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1a) http://www.wvec.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D8IKLLDG0.html African church criticizes plan to hold Anglicans together 07/03/2006 By RICHARD N. OSTLING / Associated Press, Virginia News, Norfolk,VA,USA Africa's largest Anglican church is criticizing a proposal from the archbishop of Canterbury for two-tier membership in the global Anglican fellowship, a plan aimed at keeping the group together despite differences over homosexuality and the Bible.
The bishops who lead the 17.5 million-member Church of Nigeria announced their stand in postings Sunday on a pair of Anglican Web sites.
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams - Anglicanism's spiritual leader - suggested last month that two levels of participation for the 38 branches of the Anglican Communion could be created.
Under that system, America's Episcopal Church, which consecrated an openly gay bishop in 2003, would accept a lesser role to prevent a total break with a majority of Anglican churches, which are conservative.
The Nigerian bishops said Williams' "brilliant" concept sought to "preserve the unity of the church by accommodating every shred of opinion no matter how biblical, all because we want to make everyone feel at home."
But the Nigerians also indicated that total exclusion of the Episcopal Church may be required: "A cancerous lump in the body should be excised if it has defied every known cure. To attempt to condition the whole body to accommodate it will lead to the avoidable death of the patient."
The statement depicted the Williams plan as a "novel" design that's "elastic enough to accommodate all the extremes of preferred modes of expression of the same faith." Instead, it said, Williams should urge churches that chose to "walk apart" to return to authentic Anglicanism.
The Nigerians' statement is particularly noteworthy because their church is the biggest Anglican denomination outside the Church of England and is often seen as a leader among Anglican provinces in the developing world.
In a related move, Nigeria's church plans to consecrate Canon Martyn Minns, rector of a prominent conservative parish in Fairfax, Va., as its bishop to lead a United States mission that serves Nigerians in America and others dissatisfied with the New York-based Episcopal Church.
Meanwhile, six dioceses unhappy with the Episcopalians' rejection last month of an outright moratorium on consecrating more gay bishops have asked Williams for oversight from a bishop outside the Episcopal hierarchy(...)
1b) http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/ A Response from the House of Bishops of the Church Of Nigeria
Re: The Challenge And Hope Of Being Anglican Today: A Response From The House Of Bishops Of The Church Of Nigeria
We have received from the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, what must be the outcome of in-depth personal reflection on the un-abating tempest of divergent opinions that have continued to rock the worldwide Anglican Communion in recent years.
It is unlikely that anyone who holds our historic worldwide Communion and its leadership, close to heart, and in prayer will fail to grasp the tensions that the Archbishop wrestles with in an attempt to hold together a fragile Communion that is threatened by the real possibility of disintegration and fragmentation.
No one can assume that there are easy answers - and perhaps that is the crux of the problem facing the leadership of our Communion. The issue at stake is not just a crisis of identity, but also a shopping for palatable answers in a situation of contending convictions and shifting values. The dilemma, and therefore the challenge is whether to revisit the old paths of our forbears or to fashion out a novel establishment that is elastic enough to accommodate all the extremes of preferred modes of expression of the same faith.
His analysis of the situation is quite lucid, and the liberal and post-modern tilt of some interpretations is apparent. But we must commend the fact that it appears we have finally come to that point of admitting that we are truly at crossroads as a Communion and the time to decide on the way forward can no longer be wished away. The mere fact that the Archbishop of Canterbury now proposes a two-tier membership for the Anglican Communion is his acceptance that the wound caused by the revisionists has become difficult, if not impossible, to heal. The idea of a Covenant that would ensure this two-tier membership of 'Constituent Churches' and 'Churches in Association' is brilliant as the heartbeat of a leader who wants to preserve the unity of the Church by accommodating every shred of opinion no matter how unbiblical, all because we want to make everyone feel at home.
The Archbishop submits that "there is no way the Anglican Communion can remain unchanged by what is happening at the moment." That is a fact of our human existence. But is this not the time for our Communion to take to heart the instructive lines from Henry Francis Lyte in our treasury of hymns, "Change and decay in all around I see; Oh Thou who changest not, abide with me"? Is this not indeed the time for us to hush our hearts and meditate on the significance of the request of the early disciples on the road to Emmaus, "Abide with us, [they said,] for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent"? (Luke 24:29). Should the encircling gloom around us not make us ponder on the words of our Lord, "You are the salt of the earth… if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men" (Matthew 5:13)? That we must change is without contention, but should we not change for the better - as redeemed, reconciled and transformed people of God who have a witness to a lost and broken world?
Archbishop Rowan candidly observes that our Anglican Decision-Making "lacks a set of adequately developed structures which is able to cope with the diversity of views that will inevitably arise in a world of rapid global communication and huge cultural variety" and that we need to be clear about certain age-old assumptions to be sure we are "still talking the same language, "aware of belonging to the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church of Christ". He goes on to highlight some of the "fault lines of division." He boldly puts the blame at the door of the Episcopal Church where there had been no agreement or any kind of consensus - whether in the Episcopal Church itself or in the global Communion - before the ordination of Gene Robinson was undertaken. It is noteworthy also that he remarks that "the recent resolutions of the General Convention have not produced a complete response to the challenges of the Windsor Report…" One wonders if such blatant disregard should not be reprimanded.
The Archbishop says we "have tried to be a family of Churches willing to learn from each other across cultural divides, not assuming that European (or American or African) wisdom is what settles everything, opening up the lives of Christians here to the realities of Christian experience everywhere". He then goes on to suggest that the genuine concerns expressed about orthodoxy and the need to contend for the faith once entrusted to the saints, have made the debate harder, and "reinforced the lines of division and led to enormous amounts of energy going into 'political' struggle (!) with and between churches in different parts of the world." The idea that these genuine concerns have degenerated to the "politicization of a theological dispute" instead of "reasoned debate" is very sadly patronizing. One would have expected that those who had embarked on this religious misadventure would be encouraged to judge their actions against our well-established historic tradition.
A cancerous lump in the body should be excised if it has defied every known cure. To attempt to condition the whole body to accommodate it will lead to the avoidable death of the patient.
We encourage the Archbishop of Canterbury to persuade those who have chosen to "walk apart" to return to the path chosen by successive generations of our forbears. We continue to hold our Communion before God in earnest prayer.
2a) http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/ http://theamia.org/index.cfm?id=7EC37222-213F-4F01-9B608FF8987A2F43 Bishop Murphy to Share Mission in England July 1, 2006 For a long time--and it seems to go without saying--England was the center of the Anglican church, and the emotional home for Anglican Christians throughout the world, whether or not they had ever visited its shores. Generations looked to the beauty and order of English worship (particularly its prayer book), its rich hymnody, and the inspiring vistas of its architecture. But things have greatly shifted over the last few years. The real thrust of vitality in the Anglican Church is now in the Global South, with burgeoning ranks of dynamic converts in Africa, Asia and South America, while less than a million worshipers actively participate in the Church of England on a regular basis.
Evangelicals in the Church of England, however, are intent on capturing some of the Global South's energy in their own church planting efforts and have invited an American-based bishop, consecrated in Singapore and sent from Rwanda as a missionary bishop to the United States, to speak at a number of events in early July. The Rt. Rev. Chuck Murphy, Chairman of the Anglican Mission in America (AMiA), leads a missionary movement based in the Anglican Province of Rwanda that is planting a new church in America about every three weeks. "I'm personally happy to go," expressed Bishop Murphy from his office in South Carolina. "It will allow us to present the passion and vision we have for church planting in the AMiA among the leaders of the Church of England, in ways that will strengthen our bonds and relationships." Bishop Murphy also welcomes the opportunity to set the record straight about the Anglican Mission. "Not everything said about us over the last several years has been fair and helpful. I anticipate that listeners will find it refreshing to get a first hand report and look at what we're doing."
Bishop Murphy will arrive in England in the wake of an announced plan by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams to hold the troubled Anglican Communion together following the just concluded General Convention of the Episcopal Church (USA) with its "authoritative" response to the Windsor Report. The Archbishop's plan is basically a two-tiered system of membership which does not seem to fully appreciate the serious divisions within the Communion over the authority and role of Scripture . "I understand why he has this desire to hold together the family of churches in the broadest possible sense, but I am convinced that it will ultimately prove to be a failed strategy that will not hold. The plan being suggested seems to ignore Jesus' very clear teaching that a "house divided against itself cannot stand," Bishop Murphy affirmed.
For Murphy, the Anglican Communion is in the midst of a realignment that is now working its way toward a final resolution, and any attempt to hold together two points of view that diverge on so important an issue as loyalty to the doctrine, discipline, and worship of Christ as this church has received them, will ultimately fail. "These struggles are nothing new," he observed. "Each age has had to choose to remain loyal and faithful to "the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints" [Jude 3]. I am planting my flag with the patriarchs, prophets and apostles, and those giants in the church's story that have chosen to be faithful to the historic faith."
The American bishop, who did one year of his theological training in England, will participate in a number of speaking opportunities, including preaching at a parish church in London and addressing national leaders of New Wine, a renewal movement that draws thousands to its events. He will also share insights on church planting with members of the York Synod. Bishop Murphy was invited to England by Canon Chris Sugden of Anglican Mainstream, and by the Venerable Michael Lawson, Archdeacon of Hampstead, who enthused that the Bishop is "the best speaker I have heard on the topic of church planting, bar none."
The Anglican Mission in America, formed in 2000, is a missionary movement based in Rwanda that is reaching out to the 130 million un-churched in the United States. Now numbering around 100 churches and fellowships, it is intentionally raising up missionary networks of churches to plant new congregations to draw people to Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit.
2b) http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=4344 http://amia.myicontrol.com/index.cfm?id=E16E7AD0-76D9-47DD-932C91A3817F468E Posted by David Virtue on 2006/6/25 9:50:00 Reflections on The Episcopal Church Convention By Bishop Chuck Murphy
PAWLEYS ISLAND, SC: (6/23/2006)--The actions and direction of the Episcopal Church, as evidenced in its just concluded General Convention, remain a continuing tragedy. The decisions reached, the language used, and the directions taken, are nothing new. Much of their rhetoric mirrors that of other groups that departed orthodoxy centuries ago, such as the Unitarian Universalists who continue to this day to present both the language and the theology of this latest Convention in their literature and on their webpage.
The Convention does call for some kind of response, and the two options that most will have to decide between will be either: to fight and persevere to bring about change and repentance from within, or to simply move on.
Some will feel called to stay and fight, at least for the present, but for those of us in the Anglican Mission our call is clear, as it has been for the past six years. We have a Gospel mission that is directed to the millions of un-churched in order to open up new territory for the Kingdom of God. While we will pray for, and can partner with, those who feel called to remain, I am convinced that our call is to remain focused on our mission, make the decision to "leave alone," the various "blind guides" that would otherwise distract and deflect us even as Jesus instructed in Matthew's gospel [Matt. 15:13-14], and boldly press on."
I am convinced that the realignment that has been working its way through the Anglican Communion-along the fault line of Biblical Truth - is now reaching its conclusion. We will have genuine resolution to the problems soon. I anticipate much clarity before the close of this year, and a final resolution by the next Lambeth Conference in 2008.
I am very grateful to God for our home in the Province of Rwanda, and my prayer for the people of the Anglican Mission is that we will not become distracted by the various controversies that swirl around us, but rather keep our focus and commitment on the Mission that we have been given - to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ and bring those around us into a transforming relationship with Him through the sustaining power o f the Holy Spirit.
--The Rt. Rev. Chuck Murphy is Chairman of The Anglican Mission in America. He is based In Pawleys Island, South Carolina END
3) http://acicanada.ca/node/51 http://www3.telus.net/st_simons/2006ashram.pdf http://members.shaw.ca/bc.christian.ashram/2006%20Ashram%20Poster.pdf (click to read, print off or download the Christian Ashram Poster) 2006 British Columbia Christian Ashram Retreat Friday August 4th, 2006 (6 pm) to Monday August 7th, 2006 at Camp Alexander, Crescent Beach, Surrey Evangelist/Key Note Speaker: Pastor Bernie Smith Bible Teacher: Dr. Don Faris Youth Leader: Brad Madu Contact: Janice Hird 604-929-5350 or email ed_hird@telus.net for application form. http://members.shaw.ca/bc.christian.ashram To read, print off, or to download the BC Christian Ashram brochure, please click on http://members.shaw.ca/bc.christian.ashram/2006%20Ashram%20Brochure.pdf -To attend a Christian Ashram retreat elsewhere in North America, please click on http://www.christianashram.org/site/Templates/template4.aspx?tabindex=4&tabid=65 p.s. My wife and I will be attending the largest Christian Ashram retreat in the world on July 15th-20th 2006: The Atlantic Christian Ashram which had over 800 attenders last summer http://www.atlanticchristianashram.org/
4) http://www.reason-for-hope.com The Rev'd Dr. Gil Stieglitz lite DVDs To order go to www.reason-for-hope.com/stieglitz
5a) http://www3.telus.net/st_simons/nsnews027.html Seven Deadly Challenges at the Weight Room -an article for the North Shore News 'Spiritually Speaking' column
How is your work-out working out for you these days? Studies show that many people who start at the gym with every good intention are nowhere to be found within a few months. Why is it that so many well-intended people drop out and disappear from fitness? My hunch is that people drop out from going to the gym for similar reasons that they drop out from going to church. They may find the times inconvenient, the child care inadequate, the music too loud, too soft, too slow, or too fast, the temperature too hot or too cold, the people too cold or intrusive, the instructor/pastor too busy or controlling.
Virtually everyone that I know nowadays on the North Shore believes in the value of keeping physically fit. It has been drilled into us by our doctors, teachers, media, and family. Yet so many of us fall short of our personal health goals. I sense that a lot of people have transferred their guilt about not attending church enough to a new guilt about not attending the weight room enough. Guilt, shame, and fear paralyze us in our unhealthy procrastination and avoidance of physical and spiritual growth. Guilt, shame and fear feed our addictions and unhealthy life choices. I have known people who felt so guilty about not attending the gym or church that they have overeaten, over-drank, and over-indulged. More guilt is not the solution to our health issues.
So how can we be set free from our spiritual and physical couch-potato tendencies? Dr. Gil Stieglitz, our ACiC Coach, says that a great way to get healthy is to memorize the seven deadly sins and then daily measure our current behaviour by those seven criteria. The first deadly sin/challenge is Pride, which Dr. Gil defines as 'feelings of superiority, self-absorption, and lack of teachability.' Sometimes people don't make it to the gym or church because we have become self-satisfied and unwilling to grow.
The second deadly sin is Envy which Dr. Gil defines as 'the desire for what belongs to others'. I have been guilty of that sin many times at the gym. Why is it taking me so long to get in shape physically or spiritually when others around me seem so healthy? Sometimes the puny size of my weights or my prayer life can tempt me to not bother to try.
The third deadly sin is Anger which Dr. Gil defines as 'being blocked from a goal, irritated, seething'. The person we usually feel most angry at is ourselves, angry that we are not losing weight quickly enough, not improving fast enough, angry that it is taking so long to become Christ-like and loving. You may have heard the angry comment that the church or gym is full of hypocrites, to which I say 'there is always room for one more hypocrite'.
The fourth deadly sin is Lust, which is far more than just sexual. It is really about the need to have it all our way immediately. Many of us give up on the gym and church, because it is taking too long to achieve our goals. We want it all right now! Getting healthy takes time!
The fifth deadly sin is Sloth which Dr. Gil defines as 'laziness, working with a minimum effort, procrastination'. Going to Church or the gym requires effort, time, and money. It is often tempting to give in to our feelings of tiredness, discouragement and fear. Why bother to try? The Tempter wants us to be physically and spiritually healthy, as long we do it next month, not this month.
The sixth deadly sin is Gluttony which Dr. Gil defines as 'overindulgence, addiction, seeking comfort'. Many people feel so embarrassed about their body or soul that they won't even try. It's just too painful.
The seventh deadly sin is Greed which Dr. Gil defines as 'longing after money and things'. Greedy people will refuse to go to church or the gym, claiming that 'all the church/gym wants is your money'. In fact the gym and church are there for our health, and our health is worth every penny that we invest. What use is wealth without health? See you at God's Gym!
The Rev. Ed Hird
5b) http://www3.telus.net/st_simons/cr0607.html "...Goes Before A Fall" -an article for the July 2006 Deep Cove Crier
What goes before a fall? The Good Book says 'Pride'. "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. (Proverbs 16:18) What is pride, anyway? The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines pride as 'overweening opinion of one's own qualities, merits' and 'proud' as 'haughty, arrogant'.
Roget's Thesaurus speaks of the double-edged nature of pride. Many people use the term to refer to satisfaction in their children's accomplishments, or to self-respect. But Roget's Thesaurus reminds that pride is also connected to "arrogance, haughtiness, insolence, loftiness, lordliness, overbearingness, presumption, superiority, narcissism, vanity, egotism." Hence we see the origin of the 1960's slang phrase "ego trip".
Why is pride spoken of as the first of the seven deadly sins? Perhaps because pride causes us to forget our Maker: "your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, the land of slavery." Pride is basically non-productive and unteachable: "Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice". (Proverbs 13:10) Pride is self-destructive: "When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom."(Proverbs 11:10) Pride is the spirit of the mocker: "The proud and arrogant man-"Mocker" is his name; he behaves with overweening pride." (Proverbs 21:24). In High School, many 'Big Men on Campus' become proud and mocking while they are 'the big fish in a small pond'. But things change when they go into the real world. Pride goes before a fall.
The most difficult thing about pride is that it is like bad breath: easy to detect in others, and hard to detect in ourselves. Pride has to do with a sense of entitlement, that we deserve everything that we have, that the world owes us a living. The most famous human being once said in Mark 7:22 that pride comes from within our hearts and actually makes us unclean (non-kosher). Pride separates from others, by seducing us into thinking that we are better than others. Pride is the root cause of every caste system, every class system, and every system of racial hatred. That is why the Good Book says: "Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited." (Romans 12:16) Pride goes before a fall.
Pride makes it very difficult to admit our need for anyone else, even God himself. Pride feeds the illusion that we are completely independent and self-sufficient. That is why Jesus said that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter God's Kingdom. Yet real breakthrough happens when we admit our need, our helpless and powerless over life's struggles. CS Lewis' wife, Joy Davidman, resisted her need for God for many years. She writes: "God had been stalking me for a very long time, waiting for his moment; he crept nearer so silently that I never knew he was there. Then, all at once, he sprang. For the first time in my life I felt helpless; for the first time my pride was forced to admit that I was not, after all, 'the master of my fate'."
Pride and humility are total opposites. That is why both James and Peter quote Proverbs 3:10 that "God opposes and resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Let me ask you a question: Do we really want the Maker of the Universe to be opposing and resisting us? Yet that is what is guaranteed if we don't deal with the pride issue. God will resist us at work, at home, in society. Pride may not be a big deal to us, but it certainly is to God. Why is God so opposed to pride? Because it cripples our ability to really love others around us. As the famous poem in 1st Corinthians 13 puts it, love is not proud. Why are so many people successful in business and failures at home? Pride goes before a fall.
Pride, like alcohol addiction, is cunning, baffling, and powerful. It is almost impossible to destroy head-on. The secret to taming one's pride is gratitude and thanksgiving. As John Fischer puts it, "a thankful heart cancels out pride and arrogance. No need to judge other people when you are thankful for who you are. No need to measure yourself by and compare yourself to others when you are thankful for what God has done in your life." Gratitude is a deep sense that life is a gift from a gracious giver. Gratitude is best expressed by the ancient words: "All things come from You, O Lord, and of your own have we given You." My prayer for those reading this article is that each of us will gratefully lay our pride and self-sufficiency down at the foot of our Maker.
The Reverend Ed Hird
5c) http://www3.telus.net/st_simons/nsnews028.html "We're as sick as our secrets" -an article for the North Shore News 'Spiritually Speaking' column
There's an oft-heard saying in the recovery community: "We're as sick as our secrets." Over the years, I have met many people in abusive situations who have paid a great price to eventually extricate themselves from the vicious cycle of manipulation and recrimination. Sexual and physical abuse, in particular, scars the victim deeply. Often the victims falsely blame themselves. Recovery from abuse involves breaking the conspiracy of silence and deception perpetrated by abusers. Only the truth, however painful, can really set us free. Secrecy keeps us chained to our abusers.
At the heart of the 'twelve steps', in Step Four and Five, is the willingness to break the power of secrecy by admitting to God, yourself, and another person the exact nature of how you have wronged other people. I have done many 'Fifth Steps' for others over the past twenty-four years. It is always such a privilege. I feel like I grow so much through this opportunity. I notice, however, that 'Fifth Steps' are very difficult in our secretive, victim-based culture. Many people want to come to me and admit the exact nature of how they have been wronged, but not how they have wronged other people. Until we can open up and get such things off our chest, we are still stuck with guilt, recrimination, and self-doubt. We really are as sick as our secrets.
The Good Book tells us to cast our cares upon the Lord, for He cares for us. I have found that sharing deeply my heart with another caring, listening person can be profoundly liberating. That is why we are encouraged by James, Jesus' brother, to 'confess our sins to each other and pray for each other that we may be healed.' I have a number of friends who have recently had the courage to go see Bonnie Chatwin, a North Shore Pastoral & Clinical Counselor www.bc-cc.ca . It was not at all easy for them to do this, but I was amazed by the breakthroughs that they have achieved. How much do we want to be well? Often the price of being well is giving up our obsessive need for independence and secrecy, and beginning to trust another person with our life story.
We as Canadians live in a culture that has become more secretive and private. The vast majority of Canadians still believe in God, prayer, and Jesus' resurrection, but such faith concerns have largely gone into the closet. There is a widespread perception that faith is so personal and private that it cannot be mentioned publicly.
The recent Da Vinci Code fad fits totally into that way of thinking. It implicitly teaches that true spirituality is about dark hidden secrets that only the elite may know about: secrets allegedly hidden in Da Vinci's paintings, secrets covered by an alleged secret society named the Priory of Sion, secrets about Mary Magdalene and Mother Eve in the Garden of Eden. Over one hundred million North Americans have either read the Da Vinci Code book or seen the movie. There is something in us that is drawn to secret knowledge and secret passageways. But is secrecy really the way to health and life? Is secrecy really the key to genuine spirituality?
The most famous person in the world once said: "I have spoken openly to the world...I said nothing in secret." (John 18:20) Jesus also said that "whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed or secret is meant to be brought out into the open." (Matthew 4:22) Rabbi Saul/Paul, who was Jesus' most famous disciple, commented: "we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, we set forth the truth plainly..." (2 Corinthians 4:2)
Contrary to the claims of the Da Vinci Code, Christianity has no secret codes, no secret initiation rites, no secret vows. Jesus said nothing in secret. Jesus brought everything out in the open. We really are as sick as our secrets.
The Rev. Ed Hird Rector, St. Simon's Church North Vancouver Anglican Coalition in Canada http://www3.telus.net/st_simons/
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