Virtue Online - The Church of England Will Have Women Bishops

LONDON: Church of England on Brink of Letting Women Serve as Bishops
One major hurdle stands in the way to changing centuries of church practice

By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
May 29, 2014

The Church of England’s governing body - General Synod - voted in February to send draft legislation allowing female bishops in its 44 dioceses. This past Friday the church voted all in favor with Manchester, the last to do so, deciding Thursday.

The Church of England has grappled for years with whether to admit women to the episcopacy. The legislation will now go back to the Synod in July for a final vote.

The issue of the ordination of women to the episcopacy has long divided the Anglican Communion with significant numbers of Anglican provinces in the Global South not ordaining women to the episcopacy let alone the priesthood. The Province of Nigeria, the largest province in the Anglican Communion with 20 million adherents does not ordain women to the priesthood. The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian denomination in the world with some 77 million adherents.

Anglican provinces in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States already have women serving as bishops. The U.S. has an avowed lesbian in its ranks.

The following attached story highlights the dangers of women being ordained to the ministry. In the 20 years women have been priests in the UK, there is no record of more conversions or any church growth. No U.S. bishop is on record as faithful to Scripture in the area of human sexuality. The former Suffragan Bishop of New York Catherine Roskam was an attendee and regular supporter of Gay Pride Parade days.

Church of England Dioceses Go For Gold!

LONE STAR PARSON
http://lonestarparson.blogspot.com
May 28, 2014

Church of England traditionalists were routed last week, with all of the shrinking denomination's dioceses voting in favor of legislation to make women bishops. The Women Bishops Measure will now go to the member-short Church's General Synod for final approval in July. Maybe, then, 2000 years of patriarchal oppression will be broken and England will experience a new dawn of faith as the people of the Sceptered Isle flock back to church to see women bishops. That's the way it's been in America.
















The next generation of women priests in the Church of England several of whom will be bishops.





















The Episcopal Church has had Jane Dixon of Washington!





























Bishop Tom Shaw with Bishop Barbara Harris of Massachusetts



























Lesbian Bishop Mary Glasspool of Los Angeles



















The big enchilada – Katharine Jefferts Schori who famously said that personal conversion is a Western heresy.

The Episcopal Church, which bravely pioneered women bishops, is losing an average of 50,000 members a year.

Good luck, CofE.

END

"We will never bow down to a...
Oh - hi Your Holiness, Your Eminence, Your Grace."

The Ascension of Our Lord. May 29, 2014. Holy Communion

Ascension Day - May 29, 2014

Unless you believe as a child, you will not enter the Kingdom of God. Norma Boeckler.
Ascension Day

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bethany-lutheran-worship

Bethany Lutheran Worship, 7 PM Central Daylight Time

The Hymn #215                              Draw Us to Thee                               1:3
The Order of Holy Communion, p. 15
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual 
The Gospel 
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #652     I Lay My Sins on Jesus          1:24

Of Righteousness, Because I Go to the Father

The Communion Hymn #308     Invited Lord                  1:63 
The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn #225         Come Holy Spirit Come                1:39  

KJV Psalm 47:
1 O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph.
2 For the LORD most high is terrible; he is a great King over all the earth.
3 He shall subdue the people under us, and the nations under our feet.
4 He shall choose our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob whom he loved. Selah.
God is gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.
6 Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises unto our King, sing praises.
7 For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding.
8 God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness.
9 The princes of the people are gathered together, even the people of the God of Abraham: for the shields of the earth belong unto God: he is greatly exalted.

KJV Acts 1:1 The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, 2 Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: 3 To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: 4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. 5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. 6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? 7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. 8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. 9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; 11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

KJV Mark 16:14 Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. 15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. 17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. 19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. 20 And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.

Sunflower Garden Planted

My sunflower patch will not match the one above.

Freed PDF - The Wormhaven Gardening Book.

We dug a shallow trench on the sunny side of the house, which was going to host more roses. I used mushroom compost on top to amend the soil, then covered the row with wood mulch. Accuweather predicted rain, so I watered the row. No rain fell.

Mrs. Ichabod correctly observed that roses should be in the front where she could enjoy them, not hidden on the side of the house with no windows.

Dreaming - Sunflowers - Corn
Dreaming is an important part of gardening. No muscles are strained. No dollars are spent.

I decided the putative rose garden extension would make a good sunflower patch. I had just enough seed for a row along that side of the house. Most plants do not like to bake in the sun, but corn and sunflowers use sun power more effectively and unreservedly than any other plants. They convert solar energy into nutrition too.Sunflower seeds are packed with nutrition and oil.

Americans burn up corn alcohol so they can drive to the store to pick up Fritos.

That part of the yard is ideal for corn, since it is great for sunflowers. However, corn in the front yard seems
extreme. The alternative is the area near the compost pile.

Ideal Compost Production
Compost needs soil, dampness, shade, and organic material.

High nitrogen materials like green grass and rabbit manure will heat up the compost and break it down faster. That happens because the bacteria that likes the nitrogen heats up the pile of leaves, grass, soil, and manure. A pile of sod turned upside down will shrink and warm up as it composts. High nitrogen materials will grow so hot that "steam" will rise up from the pile.

Large heaps of wood and coal of will catch fire - one of the theories behind the extreme speed of the Titanic, by the way. The ship was racing to burn up coal because the Titanic had one of those common coal-bin fires. They doused that fire by sinking.

Soil helps because a soil floor or layers of soil will provide bacteria and soil creatures to decompose the organic matter. Manure (not dog or cat, because of transferring disease to humans) is good for bacteria and organic compounds. Cow manure is cool (low-nitrogen). Chicken and rabbit manures are hot (high-nitrogen).

Since you asked - my grandfather earned an agriculture degree at the University of Illinois.

Shaken, not stirred.

Decomposition is increased by aeration and by heat. Some people stir or mix their compost. There is even a compost shaker, seen above, being dedicated at Lutheran School of Theology, Chicago, ELCA. LSTC may go bankrupt, but they still have their compost turning drums. Amen? Amen!

The big guys stay out of the way when the compost is heating up. The bugs and finally the earthworms arrive to feast on all the good stuff inside compost. The bugs are not pests, but the very creatures God designed to take care of garbage and manure, reducing it back to an aromatic soil-friendly amendment.

Soil is a great antibiotic. In fact, some of the antibiotics we taken for infections come from the soil itself. If the compost smells like a sack of garbage or a pile of manure (ammonia), not enough soil is layered in or on top.

Organic gardeners do not put meat in compost, because that attracts the wrong critters. Raw meat would add a lot of nitrogen. That nitrogen can come from manure - and will definitely come from the tragic deaths of thousands of earthworms as they complete their life-cycles in that earthly paradise.

Springtails are tiny helpers in reducing organic material.
Alas, they are preyed upon, and their predators are also preyed upon.

Why Is Compost Good?
Compost is loaded with live earthworms - and more importantly - their egg cases. The egg cases survive a long time. So using compost means distributing the progeny of those venal earthworms.

Since earthworms multiply in rich soil, distributing compost will enhance the lifestyles of those earthworms, who constantly improve, plow, manure, aerate, and rain-enhance the soil. A hard rain will run off baked clay soil, but soil softened and tunneled by earthworms will soak in the rain.

Earthworms are a synecdoche - a part for the whole. Gardeners judge soil by the number of earthworms because that means all their soil-buddies are hard at work as well. Some are 1/25,000th of an inch long, so they are difficult to see. Others, like the springtails, are more abundant than all the humans on earth put together, but the hexapods do their work without seeking or receiving recognition for it.

The soil is healthy when it contains a lot of humus, and compost is very rich in humus. Soil without humus is either a brick for the kiln or sand for the sandbox. Sandy soil will humus added will grow a lot. Clay will be even more productive. God planned it this way at Creation.

Humus is jelly-like, which means super-rich soil will feel jello-like when walked on. Rich soil will also stay warmer and hold moisture better.

 Corn and Spinach in the Future
I can prepare the future corn patch in the fall. I will do that by spreading out compost and mulch to kill off the turf, making it easy to turn over in the spring (I hope). It will also be rich in earthworms and humus.

I can open up the compost pile (chicken wire in a circle) and spread it out.

Another area will be reserved for fall spinach planting. The spinach plant is very hardy in cold and sad in hot weather. The answer is to start spinach in the fall, cover it with leaves when frost approaches. The leaves can be pulled away in the very early spring. When the spring rains arrive and the bugs have not yet hatched, spinach will grow up and be crunchy with moisture.

We Need More Anonymous Confessional Lutherans

We need more anonymous Confessional Lutherans - the ones who post messages and send long sanctimonious emails without using their real names.

If enough of these people lay low and offer their insights in stealth mode, everything will turn out just fine.

The people who cannot stand up for justification by faith (while deceitfully using that term) will lie down for anything.

So - Bottoms Up! Confessional Lutherans. Judgement Day is here.

Schone Shut Down Inherit the Wind and Student Blogs. What about the WELS GLBTQA Facebook Page?

MLC's Jeff Schone models "What Not To Wear at a WELS Convention."
https://www.facebook.com/groups/WELS.GLBTQA/permalink/447899308566974/

MLC Vice President of Student Life Jeffrey Schone told the New Ulm Journal that, since the school trains WELS ministers, the college’s administration had a legitimate interest in expressing “concern” about its students being associated with the play. The denomination is committed to an absolutely literal interpretation of Genesis and the creation story, so even the slightest involvement of MLC students with a play that suggests the crazy notion that evolution is real might taint the college’s brand:

Schone said MLC was concerned about making it absolutely clear to its students, WELS members and the public about its beliefs and teachings on creationism. He said he recognizes the subtext of the play, but feels it is unfairly critical of creationism and that most people would only see the criticism.

“We felt it was not compatible with what [the school] teaches the Bible says about the universe and the world,” said Schone. “This is a ministerial school. People employing our students need confidence about their views.”

Zach Stowe said that he believes in creationism, but was disappointed that MLC involved itself in a community theater production.

He said he believes open discussion about the topic is essential to proving its validity.

“The play does not just say evolution is right. It treats Christians with respect. The entire point of the play is both sides need open, free discussions,” said Stowe. “But, I don’t have any negative feelings about it. Everyone acted how their conscience directed them in this situation. I can respect it.”

And he’d darn well better respect it if he knows what’s good for him.

Interviewed during a 1996 Broadway revival of the Inherit the Wind, Jerome Lawrence said that he and co-author Robert E Lee

“used the teaching of evolution as a parable, a metaphor for any kind of mind control … It’s not about science versus religion. It’s about the right to think.”

And now the good people of New Ulm, Minnesota, have learned a valuable lesson about the value of freedom of thought.

***

GJ - Did Jeff Schone make a deal with Zak Stowe? Some want to debate that. Schone has no trouble kicking students out of MLC for the slightest pretext. That strikes me as federal student loan fraud, putting teens into debt, then making that debt worthless by expelling them for thought-crimes. That may be why Schone withheld the avenging arm of the WELS Law.

The real question concerns the vast gulf between traditional Christianity and the goals of this inter-campus (Martin Luther College/Bethany Lutheran College) group. Wisconsin Lutheran College carries water for the MLC Left as well, so the paradox remains.

WELS and the Little Sect on the Prairie hold themselves far above the grungy tattooed ELCA rads, but the WELS/ELS have their own lobby - which also seems to be getting its way. The WELS/ELS Facebook page offers a glimpse.