From the American Anglican Council:
Dearly Beloved in Christ,
It has become very clear to people of faith who hold to the traditional understandings of Christian doctrine and discipline that those who are bent on changing the doctrine and discipline of the Anglican Church will stop at almost nothing. We have repeatedly been surprised by the depth of deception, deceit, and boldness which characterize the planning and execution of recent attacks on the historic faith. In the past as I remember it, there was normally a sense of fair play and honesty, and our apparently erroneous belief that this is still true has cost the orthodox Anglicans.
The core doctrines of the faith, including the miraculous incarnation and virgin birth of Jesus, his sinless life, his miracles, his commandments and his sacrificial death in our place (substitutionary atonement), his actual and real resurrection, the necessity of believing and trusting in Jesus Christ to have salvation, and his eternal presence with the Heavenly Father, have come under attack by the the revisionists, at times subtly and at other times, blatantly.
In today's environment, we have come to expect that certain Episcopal Church (TEC) leaders will say things heretical, questioning long-held faith, or flatly denying it, or restating it in such a way as to diminish its clear meaning.
However, TEC's high-level leadership has tried to be more covert in their heresy, and concentrate on pushing the homosexual agenda. It is not enough to seek to overturn traditional views on marriage and family; their goals are to have the opportunity to recruit in the elementary and upper levels of schools, to teach the "normalcy" of homosexuality, and to suggest to teenagers in critical stages of their sexual understanding and growth that they should be more curious and explore their full sexuality, i.e. "Try it and see if you like it" - this at a time when teens are most vulnerable.
Priest and journalist George Conger has reported on the rejection by Los Angeles Bishop Jon Bruno of the Standing Committee of the Anglican Consultative Council's call to block the recent election of a lesbian priest, Mary Glasspool, to be one of two new women suffragan bishops of Los Angeles. Bishop Bruno doesn't want anyone telling him how to run his diocese, nor does he want to slow down the homosexual juggernaut that he has presided over in L.A.
For "more than the past 30 years" the Episcopal Church has been "working on gradual, full incorporation of gay and lesbian people," Bishop Bruno said in a statement released on Dec 18, which he entitled "Be Not Afraid," Conger reports. This is true, because at first it was covert, with a wink and a nod, and the truth pushed aside.
When I was in Los Angeles, for many years I repeatedly heard the story of one of the past bishops of L.A. who was concerned about a gay ordinand and felt he needed to be forthright with the bishop and so, before the service, came and told the bishop that the ordinand was gay. The bishop had been pretending that he didn't know the obvious, and had wished to maintain the fiction of not knowing. He went ahead and ordained the young man anyway.
Gradually, over the years, the leadership of Los Angeles has been taken over by those who support the full homosexual agenda. So bishop Bruno is truthful in his statement, but the statement itself is telling. It has been a calculated and determined effort to change the mind of the church by changing the reality on the ground. Break the law, and when you have broken it long enough, argue for it being changed because it doesn't comply with current practice.
The Anglican Communion's Consultative Council asked the Los Angeles diocese to honor the request for restraint, but the Bishop isn't having any of it. When pleas for "gracious restraint" fall on deaf TEC ears, is there any action that the Anglican Communion can take NOW to stop the procession through required approvals and then consecration? We have not yet seen any resolve from the Anglican Communion to discipline TEC now or ever, and TEC knows that.
It is reported that Bishop Ted Gulick, who tries to pass himself off as a reasonable centrist, has been deceitful about what he has been quietly orchestrating in his diocese of Kentucky. Sarah Hey, an orthodox blogger who writes frequently for Stand Firm in Faith, and lives in the TEC diocese of Upper South Carolina, has exposed Gulick and his homosexual agenda for his diocese. Please go to Sarah Hey's full article and read her comments.
On a different subject, Charles Raven posts an informative and challenging article on the new Covenant, and how former Primate of Southeast Asia Moses Tay is taking a different direction on the Covenant than the current Primate, John Chew. Tay has some very significant observations that bear real consideration, and raises the question about where former Primate of Southeast Asia Yong Ping Chung might come down on this - will he side with John Chew or with Moses Tay?
Of additional concern to the American Anglican Council is that the Covenant itself might be linked with the Principles of Canon Law project, which seeks to standardize the Canon Law in a general way throughout the Communion. We have been advised that one of the sections on church ownership of property was authored by none other than one of TEC's own chief attorneys. The Canon on Property would state that it was normative for Provinces to have the local church own property only in trust for the Provincial Church. At least in the United States and Canada, where TEC and the Anglican Church of Canada have used litigation to deprive the local church of its rightful property, these Canons will be seen as fighting words. Many having lost their property which they paid for once, and after having had to buy and build a second time will be in no mood to risk it yet once again.
I've been on the road these past few weeks, spending part of last week with a group of clergy friends. We meet for a week in early January in Florida. Usually, we can take clothes for the beach, but this year I went from freezing in Atlanta to freezing in Florida. Not being a scientist, I am sure that this is caused by global warming.
We have all heard the terrible news of loss of life, injury, and devastation of homes and buildings in Haiti from the earthquake. In North America, those who wish to send help can contribute to Haiti relief at Anglican Relief and Development, and know that the aid will get to those actually in need.
Pray for those who are in Haiti and those going there to help with relief.
Blessings and peace in Christ Jesus,
The Rt. Rev. David C. Anderson, Sr.
President and CEO, American Anglican Council
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