From the American Anglican Council

A Message from Bishop David Anderson Bishop Anderson Beloved in Christ, St. Valentine's Day was a few days ago, and in addition to the romantic aspect, the day has another significance in our family. Forty years ago on St. Valentine's Day I was ordained a priest in the American Episcopal Church, and served as a priest in what was then called PECUSA, later ECUSA, and now TEC. In the fullness of time, I transferred to the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) and was assigned to the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA). Having served in holy orders for nearly 2/3 of my life, I can testify that if I had it to do all over again, I would do it again. There is no greater satisfaction than faithfully serving the Lord in his ordained ministry. I recommend it only to those so called by God, for there will be days when things are very difficult, but the Lord does watch over those he commissions. The world of the church, the state, and morality in our society has certainly changed over my 40+ years in holy orders. The governments of several nations have seemingly turned against sound morality and embraced homosexuality as one of the "in" things to be protected, even promoted. At the same time, those who resist will be crushed legally, as we already see happening in the UK, where a Christian family who ran a bed and breakfast within their home wished to restrict couples sharing a room to those who were husband and wife. This obviously meant that they wouldn't rent to unmarried heterosexual couples, nor would they rent to homosexual couples. The hand of the court struck them down, giving a huge award to the gay couple who filed suit and threatening bankruptcy to the Christian couple. May the hand of God vindicate them and come against those who would punish the righteous. Now the English Parliament is preparing to consider changing the marriage and Civil Partnership rules. It is sometimes difficult for those of us "across the pond" to understand what is happening and what all the collateral effects might be when the British propose such laws. We have an excellent piece from the UK written by the Rev'd Peter Ould about the proposed changes, and I recommend your reading it.

It does seem to me that the homosexual agenda has followed a set formula over the past 20 years, and it has been quite effective at winning the field at each level. First they seek toleration. Stop harassing and discriminating against gays! Then they seek parity. Schools much teach about homosexuality as a normal option to heterosexuality and that some children have two mommies or two daddies. Marriage laws must be broadened to include homosexual individuals, and churches should have no bar to gay people who want to participate in any role. Then they seek to suppress opposition. People like the British bed and breakfast owners must be terrorized legally, and churches must give way to their demands or lose their tax exempt status or be sued for discrimination, and so it goes. All of this is part of Western culture's disintegration into multiculturalism, polytheism, sexual permissiveness, and fascination with all things homosexual or in opposition to Christianity. It would seem that today we are at a crossover between the second and third levels mentioned above, and the churches, orthodox Christians and observant Jews need to mobilize and push back hard. Today (Friday) in the U.S. there will be two important court cases that touch on the right of individuals whose religious beliefs are pro-life (i.e. opposed to abortion) to attempt to influence legislation or elections. In the U.S., under the rules for nonprofit organizations, our churches can't support or oppose a specific political candidate, but the church can certainly speak to the moral issues involved in a proposed law, and can circulate voter guides which simply show where all of the candidates stand on a variety of issues. As individuals, we have believed that we could form advocacy groups of like-minded people and advocate for a cause. The US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) will decide on Friday whether to hear two cases on First Amendment rights. The James Madison Center for Free Speech is supporting both of these cases, and in the first instance they report, "..., Human Life of Washington v. Brumsickle, concerns a nonprofit, pro-life advocacy group that wanted to advocate against a state initiative legalizing physician-assisted suicide." The second case, "...Bauer v. Shepard, concerned efforts by Indiana Right to Life to inform voters about where candidates for elective judicial office stand on important legal and political issues." In the first case, the Washington State law placed a demand that the advocacy group register as a lobbyist and provide huge and onerous amounts of documentation of their activity, such that it was a deterrent to free speech. In the second case, Right to Life, an advocacy group for the rights of the not-yet-born, was having its freedom of speech suppressed by not being allowed to report the positions that elective judges held on certain moral issues. SCOTUS only accepts a small number of petitions for hearing, and today it will decide if it will hear the petitions of these two. For the sake of truth and openness in the democratic process, and for the sake of those waiting to be born, let us pray that the Supreme Court justices will grant a hearing. Blessings and Peace in Jesus Christ our Saviour, The Rt. Rev. David C. Anderson, Sr. President and CEO, American Anglican Council