Month: November 2015

Kingdom Thinking

Kingdom Thinking

Posted on by Julia Smead

By Bp. Paul Hewett

After the savage and tragic attacks of Islamic terrorists in Paris, the Church, as the Sacrament of the Kingdom, continues her mission to bring all men to saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Christ is for every-man, Jew and Greek, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and agnostic. Muslims cannot conquer a people whose God is the Lord, who worship Him every Lord’s Day, and who, every day, work and pray and give for the spread of His Kingdom. A people which turns its back on God is an easy target for Muslim take over, and God may well use the Muslims as agents of judgement for those who reject His Son.

Our enemies in spiritual warfare are the world, the flesh and the devil. The Church teaches her children to keep up the attack on these three enemies, however they manifest themselves. The devil was certainly active in Paris on November 13, and heads of state must work out their escalation of the war against Islamic terrorism. Spiritually, we are to remain always on the offensive. There is no record in the Book of Acts of the apostles ever fighting defensive rear-guard actions. They were always seizing the initiative for Christ, to change a stubborn world for Him. After careful training, always strike hard. “Be strong and of good courage,” for God is with you (Joshua 1). God wants us in a ministry that drives us to our knees in prayer and fasting. Father George Rutler used to say that we are to “launch a revival so impossible that it is doomed to failure without God.”

We are to extend the Kingdom, and cure souls. Bring them in, and set them on the path to spiritual maturity in Christ. To do this we do not need to manufacture strategies. Our vocation is to produce saints first, then strategies. Saints are the ones who accept God´s challenge to grow spiritually and to grow in break-through thinking. Breakthrough thinking is to accomplish seemingly impossible goals through new and creative approaches, and to let go of entrenched patterns of thought, behavior and organizational structure that bind us to the mundane and keep us from reaching our goal, to present every man mature in Christ. Orthodox Christians are the branches connected with Jesus, the true Vine, with roots secured in heaven, drawing all resources from the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, risen and victorious. Orthodox Christians are therefore the strongest, the freest, and the most creative agents in breakthrough thinking. Mother Teresa of Calcutta is a perfect example of this. With her deep roots in Christ, thoroughly soaked in prayer and the sacraments and in the Tradition of holy Mother Church, she, penniless, did what no social worker could ever do among the poorest of the poor. She is regarded by multitudes today, Christian, Hindu, Muslim and agnostic, as the Mother of India. Malcolm Muggeridge, the famous BBC journalist, was converted to Christ by being with Mother Teresa for a film shoot.

We can also recall the example of St. Francis of Assisi. His breakthrough thinking was to go on one of the Crusades, and visit a Muslim sultan and spent some time with him. This sultan said that “if all the crusaders were like you, I would have to join you and become a Christian.” The witness of the saints to wholeness of life in Christ is so engaging that Muslims, and others, are left with no choice but to become Christians, or make martyrs of the saints. The Rev. Canon Andrew White, the Anglican vicar of St. George’s in Baghdad, has a large congregation full of Muslim converts. Many of them disappear every week, to be executed, but their ranks are quickly filled by new converts. Canon White’s nickname is “The Vicar of Baghdad.”

The Isis terrorists and their 7th century predecessors, the Muslims who took nearly the entire Mediterranean world by terror and bloodshed, are really the dupes of the barbarian gods, the demons, who demand human sacrifice and human blood. In stark contrast to this, the Son of God, the Father Almighty, gives His Body and sheds His Blood for us, for the life of the world. Bishop Charles Grafton, the Patron Saint of the Episcopal Church, counseled his priests in Wisconsin a hundred years ago: “Let us be inebriated with the Blood of the Holy Sacrifice, and on fire with the Holy Spirit.”

Let us pray the prayer for Missions in the Prayer Book on page 38: “O God, who hast made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on the face of the whole earth, and didst send thy blessed Son to preach peace to them that are far off and to them that are nigh; Grant that all men everywhere may seek after thee and find thee. Bring the nations into thy fold, pour out thy Spirit upon all flesh, and hasten thy kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”

Archbishop Duncan to Retire as Bishop of Pittsburgh

Posted on by Julia Smead

“It has seemed to me like the work I was called to do is as complete as it can be. I believe that this is a very good moment for me to let go and to pass the chief pastor’s crozier to another.”

DuncanThe Diocese of Pittsburgh announced Archbishop Robert Duncan’s retirement from diocesan leadership.

The announcement was made at the annual diocesan convention, held at St. Stephen’s Church in Sewickley, Pennsylvannia.

Archbishop Duncan said, “It has seemed to me like the work I was called to do is as complete as it can be. I believe that this is a very good moment for me to let go and to pass the chief pastor’s crozier to another, just as we have largely passed diocesan leadership, both clergy and lay, from one generation to another. The years of conflict, and of course correction, within the Body of Christ are past for now. The challenge ahead is one of strengthening the Church for discipleship and evangelization in a hostile and needy nation and world.”

The Diocese of Pittsburgh will hold a special convention to elect its next bishop on April 22-23, 2016.  Archbishop Duncan’s retirement will take place June 30th, 2016.

Archbishop Foley Beach commented, “As its first Primate, Archbishop Duncan led the Anglican Church in North America through critical stages of its formation, and we will be forever grateful for his years of courageous, servant leadership. Please join me in praying for the Diocese of Pittsburgh as it seeks God’s will for its next bishop, and for Archbishop Duncan and his wife Nara as God leads them in this next season of life.”

Read more from the Diocese of Pittsburgh here.

FIFNA Council Meets in Belleville, IL

Posted on by Julia Smead

The FIFNA Council meets November 10-11, 2015 in Belleville, IL at Our Lady of the Snows Conference Center.  This is one of their three yearly meetings where they discuss the businesNov. 2015 council mtgs of Forward in Faith.  Please keep them in your prayers.

Upcoming Meetings:

February 23-24, 2016 – Council meeting
July 19-22, 2016  – Council meeting followed by National Assembly

Anglo-Catholics as Evangelistic Church Planters

Posted on by Julia Smead

By Canon Lawrence D. Bausch
Special to VIRTUEONLINE
www.virtueonline.org

November 5, 2015

Anglo-Catholics are grateful for the significant role we have played in Anglican history, especially in reminding Anglicans that our churchFr. Lawrence Bausch is an organic portion of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church that was established by God’s action in the first century. In previous centuries, we have participated mightily in missionary work, church planting and serving those in need, all centered on the glorification of Christ and His presence and action in the Sacraments. We have contributed to enriching our worship, restored the Religious Life to our church, reintroduced Retreats, Sacramental Confession and Spiritual Direction, and the riches of the personal prayer life from all ages of Christian history. We, as members of Forward in Faith North America (FIFNA) rejoice that we have a share in this wonderful heritage. However, we in North America are facing challenges to our continued participation in the fulness of this inheritance, and I would like to address one of these here: Church Planting.

Whether our FIFNA members are in TEC, ACNA, or one of the various continuing Anglican jurisdictions, we all face obstacles which can blind us to a vision of ministry which includes the importance of church planting. This situation is brought about by several reasons, three of which we will consider here. First, those of us who came into church life or ordained ministry a generation or more ago were largely brought into a church in which priests were primarily seen as chaplains to the faithful, whose job was to lead the faithful in worship, teach, and care for those in need. (Think of Fr. Tim in the delightful “Mitford” books, especially the early ones.) Church Planting was largely something determined by Dioceses, as “missions” became less often the work of local parishes. Mission to the unchurched was largely overlooked.

Second, those Anglicans who have been intentional in Church Planting over the last generation or more have most often been from the evangelical/charismatic elements of the church. Indeed, a “model church plant” has come to be perceived in many quarters as something most Anglo-Catholics would hardly recognize as church, most significantly in the use of language which defines worship as music, and where the actual celebration of the Eucharist becomes almost a sidebar to the music (and possibly the preaching). This distortion has led some to simply write off church planting, believing that it only serves to undermine what we believe and practice.

A third factor to consider is the understandable focus on simply preserving what we have. Many of our people are in parishes which perceive themselves to be “too small” to consider Church Planting, and struggle to keep what they have. Some serve in TEC dioceses in which they are permitted to teach and worship in their own tradition, but are essentially limited to their parish. (This number includes some who have been told by bishops that when their rector leaves or retires, things will change.)

In spite of these obstacles, the Gospel is clear that all Christians are called to be evangelistic, including support for Church Planting. Jesus has come out of love for all people, and we are His Body sent to reveal Him (Luke 2:29-32; 24:45-47, etc.). How then can Anglo-Catholics become good evangelists and support Church Planting? My first action upon my election to President of FIFNA was to appoint Fr. Chris Culpepper as Advisor to the President for Church Planting. He has started two congregations in the Diocese of Fort Worth, as well as advising other church planters in the Diocese and in the REC. He has recently formed a task force which will disseminate best practices in Anglo-Catholic Church Planting and provide individual coaching for leaders of future FIFNA congregations; more information is at the task force website at http://bit.ly/FIFNAcp. This ministry in support of the spread of the Gospel and the growth of the Church is crucial not only for Anglo-Catholics, but for the broader Apostolic and Conciliar Church.

One final note: It is a great joy to be able to report that the recent Church Planting leaders appointed for the ACNA by Archbishop Foley Beach, The Rev. Canon Dan Alger and The Rev Alan Hawkins, are incorporating two elements to the basic characteristics of Anglican church plants which FIFNA can heartily endorse: First, church plants need to be connected with the larger church; and second, they need to be sacramentally based. We are delighted that they share these concerns.

The Rev. Canon Lawrence D. Bausch is President, Forward in Faith North America