The Bible is pretty darn clear: God created two human sexes, labeling them as male and female. "Male and female He created them" (Genesis 1:27). One would expect that a vicar of a Christian church grounded in Biblical scripture would accept God's foundational creations, but Bingo Allison (yes, that's his real name) knows better. The "gender-queer" vicar says that his epiphany came when he was reading Genesis, at which time he concluded that God intended sexual fluidity. No wonder Christianity is dying in England, even as Islam rises. -- Andrea Widburg

ON A 'NON-BINARY' CofE PRIEST: I want to consider two fundamental questions which Bingo Allison's story raises and which the Church of England has not addressed. The first question is whether, from a Christian perspective, anyone can properly be described as 'non-binary.' The second is whether it would be right for someone who describes themselves in this way to be ordained. -- M Barratt Davie

Whether you are a believer or not, Christian traditions run too deep for us to ever give them up. --- Giles Fraser

King Charles III threatens to destroy the British monarchy with his 'multi-faith' beliefs. -- Gavin Ashenden

There seems generally to be a preoccupation with Anglicans becoming Roman Catholics. Less publicized is significant movement in the other direction, which happens for a variety of reasons." -- Bishop John Inge, CofE Diocese of Worcester

Of the twenty-two civilizations that have appeared in history, 19 of them collapsed when they reached the moral state the United States is in now. ---
Arnold Toynbee (A Study of History, 12 vol.)

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
www.virtueonline.org
January 6, 2023

RACING TO THE BOTTOM. The only question remaining is who will get to the bottom first. Will it be the Church in Wales, The Scottish Episcopal Church, the Anglican Church of Canada, the Episcopal Church (USA) or the Church of England?

All of these Anglican provinces are in serious numerical decline. Some estimates say that all five branches of Anglicanism will eventually disappear by 2040 (at the latest), though Covid may have pushed that up by five or even ten years.

The Church of England, for example, has less than 750,000 practicing Anglicans in a population of 56 million. The Episcopal Church now has less than 300,000 Average Sunday Attendance in a population of 332 million, The Church in Wales approximates 25,000, The Scottish Episcopal Church has less than 12,000 weekly attendances with the ACoC now well below 100,000 in a population of over 38 million. None of this bodes well.

The more these churches capitulate to the culture on issues of marriage, homosexuality, homosexual marriage, non-binary issues, and continually raging on about critical race theory, climate change, saving whales or windmills that will save the planet or the next public issue someone comes up with, the faster the churches decline.

When you are arrested for standing praying over women who want abortions, or make noises about how non-binary kids should be treated in school and your own children get kicked out of school for saying something and the church is silent, meaning complicit, then don't blame the same couple who dumps the church for another church or no church. Worse still, the church remains silent in the face of these egregious behaviors.

When you draw away from the church's principal task to preach the gospel in order to bring people out of darkness into the light of Christ, then you have effectively lost the plot. You deserve to go out of business. You SHOULD go out of business. In fact, you have no business calling yourself a church. You are an organization or corporation run by a board with a group of overpaid clergy and bishops who dress up to get public attention and affirmation. History will one day record that homosexual marriage was the final nail in the coffin of western Anglicanism.

***

The latest insanity this week comes from the UK. The Church of England's first 'gender-queer' priest shared her hope of 'normalizing it for children'. "When I'm wearing my collar, it lets children know that is OK," said the Rev. Bingo Allison.

Allison, a biological male who identifies as non-binary, who works in Liverpool, said God was guiding the 36-year-old into a "new truth" about gender identity, according to an interview with a British newspaper.

Allison, who has a wife and three children, told the Liverpool Echo that a late-night study of Genesis 1:27 and its language of "maleness to femaleness" led to what Allison called a "deepening spiritual experience."

In the NIV, Genesis 1:27 reads: "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them."

"I properly felt God was guiding me into this new truth about myself," Allison was quoted as saying. "One of the things that has kept with my ministry ever since is that transition and coming out can and should be a spiritual experience, as well as an emotional and social and sometimes physical one."

At this time of publication there has not been one word of protest from her bishop or the ABC. Nothing. Is this the new normal? You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/church-englands-first-non-binary-vicar

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The announcement that the Rt. Rev. Dr Emma Ineson, an evangelical scholar has been appointed as the Diocese of London's next Bishop of Kensington, evoked outrage on Twitter. The left leaves no stone unturned in its bid to erase orthodoxy in the CofE especially when it comes to morals. Ineson has impeccable evangelical credentials. She is a British Anglican bishop and academic, specializing in practical theology. Since 2021, she has served as "Bishop to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York", i.e., assistant bishop on the staffs of both archbishops. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/new-evangelical-bishop-kensington-gets-pushback-twitter

We are watching the same anger and outrage in The Episcopal Church as evangelical Charlie Holt tries to become the next Bishop of Florida. Despite winning twice, his election is being challenged by the diocese's pansexualists who don't like his traditional views on marriage. The specter of Gene Robinson hangs like a Damoclean sword over the whole denomination.

***

Welby's Christmas Message is more fudge than reality and ignores the growing schism in the communion. The Archbishop of Canterbury's Christmas message was a study in disingenuous sidestepping and a complete disregard for the truth about the current state of both his own church and the Anglican Communion.

He writes: "Right across the Anglican Communion, we are facing the most enormous challenges. Outside the tragedies of war, this is the biggest time of global tension we have faced since the Communion began. So many parts of the Communion already know what it is to suffer. Floods, wars, civil war, corruption, suffering, illness, pandemic, malaria, measles, cholera, typhoid, poverty, oppression, persecution. These continue to be the facts of life."

This begs the obvious point that these above-mentioned issues have been around for 2,000 years in one form or another, which is hardly new news. The only difference is that media make it possible to bring it all into our living rooms in living color. There have been plagues that have killed millions. The Black Death (1334-1353) killed between 75-200 million, far outpacing Covid-19. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/welbys-christmas-message-more-fudge-reality-and-ignores-growing-schism-communion

Talking of fudge, George Hargreaves is making fudge, a box of which he has sent to Justin Welby at Lambeth Palace. If you Google "Lambeth Fudge" you can find alongside my article LAMBETH: Anglican Fudge Over Sexuality Threatens Reconciliation and Unity links to his ministry's Lambeth Fudge initiative relating to the Anglican church's fudge regarding abortion. (Visit WheresWelby.com for detail.,)

"In a bid to raise debate concerning Lambeth Palace's ambiguous stance on abortion I have produce a short run of Vanilla Fudge called Lambeth Fudge and made it available for purchase on Amazon.co.uk. "

You can buy it here:
Lambeth Fudge: Premium Vanilla Ecclesiastical Fudge 150g
Free delivery and returns on all eligible orders. Shop Lambeth Fudge: Premium Vanilla Ecclesiastical Fudge 150g.
www.amazon.co.uk

***

The Archbishop of Canterbury has refused to scrap schools' guidance that affirms 'Transgender' five-year-olds and brands dissenters 'Transphobic'. Justin Welby, has rejected calls to scrap the Church of England's (CofE) transgender guidance which affirms children as young as five in gender confusion.

In an open letter to the Archbishop, Nigel and Sally Rowe had called on the CofE to scrap its "Valuing All God's Children" (VAGC) guidance, which covers 4,700 CofE primary schools.

The letter was sent following the Rowes' legal victory against the Department for Education (DfE) in September, which led to a £22,000 settlement for legal costs and a commitment from the Government to reform its transgender policies. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/archbishop-canterbury-refuses-scrap-schools-guidance-affirms-transgender-five-year-olds-and-brands

The TOP 10 ANGLICAN/EPISCOPAL NEWS STORIES IN 2022 included the overthrow of Roe v. Wade and The Episcopal Church's lament at the prospect that women cannot obtain an abortion on demand. The Anglican Church in North America defended the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. No.2 was Queen Elizabeth II dies after 70 years as monarch and head of the Church of England. Tributes poured in about her Christian faith. She was dispatched with a High Church liturgy that is becoming increasingly alien to many in religiously pluralistic Britain. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/top-10-anglicanepiscopal-news-stories-2022

For a look at what's ahead in 2023 for the Anglican Communion and what VOL will be following, you can read my analysis here: https://virtueonline.org/anglican-stories-vol-will-be-following-2023

***

There is a leadership vacuum in the Church of England writes 'Campbell'. Our society faces increasing internal division and economic hardship. The greatest controversy facing the Church of England, the UK's largest and most influential denomination, is the issue of same-sex marriage. Should the CofE bless or even permit homosexual marriages in church?

The supreme quality necessary for any church leader is faithfulness to the Word of God. In this ecclesiastical conflict the church's leader, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has chosen to stay above the fray. He has told his denomination, and along with it the worldwide Anglican communion of which he is primus inter pares, that as long as he is in the post, he will keep his views on same-sex marriage in church a secret. Unless a church leader calls for unity around biblical truth, what is proclaimed is mere surface unity. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/cofe%E2%80%99s-leadership-vacuum

***

WHAT ABOUT THE BISHOPS? Will they go for the Living in Love and Faith (LLF) process or reject it. Whatever the outcome of the LLF process, it appears that some diocesan bishops have, in any event, landed their clergy and laity in a deep and enduring crisis, writes the author of Anglican Futures.

"While some traditions rejoice in this, some evangelicals, particularly more conservative ones, have done much to obfuscate it, if not ignore it all together. That, however is not a tenable position, primarily because it is not the canonical position -- the law is clear. This becomes immediately evident in matters like clergy discipline, archdeacons' visitations and clergy succession, where, however much the bishop has been avoided, their true role becomes very visible indeed."

The review outlines the dangers of a church equivocating about the extent of the authority of the diocesan. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/what-about-bishops

***

Well, WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? In 2008, the Rt. Rev. John H. Rodgers, Jr., an Anglican bishop with a near perfect evangelical pedigree gave an address to the Global Anglican Future Conference in Jerusalem. Recently, he passed away at the age of 92, but the Rev. Dr. Stephen Noll an Anglican theologian, said Rodgers was speaking a prophetic word that is awaiting fulfillment fifteen years later. You can read it here: https://virtueonline.org/where-do-we-go-here

In the coming weeks, VOL will publish a series of essays, "Toward Reviving, Reforming, and Reordering the Anglican Communion: Fourteen Theses for GAFCON" by the Rev. Dr. Stephen Noll, an Anglican theologian of some repute. He is Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies at Trinity School for Ministry, Ambridge, PA; retired Vice Chancellor of Uganda Christian University, Mukono, Uganda.
He is eminently qualified to take up the mantle of Rodgers with these prophetic posts.

***

CHRIST-FASCISM IN CANADA: In the Diocese of B.C., it seems that if you are a Christian who thinks that men having sex with other men is not a good idea, or you think encouraging children to believe that they were assigned the wrong body is child abuse, you are a Christ-Fascist, a white supremacist and a member of a hate group, writes David of Samizdat.

In front of the BC legislature on many Saturdays over the past year, you would see people holding up signs about freedom, many of them white Christian men and women. If you looked or listened closely, you would also hear messages about hate.

Christ fascism is on the rise in Canada. By Christ fascism, I mean predominantly white Christian groups in Canada seeking to impose their religious views, including discrimination of marginalized groups of people, upon the wider public. This includes actively opposing polices of queer inclusion at public institutions such as schools, universities, health clinics and legislative bodies, especially through undemocratic means. Tactics include intimidation, harassment, threat of violence, and seeking to revoke or repeal charter freedoms of other Canadians. These groups that often wave the flag of individual and religious freedom are also among the first to want to revoke freedoms of groups of people they find undesirable, falling outside of the norms of an extremist Christian faith.

White supremacists and hate groups have established a foothold in Canadian churches, including hate groups disguised as public interest groups. For example, so-called groups of concerned citizens who allege trans kids are victims of child abuse, simply for falling outside the gender norms these "extremist" Christian groups who uphold traditional views on sexuality. A group will say they are concerned and then show up en masse protesting actual children who are exercising their freedoms simply to exist. Such protests have happened recently in Vancouver.

***

A former chaplain to Queen Elizabeth II and now a convert to Catholicism has voiced concerns about King Charles III's support for multifaith and multiculturalism, suggesting that these ideologies could threaten the stability and continuity of the British monarchy. Gavin Ashenden believes Christianity is under attack and calls on Christians to unite and defend their faith.

In an interview with GB News following the king's first Christmas speech, Ashenden warned that the monarchy could be in danger if it continues to move towards multifaith and multiculturalism. He believes that these ideologies could lead the monarchy to lose its authenticity and identity.

'You're either a defender of the faith, or you're not.' You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/former-chaplain-queen-elizabeth-warns-assault-christianity-under-king-charles

***

The death of Pope Benedict this week evoked two very different perspectives and reactions on the pontiff. Was he the greatest theologian the RCC church ever had, (Rod Dreher); a brilliant theologian, compassionate and concerned (George Weigel). The World Council of Churches said Benedict was the first pope to have belonged to a committee of the World Council of Churches, as one of the Catholic members of its Faith and Order Commission. He also praised the formation of the Anglican Church in North America, sending greetings to then Archbishop Bob Duncan after the break from the Episcopal Church over homosexuality and Gene Robinson's ordination.

The other side referred to him as 'God's Rottweiler,' a not so very flattering term to describe a man who started out in Hitler's Youth and graduated to laying mines for the Germans in Hungary. During his time as pope, Benedict apparently failed to rein in the gay mafia within the Vatican and basically got out (retired) because it was all a bit too much for him. You can read several pieces on his death here: https://virtueonline.org/pope-who-visited-rowan-williams-lambeth-palace-has-died and here: https://virtueonline.org/death-gods-rottweiler

***

Martin Sargeant, former head of operations in the diocese of London, will start a five-year jail sentence for defrauding the London diocesan fund of
£5.2111 million ($6.2 million) over a decade, according to Private Eye magazine. He used the money to fund his gambling addiction, to buy £Im ($1.2 million) properties in Scotland and to finance 158 flights to Milan, Miami and Las Vegas. We can now reveal that by the late 1990s, when he was given his first job in the London diocese, Sargeant had already served a community order and spent 21 months in Dorchester prison for offences, including 19 counts of theft against previous employers.

***

The dust up in Irvington NJ at Christ Anglican Church of New Jersey has caused a lot of friction between rival Nigerian Anglican groups in the US. A former leader and spear carrier for Nigerian Primate Henry Ndukuba, one Bishop Felix Orji (CONNAM) moved back to come under the ACNA again, much to the annoyance of Nigeria. However, things got patched up and Ndukuba received Orji back into the Anglican fold, even though he remains in the ACNA.

This week the parish in question fired off its rejoinder to the attempted takeover of the church and posted their take on the matter, blaming the trespassing party led by Bishop Augustine Unuigbe. The church leaders say that the Church of Nigeria (CoN) has never had any direct rights or ownership of CAC. The members of CAC voted overwhelmingly to leave CANA West and by doing so, severed its relationship with CoN. Therefore, the assertion by CoN of a unilateral takeover of CAC by ACNA is entirely false.

The melee at the church led by Bishop Augustine Unuigbe left children traumatized, women and senior adults fearful, and families frustrated by what happened. Indeed, members of the church and regular attenders still fear that they too could be harmed by the return of such an unruly mob. Even Bishop Ken Ross's crosier was purposefully damaged by the trespassing party. The CoN's still has not condemned the racist and homophobic slurs directed clearly at Bishop Ross. If not refuted and condemned by the Primate, one can only deduce that the CoN has displayed their true nature by the actions of their Bishop that day. You can read more here:
https://virtueonline.org/irvington-nj-christ-anglican-church-new-jersey-fires-rejoinder-attempted-takeover

***

Globally, GSFA Chairman Archbishop Justin Badi offered up his Christmas reflection and said that he and the GSFA are swimming against the tide and drift of where the institutional leadership of the Communion, often termed the Instruments of Communion (or Unity), is presently moving.

He reiterated that the GSFA accomplished each of the four objectives and while not all Global South Provinces went to The Lambeth Conference 2022 (LC22) for reasons of conscience, those who did go were conscious of the four-fold objectives of GSFA at Lambeth: (a) to unify the orthodox in the Communion; (b) to sound a clarion call to biblical faithfulness (by re-affirming Lambeth 1.10); (c) to be a 'holy remnant' in the Communion (and not a breakaway group); and (d) to spur orthodox Provinces to collaborate and pursue holistic Gospel mission to the world. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/gsfa-chairman-badis-christmas-reflections-2022

***

CULTURE WARS. Statistics reveal that abortion was the leading cause of death worldwide for the fourth year in a row, as the number of abortions nearly quadrupled the number of deaths from infectious diseases in 2022. Worldometer, a database that keeps track of statistics about health, the global population and other metrics in real-time, continuously compiles information about the number of abortions worldwide. The last available snapshot of the Worldometer from 2022, captured on Dec. 31 by the internet archiving tool The Wayback Machine, shows that more than 44 million abortions took place last year.

While Worldometer cites a fact sheet from the World Health Organization as the source for its abortion statistics, the WHO maintains that "around 73 million induced abortions take place worldwide each year." The global organization characterizes abortion as an essential health service.

***

Evangelicals recently came together for a major global consultation on how to improve collaboration around theological education. Over 500 people from 80 countries took part in the C-22 consultation hosted by the International Council for Evangelical Theological Education (ICETE). The consultation was held recently in Izmir, Turkey, with the aim of strengthening collaboration across all forms of theological education worldwide. A particular area of focus was pastoral training and leadership development, and bridging the gap between formal and non-formal training.

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VOL continues to lead the communion in bringing you the news that most other Anglican news outlets won't touch. We reached a new readership high with nearly 1.5 million page views this past year and we remain the leader in global Anglican news reporting. Our track record over three decades is solid and speaks for itself. We don't need to toot our horn, but perhaps a little. You can make a tax-deductible donation here by check, credit card or PAYPAL to keep the news coming and make my travels possible to bring you the news. I will write later in the month from Charleston, SC where I will be attending Mere Anglican conference addressing the impact C.S. Lewis had on the Christian world.

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