italy, on December 15th 37 A.D. His father, who died when Nero was age 3, was a great-grandson of Caesar Augustus - the Roman emperor at the time of the birth of Jesus Christ (Luke 2:1).
Nero's mother Agrippina rescued her son Nero from poverty by marrying her uncle, the emperor Claudius. Agrippina managed to get Nero adopted not only as a son of Claudius, but the heir to the throne before Claudius' actual sons. To show her gratitude, she poisoned her husband/uncle with tainted mushrooms. Nero became the emperor of the mighty Roman empire at the age of 17.
One year after Nero became Emperor, he got tired of his mother's interfering, and had her removed from the palace. Four years later she still kept meddling, so Nero rigged her boat to collapse on her. Being a strong swimmer, Agrippina refused to drown, so Nero had to send soldiers in to finish the job. There is a famous painting by John William Waterhouse where Nero is lying on his bed feeling remorseful for taking his mother out http://www.johnwilliamwaterhouse.com/paintings/painting1430.aspx but any remorse did not slow him down for long. As murder can be rather addictive, Nero proceeded to present the gift of an ex-wife's severed head to a future wife, and then kick another wife to death while she was pregnant.
Nero's most memorable accomplishment was burning much of Rome to the ground to make room for a new palace. After six days of Rome burning, Nero discovered the value of blaming a small Jewish group called Christians. Their ringleader, the Apostle Paul, was thrown into a Roman dungeon, to prepare for his imminent beheading. If these early Christians refused to renounce their faith, Nero had them thrown to the lions, crucified, or set on fire and used as garden-party lighting.
Christianity looked as if it would be obliterated from the face of the earth. But Paul from prison wrote a second letter to his chosen successor Timothy, 'rallying the troops'. He said to Timothy: "Don't be ashamed to bear witness for the Lord or Paul his prisoner". He encouraged the naturally timid Timothy not to be ashamed of Paul's chains. Paul, though about to be exterminated, said to Timothy: "I am not ashamed, for I know whom I believe".
Breaking the power of shame is absolutely vital to living a free and healthy life. All of us have at least one Nero in our life who would like to enslave us, entrap us, and fill us with shame. It may be our relatives, our boss, our ex-spouse, our own personal addictions to fear, guilt, anger. By breaking the power of shame and self-hatred, we can live fully without regret. The key, said Paul, to breaking the power of shame, is in 'knowing whom we believe'. I would challenge each one reading this article to no longer let our personal Neros cover our faces with shame. Live free. Live forgiven. Live in the healing embrace of the One who gave everything so that you might really live.
The Reverend Ed Hird+ Rector, St. Simon's Church North Vancouver Anglican Communion in Canada http://www3.telus.net/st_simons/
2) http://www.anglicanmissioninamerica.org/index.cfm?id=5803A14E-BE5C-41AD-9F0559962D2A62D3 Anglican Mission In America Winter Conference 2006 "Pressing on Toward the Goal"
http://www.anglicanmissioninamerica.org/index.cfm?id=F98CC995-9A35-4DF6-89330533E5B5E149 The Anglican Mission in America's Winter Conference for 2006 "Pressing on Toward the Goal" January 11-15 in Birmingham, Alabama
Philippians3:14 "I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
God is doing a great work across the world-- reforming and renewing the Church, and its happening close to home, as well. The AMiA was birthed five years ago, and God has certainly blessed by providing people, resources and energy to reach out with the Gospel to those who are spiritually disconnected. Now is the time to move forward and renew our commitment to that call.
Come be a part of what God is doing through the Anglican Mission in America, as we respond to timely opportunities in our own land. Let's press on!
Winter Conference will be a great opportunity to celebrate what God is doing, and to gain new insight, energy and direction for running the race. Don't miss the worship and connection of this important annual event, and the opportunity to draw insight and encouragement from others.
*Register Now Online http://www.anglicanmissioninamerica.org/register
*Book a Room Online http://www.starwoodmeeting.com/Book/anglican ,
For assistance with booking, please call the Sheraton at (205) 324-5000
Speakers Timothy George is the founding dean of Beeson Divinity School at Samford University. A prolific author, he has written 20 books and serves on the boards of numerous journals. He has a passion for raising up young leaders for the Church.
Graham Tomlin is mobilizing thousands of young leaders for mission. His book, The Provocative Church, offers a liberating view of evangelism. Formerly Vice-Principal of Wycliffe Hall at Oxford, he now heads theological training at Holy Trinity Brompton, London.
Ron Sylvia, founder of Church at the Springs in Ocala, Florida, that has planted 10 daughter congregations. Ron has trained thousands of church planters and is the author of Starting High Definition Churches.
Dan Southerland , Director of Church Transitions, an organization committed to helping churches transition from what they are to what they can be. He is author of Transitioning: Leading Your Church Through Change
Bishop Chuck Murphy will share his Chairman's address on the vision for the Anglican Mission. This is a vital annual presentation to bring us all up to speed on the state of the mission, and help us to set the course for the coming season.
Go Global ! Celebrate what God is doing globally. The Anglican Mission in America is genetically connected to the Global South, and our home in the Province of Rwanda is secure and life giving. Our own Archbishops, Emmanuel Kolini of Rwanda and Yong Ping Chung of South East Asia will be joined by 7 other Primates (invitations accepted) in what will be an historic Anglican gathering on American shores. Winter Conference will be a powerful meeting of Anglican global leaders and a resource for all of us as we hear from and interact with these gifted men of God.
The following Anglican Primates have accepted invitations to attend:
The Most Rev. Emmanuel Kolini, Rwanda The Most Rev. Datuk Yong Ping Chung, South East Asia The Most Rev. Justice Offei Akrofi, West Africa The Most Rev. Fidele Dirokpa, Congo The Most Rev. Bernard Malango, Central Africa The Most Rev. Donald Mtetemela, Tanzania The Most Rev. Benjamin Nzimbi, Kenya The Most Rev. Henry Orombi, Uganda The Most Rev. Gregory Venables, Southern Cone of the Americas
Go Deeper Winter Conference offers many opportunities to pursue interests in a variety of ministry-related subjects, especially those that relate to evangelism and church planting. You'll be with like-minded disciples committed to helping each other to grow in effectiveness and faithfulness.
Numerous workshops will help hand off key insights and tools for being effective in the mission of planting and growing dynamic churches. Dynamic teachers and facilitators will be on hand, such as Ed Stetzer, Lyle Dorsett, Elizabeth Walter, Silas Ng, Stephen Noll, and many others.
There will also be dynamic worship, prayer and healing gatherings throughout the conference. Bible studies will be led by outstanding and insightful teachers such as Archbishop Henry Orombi of Uganda.
The Details Winter Conference 06 will be held at the Sheraton Conference Center in downtown Birmingham, a major regional city that is easily accessible. Birmingham International Airport is served by 8 major airlines with a full schedule of flights, and the Sheraton is recognized as one of the top convention hotels in the United States.
To book a hotel room at special rates (until January 6th), call 205-324-5000, and ask for the Anglican Mission rate.
In order to plan your travel, here are the official opening and closing times of Winter Conference:
Jan. 11, 2006 Registration 1:00 to 6:30 PM Hotel check in 3:00 PM Opening worship 7:30 PM Birmingham Ballroom
Jan. 15, 2006 Rite 1 worship 7:45 AM Rite 2 worship 10:00 AM Check out 12:00 PM
The rate for registration is $155 per person (not including accommodations). A special student rate is available.
Register now online at www.anglicanmissioninamerica.org/register .
Click for Directions http://www.starwoodmeeting.com/Book/anglican January 11 through 15, 2006 Birmingham, Alabama
Sheraton Hotel and Conference Center 2101 Richard Arrington Jr. Boulevard North Birmingham, Alabama 35203 Phone (205) 324-5000 - Fax (205) 307-3085
Click here to make your room reservations online. Special rate is $90 plus tax per room. For assistance in booking, please call the hotel at the above number.
* When calling, mention our conference promotion code: 5784 * Hotel reservations must be made separately. * Registration amounts (below) are for conference only, and not accommodations
If you would like to pay by check, please print this form, fill it out, and mail it in with your check to:
AMiA Winter Conference Registration P. O. Box 3427 Pawleys Island, SC 29585
3) http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=3227 Posted by David Virtue on 2005/11/10 10:10:00 OHIO: Church break follows gay vote Four area parishes split off from U.S. Episcopal Church. Bishop to address issue today By Colette M. Jenkins Beacon Journal religion writer 11/11/2005
More than two years after the Episcopal Church's debate over homosexuality, four Northeast Ohio congregations have voted to split from the national church and the Diocese of Ohio.
The four parishes -- St. Luke's in Fairlawn, Church of the Holy Spirit in Akron, St. Barnabas in Bay Village and St. Anne's in the Fields of Madison -- voted Sunday to break with the Episcopal Church USA and affiliate with the Diocese of Bolivia in the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone.
The South American diocese is based in Cochabamba, Bolivia, and led by Bishop Frank Lyon.
Cleveland attorney James Niehaus, who represents the four congregations, said the vote means the parishes are no longer a part of the local diocese or the national church.
Last year, the parishes declared themselves in "impaired communion" with the Ohio diocese and national church after the consecration of a gay bishop. At that time, the parishes accepted oversight from a retired Episcopal bishop who shares their view(...)
The four Ohio parishes -- with about 1,300 active members -- decided to leave the U.S. church and the local diocese because of "divergent understandings of the authority of scripture and traditional Christian teaching," according to a news release(...)The four Ohio congregations have been withholding contributions to the diocese and national church and redirecting their funds to orthodox Anglican organizations and missionary work.
Friday 11th November 2005 Richard Coekin: BBC Radio 4 interview with Richard Coekin
Listen to this BBC Radio interview http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/listenagain/ram/today0_coekin_20051105.ram with Rev. Richard Coekin - and also Bishop John Gladwin of Chelmsford - on last week's Dundonald ordinations. It requires RealPlayer.
4b) http://www.sydneyanglicans.net/aroundtheweb/ No option but to ordain Number: 5794 Date: Nov 11th, 2005
By the Rev Richard Coekin
On Wednesday, November 2, a Bishop of the Church of England in South Africa ordained three staff of The Co-Mission Initiative, the network of Anglican church-plants in South-West London, of which I am Senior Pastor, without the permission of the Diocesan Bishop, the Rt Rev Tom Butler. These were valid but irregular ordinations. There was considerable media interest so I welcome the opportunity to explain what we did and why. After a long period of disquiet, dating from the appointment of Rowan Williams to Canterbury, the Jeffrey John saga, the consecration of Gene Robinson and the inadequate response of the Windsor Report, the House of Bishops' Statement on Civil Partnerships was, for us, a last straw. This document plainly requires us not to question the nature of the relationships of those coming for baptism, confirmation or Holy Communion who are in registered Civil Partnerships even though many are likely to be in practising homosexual relationships. This effectively bars us from the kind of patient and loving scriptural discipleship that we regard as fundamental to Anglican ministry.
We try to preach and demonstrate the love of God in Christ for forgiveness and grace for repentance from sin, for all who trust in Christ whatever their cultural, social or sexual background or orientation. We have a number of homosexuals coming to our churches who welcome our help in living, like heterosexuals, with the joy of forgiveness of sexual sin and the challenge to repentance under the discipline of God's Word to keep sexual activity for heterosexual marriage. In standing against the secular tide of self-indulgence, their faithfulness to the Bible is heroic and must be supported. Just this week, some of them have personally thanked me for defending their struggle. It is also, according to 1 Corinthians 6:9, a first-order, salvation issue (however politically incorrect). Scripture plainly forbids homosexual activity. As the Bishops put it in Issues in Human Sexuality: "There is … in Scripture an evolving convergence on the ideal of lifelong, monogamous, heterosexual union as the setting intended by God for the proper development of men and women as sexual beings. Sexual activity of any kind outside marriage comes to be seen as sinful, and homosexual practice as especially dishonourable," (2.29). But it is obvious to us that this Bishops' new statement on Civil Partnerships assumes the legitimising of gay sex.
This not only contravenes Lambeth Resolution 1:10 but as Issues makes clear in the quote above, is contrary to Scripture and therefore is contrary to the doctrine of the Church of England, which by law has to be scriptural and which, under the Canons of the Church of England, the Bishops have a special duty to uphold. I realise that many wish the situation was different in the Church of England, but for now, it isn't. Our view is confirmed by the statement of 103 delegates representing two-thirds of the Anglican Communion from 20 provinces at the meeting of Global South Bishops in Egypt last week. They identify the present crisis as "provoked by North American intransigence" and declare unambiguously, "The unscriptural innovations of North American and some western provinces on issues of human sexuality undermine the basic message of redemption and the power of the cross to transform lives. These departures are a symptom of a deeper problem, which is the diminution of the authority of Holy Scripture. The leaders of these provinces disregard the plain teaching of Scripture". Our interpretation of the Bible, of this crisis and of this latest Bishops' Statement enjoys the support of the wider Anglican Communion. This support has been conveyed with private encouragements from two Archbishops and many others in wider Anglican Communion.
I wrote to the Bishop of Southwark on September 16 asking him to distance himself from the Bishops' Statement and asking for affirmations that he understands sexual activity to be restricted to heterosexual marriage. He replied refusing to do so. This has now left us temporarily in impaired communion with him and looking elsewhere for Episcopal ministry including the selection of our candidates for training, ordination of our eligible staff and the oversight of our congregations (of which we have eight in Southwark Diocese). We have for three years been asking the Bishop of Southwark to ordain fully trained staff to our planted congregations, who are entirely funded, paid and housed, by our own trust funds, provided sacrificially by the congregations. Both of the eligible staff, Richard Perkins and Andy Fenton, are already each running congregations of more than 100 adults under my direction. Both of them have been operating in other parishes with the explicit permission of the relevant parish priests, though they belong to a different tradition. We cannot understand why the Bishop has felt unable to ordain these trained, funded staff for our plants at a time when "Fresh Expressions" of church are supposed to be encouraged and facilitated under the recommendations of "Mission-shaped Church". We have thriving young congregations meeting in schools, a wine-bar and now a sports centre as well as in traditional church buildings but we need the support of the Diocese and not its obstruction.
No doubt we have made mistakes, but we are just trying to reach the unchurched with the love of Christ (and there is no evidence of any "sheep-stealing" in any of our plants). God has grown our numbers in Southwark from 40 to 640 adults and we wanted our ministries recognised and resourced rather than criticised and undermined. We realise that the Bishop of Southwark must balance many issues of which we are not aware. But if earlier he had found a way of ordaining our staff, we would not have needed to go further. Now, however, with our communion impaired, we looked elsewhere for the ordinations needed. I had enquired of Bishop Morrison's willingness to ordain our staff (the two English ordinands and a South African ordinand) some while ago. At any time we could have withdrawn from proceeding if our conversations with the Bishop of Southwark had shown him to be upholding a biblical position. However, after consultation with senior evangelicals here and abroad, we decided to go ahead in order to keep our men in the Anglican tradition which we believe in and have no intention of leaving. The Bishop of Southwark knew of our need of ordination from our repeated requests and that our impaired communion would necessitate our looking for valid but irregular ordinations. In the event, the ordination was supported by many "mainstream evangelical" leaders, including the Chairman of Reform, the Chairman of the Fellowship of Word and Spirit, the General Secretary of Crosslinks, the Chairman of Church Society, a leader from Anglican Mainstream, leaders from the New Wine Network, two Canons, members of General Synod and leaders of large churches from across the diocese and the nation who came to express publicly their support.
The ordination was explicitly supported by a resolution of the Reform National Conference and by more than 500 in the congregation. I didn't recruit all this support - it was volunteered because other evangelicals feel so strongly against the Bishops' Statement on Civil Partnerships and agree with our stand. We have been inundated with letters of support from mainstream evangelicals and without any campaign the letter of support on our website already contains over 100 Anglican clergy. There is a great deal of dismay amongst mainstream evangelicals about a perceived reinvention of the Christian faith once delivered and we feel bound by Scripture (Jude 3-4) and by our ordination oaths to "contend for the faith" and to "drive away error". I think it is fair to expect more action of this kind by other evangelicals unless bishops draw back from trying to impose what is seen as revision of the Bible by liberalising bishops.
I have been asked to explain how I can, in conscience, disobey my diocesan bishop. I have done so with great reluctance and sadness. This is not personal but theological and our debate has been cordial. My obligation, as a Christian, is first to God and his Word and I feel bound, in conscience, to disobey my bishop where he asks me to do something contrary to the plain meaning of Scripture and especially where my interpretation is supported by history, by scholarship and by the vast majority of the Anglican Communion. Moreover, my oath of obedience was only of canonical obedience and "in all things lawful and honest", which I understand to be obedience only to such requests as are permitted by both the canons and the law of the land and honest to the truth of the Scriptures. Where the House of Bishops requires me to contravene Scripture, as it has, I must obey God rather than Man, for Jesus said, "If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory…" (Mark 8:38).
5) http://acicanada.ca/node/42 http://www.anglicanmissioninamerica.org/index.cfm?id=F3BB9E5F-B40F-4DE7-B90A065719B60470 http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/articles/40/50/acns4061.cfm A Third Trumpet from the South The Third Anglican Global South to South Encounter Red Sea (Egypt), 25-30 October 2005
The Third Anglican South-to-South Encounter has graphically demonstrated the coming of age of the Church of the Global South(...)
'I in no way question' Akinola's integrity, Irish Primate insists By Pat Ashworth, Church Times, UK, Friday, November 4, 2005
6b) http://titusonenine.classicalanglican.net/?p=9523 Archbishop Peter Akinola writes an Open letter to Archbishop Robin Eames, Primate of All Ireland 16th October, 2005 (...) Dear Robin,
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I have noted with profound sadness your recent pronouncements in Virginia, Washington, DC, and Connecticut about the actions of the Church of Nigeria. I was surprised by the harsh tone of your remarks and also that you have chosen to address me personally in a remarkably one-sided conversation through the media(...)
It is reported that you, without citing specifics, are 'quite certain' that some of us have been bought. http://www.edow.org/news/headlines/eames100705.html I have always had great respect for you and considered you a friend and a great leader of our Communion but such irresponsible accusations are outrageous, uncharitable and untrue. If you have any evidence of such financial inducements I challenge you, in the name of God, to reveal them or make a public apology to your brother Primates in the Global South for this damaging and irresponsible smear(...)
Finally, I was astonished by your declaration that ECUSA and the Anglican Church of Canada have satisfied the requirements of the Windsor Report(...)
While I am grateful that "regret" has been expressed and a temporary moratorium on Episcopal consecrations has been established, same-sex blessings continue to be authorized in some dioceses in both Provinces. And we all know that this is no more than a brief cessation of provocative actions and that no permanent change of mind is intended(...)
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