VirtueOnline - News. Civil Partnerships

VirtueOnline - News:

Civil Partnerships for Gays Could spell the end of the Anglican Communion
Nigerian Primates say actions of Church of England will lead to further separation and isolation from Global South

News Analysis

By David W. Virtue 
www.virtueonline.org 
June 10, 2013

A weak and enfeebled Church of England caved in over same-sex marriage this week with the convener of the Lords Spiritual and Archbishop Justin Welby waving the white flag of surrender - the Lords Spiritual better described now as the Lords Secular - admitting defeat in the face of a handful of militant pansexualists that is sorely testing the limits of an already fragmented Anglican Communion.

In a brief statement issued from Westminster by the Bishop of Leicester, Timothy Stevens, convener of the Lords Spiritual, those bishops who sit in the House of Lords, said there would be no further organized opposition from them to the government's "gay marriage" proposal that Peers passed overwhelmingly.

"Both Houses of Parliament have now expressed a clear view by large majorities on the principle that there should be legislation to enable same-sex marriages to take place in England and Wales. It is now the duty and responsibility of the Bishops who sit in the House of Lords to recognize the implications of this decision and to join with other Members in the task of considering how this legislation can be put into better shape."

NIGERIA WARNS CHURCH OF ENGLAND

Church of England's leaders had already been warned in 2005 by the Most Rev. Peter J. Akinola Archbishop, Metropolitan and Primate of All Nigeria that the language of the Civil Partnerships Act makes it plain that what is being proposed is same-sex marriage in everything but name. This is even acknowledged in the statement. "I find it incomprehensible therefore that the House of Bishops would not find open participation in such 'marriages' to be repugnant to Holy Scriptures and incompatible with Holy Orders.

"The proposal that the bishops will extract a promise from clergy who register that there will be no sexual intimacy in these relationships is the height of hypocrisy. It is totally unworkable and it invites deception and ridicule. How on earth can this be honored? For the Church of England to promote such a departure from historic teaching is outrageous."

In January of this year African Anglican leaders expressed outrage and disbelief over civil unions.

Archbishops representing a majority of the Anglican Communion urged the Church of England to pull back, saying the bishops' decision violates international Anglican accords, creates moral confusion over church doctrine and discipline, holds the church up to ridicule, and will provide Islamist extremists a further excuse to persecute Christian minorities.

A statement by the nine primates of the Global South Coalition follows critical responses from the Archbishops of Kenya, Uganda and Nigeria. Archbishop Nicholas Okoh of Nigeria said the bishops of his church had agreed to break with the Church of England should the English bishops' decision be implemented.

"Sadly we must also declare that if the Church of England continues in this contrary direction we must further separate ourselves from it and we are prepared to take the same actions as those prompted by the decisions of The Episcopal Church (USA) and the Anglican Church of Canada ten years ago."

Archbishop Stanley Ntagali of Uganda said the decision "to allow clergy in civil partnerships to be eligible to become Bishops is really no different from allowing gay Bishops. This decision violates our Biblical faith and agreements within the Anglican Communion."

The decision to permit partnered gay clergy to serve as bishops "only makes the brokenness of the Communion worse and is particularly disheartening coming from the Mother Church," he argued.

The Archbishop of Kenya, Dr. Eliud Wabukala concurred, saying the announcement "will create further confusion about Anglican moral teaching and make restoring unity to the Communion an even greater challenge."

In England orthodox Church of England laity were encouraged to tell their bishops the following:

* The Church does not exist to exercise the will of the State but the will of God. Where the two are at odds, the Church must follow the teaching of the Bible. (Acts 5:29)
* The Bible and the Church of England's own canons are clear in their position on marriage. This teaching should be preserved and protected by the Church's ministers. 
* Many Christians look to the Bishops of the Church of England for guidance and direction. The lack of clarity and leadership on this issue from the Church of England has been very disappointing.
* The Church's engagement with the secular world should never become a capitulation to it. This is what appears to be happening with the Church of England's new position on this Bill. 

The statement from the bishops encouraged the church to ask nothing of lay people who become registered same-sex partners before they are admitted to baptism, confirmation and communion. This not only dishonors the laity and the sacraments of the Church - it also makes it obvious that the bishops of the Church of England are proposing a deliberate change in the discipline of the church.

"It seems clear the House of Bishops is determined to chart a course for the Church of England that brings further division at a time when we are still struggling with fragmentation and disunity within the Communion. Let it be known that it is not a path that we can follow. It is also a path that is clearly at odds with the mind of the rest of the Anglican Communion," said the African leaders.

Other leaders decried the action of the bishops saying the Bible is clear that the Church does not exist to exercise the will of the State but the will of God. If there is a discrepancy between the two, the Church must follow the teaching of the Bible (Acts 5:29). At its best, the Church holds the State to account and promotes just laws in accordance with God's Word.

PROFOUND DISAPPOINTMENT AND SORROW

In the thousands of letters Lambeth must have received, here is one letter from a social critic with a passionate conviction that such a day must not be allowed to pass without protest.

He expressed his profound disappointment and sorrow at the craven way the archbishop and the other bishops responded to the same sex marriage bill in the House of Lords. "It is quite clear how the tide has been flowing, and it would be simple for anyone following the trends of the last few decades to predict the outcome. But to watch our leaders acting as politicians rather than as Christian and moral leaders, with no reference at all to the teaching of our Lord, or the Scriptures, or Jewish and Christian tradition, is deeply disturbing. The office of bishops has almost always been the Achilles heel of Christian corruption and cowardice down the centuries, and last week's vote added a new chapter to the long story of ignominy.

"There is indeed a place to recognize the settled mind of the nation publicly, especially when it is wrong. But your responsibility then is to speak to the nation prophetically just as Samuel did to Israel over the choice of a king like the nations around. This is your choice, these will be your consequences, we can but warn you, and we will follow God's way and live differently.

"There are cogent and powerful arguments against same sex marriage from sociology, history, and anthropology, and the present legislation has been rushed through on slender scientific research and with a shockingly poor democratic debate. Yet none of this, let alone a faithful witness to the clear biblical position, was evident in your speech and your stance."

Many of us had hoped there would be a strong and faithful voice from Canterbury to replace the uncertain sounds of Dr. Rowan Williams over the last ten years. This is a moment of history that calls for a St. Augustine, a St. Gregory, a Martin Luther, or a Dietrich Bonhoeffer -- and a leader who in George Orwell's magnificent term is "unclubbable." Yet you and your colleagues behaved like the German Lutherans caving in to National Socialism in the 1930s. It was pitiful to watch.

If the stance that the Archbishop of Canterbury took last week continues to be his stance, it will dishearten the faithful, and only cement the tragic divisions within the Church, encouraging but not impressing the enemies of Christ and hastening the coming disestablishment of the Church of England.

Archbishop Welby should have stood firm in the name of Christ, stood fast in the faith and witnessed to God's way of life despite the cost.

END

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VirtueOnline - News. Could This Happen to WELS and LCMS?

VirtueOnline - News:

Diocese of Quincy merger with Diocese of Chicago will bring token 340 Parishioners
Lawsuits over properties continue

News Analysis

By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
June 9, 2013

A jubilant Bishop of Chicago heralded the merger (he called it unity) of the Diocese of Quincy with the Diocese of Chicago as “a day that both dioceses have yearned for." The Rt. Rev. Jeffrey D. Lee will be bishop of the reunified diocese. He says it will join [them] together in witnessing to the power of the Risen Christ who overcomes all divisions.

A closer look at the numbers reveals a more practical reason for the merger that has less to do with history and the power of the risen Christ, and more to do with fleeing orthodox Episcopalians and dying Midwest Episcopal dioceses. It also signals the beginning of more mergers and acquisitions in the coming months and years as the effect of aging and dying Episcopalians continues and the apostasies of Episcopal actions continues to take its toll on the national church.

In 2011, The Episcopal Church reported nine congregations in TEC Quincy. Following the split in 2008, seven congregations continued to remain in The Episcopal Church. The total baptized are: 730. Total ASA: 340. Plate & Pledge: $685,000

These are the parishes: 

Grace - Galesburg (18);
St. George - Macomb (17);
St. James - Griggsville (14);
St. John - Kewanee (24);
St. Paul - Warsaw (26);
St. Paul Cathedral - Peoria (175); and 
St. James - Lewistown (14) 

Two other congregations are either a church plant or the reorganization of a former congregation. Their 2011 ASA figures are:

All Saints - Moline (70); and
Bread of Life - Peoria (No figures given)

Episcopalians meeting in Chicago and Peoria voted to reunify their dioceses after 136 years of operating separately. Both conventions voted unanimously to approve an identical reunification resolution. The 2011 TEC reports show there are nine congregations in TEC Quincy.

Since 2008, the Episcopal Diocese of Quincy has tried desperately to forge a new identity and mission after its former bishop, the Rt. Rev. Keith Ackerman and about 60% of its members broke away to become founders of the theologically orthodox Anglican Church of North America.

According to the 2009 RED BOOK reflecting the 2008 parochial report figures before the split, there were 23 worship congregations and the Bishop's Chapel of Our Lady of Walsingham.

In 2008 the Diocese of Quincy was under Bishop Keith Ackerman. The congregations with (Communicant Figures) were: 

Mission: Zion - Brimfield (No figure given);
Parish: St. Peters - Canton (170);
Mission: St. James - Dunlap (67);
Mission: St. Andrews - El Paso (18);
Parish: Grace - Galesberg (151);
Mission: Holy Trinity - Geneseo (104); 
Mission: St. James - Griggsville (33);
Mission: Christ Church - Hanna City (15);
Mission: St. John Henry (30);
Parish: St. John - Kewanee (45);
Mission: St. James - Lewistown (46);
Parish: St. George - Macomb (68);
Parish: Christ - Moline (135);
Mission: Trinity - Monmouth (11);
Bishop's Chapel: Our Lady of Walsingham - Peoria;
Parish: St. Andrew’s- Peoria (59)
Cathedral: St. Paul - Peoria (394);
Mission: St. John - Preemption (27);
Mission: Transfiguration - Princeton (76);
Parish: St. John - Quincy (104);
Parish: Trinity - Rock Island (204);
Mission: St. Clare - Rushville (10);
Mission: St. Mark - Silvis (78); and
Mission: St. Paul - Warsaw (68)

ACNA Quincy congregations totaled 17 continuing congregations. Four other congregations are either church plants or reorganization of continuing congregations including: 

Holy Cross - Lake Villa;
Christ - Fairview Heights; 
St. Jude - Princeton; and 
All Souls - Wheaton.

There are also five congregations outside of the original boundaries of the Diocese of Quincy or out of the State of Illinois which have joined with the ACNA Diocese of Quincy. They are: 

Our Lady of Guadalupe - Chicago;
All Saints - Montrose, Colorado;
St. Dunstan - Largo, Florida;
St. Andrew - Nashville, Tennessee; and 
St. Mary's-of-the-Snows - Eagle River, Wisconsin.

In 2001, when the Diocese of Quincy was under Bishop Ackerman, the baptized was more than 1,200. The ASA was more than 3,000. Its 2006 Plate & Pledge was $1,700,000.

Other Wisconsin dioceses that cannot survive for much longer include Eau Claire under the liberal Bishop William Jay Lambert III, which has a baptized membership of 2,037 but an ASA of 790.

The Diocese of Fond Du Lac under Bishop Russell Jacobus has a baptized membership of 5,778 but an ASA of only 2,135. The Diocese of Milwaukee under Bishop Steven A. Miller has a baptized membership of 10,029, but an ASA of only 4,020. In November of 2006, 16 clergy and laity filed a complaint with the national church against Bishop Miller over allegations that he persecuted a liberal woman priest at Grace Episcopal Church in Madison, Wisconsin, who faced expulsion for violating her priestly vows.

They hoped the charges would lead to presentment with alleges abuse of power in the way he handled her discipline for an alleged breach of confidentiality. She was been barred from serving as a priest since May. Miller survived the charges.

In December of 2011, an Illinois court dismissed the claim that as a “matter of law” the Episcopal Church is a hierarchical with dioceses being subordinate to the national church, and rejected a motion for summary judgment brought by the national church against the breakaway Diocese of Quincy.

Later in December a decision by Judge Thomas Ortbal of the Eighth Judicial Circuit Court in Adams County, Ill., sent the dispute between the Diocese of Quincy and the national church and its allies to trial. The court also concluded that even if the church is hierarchical, that would not end the matter because a "neutral principles of law" approach should be applied to resolving the property ownership dispute. The court case is ongoing.

Combined, the number of Episcopal parishioners in Quincy, Eau Claire, Fond du Lac and Milwaukee is not equal to any one of the top ten parishes in the Episcopal Church. More mergers are inevitable.

Recently the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) announced the formation of a new Diocese of the Upper Midwest. It should receive official approval and recognition by the ACNA House of Bishops when they meet later this month in Nashotah House, Wisconsin.

VOL correspondent Mary Ann Mueller contributed to this story.

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Pope Francis: `Gay lobby' exists inside Vatican – CNN Belief Blog - CNN.com Blogs. Not To Mention - LCMS, WELS, ELS Too

Pope Francis: `Gay lobby' exists inside Vatican – CNN Belief Blog - CNN.com Blogs:

Just a few months into his papacy, Pope Francis has already delivered his share of surprises.

June 11th, 2013

01:35 PM ET

Pope Francis: `Gay lobby' exists inside Vatican

By Daniel Burke, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor

(CNN) – Pope Francis said a “gay lobby” exists inside the Vatican, a surprising disclosure from a pope who has already delivered his share of stunners, and a resurrection of church conflicts that had bedeviled his predecessor's papacy.

“In the Curia,” Francis said, referring to Catholicism’s central bureaucracy, “there are holy people. But there is also a stream of corruption.”

“The 'gay lobby' is mentioned, and it is true, it is there,” Francis continued. “We need to see what we can do.”

Hints that the Holy See contained a network of gay clergy surfaced last year in reports about a series of embarrassing leaks to Italian journalists.

The "Vatileaks" scandal factored in Pope Emeritus Benedict XIV's shocking decision to resign earlier this year, according to some church experts, as it impressed upon the 86-year-old pontiff that the modern papacy requires a vigorous and watchful presence.

Francis' enigmatic comments came during a meeting Sunday with CLAR, the Latin American and Caribbean Confederation of Religious Men and Women, who head Catholic communities of priests, sisters and monks. The Chilean websiteReflection and Liberation, which focuses on liberation theology, first reported Francis’ remarks.

A Vatican spokesman told CNN, "The Holy See Press Office has no official comment on the private meeting."

Gay and lesbian Catholic groups did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests said, "structure, not sexuality, is the real issue."

"The church is a monarchy. Monarchs are unaccountable. So many monarchs are corrupt. This is true in both secular and religious institutions," SNAP said in a statement.

Other Catholics counseled caution about reading too much into the pope's remarks.

"We don't have any explanation of what 'gay lobby' means," said Rocco Palmo, a Vatican watcher who runs Whispers in the Loggia, a website on Catholic news and church politics.

"Naturally, some in the church will try to polarize or interpret this, but as the rest of us aren't pope, we still have to get further explanation," Palmo added.

Church experts say the Chilean report rings true since the wide-ranging conversation centers on concerns that Francis has made touchstones of his nascent papacy.

In contrast to the buttoned-up Benedict, Francis has earned an early reputation for speaking off the cuff, often ditching prepared remarks in favor of more informal conversations.

On Friday, Francis nixed his “boring” speech and instead took questions from young Catholic students. Asked by a little girl if he wanted to be pope, Francis laughed and said that only someone who “doesn’t love himself” would want the position.

"He has said some things that would turn Benedict whiter than the papal vestments," Palmo joked.

Francis told the Catholic leaders on Sunday to focus on the poor, that the Vatican must be reformed, and joked that whoever wagered on his long-shot election as pope “won a lot, of course.”

But his comments on the "gay lobby" are likely to gain the most attention, especially in the West, where Catholic leaders have been mounting a fierce fight against same-sex marriage.

After Benedict announced his resignation in February, reports circulated that a “gay lobby” had forced his hand.

Cardinals appointed by the former pope to find the source of the leaks investigated high-level Vatican clergy involved in homosexual affairs who might have been vulnerable to blackmail, according to La Repubblica, a leading Italian newspaper.

La Repubblica reported that the cardinals found evidence of a “gay lobby” within the Vatican but gave few details about it.

"Some high level clergy are exposed to the `external influence' – what we would call blackmail – of lay people to whom they are connected through ties of a `worldly nature,'" La Repubblica wrote.

The Vatican blasted the newspaper reports as “unverified, unverifiable and completely false.”

Francis is one of the few Catholic leaders to have seen the Vatican report.

The so-called Vatileaks scandal led to Benedict's butler, Paolo Gabriele, being convicted on charges last year of leaking private papers from the the pope's private office. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

'Gay lobby' behind pope's resignation? Not likely

John Allen, CNN’s senior Vatican analyst, has said it would have been odd if the Vatican report had not considered the possibility that "insiders leading a double life," including sexually active clergy, might be vulnerable to pressure to betray the pope.

“It seems a stretch, however, to suggest this is the real reason," behind Benedict's resignation, Allen said.

In one of his first actions as pope, Francis created a council of eight cardinals, including Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston,  to offer suggestions on reforming the Vatican.

“The reform of the Roman Curia is something that almost all Cardinals asked for in the congregations preceding the Conclave,” Francis said, referring to the meetings that led up to his election in March. “I also asked for it.”

But Francis said that he cannot promote the reform himself. “I am very disorganized,” he said “I have never been good at this.”

Instead, the pope said, he is relying on his eight appointed cardinals to move the reforms forward.

CNN's Richard Greene contributed to this report. 

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Readers Push Ichabod Beyond 2 Million Page-Views, Thanks To Warnings from Plagiarists, UOJists, College Professors, and DPs.

The counter reads 1,999, 559 at this point in time, as the journalists say.

I appreciate all the efforts to silence me, again. If I plagiarized and published false doctrine, I would have as few readers as Paul McCain and Jack Cascione.

Unlike the UOJ Hive, I publish all the material I can gather about the other side of the issue - their peculiar dogma of God forgiving people for not believing in His Son, even before they are born. Like John Seifert and Tim Glende, they write as if UOJ were the pure truth, but they cannot bear to mention anything about justification by faith.

Nevertheless, they still claim to teach justification by faith.

They will excommunicate in two shakes of a lamb's tail, even though they claim the cannibals and polytheists are born forgiven.

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Christian Schulz has left a new comment on your post "Justification | Truth in Midland - St. Paul, Augus...":

"Wait," says the alert parishioner, "I thought we were justified, or 'judged' 'righteous' already before faith? What, then, is this justification, or declaring righteous, by faith you speak of?"

Justification | Truth in Midland - St. Paul, Augustine, and Luther Were Wrong!

John Seifert - you only have one job -
to teach justification by faith.

Justification | Truth in Midland:

Justification

The Bible and WELS Lutherans teach that God judged all sinners righteous in his sight when Jesus Christ died on the cross for us. God declared everyone free from the guilt and punishment owed for our sins. The sinner receives this free gift of forgiveness, not by doing good deeds, but only by faith. A person is justified when he or she believes in Christ and his redemptive work. It is a gift from God.
Ephesians 2:8,9; 2 Corinthians 5:19; Romans 3:22-24; Romans 3:28; Romans 4:5; Mark 16:16

Learn More

If you would like to learn more about the doctrine of Justification, consider reading the book,Justification – How God Forgives, written by Wayne D. Mueller.  If you have questions regarding this topic or any other, feel free to contact Pastor Behnken.

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As a loyal circuit pastor,
John Seifert could not remember (twice) Frosty Bivens
bragging about studying at Fuller Seminary.

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GJ - Readers should not be shocked that one of the key players in Church Growth, Wayne Mueller, is also cited by Seifert as the expert on Universal Objective Justification. That is also a warning - do not contradict what the ex-VP and God said about UOJ.

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Christian Schulz has left a new comment on your post "Justification | Truth in Midland - St. Paul, Augus...":

"Wait," says the alert parishioner, "I thought we were justified, or 'judged' 'righteous' already before faith? What, then, is this justification, or declaring righteous, by faith you speak of?"