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Thanks to Jill Woodliff. Chapter 1, The Post-Christian MindNo weapon is more necessary today to the Christian apologist than that of verbal sensitivity. The abuse of words plays a key role in the decomposition of our moral and intellectual stabilities... Indeed, one reason why we define what we are up against as the "post-Christian" mind and not the "anti-Christian" mind is that current secularist humanism feeds on the inheritance of the faith it has abandoned. There is much in anti-Christian propaganda today--its vocabulary and concepts--that is essentially parasitical on the Christian tradition. Chapter 7, ValuesWe have heard too much lately...

"It is difficult to resist the conclusion that there is a death wish at work at the heart of our civilization... our theologians dismantle the structure of belief they exist to expound and promote."  –Malcolm Muggeridge, Eternity, April 1972 Muggeridge, a world-famous English journalist who became a Christian late in his life, was prophetic as he saw the coming remaking of the core of the Christian faith by its very leaders. We might wonder if he could have imagined how far the faith could be taken apart!The problem is this: many of our modern theologians, clergy and seminaries are remaking...

Pete Carnley lets the cat out of the bag: With its composition still in the planning stage, the Panel of Reference envisioned by the primates will help people deal “eye-to-eye,” rather than through the media, according to its chairman, the Most Rev. Peter F. Carnley. “That’s been one of the problems of our Communion over the last decade or so,” Archbishop Carnley said. “We’ve been communicating to each other by talking about one another through the media rather than speaking with one another. I see mediation in those terms: encouraging conversation.” Anglicans are going to solve all their problems by...

On Saturday, April 23, The Rev. Samuel Lloyd was installed as Dean of the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. The Rev. Lloyd is first cousin to Bishop Duncan Gray, III of the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi, and grew up in Canton, Mississippi, a small town just north of Jackson distinguished by its picture-postcard town square. Lloyd is also a member of the Board of Regents of Sewanee. The following day, Sunday April 24, The Rev. Lloyd started his tenure as Dean of "America's Church" with a bang. At Lloyd's invitation, the homily was given by The Rev. Dr. George F....

LONDON (May 12, 2005)-- Anyone would think that with the demise of the Pope has come another death, that of our national church. Read Ruth Gledhill's comments and send us your views - using the e-mail form at the bottom of this page In case you hadn't noticed, with the demise of the Pope has come another death, that of Protestant England. * Oh, so you hadn't realised? Your church is still standing, your services continuing on their weekly round, your vicar still paid his or her stipend. Well, maybe we shouldn't inquire too closely into that last one. But...

Questions for the consideration of Anglicans, Episcopalians and their Friends by Peter Toon As the Anglican crisis of identity and profession deepens in North America, journalists and communicators are having problems deciding which names and descriptions to use of those within "Anglicanism." They are finding that it is becoming increasingly difficult to know how to name and describe those (a) who profess to maintain and live within the Anglican Way, and (b) who believe, teach and confess a reformed Catholicism [= an authentic Protestantism in 16th century terms], and (c)who belong to jurisdictions, groups, movements and churches outside the Protestant...

LAUREL, MARYLAND(5/12/2005)--The Rev. Nick Athenaelos presides over a service at the new Annunciation Anglican Catholic Church. Worshippers recite a solemn liturgy using archaic language, sprinkled with "thee's" and "thou's." Some of the female parishioners wear lace veils as a display of respect. The service is led - as required - by males alone. Organized by a Laurel couple, James and Susan Mathis, and hoping to find a home in Laurel, the newly formed Annunciation Anglican Catholic Mission held its first service at Abiding Presence Lutheran Church in Beltsville on April 3 with about 18 in attendance. A few miles north,...

The choice of retiring Australian Archbishop Peter Carnley to head the "Panel of Reference" created by Archbishop Rowan Williams response to the request of the Primates Meeting last February in Dromantine, Ireland shows nothing but contempt for the Anglican Communion. The panel was created to deal with the explosive issue of bishops crossing diocesan boundaries to support orthodox parishes in revisionist dioceses around the world. While the panel members has yet to be announced, having one of the most flagrantly ultra-liberal Primates of the Anglican Communion to head it is a major slap in the face at the Global South...

Trying hard to save the marriage, the Anglican Diocese of New Westminster has magnanimously agreed to only sleep with its mistress in certain Vancouver hotels:The Synod of the Diocese of New Westminster on May 14 voted to limit same sex blessings within the diocese. Eight parishes where parish members have already voted to have their church be a place of same sex blessing can continue to hold the blessing rite, the Synod decided. But none of the other 70 parishes in the Vancouver area diocese will be allowed to carry out the rite of blessing – at least not until the...

Well, not me actually. That’s the interesting testimony an Anglican friend told me the other Sunday. He played in the worship band at a large evangelical church (one which hasn’t been mentioned on this blog). One Sunday, they were having communion when they ran out of crackers. So the servers grabbed some Chips Ahoy cookies and used those. As he received his Chips Ahoy, he was provoked, knowing that just wasn’t right. He told me he knew then and there that he needed to move to a more reverent, more sacramental church. And he eventually found an Anglican one. A...

The long-awaited Anglican-Roman Catholic statement on Mary will be released Thursday:Members of the Anglican church are being asked to accept that controversial Roman Catholic teachings regarding the Virgin Mary are "authentic expressions of Christian belief". The proposals, which came under immediate attack from senior evangelicals, come in a document agreed by leading theologians and prelates of both churches and published in America tonight. Mary: Hope and Grace in Christ was launched at a Roman Catholic Mass in Seattle by the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (Arcic). It is to be published in the UK at Westminster Abbey on Thursday. Canterbury moved...

Walking The Talk Facing church revolt over gay clergy, a faithful follower leads by staying in the pews The Rev. Ted Berktold puts on vestments in preparation for a recent service at St. Mary's, which has held on to most of its parishioners since the appointment of a gay bishop in 2003 caused an international furor in the Episcopal Church. THE PAIN IS palpable at St. Mary's Episcopal Church. The Rev. Ted Berktold doesn't need a tearful 75-year-old woman in his cluttered, book-filled office to tell him that. "This is not personal," she says, "but the Episcopal Church is no...

“Interpreting Christ in a Pluralistic World” The Rev. Dr. George F. Regas Rector Emeritus, All Saints Church, Pasadena, CA, guest preacher Washington National Cathedral Easter V April 24, 2005 There is a story about a minister trying to get serious and speak about the imminence of death and its power over us. His opening sentence was that in 100 years, every member of this church would be dead. And with that, a man in the fourth row began to laugh. Now there is nothing in the world more upsetting and disconcerting to a preacher than to have someone miss the...

I am turning a corner—full and total appreciation of being an Episcopalian. I have said numerous times, and I believe it to the core of my being, that all congregations need to have a ministry which clearly defines them and helps them stand out in a crowd. So it is for dioceses and denominations. Perhaps New Hampshire’s election of one of our nominees for Bishop in Rochester has given us a gift, one that we cannot and will not forsake. That gift is the reminder that we have put our practice where our mouths are. We are living the words,...

St. Nicholas' Episcopal Church parishioners peacefully worshipped together Sunday, even as the congregation is splitting over denomination politics and biblical teachings, resulting in the charter of a new Midland church. "It was a beautiful Mother's Day service, but going in and out, it was all about stopping each other to say, 'Whatever happens, we still care about you,'" said longtime member Edna Hibbitts, who is among 31 of more than 500 members voting to stay. Almost 90 percent of members and their pastors were ordered by the Northwest Texas Diocese to leave St. Nicholas' for dissenting with the Episcopal Church's...

Some words leak out from a meeting between a bishop of another diocese and his clergy. Here is what the bishop reports: The primate of the Anglican Church of the Province of the Southern Cone [the Most Rev. Gregory Venables] predicts that within three years the dreams of the American Anglican Council with its Network [the Anglican Communion Network of Dioceses and Parishes] will come true. The majority of the primates, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, will disenfranchise the Episcopal Church and acknowledge that the Network is the only Anglican presence in North America. "That will begin the crumbling ....

Nashotah Dean Speaks on Issues of Sexuality in the Aftermath of General Conventio Dear Friends: Recently, I reread Robert Boyd Munger's classic booklet, My Heart Christ Home (IVP). With over ten million copies in print, it has had great impact in aiding readers to better understand what Christ's Lordship really means. Munger points out that submission to Jesus involves not a single decision, but a series of daily choices that give Him control over various "rooms" in our lives - the study (mind), dining room (ambition), living room (quiet time), recreation room (entertainment), bedroom (sexuality) and even the hall closet...

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican on Thursday praised steps by Anglican leaders to discourage the election of gay bishops and the blessing of same-sex unions, saying there were foundations for further dialogue and cooperation. The assessment came after Anglican leaders on Feb. 24 asked the U.S. Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada to temporarily withdraw from a key council of the world Anglican communion because of the crisis that threatened to split their 77 million members.The elevation of V. Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire in 2003 — the only openly gay Anglican bishop — and subsequent...

The Most Revd Frank T. Griswold Presiding Bishop ECUSA May 7, 2005 Dear Bishop Frank, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. I write in response to your letter of May 5th. Since it has found its way all over the internet, I am constrained to respond more broadly than just in a personal note. With great respect it must be said that considering what you now write in the light of what you have already done brings to mind the old cliche of Nero fiddling while Rome burns. It's like the...

In discussing the Bedford Communique last month I posted the following: Another paragraph from the communiqué I find interesting: The primates of the Anglican Communion at their meeting in Newry called “as a matter of urgency” for a panel of reference (paragraph 15), and yet as of this date, the panel has not been organized. We implore the Archbishop of Canterbury to organize this panel immediately to help ensure the protection of beleaguered parishes and clergy of the Episcopal Church. Sounds like some polite but public impatience to me. I, too, am wondering why the Panel of Reference hasn’t been...