Facts and Questions for the Southern Cone HOB and Standing Committee

“The House of Bishops of the Anglican province of the Southern Cone will be meeting this weekend to discuss a variety of matters.  Among them will be the unprecedented action by the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, purportedly on behalf of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Communion, asking Bishop Tito Zavala of Chile to withdraw from the Inter Anglican Standing Commission on Unity Faith and Order.”

– Canon Phil Ashey, from the American Anglican Council, urges prayer for Archbishop Greg Venables and friends in the Southern Cone this weekend.

Luther’s Stand

“Luther understood what was at stake.

He mentioned to a friend in advance, ‘Unless I am restrained by force or the emperor rescinds his invitation, I will enter Worms under the banner of Christ against the gates of hell…. I have had my Palm Sunday. Is all this pomp merely a temptation or is it also a sign of the passion to come?’

In just over 24 hours Luther would receive the answer to his question.”

– While this weekend is the anniversary of Martin Luther’s nailing of the 95 Theses to the castle church door in 1517, it led to his crucial stand at the Diet of Worms in April 1521. Chris Castaldo has written a gripping account of the events.

(Chris serves at College Church in Wheaton, Illinois. h/t Tim Challies.)

FCA (Southern Africa) Conference in Port Elizabeth

“The Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (Southern Africa) opened its second annual conference at St Saviour’s Church in Port Elizabeth on Wednesday October 27th…

Bishop John Guernsey preached and began by noting that at the urging of the GAFCON movement the new province of the Anglican Church in North America was formed in North America. ‘We have seen a great deal of persecution. Churches have lost their property, clergy have lost their positions, given up medical insurance and pension benefits and been sued by their own bishops,’ he said.

– Chris Sugden writes for Anglican Mainstream.

Cracks at the top — ECUSA’s ‘Constitutional Crisis’

“Now that we have the reports from the third and final day of the meeting in Salt Lake City of ECUSA’s Executive Council, we are finally able to fill in the picture of what is going on among the Church’s elected and appointed officials. The picture is neither pretty nor reassuring.…

We find out that in approving a reduced budget for 2011, the Council approved the Church taking out a new loan of up to $60,000,000, and securing its note by mortgaging its headquarters at 815 Second Avenue, as well as by pledging unrestricted endowment funds…”

– A S Haley, The Anglican Curmudgeon, pieces together what’s been happening in the Episcopal Church’s halls of power. (Image courtesy St. Paul’s Church, Ventura, CA.)

Do not be afraid

“It is amazing, once you are alerted to it, how often the brief encouragement ‘Do not be afraid’ occurs in Scripture. Often in the context there seems very good reason to be afraid. There might seem no way out. The opposition arrayed against you might seem overwhelming. The virulence and persistence with which you are opposed may be a very real cause for terror. And then the words come, ‘do not be afraid’. …”

– Read Mark Thompson’s encouraging words at Theological Theology.

Pray for Hobart

Evangelistic event coming to Hobart this December.

Friday 17th December, 7:30pm–9:30pm
‘The Odeon’, 167 Liverpool Street.

Promotional videos. Event website. Vision 100 website.

(h/t Diocese of Tasmania.)

Carl Trueman on the 95 Theses — for Reformation Day

“This Sunday is Halloween. But more importantly, it’s Reformation Day—when the church celebrates and commemorates October 31, 1517.

It was on this day (a Saturday) that a 33-year-old theology professor at Wittenberg University walked over to the Castle Church in Wittenberg and nailed a paper of 95 theses to the door, hoping to spark an academic discussion about their contents. In God’s providence and unbeknownst to anyone else that day, it would become a key event in igniting the Reformation.”

– Justin Taylor asks Carl Trueman about Martin Luther’s 95 Theses – at Between Two Worlds.

‘Should I pull the Trigger?’

“It was 3 am. I sat in the sandbagged bunker guarding the entrance to the 400 year old Portuguese fort in Balibo, East Timor. Behind me nearly 100 Australian soldiers were sleeping peacefully. I was dressed in full camouflage battle dress, Kevlar flack jacket, and helmet. I rested the minimi machine gun in the crook of my shoulder and peered sleepily out through my night vision goggles at the Timorese village below…”

– Defence Sunday is being observed on November 7 (Sunday closest to Remembrance Day). This is a good time to be reminded to uphold in prayer (prayer guide) Christians serving in the Australian defence forces.

Ridley graduate Andrew Grills, now a military chaplain, reflects on his experience as an Army Officer in East Timor. Could he pull that trigger if needed?

Reform plans ‘religious society’ within C of E

Press release from Reform, October 21, 2010

REFORM PLANS RELIGIOUS SOCIETY AS ‘MODEL TO WIDER CHURCH’

Reform members have voted to back the creation of a religious society within the Church of England for conservative evangelicals who want to promote the church’s mission but are opposed to the consecration of women as bishops.

Speaking at the network’s annual conference yesterday, attended by over 170 members, Revd Rod Thomas, the Reform chairman, said: “This is a very positive move not just for us, but for the wider church. The creation of a society can both provide a model of how the church can change to become more focussed on mission, not maintenance, and a way forward through the dilemma it faces over women bishops.   Read more

Archbishop Greg Venables interviewed on Anglican TV

Earlier this week Archbishop Gregory Venables was interviewed from Buenos Aires by Kevin Kallsen of Anglican TV.

He speaks bluntly about the eternal consequences of the liberal minority ‘takeover’ of the Anglican Communion’s structures.

Worth watching in full – and thank the Lord for Greg Venables and the other GAFCON leaders. Watch it here.

Lausanne Day 2 report

Canon Chris Sugden reports from Cape Town on the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization – for Anglican Mainstream.

Fort Worth: Fourth lawsuit arrives

“With three suits pending in two Texas counties, members of the minority that chose to stay in The Episcopal Church (TEC) two years ago have launched another assault on much the same grounds as the first three. Today All Saints’ Episcopal Church on Crestline Road in Fort Worth has sued Bishop Jack Iker personally, in federal court.

There can no longer be any doubt that this litigation is intended to harrass, intimidate, bankrupt, and divert the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth, its Corporation, and its leadership – particularly Bishop Iker – from carrying out the mission of the Church.

Ironically, only this weekend Bishop Iker made several comments in jest to a gathering of clergy and laity of the Church of England in London, saying that he had “not checked the Internet today” to see whether he had been sued again…”

– from the Diocese of Fort Worth.
(Bishop Iker has only just published his response to the third lawsuit.)

Sydney Synod votes against Bishopscourt sale

“Bishopscourt, the Archbishop of Sydney’s official residence in Darling Point, will not be sold after the Diocesan Synod rejected the proposal in a close–run secret ballot, 249 votes to 218 …”

– Jeremy Halcrow has the details at SydneyAnglicans.net.

Bishop Mark Lawrence speaks at reconvened South Carolina Convention

Bishop Mark Lawrence of South Carolina spoke at the reconvened 219th Diocese of South Carolina Convention.

He gave an update on the events of the last few months, and his rationale on keeping South Carolina within TEC.

Watch it at Anglican TV. (See also: 219th Diocesan Convention Reconvened.)

‘Moral equivalence myopia’

“In another example of moral equivalence myopia, Canon Dr. Kenneth Kearon has sent a letter to the Southern Cone asking Bishop Tito Zavala to withdraw from the Inter Anglican Standing Commission on Unity Faith and Order…”

– from the Anglican Essentials Canada blog.

Related story from Church Times. (Photo of Bp Zavala: CMS UK)

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