(Touchstone) Douglas Farrow—Why fight same-sex marriage?

from TitusOneNine by Kendall Harmon

...at the center—indispensable to the rest—is the service marriage does to the bond between a child and its natural parents. “Sex makes babies, and babies need a mother and a father,” as Maggie Gallagher (an indefatigable champion) likes to say. Marriage is designed to make it more likely that children will have and keep their parents.

Same-sex marriage proponents, for their part, are forced to set aside this concern. On their view, the parent-child bond lies beyond the immediate purview of marriage, as does the particular sexual act that produces children. Marriage is simply the formalization of an intimate relationship between adults. If those adults happen to produce or obtain children, well, that is another matter. Moreover, their bond with those children does not require any particular family structure to support it; good outcomes can be had from diverse family structures....

The champions of marriage respond that they are very much in favor of adult bonding, which the institution is indeed meant to serve. That bonding, though good in itself, is for a purpose beyond itself, however. It is for a purpose of public as well as private interest, the purpose of procreation and child-rearing. It is not necessary, they point out, to hold that procreation constitutes the only good of marriage in order to recognize that procreation is an essential good of marriage. Nor, for that matter, is it necessary to hold that a childless marriage is not a marriage, at least where the childlessness is not deliberate—a matter rightly shielded from public scrutiny. But they insist that to exclude procreation as an essential or defining good makes nonsense of marriage.

Read it all.

Our Political Captivity - The Living Church

from VirtueOnline

Our Political Captivity

By Victoria Heard and Jordan Hylden
The Living Church
http://livingchurch.org/

May 25, 2012

Whatever General Convention will look like in 2015 and beyond, it will be a shadow of its formerly huge self. There is no money. The Rt. Rev. Stacy F. Sauls, chief operating officer of the Episcopal Church, is right: this church spends too much money on administration and governance and too little on mission. The money is gone, and endowments are depleted; Episcopalians are far older and roughly a third of the tribe has vanished since the high-water mark of 1965.

A good crisis is a terrible thing to waste. Major structural proposals for change are circulating, including one that Sauls first presented to the House of Bishops. But rather than spend much time on details, we want instead to step back and ask more basic questions about how we make decisions as a church, as the people of God.

We believe the past General Convention structure has slavishly copied in ecclesial ink the politics and legislative processes of American culture. Episcopalians are fond of saying that the men who wrote the U.S. Constitution also created the church's Constitution and Canons. It is an exaggeration but a telling one: General Convention looks and acts too much like Congress and not enough like a council of the Church.

Read the full story at www.VirtueOnline.org

And they'll blame it on a weak economy

CANADA: Decline in revenues leaves General Synod with budget shortfall

from VirtueOnline

CANADA: Decline in revenues leaves General Synod with budget shortfall

By Marites N. Sison
Staff Writer
Anglican Journal
May 27, 2012

Archbishop Fred Hiltz and General Synod prolocutor Bob Falby. Photo: Marites N. Sison

Mississauga, Ont.-General Synod ended 2011 with a deficit of $65,000, due to a decline in expected revenue of $808,000, according to Treasurer Michele George.

Reviewing General Synod's financial results for 2011 at the spring meeting here of the Council of General Synod (CoGS), George explained that the budget of $12 million had planned for a surplus of $18,000. Instead, a loss on investments, a decline in proportional giving from dioceses and lower than anticipated results from annual appeals led to a shortfall.

General Synod was able to use 20% of $2 million in undesignated legacies to help cover the shortfall, George told delegates.

The 2011 results show that budgeting revenue remains a challenge for General Synod, said George, adding that, "We're clearly struggling at the moment." Although General Synod has always budgeted conservatively when it comes to investment income, this year, it is being "more diligent" in monitoring revenue. If necessary, other sources of funding may need to be identified or work deferred, she said.

Read the full story at www.VirtueOnline.org

STACKING THE DECK?

from Midwest Conservative Journal by The Editor

Question one.  Is the selection process for a new Archbishop of Canterbury as rigged as any given professional wrestling show?

The panel chosen to appoint the next Archbishop of Canterbury is facing claims that it is dominated by clerics who reject orthodox teaching.

The committee is unfairly balanced in favour of liberals who support “revisionist” moves such as the appointment of homosexual bishops, traditionalists have warned.

Their intervention came as the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) met behind closed doors last week for the first in a series of meetings to decide the successor to Dr Rowan Williams.

Orthodox clergy fear that influential liberals on the panel will swing votes away from the Archbishop of York and the Bishop of Coventry, prominent conservatives who have been widely tipped for the post.

Dr Richard Chartres, the traditionalist Bishop of London, is also back in the running, as he pulled out of elections to the CNC which would have excluded him from being considered.

The most senior member of the commission is Dr Barry Morgan, the Archbishop of Wales, who has said he would be prepared to appoint Britain’s first homosexual bishop.


Other liberals on the panel include Mary Johnston, a campaigner for women bishops, and the Rt Rev Michael Perham, the Bishop of Gloucester, who has forged links with the liberal-leaning Episcopal Church in the US.


Their presence on the CNC would appear to strengthen the chances of the Rt Rev Graham James, the Bishop of Norwich, a liberal Anglo-Catholic candidate.


The Rev David Houlding, a prebendary at St Paul’s Cathedral and a member of the orthodox group Forward in Faith, said: “I wonder how representative a group it is – the vast majority are from the liberal side of the Church of England.


“My fear is that someone like the Bishop of London will be overlooked when I believe that he is by far the best person to take over – and that people like Barry Morgan and Michael Perham will make it an issue and say, ‘We cannot have the Bishop of London because he won’t ordain women’.”

Question two.  Does it make the slightest bit of difference who gets the Big Miter?  No.  The fact of the matter is that putting someone like James or some other liberal into Lambeth Palace might just be the best possible outcome.

Why?  Because it would hasten the day that we all know is coming.  And it will hopefully strip away the last remaining illusions of Anglican traditionalists that “the Anglican tradition” still has anything slightly resembling a coherent, Christian meaning.

ABC selection panel: Dominated by liberals?

from Episcopal Cafe by Theresa Johnson

The Telegraph gives space today to those who feel that the panel charged with selecting the next Archbishop of Canterbury is dominated by liberals:

The committee is unfairly balanced in favour of liberals who support “revisionist” moves such as the appointment of homosexual bishops, traditionalists have warned.Their intervention came as the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) met behind closed doors last week for the first in a series of meetings to decide the successor to Dr Rowan Williams.

Orthodox clergy fear that influential liberals on the panel will swing votes away from the Archbishop of York and the Bishop of Coventry, prominent conservatives who have been widely tipped for the post.

Dr Richard Chartres, the traditionalist Bishop of London, is also back in the running, as he pulled out of elections to the CNC which would have excluded him from being considered.

Read more.

(LA Times) Nigeria Islamic group Boko Haram spreads fear far and wide

from TitusOneNine by Kendall Harmon

In brutally poor neighborhoods and mansions alike, this city choked by military checkpoints seethes with rumors, paranoia and conspiracy theories. Even academics like to assert a favorite: The homegrown Islamic extremist movement that is terrorizing northern Nigeria is a CIA creation.

Others are convinced that the extremist group known as Boko Haram is a plot by the southern-led Nigerian government to create an eternal crisis in the north.

How else to explain Boko Haram's transformation from a group of bearded radicals stashing homemade weapons to an organization that has half the country on military alert and U.S. lawmakers warning of threats to American interests?

Read it all.

Bishop John Howe on the work of the Holy Spirit

from Stand Firm by Timothy Fountain 

The Holy Spirit will come in a new way.  He will come to glorify Jesus.  And when he comes, he will convict (or convince) believers that the world completely misunderstands sin, righteousness and judgement.

Martin Luther said that Jesus went on to give definitions of those three words that are radically different from what the world thinks they mean.

The world thinks of sin (if it believes in it at all) as “breaking the rules,” violating the commandments, doing bad things.  But in Jesus’s death on the cross, all of those sins are forgiven.  The one that remains is the refusal to accept his gift of forgiveness and believe in him.
The world thinks that righteousness is the opposite of sin - keeping the rules and doing good things.  Jesus said that our righteousness - our right standing before God - is not a matter of what we have done at all; it is a matter of what he has done on our behalf!

Jesus completed his work here on earth and went to the Father on our behalf.  Our righteousness is his finished work.

(If trust in his finished work is our righteousness, sin is our refusal to believe and trust in that finished work.)

The world thinks that judgment is what happens to bad people.  Jesus said that judgment happens to the ruler of this world, and it need not fall on anyone else.  That is good news!  The Holy Spirit glorifies Jesus by convincing people that such good news is true.

Commentary on John 16:7-11, from “Anointed by the Spirit.”

URUGUAY: House of Bishops Reject Bishop-Elect Michael Pollesel

from VirtueOnline

URUGUAY: House of Bishops Reject Bishop-Elect Michael Pollesel

By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
May 26, 2012

The Provincial Executive of the Cono Sur failed to ratify the election of the Ven. Dr. Michael Pollesel as bishop-coadjutor for Uruguay. He did not receive the required consents from their House of Bishops.

The meeting took place this past week (May 21 to May 25) in Montevideo.

Pollesel previously had served the Anglican Church of Canada as its Secretary General. At the same time that Province promised its close cooperation with the diocese in its future decisions.

The diocese currently has female deacons and wants to proceed with the ordination of women priests but the province of the Southern Cone has not approved this step.

A source close to the situation told VOL that the issue of women priests and the liberal proclivities of Pollesel and his association with the ultra-liberal Anglican Church of Canada were deciding factors.

Read the full story at www.VirtueOnline.org

WASHINGTON DC: Report on Religious Freedom Event

from VirtueOnline

WASHINGTON DC: Report on Religious Freedom Event

By Michael Sean Winters
NATIONAL CATHOLIC REPORTER
http://ncronline.org/blogs/distinctly-catholic/report-rel-freedom-event-0
May 24, 2012

Just back from an event sponsored by the Ethics and Public Policy Center on religious freedom. It was not exactly "fair and balanced" anymore than Fox News is, although Bill Galston from Brookings was given the microphone and, unsurprisingly, gave the most nuanced of this morning's presentations. At least the organizers were candid that the day's proceedings were not just about learning, they were about action. This was the religious right's highly educated cohort, getting their marching orders and their battleplans.

Read the full story at www.VirtueOnline.org

Anglican Church in North America, The Lutheran Church (Missouri Synod) and the Lutheran Church (Canada) together affirm core Christian teachings; release agreement report

from BabyBlueOnline by BabyBlue Anglican

From here:

After four meetings over the past 18 months, the Anglican Church in North America and The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) rejoice in affirming core teachings of the Christian faith they share. The two church bodies, together with the Lutheran Church—Canada, are jointly releasing a report today summarizing the areas of agreement.

Leaders from the two church bodies began meeting in the fall of 2010 to discuss theological and ecumenical issues for the purpose of increasing the level of mutual understanding and affirmations between them, and identifying potential areas of cooperative work. Because the Anglican Church in North America includes congregations in Canada as well as in the United States, a representative from Lutheran Church—Canada, an LCMS partner church, also participated in the discussions.

"In a time when there is a widespread failure to recognize the biblical teaching regarding the creation of man and woman and their biblical roles, life-issues, and other grave challenges that society faces, it is a joy to find a group of Christians within the Anglican Church in North America who affirm this biblical teaching, and who desire to cooperate in externals with the Missouri Synod in upholding the biblical natural law in society,” said the Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison, President of the LCMS. “Our churches share much in common in the confession of the ecumenical creeds, but we also have differences in doctrinal belief. Hermann Sasse noted that churches who can honestly discuss where they have disagreements in doctrine are in fact closer to each other than churches who cannot discuss such matters. With the Anglican Church in North America, the Missouri Synod can discuss both where we need to seek more agreement and where we have sufficient agreement to cooperate in externals. May Christ bless His church and work unity in both doctrine and practice."

The themes of the discussions included:

The Background and Identity of Our Churches
Authority in the Church
Theological and Societal Challenges Facing the Church
The Practice of Ministry: Worship and Catechesis

The report on the discussions includes a statement of the beliefs the church bodies have in common. These include a shared belief in the Triune God as confessed in the Apostles’, Nicene and Athanasian creeds; justification by grace through faith; the centrality of the Sacraments for the Christian faith; and the infallibility of Scripture.

The report also outlines areas about which the church bodies plan to engage in further study and discussion. These include the value of authoritative theological confessions, matters of ecclesiology and the office(s) of ministry, the understanding of Christ’s presence in the Lord’s Supper and differing views on the usage of the western liturgy.

“It is a great blessing to be walking alongside The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. We share an unwavering commitment to the authority of Scripture and have been able to support each other as we take a bold stand for the historic faith. It has been a particular joy for me to come to know President Matthew Harrison. We look forward to continuing our work together for the Gospel through prayers, evangelism, dialogue, encouragement of one another, and joint efforts to help those in need,” said the Most Rev. Robert Duncan, Archbishop and Primate of the Anglican Church in North America.

The Rev. Dr. Robert Bugbee, president of the Lutheran Church—Canada, added, "Because the Anglican Church in North America includes congregations and pastors in our country as well as the U.S., Lutheran Church—Canada is deeply grateful for the opportunity to send a representative and to be involved in these discussions. Despite the decay in foundational Christian teaching among mainline churches in North America, the Lord is opening doors for us to encourage each other to root our work in the apostolic Gospel of Christ and in the Scriptures as God's infallible Word. Our people in Canada will continue to follow this story with interest ... and with their prayers."

The Crisis of Authority in Anglicanism - Alice Linsley

from VirtueOnline

The Crisis of Authority in Anglicanism

By Alice C. Linsley
Special to Virtueonline
www.virtueonline.org
May 25, 2012

I was raised a Protestant and over many years I found my way to catholicity. My first encounters were with Anglicanism at St. Luke's Anglican Mission and the Armenian Orthodox cathedral in Isfahan, Iran. Being a Christian in that country was a serious matter. Persecution of Iranian converts was common and the Armenian Christians were isolated and understandably guarded.

The fervent commitment and humility of the English missioner priest at St. Luke's especially impressed me. When I became Anglican, I thought I was entering into the fullness of the "one holy catholic and apostolic faith." In retrospect, I believe that I had merely entered a liturgical form of Protestantism with its inherent tendency to schism. The crisis of authority in the Anglican Communion has confirmed my suspicion.

Every shade of Anglicanism has suffered in this crisis; Revisionists, Evangelicals and Anglo-Catholics. There have been no winners. Revisionists lose ground daily, as evidenced by their widening financial troubles and the swift decline in membership.

Read the full story at www.VirtueOnline.org

Pastors: Our ‘New Rainbow Coalition’ Supports Traditional Marriage

from anglicansunited.com by cherie

[Ed. Note:  This coalition will not be featured on any national news cast.  If this coalition does produce a way for people to support traditional  marriage on a national basis, we will report it here.  Cheryl M. Wetzel]
http://www.christianpost.com/news/pastors-our-new-rainbow-coalition-supports-traditional-marriage-75521/

By Michael Gryboski , Christian Post Reporter

May 25, 2012|10:50 am

WASHINGTON – A “new rainbow coalition” made up of influential Christian pastors and leaders gathered on Capitol Hill Thursday afternoon to declare support for the traditional definition of marriage and the Defense of Marriage Act in response to President Obama’s recent announcement that he supports same-sex marriage and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s support of repealing DOMA.

Organizer Bishop Harry R. Jackson. Jr., senior pastor of the 3,000-member Hope Christian Church in the Washington, D.C.-area, and other pastors described themselves as a “new rainbow coalition” in reference to the different races, denominations, and political parties they represent as they all come together to support traditional marriage between one man and one woman.

“We need to create a marriage culture in the church,” said Jackson to The Christian Post after the press conference, noting that congregations need to strengthen and defend marriage from the many threats against it.
“I envision a pincer movement where you want to protect marriage on the one hand, and on the other hand you got to strengthen, build up, and promote it by preaching, intervention, and modeling.”

The press event at the “Senate Swamp” was held after “The Defense of Marriage Summit: the Impact of Presidential Decisions on Social Institutions” this week, which produced the Stand for Marriage document. All the pastors and Christian leaders at the summit signed the document that states, “Marriage is intended for one man and one woman in a life-long covenant. One of the essential purposes of marriage is to carry on the human race through childbearing, another purpose of marriage is to illustrate the relationship between Christ and the Bridegroom and the Church as the Bride.”

Jackson recalled to CP that when President Obama publicly voiced his support for gay marriage he almost immediately started getting calls and found himself debating African Americans like Al Sharpton, Michael Eric Dyson, and several other politically progressive figures.

“And what that said to me was that the discussion was an attempt to make the discussion…as though there were some parity between the radical liberal element in the black church and 85 to 90 percent of people that believe in traditional marriage,” he remarked.

While many commentators feel that the president’s remarks on same-sex marriage will have little impact on the upcoming presidential election, Jackson felt the statement would alienate his former base.
“I think that with the president, he has poor performance on the economics for blacks and Hispanics especially,” said Jackson. “So I think what you are going to find is that there is not really much grounds for those groups who might gravitate towards him personally for support.”

It was announced at the rally that a letter would be sent to President Obama, signed by the leaders gathered, in protest of the administration’s support for same-sex marriage. In addition to that, for Father’s Day Sunday, Jackson stated that about 100,000 churches would be called upon to read statements declaring their support for traditional marriage.

Other speakers who spoke at the event included Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, Skyline Wesleyan Church in San Diego’s Senior Pastor Jim Garlow, and Rock Church International in Virginia Beach, Virginia’s Bishop Anne Gimenez.

READ: PEOPLE OF FAITH MUST JOIN THE FIGHT TO PRESERVE NORMAL MARRIAGE 

Gay Marriage: Not Inevitable

from Stand Firm by Sarah

Good analysis from NRO again on the purported “inevitability” charade:

The president’s willingness finally to say what he believes increased the sense among gay-marriage supporters that final victory is inevitable. History with a capital “H” is on their side. The 21st century itself is practically synonymous with gay marriage. Although this smug confidence will envelop President Obama as he campaigns in such lucrative precincts as George Clooney’s living room, it badly overstates gay marriage’s prospects.

History is littered with the wreckage of causes pronounced inevitable by all right-thinking people. The failed Equal Rights Amendment looked inevitable when it passed Congress in 1972 and immediately 30 states ratified it. Opposition to abortion that was supposed to inevitably wither away is as robust as ever. The forces favoring gun control seemed unstoppably on the march when Congress passed the Brady Bill and the assault-weapons ban in the 1990s, but there are more protections for gun rights now than two decades ago.

Gay marriage’s inevitability hasn’t been evident to the voters in 31 states who have written into their constitutions that marriage is between a man and a woman. The latest is North Carolina, where 61 percent of voters embraced the traditional definition of marriage in a referendum. North Carolina isn’t Mississippi. President Obama won North Carolina in 2008, and Democrats are holding their convention there. Nation-wide, no referendum simply upholding traditional marriage has ever lost, and even in Maine, voters in 2009 reversed a gay-marriage law passed by the legislature.

FALLS CHURCH VA: 4,000-member Parish Will fight on for Property and Funds

from VirtueOnline

FALLS CHURCH VA: 4,000-member Parish Will fight on for Property and Funds

The Falls Church, Anglican
May 24, 2012

To the Family of The Falls Church,

In the last two weeks we left well and began well.

Our final Sunday on the property was as sweet and joyful and faithful as anything we have ever experienced...nearly 4000 people in attendance.

Our Timothys and church planters sent us off, launched us into our new life.

Read the full story at www.VirtueOnline.org

TANTRUM

from Midwest Conservative Journal by The Editor

Did you know that not being able to be an Anglican bishop is pretty much the same thing as being slapped around by your husband or boyfriend?

A female priest has compared the Church of England to an abusive husband following controversial last-minute changes to plans allowing women to be bishops.

The Rev Dr Miranda Threlfall-Holmes, interim principal of Durham University’s Ustinov College, branded the Church an “abusive institution” and questioned whether women should stay or flee.
She wrote in a blog post: “The question for women priests today is: do we stay with this abusive institution?


“Do we stay, hoping it will get better? Do we stay, because we feel called by God to be in this marriage? Do we stay, thinking we can continue to try to change it from the inside?
“Or do we flee to the nearest refuge (let’s ignore the fact for now that they rarely exist) – leaving home, family, community, and our dreams behind?”


In another passage, she reportedly referred to the recent case of a man who gouged out his wife’s eyes.


The posting was later withdrawn.

Unless women become Anglican bishops, women all over the world will DIE!!  DIE, I TELL YOU!!  DIIIIIIIIIIE!!


She wrote on Monday: “One of the reasons women’s ordination is important is because women’s current exclusion from the church hierarchy justifies and entrenches sexist attitudes which have very serious consequences for women around the world.


“Rape, sexual abuse, violence against women and women’s political and economic subjugation are repeatedly justified on the basis that it is ‘natural’ and ‘God-given’ that women should be below men on some divine hierarchy.”

Whatever, kitten.  I’d have at this but some blithering idiocy just needs to be left alone.

Navigating the Three Streams by Gillis Harp

from Stand Firm by Matt Kennedy 

Gillis Harp has written a masterful essay explaining the difficulties and contradictions inherent in the “Three Streams, One River” approach to Anglicanism that seems to have become embedded in the ACNA as an almost creedal doctrine. Be sure to read the entire thing:

But in looking at the new “three streams” typology, one meets with at least four difficulties.  First, it takes a possibly helpful (but over-simplified) descriptive model of the Western church during the middle part of the twentieth century and turns it into a prescriptive theological ideal.  Newbigin’s original description may be an easy way to conceptualize some of the different traditions within Christianity in the effort to facilitate ecumenical discussion, understanding and cooperation.  But using it to create a kind of doctrinal synthesis is, however, an entirely different matter.  The differences between the three streams (at least as commonly identified by champions of the model) are not all simple differences of emphasis; some actually constitute opposed positions based upon very different readings of the Bible.

Two of the three streams, for instance, reject the classical Pentecostal teaching about a post-conversion baptism of the Holy Spirit or the normative practice of Glossolalia and prophecy.  Two of the three have historically repudiated the Roman Catholic understanding of the ordained ministry as sacerdotal, and would have a very different view of the nature and number of the sacraments.  And, despite measured progress in ecumenical dialogue since the 1950s, one of the three does not understand justification as primarily the gracious imputation of Christ’s righteousness to individual believers received through faith alone.  These are not peripheral matters.  Wishful thinking about a tidy Hegelian historical synthesis of the three streams will not erase the contradictions.  As Philip E. Hughes once wrote about dialogue between Roman Catholics and Anglicans during the early 1970s, “to resort to fine-sounding but ambivalent terminology is to paper over the cracks and then to call attention to the attractiveness of the wallpaper.”...more

ANGLICAN CHURCH OF KENYA: Focus on Revival Draws 2,000 at Divine Conference

from VirtueOnline

ANGLICAN CHURCH OF KENYA: Focus on Revival Draws 2,000 at Divine Conference

Report by Charles Raven in Nairobi
May 24, 2012

We are becoming accustomed to the idea that the global centre of gravity of the Anglican Communion, as for Christianity as a whole, now lies in Africa and the opening day of the Anglican Church of Kenya's 'Divine Conference' is another sign of the growing confidence of the African Anglican churches. Some 1,000 had registered before hand and another 1,000 are believed to have registered on the day.

This event was inspired by the Anglican Church of Nigeria's 'Divine Commonwealth' Conference last November and Nigerian Archbishop Ben Kwashi was welcomed as the main speaker and a delegate who had also attended the Nigerian Conference remarked on the high quality of the teaching at both. The day was built around three main addresses which I summarise below, and each was bracketed by times of high energy worship led with undeniable skill and enthusiasm. After lunch about half a dozen seminars were laid on covering topics such as Urban Mission, the Anglican Communion and the Great Mission, Church Growth and Leadership, Islam, and Ministry to Youth.

Read the full story at www.VirtueOnline.org

Trinity Wall Street to close Connecticut conference center

from Episcopal Life Online

[Trinity Wall Street] The Rev. James H. Cooper, rector of Trinity Wall Street, announced the closure of Trinity’s conference center in West Cornwall in a May 24 letter to the parish. The full letter follows.

---

A Letter From The Rector
May 24, 2012

Dear Trinity Family,

I am writing today to inform you of a decision undertaken by the current Vestry. After extensive study, conversation, and deliberation, it has been decided that the Trinity Conference Center in West Cornwall, Connecticut, will cease operations effective in November.

The Trinity Conference Center was created so that non-profit and religious organizations could have access to a first-class site for conferences and retreats at reduced and accessible rates. For countless vestries, parishioners, grassroots organizations, and non-profit leaders, the center was a place where excellence in hospitality and beautiful surroundings inspired reflection, conversation, and the kind of being together that truly brought people together. By the banks of the Housatonic River was a peaceful retreat from the fray available at a fraction of the cost of similar facilities.

This is the vision Trinity was able to subsidize and keep alive for more than twenty years.
The decision-making around closure was not made lightly, because all involved deeply understand how the conference center has touched so many people’s lives, including the people of Trinity parish. While not an easy decision to reach, removing parish resources from the conference-center business is a final one. As we begin the process of closing, we enter a period of discernment regarding the best use for its surrounding land, which has been in the parish’s care since 1945.

I am committed to a closing that is as graceful as the hospitality the conference center offered. Clients booked after November are being notified directly with deposits returned. Staff, both full-time and part-time, are being offered end-of-service packages. I thank the staff past and present for their efforts, particularly recognizing Fr. Bob Griffiths and Jon and Wendy Denn. I also thank those parish leaders who had the unique vision for a place such as this, and the townspeople of West Cornwall.

Closing the Trinity Conference Center does not end the relationships that were formed there, nor the ideas formed among the people of good faith and conscience who gathered there. The center helped galvanize groups and build bridges between people. I am saddened at its close, but glad for the good it did. I know I share these bittersweet feelings with many today.

Faithfully,

The Rev. Dr. James H. Cooper

Maintaining Balance And Wisdom In The Midst Of The Same Sex Marriage Controversy

from anglicansunited.com by cherie

[Ed. Note:  In light of President Obama's declaration for gay marriage and the national news reports daily that this is the future trend in this country, it is increasingly difficult for Christians to maintain their faith and their positions within the community at large.  This sobering article has suggestions that I found to be helpful.  I hope you will, too.  Cheryl M. Wetzel]

http://blogs.christianpost.com/smallpreacher-biggod/maintaining-balance-and-wisdom-in-the-midst-of-the-same-sex-marriage-controversy-10023/

May 22, 2012

Recently there were a couple of videos brought to my attention that were quite controversial. Both were by pastors in North Carolina who made statements from the pulpit that were to say the least, unwise. To say that there is a heated debate going on about same sex marriage would be an understatement. President Obama’s declaration that he supports same sex marriage has caused a firestorm in our country and in the church.

Because of this controversy I felt something needed to be said about how to maintain balance and wisdom in the midst of all the rhetoric being shouted from the rooftops.


My own confession of having opened my mouth and inserted my foot.

There was a time many years ago when I used very little wisdom about the homosexual issue. I gave my heart to Jesus when I was 16 years old. Shortly after that I demonstrated a lot of zeal with very little wisdom. I was sitting at the cafeteria table during the lunch hour and the subject of homosexuality came up. I raised my voice and in all the authority that a person who knew very little but thought he knew a great lot, proclaimed without hesitancy “God killed the Homos in the Old Testament!” Sitting next to me was a dear friend and a new believer who came from a very dysfunctional family who got up crying and ran out of the room. Little did I know that her brother was a professing homosexual.

Needless to say, I learned a great lesson about wisdom that day. I had to go and eat some very untasty humble pie and make things right with a sister in the Lord that I had wounded. I never forgot that incident and it has molded how I address controversial issues whether they be same sex marriage, divorce and remarriage, or any other hot topic. So please allow me to speak some of the things I have learned in the 33 years since that day that have helped me not to repeat the mistake that I made.


4 things to help you maintain balance and wisdom in the midst of controversy.

1. Never make the sin or the controversy more important than the sinner. Jesus did not come to make the world sinless. He came to rescue the sinner from a sinful world. Matt. 9:13 Many times we get distracted from our purpose, especially when topics like this one come to the forefront of the public discourse. Our job is not to point out sin but to point the sinner to the solution. I have not met one honest person who does not know they are a sinner. That knowledge is written on the heart of every man. What they don’t know at times is how to be free of sin. When we make sin more important than the sinner, we do not bring life, we bring death. When I made my proclamation at the lunch table, I was focused on the sin and not the person trapped in the sin. I think the pastors in the two videos I saw also made that mistake.
2. Make sure you work through your own emotional reactions to an issue before you address it.One of the reasons the same sex marriage issue is such a hot topic and is setting off the hot buttons of many people is because it is an emotionally charged issue. I know that in my own life, when I think of the issue it causes an emotional reaction. The thought of lying with a man revolts me emotionally. When I address this issue I have to make sure that I am not speaking out of that emotional revulsion and instead speak from the perspective of the heart of God. God’s heart is broken for the sinner. He is grieved that they would choose a lifestyle that is contrary to His plan for their life and the blessings that He had planned for them. When my own kids head in directions that I know are not good or healthy for them, I am not angered by their choice, I am grieved because of the consequences that their actions will bring. God is not angry with homosexuals but is grieved because their choice takes them farther from Him and has serious emotional and physical consequences in their lives. You need to discern the difference between your own emotional reaction and God’s heart for the sinner. You may not ever get over your emotional reaction but you do not have to give in and respond or behave in ways that are unwise or unbalanced based on your own emotions.
3. Be Proactive rather than reactive. One of the biggest mistakes that Christians and Christian leaders make is always being reactive to situations. Rather than taking the time to think through an issue and figuring out a proactive response, they just react in knee jerk fashion. That is the mistake I made at the lunch table. I just reacted to the subject without thinking of the consequences. Many pastors and churches do not have a philosphy of ministry that guides them in their responses. They just go from one issue to another reacting to the flavor of the day. My response and my church’s response to the issue of same sex marriage was formed a long time ago because it is based on a philosophy of ministry that is proactive with any type of sin. We did not need to react. We already knew where we stood and how we would respond. Homosexuality, same sex marriage, is no different than alcoholism, drug abuse, adultery, gossip, or gluttony. We did not need to react because we had already dealt with the issue of how to react to sin. Unfortunately this is not the case with many churches and leaders. They just run around putting out fires and spouting rhetoric. If both of the pastors in the videos I saw had thought things through before they reacted, I am sure they would have addressed the issue in a very different manner. My response to this issue was a message entitled “Why people do not have to stay gay”. Although I still took flack for my stand on the issue, and people did not want to recognize that Jesus can change any life, you will not find anything that is reactive. It is proactive. In fact I gave this message the Sunday before President Obama’s announcement.
4. Remember that your words have power.As a child, kids used to tease me about my name. I would be called Duke the dog and Marmaduke, or even worse, Duke the puke. My mother used to try to encourage me that sticks and stones may break your bones but words will never hurt you. I understand that my mother was just trying to encourage me, but that saying is a bunch of horse puckey! Words do hurt you! The Bible teaches that the power of life and death are in the tongue. Prov. 18:21 What we speak can bring life to a person or death to that person. I would be willing to bet that either of these pastors would not have used that terminology or those examples if they were speaking to a homosexual person individually. They would have tried to lead that person out of the lifestyle. As Christians and Christian leaders we need to remember that when we are dealing with a controversial subject like same sex marriage, that our words can either bring life or they can bring death. God has called those of us in ministry to be the “Oracles of God”. 1 Peter 4:11 We need to remind ourselves that our words are supposed to express the heart of God, not our own opinions. I just can’t see Jesus recommending that gays be rounded up and placed behind an electric fence, or that we should punch our kids for having a limp wrist. Those words did not bring life, they brought death.

He who is without sin, cast the first stone.

I am not going to condemn the men who made these mistakes. I have made similar mistakes in my life. We all have opened our mouths at one point or another and inserted our foots. (foots? LOL maybe feet is better?) What I hope to have accomplished with this blog post is to help all of us become a little wiser in how we deal with controversial subjects like same sex marriage. The people in this world that disagree with our stand on this issue would like nothing better than to find people who are not using wisdom and exploit them to try to prove a point. So please, use a little wisdom and balance when you are about to address subjects like these.

Blessings!

Pastor Duke

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Tiny 2,700-year-old seal unearthed bears name Bethlehem could prove Jesus Birth

from VirtueOnline

Tiny 2,700-year-old seal unearthed that bears the name Bethlehem and could prove the birthplace of Jesus was the bustling market town described in the Old Testament

By LEON WATSON
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/
May 24, 2012

It's about the size of a one penny piece, but its significance is huge.

Israeli archaeologists revealed today they have unearthed an incredible 2,700-year-old fragment that could prove the 'Bethlehem' as described in the Old Testament really existed.

The tiny artifact is part of an ancient seal that's believed to be the oldest object ever found with the name of Jesus' traditional birthplace inscribed on it.

The clay seal unearthed by Israeli archaeologists is displayed by Eli Shukron, who directed the excavation on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Read the full story at www.VirtueOnline.org