Sobering stats from VirtueOnline

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
www.virtueonline.org
6/19/2009

As we proceed to General Convention in July, some facts about the state of The Episcopal Church are worth reflecting on:

35% of domestic congregations have no full time clergy (2526 congregations)
51% of domestic congregations have an average Sunday attendance of 76
24% have an average Sunday attendance between 76 and 140
14% are between 141 and 225
8% between 226 and 400
3% have 400+

For the full report go here: http://download.cpg.org/home/about_us/pdf/report_general_convention.pdf

If this doesn't raise red flags, nothing will. Is it any wonder then that a self- described country parson wrote this about the situation in The Episcopal Church.

"Recent national church conventions have been so consumed by big global issues that local worshipers have felt left out and ignored. Successive resolutions proclaiming decades of evangelism, commitment to youth or the abolition of world poverty were great ideas but had no impact at the local level and did nothing to help local congregations with local issues of their own. I know that the homosexual question has raised the most headlines, but for most congregations in most dioceses it quickly became a fringe issue of limited local import. The main thing it did was illuminate how out of touch the national church was in the eyes of ordinary pew sitting church goers."

Truer words were never spoken about The Episcopal Church. The truth is TEC leadership is out of touch with grass roots Episcopalians. Gene Robinson is an exotic and embarrassing blip on the national Episcopal consciousness. He is utterly irrelevant in 98% of America's Episcopal parishes. He may flit from New Hampshire to Washington DC, yak with presidents and politicos, push his agenda, speak at some gay rally or other, feted by universities and leftist seminaries and certainly be a star at GC2009, but for average Episcopalians, his behavior is a mockery of the Gospel and the Prayer Book and he is slowly killing TEC. For thousands of small Episcopal parishes in hamlets across America, he is a non issue.

As a counterpoint, the Anglican Church of North America kicks off this weekend with the focus almost entirely on the local church and what it can achieve evangelistically. Some 700 Anglican parishes in 12 Anglican jurisdictions in North America will form a single church.

Lingering issues like women's ordination will not soon be put to rest, but there will be hope and euphoria that at last, as the old wineskins of TEC continue to empty out, the new wineskins of North American Anglicanism will begin to fill up and trumpets will sound forth a certain sound as a new Anglican Church is born on this continent.

There will be great joy throughout the Anglican Communion, except, of course, in Lambeth Palace and the Anglican Consultative Council.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has asked Bishop Robert Duncan to apply for membership in the communion, but VOL believes this is a trap. Such a request would be forwarded to Canon Kenneth Kearon and the Anglican Consultative Council which would have to formally pass it. That is not going to happen. Kearon has made it clear that there can only be one valid Anglican jurisdiction in any one province. He would never cross swords with Katharine Jefferts Schori,, as it is her checkbook that in large part keeps the ACC going.

If Duncan acquiesces, he plays right into the hands of the ABC who can then throw up his hands and say (when ACNA gets the rejection slip), "Well, I tried my best. Do try again a year from now, old chap."

Duncan and ACNA have all the recognition they want and need from the GAFCON Primates. They do not need Lambeth Palace's approval. They are in the Anglican Communion, albeit by the back door, whether Dr. Rowan Williams likes it or not. ACNA is in the driver's seat.

All ACNA has to do is sit tight, grow churches, evangelize, extend God's kingdom and watch from the sidelines as the SS TEC slowly goes under.

The overwhelming evidence is: (A) The vast majority of Episcopal churches are not growing and probably never will. (B) Most of those congregations of 76 or less are aging and dying and not replacing themselves with the average parishioner aged around 65. (C) Mrs. Jefferts Schori doesn't think that Episcopalians need to breed, not good for the planet and Ms. Ragsdale, President of Episcopal Divinity School, eulogizes abortion as a gift and a blessing. (D) More and more retired priests will run aging and dying congregations. They will all go into columbaria together. (E) TEC's seminaries will wither and die as theologically leftist graduates cannot grow churches and most churches won't be able to afford them, anyway. Liberal Lexington Bishop Stacy Sauls made the case eloquently enough about future seminarians and congregations that cannot pay them the salaries they NEED, not want. (F) Lawsuits are emptying church coffers. (G) Incomes are down as the economy is killing income to diocesan coffers. (H) TEC is not getting the money from dioceses' because dioceses' themselves need the money to stay afloat. (I) Most of the nation's Episcopal cathedrals are in financial trouble with double digit congregations except for special events. Buddhist drums, Hindu chanters and Tibetan dancers make great theater but they do nothing to advance the gospel.

VOL and its team of reporters will be in Ft. Worth this week to report it all for you. There will a dedicated website for the inaugural assembly with news, video, photos and documents from the event available at anglicanassembly.org to those who wish to watch work in Bedford from afar as well as those who will be participating in the meeting.

Additional website changes will mark the creation of The Anglican Church in North America. The Common Cause Partnership Website, at www.united-anglicans.org, will be re-launched as the homepage of the Anglican Church in North. Kevin Kallsen's AnglicanTV will be there and will broadcast live.

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