Message from Bishop David Anderson       Bishop Anderson Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus, Breaking news this week has been the so-called "discovery" of a Coptic scrap of parchment with text that some people allege to be part of Holy Scripture, and which bears words making reference to Jesus' "wife." I am skeptical about this discovery, and think at best it is part of a heretical gospel rejected by the Christian churches, and at worst a modern day forgery designed to advance a point of view. I am sure that over the next year scientific scrutiny will help us place this in the proper context. One issue of concern is the agenda of the Hollis Professor of Divinity, Karen King, who has been and is an outspoken advocate for feminist thought in Biblical studies. She is the author of numerous books that would seem to be harmonious with this revelatory "discovery." We have included an article today by a professor of systematic theology, Thomas White, who helps us to begin to think about the issues involved. The Bible as we have received it has no mention of Jesus ever marrying or having any offspring despite the fact that it would have been quite normal, even expected, for a rabbi to have a family. Scripture is simply silent, giving us no reason to suppose that Jesus had a wife or children. Additionally, we know from Holy Scripture that the Apostle Peter was married and had a wife, so if Jesus had a wife there is no reason for it not to be recorded. This does mean that the first "Pope" of the Christian Church was married, and Scripture also says that a bishop should be the husband of one wife, all of this being somewhat out of sync with both the Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic traditions of unmarried bishops, archbishops, popes, etc. Although the Anglican Communion is in some ways torn, battered, and distressed at the present, it does maintain the tradition of married bishops (for which I am grateful), archbishops, and Anglican Communion Primates.

Here in the metro Atlanta area a local school superintendent of Clayton County was in the final stages of being hired as superintendent of a California school district. Well, "final stages" may not be exactly correct, it was more that he was chosen and had resigned from his current position, and suddenly things blew up. The problem: it was discovered by the Californians that the Clayton County Superintendent believed in traditional marriage between a man and a woman; how shocking, how outrageous, how inconceivable!! Imagine an educator believing what the world has believed since God created the first human being! Clearly, the California selection committee thought that if you supported one man-one woman marriage you had to be hateful, homophobic, and Neanderthal in outlook, and they pulled the job offer. So there is now a school superintendent down here who is now looking for a better place to work than for the bunch of clowns he almost went to work for. It does illustrate that some of the people who talk the "progressive" line about love, peace, broadmindedness, no hate, acceptance, and toleration are the meanest and most biased, who will use every effort to suppress or extinguish any points of view in conflict with their own. On the same general subject, the Minnesota Roman Catholic archbishop has organized and strongly encouraged support for a state referendum to establish one man-one woman marriage as the standard for the state. The predictable push back is active; this last week the Minnesotans United for All Families (read gay and lesbian, transgendered, etc.) have featured a supposed Republican Roman Catholic heterosexual couple asking fellow Minnesotans to vote NO on the amendment. Clergy from various denominations have lined up supporting either the Archbishop or the Minnesotans United.  Naturally, the Episcopal Church is fighting against the traditional marriage amendment. The Star Tribune covers the Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota passing the resolution opposing marriage amendmenthere. When you go shopping at the local strip mall you may see a Hobby Lobby; we have one near us that we patronize. What you may not know is that Hobby Lobby is owned by a couple who are orthodox Christians, active in supporting charitable causes and Christian work. The founder and CEO, David Green and his wife Barbara, signed a 2010 pledge to donate a majority of their wealth to charitable causes, and they are doing that. They are responsible employers in how they treat and pay their employees, and, like Chik-Fil-A restaurants, their stores are closed on Sundays to give their employees time to be with family and attend their place of worship if they so choose. They are now being threatened by the requirements of the Obama healthcare mandate with fines that may approach $1.3 million per day (see article included below). It isn't that they are against birth control per se, but their strong support for the right of a conceived child to be born alive has led them to oppose certain mandated medical procedures that have to be included as options in an employer insurance plan. The decision would be the mother's, but the insurance would have to cover abortifacient drugs. The Green's do not want Hobby Lobby to provide employer-paid abortifacient drugs through any insurance program. If they continue to refuse to participate in government-mandated insurance covering drug-induced abortions, the current Administration could fine them out of existence to teach them and all of us a lesson. That would close 500 arts and crafts stores in 41 states and put over 22,500 people out of work. The Green's and Hobby Lobby probably could use a word of encouragement from those of us who support a child's right to be born alive. It does make me wonder and worry about what has happened to our government and to our American freedoms. Pray for the Green family, for the Clayton County Superintendent, and for all of us whose right to live and believe our Christian faith is more and more under active persecution by those who should be defending it. Blessings and peace in Jesus, +David The Rt. Rev. David C. Anderson, Sr. President and CEO, American Anglican Council