Dobbs singled out Rowan Williams by name as a chief offender on this issue, declaring, "there are real wars taking place today in the realm of ideas attempting to control idea-shaping institutions, congregations, seminaries and denominations -- and biblical truth--a prize far more precious than any army has ever contended for--is at stake."

"How could such advocacy be safe and healthy when 82% of transgender individuals have considered killing themselves and 40% have attempted suicide."

"The Bible is clear on matters of sexual identity. God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Therefore, any confusion of the sexes is a distortion of God's created order. Some Christians have great difficulty with these biblical foundations. They will often point you to the experience of a much-loved family member and tell you how they have been significantly influenced by someone who identifies him or her self in a way that is inconsistent with their biological sex."

"At the center of this attack against Christ, his word and his faithful followers is a subtle, wicked, unscrupulous, very powerful archenemy called Satan. He is an adversary who prowls around seeking someone to devour," said the evangelical bishop."

Dobbs said transgender individuals are not the enemy, they are loved by Christ. "But be watchful, for we are wrestling against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. People of God, there are real wars taking place today for the control of our minds and our bodies. And if politicians are vulnerable -- Satan will attack there. If priests and bishops depart the faith once for all entrusted to the saints -- Satan will attack there."

Dobbs said Jesus speaks of Satan as a wolf in the clothing or the disguise of a sheep. And he creeps up unnoticed when leaders are at their most vulnerable, when their guard is down.

"Bishops of the Anglican Church in North America reminded the faithful that, 'while questions pertaining to human identity are ancient, a certain vividness around personal identity has been introduced into our current cultural conversation.' "Our society has collapsed into a sexual world view which attempts to redefine the image of God in humanity as predominantly one of sexual orientation and behavior."

"We have enemies 'out there' and we cannot afford to relax our vigilance. It seems today, that no believer can ever afford to disconnect, because frankly we do not know when the crisis is going to come and when we will find ourselves on the ropes."

"While all Christians should show compassion and empathy, when possible, to the personal experiences of others, the Anglican Diocese of the Living Word cannot and will not recognize personal experience as revelatory. We believe that our identity must be grounded in the truth about creation which is revealed in the Scriptures and in God's Son, our Savior Jesus Christ."

This biblical truth is under attack today within our culture and from within the evangelical church, the bishop said, to sustained applause.

The bishop said he had appointed a task force to help wrestle with what it means to be created male and female in the image of God and those wrestling with sexual identity.

As Dr. Carl Trueman has written, 'Accommodating the world's demands is a fool's errand.'

MICHAEL NAZIR-ALI

Dobbs described as "unfathomable" the defection of Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali to the See of Peter via the Ordinariate. "It was personally painful and the consequence for the church, a 'dramatic step'.

Nazir-Ali blamed it on the Anglican Communion's reaching an "agreement" and then taking unilateral (What?) casting doubt on the strength of the agreement.

The former Rochester bishop cited the apparent lack of authority, the ordination of women as priests and bishops, the ordination of individuals in active homosexual relationships, the breakdown of the discipline of marriage [especially amongst clergy and bishops] and a lack of clarity concerning personhood and the protections due to it at the earliest and latest stages of life as indicators which "epitomized a tendency within Anglicanism to capitulate to the culture rather than sound a prophetic voice within it."

Dobbs fired back saying, "I am a refugee from a church that put our own assisting Bishop William Love on trial for believing the bible. I am a refugee from a church which just three days ago reaffirmed its commitment to the murder of unborn babies and said, 'As Episcopalians, we have a particular obligation to stand against Christians who seek to destroy our multicultural democracy and recast the United States as an idol to the cruel and distorted Christianity they advocate.'

"One of the many reasons why I am so sensitive to wokeness and this pattern of capitulation within the Anglican Church is because I am, and many of you are, refugees from a church that lost her way when she began to succumb to appeals for compassion, tenderness and a capitulation to culture as the justification for dismantling the faith 'once for all entrusted to the saints'."

I am a refugee from a church that deposed the late Dr. J.I Packer from the ordained ministry, he said.

"All over the world, Christians need great courage today. Courage to belong to what will increasingly be a minority movement. Although there are approximately 2.1 billion people nominally or actually Christian in the world, we as Christians, are religious minorities in at least 87 countries and in many of those countries, Christians are under pressure. Just last month I read that China has banned the name Christ . . . the Chinese government says the name of Jesus causes incitement. A pastor in Ireland who denounced Islam was prosecuted under the Communications Act after making his remarks when preaching in his church. Brothers and sisters, we need courage to refuse to be bullied into conformity to the crowd. We need courage to swim against the stream. Courage to resist the pressure to be politically correct. Courage to resist the pressure of wokeism."

Sadly, the Bible is no longer in vogue on issues confronting North America and the world, said Dobbs. The bishop urged his listeners to "Stand fast in the faith, be strong", in keeping with Paul's teaching in 1 Corinthians 16:13.

The ADLW is served by 117 ordained deacons and priests with 21 out of 43 rectors or senior ministers being bi-vocational. The Missions conference and Annual Synod was held at Immanuel Leidy Church in Souderton, PA.

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