Dearly Beloved in Christ,
This last week has been busy in the Anglican Communion. At the request of the Primate of All Nigeria, Peter J. Akinola, the American Anglican Council prepared a 42 page document cataloging the current aberrant behaviors of the Episcopal Church in the United States. At the same time, a sister organization, the Anglican Network in Canada, prepared a similar document with a similar title, both emphasizing the destructive spiritual work of The Episcopal Church(TEC) and the Angican Church of Canada. Both documents need to be downloaded, read and passed on to those who are not denizens of the internet. Knowing the truth empowers the laity and shines the bright light of Christ's truth on the darkness of the American and Canadian Church's revisionist leadership.
As TEC continues to develop its scorched-earth tactics in dealing with the faithful Anglicans who refuse to go along with their gospel of death, TEC is attacking two important areas of defense. TEC continues to threaten financial institutions that hold the bank accounts of parishes and dioceses which left TEC with legal action so that the accounts are frozen, rendering the faithful unable to make payroll or pay their attorneys. This is financial decapitation, and it is now being accompanied by a strategy to add the law firms representing departing ecclesial bodies to the lawsuits so that the law firms become defendants themselves. This becomes representational decapitation, since many law firms will be reluctant to be sued themselves just for representing their client. The meanest and most ruthless despots of history could well sit at the feet of TEC's Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori and her principal attorney, David Booth Beers, for it is clear that any actions that TEC can possibly apply without going to prison themselves will be seriously considered. Please read the article in this update that addresses this more specifically.
Also in North America, we have become aware that in the economic stimulus package passed by the US Congress is a most dangerous and anti-faith stipulation which should be clearly unconstitutional. Pages 164-165 of the stimulus package contain the following prohibitions on the use of $3.5 billion available for renovation of public or private college and university facilities: (2) PROHIBITED USES OF FUNDS. No funds awarded under this section may be used for - (C) modernization, renovation, or repair of facilities (i) used for sectarian instruction, religious worship, or a school or department of divinity; or (ii) in which a substantial portion of the functions of the facilities are subsumed in a religious mission; or construction of new facilities.
The effect of this would be to deny religious structures such as university chapels any of the funds, but more importantly, to deny faith groups the ability to use multipurpose rooms in a building that either was to be renovated or had been renovated with the stimulus funds. Perhaps carried to the extremes that some school boards and university administrations have in the past, it would deny students living in renovated dormatories the right to pray or have Bible studies either in their private rooms or common rooms. Although this type of use restriction has been ruled unconstitutional in the past, that is not to stop those who wish a totally secular public square devoid of religion. In the 2001 Good News Club v. Milford Central School Supreme Court decision, the court ruled that restricting religious speech within the context of public shared-use facilities (or schools) is unconstitutional. Although it clearly is not the intent of the law or the courts for government to spend public dollars to benefit any one religion, which would touch on the non-establishment clause of the Bill of Rights of the US Constitution, educators have in the past frequently over-reacted. This would be a serious problem if applied in its literal sense.
Now to the UK where some good news may be reported. Meeting in London, the Church of England's General Synod overwhelmingly backed a motion to force its bishops to report on their "understanding of the uniqueness of Christ in Britain's multifaith society" and offer guidance in sharing "the gospel of salvation" with people of other faiths and none. A private member's motion was put forward touching on the uniqueness of Jesus Christ and the call to share him with the world and amazingly it passed overwhelmingly, surprising those who put it forward. Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent for the London Times, seems not to be pleased with the outcome, for she wrote: "Anglicans were commanded to "go forth and evangelise" yesterday in a dramatic assertion of missionary fervour that could jeopardise carefully built-up relations with Muslims, Jews and other faiths. The established Church of England put decades of liberal-inspired political correctness behind it in a move that led one bishop to condemn in anger the "evangelistic rants". Ruth can speak for herself, but most Christians would say "YES - at last!" Christians need to adopt a much more militant willingness to speak of Jesus Christ openly and often, here, there, and everywhere. Toleration and living peaceably and respectfully with our neighbor does not mean that we muffle our understanding of the truth, but rather within that toleration and respect, we clearly articulate our faith and do our level best to live it faithfully so that our words and deeds send a consistent message.
In closing, Archbishop and Primate Peter Akinola has released a document "A Wake Up Call to the People of God," which seems to be a Pastoral Letter to the world. I would encourage you to read it carefully, consider it, and give it to others who might not have access to it.
Blessings and Peace in the Name of Jesus Christ,
The Rt. Rev. David C Anderson, Sr.
President and CEO, The American Anglican Council
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