Anglican Network in
Handle with prayer
News – ANiC and AEN
Report
on actions directed by November 2008 synod
A number of motions were passed
by synod delegates at the November 08 ANiC synod. Here is an update on
the resulting action:
·
Bishop Donald Harvey sent a letter to
the Queen assuring her of our loyal support and of our prayers and received a
letter of acknowledgement.
·
We have registered ANiC’s membership
in the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (which grew out of the GAFCon
movement).
·
Bishop Don sent a letter – via Archbishop
Peter Jensen – expressing our gratitude to the GAFCon Primates for their
support, encouragement, sacrificial labour and fellowship in the Gospel of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
·
Bishop Don has conveyed the gratitude
of ANiC members for the ongoing work of the Common Cause Partnership in the
development of a North American Province. As directed by synod, Bishop
Don and Archdeacon Charlie Masters (as well as a number of other ANiC members)
are throwing their energies into the building the Anglican Church in North
America, which we pray will be recognized eventually as a full Province in the
Communion.
·
Bishop Don sent a letter conveying
greetings from the ANiC synod and the assurance of our prayers to His Grace the
Lord Archbishop of
·
Both by letter and in person, Bishop
Don has expressed our gratitude to Archbishop Gregory Venables (Southern Cone)
for providing – on an emergency, temporary and pastoral basis – Primatial
oversight to the Anglican Network in
Update
on the task given Bishop Don and Bishop Malcolm to appoint new bishops
Bishop Don met with
Bishop
Donald Harvey writes in the Church Times
Writing
in the Church Times, Bishop Don shares with the Anglican
Communion how ANiC has grown despite needless litigation and intimidation. He
says, “The
growing gulf between the orthodox and the liberals in North American
Anglicanism cuts to the very essence of our faith. It is not trivial, as so
many wish to portray it. The irony is that we have had to leave in order to
stay — leave the increasingly renegade North American structures in order to
stay in the mainstream of global and historic Anglican orthodoxy.”
The
full article Bishop Don submitted to the Church Times, before it was edited for
length, can be seen on the ANiC website.
Joining
Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans
ANiC has joined the
Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (FCA) as an organization, but we also
encourage all members of ANiC to register your membership as well – both as
parishes and as individuals. It only takes a moment to register online at
www.fca.net. The only criteria are that
you assent to the Jerusalem Declaration and the goals of the Fellowship of
Confessing Anglicans.
ANiC
in the news:
Evangelicals
Now (posted on Anglican Mainstream) – April 09 – The Anglican Network in
Canada – a great burden lifted
News shorts – Anglican Church
in
Largest
Anglican province formally recognizes ACNA
In its statement, the
Anglican Province of Nigeria Standing Committee said: “The
ACNA
receives applications from six dioceses – including ANiC!
On March 25, ANiC formally applied for
membership in the Anglican Church in
ACNA hires
Chief Operating Officer
The
Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) is building the needed organizational structure
and appointing key staff members. Most recently, ACNA announced
that Mr Brad Root, an experienced business leader, has been hired to serve as
Chief Operating Officer (COO).
Growing
churches
A parishioner recounts in
a Wall Street Journal article how he was asked to leave his orthodox ACNA
church… to plant another. This is an encouraging account of church
growth.
News –
Fourteen
clergy have
written the bishops of
They
write: “The proposed pastoral response, insofar as it involves the blessing
of a sexual relationship, takes us into the realm of marriage and the doctrines
and canons of the church. Therefore we continue to ask not only that the
bishops of this diocese will respect the polity of the church, its synods and
global councils, but that the church will be faithful to its gospel, its own ancient
narrative of creation and redemption, of sin and salvation, in which even the
marriage of man and woman has its place.”
The
dissenting clergy also question the bishops’ rationale for proceeding, saying “the
rationale suggests that the church needs to adjust its marriage canon in light
of the decisions of the civil courts about the nature of marriage. This is to
make the vision of the church dependent on a secular vision.” They
conclude, “We hold, as a church, not a “diversity” of opinion, but two opposed
and irreconcilable visions.
This
letter has triggered a lively
discussion on the AEC blog. Please pray for the faithful clergy – and
parishioners – in this and other liberal dioceses.
News shorts –
Sioux
Indian congregations leave the Episcopal Church (TEC)
Members of nine congregations located on
Sioux Indian reservation in
A
court
decision is forcing the large congregation of Grace Church & St
Stephen’s to vacate their building in
In
the
Religious
Intelligence – Mar 19 09 – Now a bishop is
blacklisted in USA
News shorts – International
Covenant
obstacles
Archbishop Drexel Gomez, chairman of the
Covenant Design Group, says the Anglican Covenant, which will be submitted soon
to the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC), will be hard to “sell” in Canada
and the US where the established Churches have their own agendas and aren’t
interesting in accommodating the rest of the Communion. The ACC is
scheduled to meet in May in
Lambeth
Conference debt due to poor management
A
report by the Archbishops’ Council and the Church Commissioners has determined
that the $500,000 deficit, a legacy of the Lambeth Conference, was a largely
the result managerial incompetence and systemic bungling. The report
offered recommendations, according to George Conger, “…stressed the need for
sound business practices and clear lines of authority”.
In the
international news
Soul food
Worth
reading
·
Writing
in Christianity Today, Charles Colson makes a passionate
appeal for Christians to brush up on the basic tenets of our faith, citing
the many heresies that are creeping into the church – even among those who call
themselves evangelicals. He says, “A new emphasis on orthodox doctrine
could also transform the church and culture today” – much as it brought
about the Reformation centuries ago. He concludes: “The greatest
challenge for serious Christians today is … rediscovering its core teachings.”
·
The Rev Charles Raven compares the crisis in the Anglican
Communion to the current global financial crisis. He says: “The global
financial crisis may seem more urgent than the spiritual crisis of the West,
but the consequences of the former are temporal, and probably temporary, while
the consequences of the latter are eternal. Yet both have their origin in a
failure to recognise what really matters because of a controlling ideology.”
The
root problem, he argues is “Misplaced faith in ecclesiastical institutions
and the ideology that being Anglican is defined by relationship to the
Archbishop of
The
Rev Raven holds out hope, however: “What the Communion does have… is the
·
One
of foremost authorities on the Bible and sexual ethics, Professor Robert
Gagnon, offers a carefully
reasoned rebuttal of five often-heard “liberal” arguments, such as the
attempt to discredit the Biblical position on sexuality by drawing analogies to
Biblical references to slavery.
Just
for laughs
A teenage boy came to his father proudly holding his newly acquired
driver's license and ask, if he could use the car.
His father said he'd make a deal: “You bring your grades up from a C to
a B average, study your Bible every day, and get your hair cut, then we'll talk
about the car.” The boy thought about it for a moment, but agreed.
After about six weeks, the father said, “Son, you've brought your grades
up and I see that you’re studying your Bible regularly, but I'm disappointed
that you haven't gotten your hair cut.'”
The boy replied, “You know, Dad, I've been thinking about that, and I've
noticed in my study of the Bible that Samson had long hair, John the Baptist
had long hair, Moses had long hair, and there's even strong evidence that Jesus
had long hair.”
To this the father replied, “And did you also notice
they all walked everywhere they went?'
Please
pray...
For new ANiC congregations and fledgling
church plants. May they know the Lord's leading and experience His
blessing on their congregations. Pray for God’s peace for church leaders.
For the many groups forming across
For wisdom as ANiC seeks to find more
effective ways of ministering to and encouraging “Orphaned Anglicans”
who have no orthodox Anglican church in their community.
For
the faithful clergy and parishioners in the Diocese of Toronto and other
liberal dioceses.
For congregations involved in court
proceedings and disputes. Pray for wisdom, courage and peace for the
congregations. Pray particularly for the judges and lawyers
involved. Pray for the leadership of the dioceses pursuing ANiC
parishes in court. Pray that the Author of Truth, Love and Justice would
bless them with a deeper insight into the riches found in Christ Jesus our
Lord.
-
Pray
particularly for the
-
Pray
also for the upcoming court hearings involving St Aidan’s (Windsor), set for
March 31st in Windsor and April 6th in London as the
diocese attempts to move the proceedings from Windsor, where the church
property is, to London, where the diocesan office is. Pray for St.
Aidan’s lawyer who is being bombarded by numerous motions, affidavits and
unreasonable demands by the diocese’s lawyer, all of which appear to be
designed to increase legal costs and wear down the congregation.
-
Pray
also for the legal team in
For the needed money to support the
legal defence of ANiC congregations.
For our national, provincial and civic
leaders as well as for our nation. May God be pleased to grant
repentance and cause a revival to sweep our land.
And
now a word from our sponsor
How
lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts!
My
soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.
Even
the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay
her young, at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my
King and my God.
Blessed
are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise! Selah
Blessed
are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to
As
they go through the
They
go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in
O
Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O
God of Jacob! Selah
Behold
our shield, O God; look on the face of your anointed!
For
a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather
be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
For
the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does
he withhold from those who walk uprightly.
O
Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in
you!
Psalm 84 (ESV)
Marilyn Jacobson
Anglican Network in
604 929-0369 OR 1-866-351-2642 ext 4020
Cell: 604 788-4222