It costs something to be a real Christian, according to the standard of the Bible. There are enemies to be overcome, battles to be fought, sacrifices to be made, an Egypt to be forsaken, a wilderness to be passed through, a cross to be carried, a race to be run. Conversion is not putting a person in an arm-chair and taking them easily to heaven. It is the beginning of a mighty conflict, in which it costs much to win the victory. --- J. C. Ryle

Orthodox religious traditions, Christian and Jewish are the only thing that will survive the blast furnace of ongoing Cultural Revolution. Make sure you're on the right side of the struggle. -- Yoram Hazony is president of the Herzl Institute

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
www.virtueonline.org
May 10, 2024

It has been two weeks of absolute mayhem in the Anglican Communion. First, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby tried to spin that all was well when he met with some of his primates in Rome.

They chatted and prayed and did a Bible study; briefly noted the absence of some of their brethren, wandered the sights of Rome, exchanged cordial relations with the Pope with more talk about "unity" and "synodality," and then issued a 17-point communique; basically, a lot of fluff outlining what wonderful things they said, climaxing with a photo op with his Holiness. You can read their communique here: https://virtueonline.org/rome-primates-meeting-communique

As a reminder to Welby that all is not well in the communion, the chairman of GAFCON, Rwandan Archbishop Laurent Mbanda blasted back shredding the communique with this response; "The truth is that most of those who refused to attend are leaders of Gafcon and the Global South, and our absence was not accidental, but intentional." (For the record they represent more than 70% of the communion).

He said the current divisions within the Anglican Communion are neither minimal nor new. These divisions have arisen from more than 25 years of "repeated departures from the authority of God's Word" that, despite the persistent warnings given by the majority of Anglican Primates, have continued unabated. You can read his response here: https://virtueonline.org/response-primates-meeting-rome

One wonders if the Pope knew this, and if so, why did he say what he said, or did the Roma Curia and other ecclesiastical minders keep this information from him.

You can read my story here. https://virtueonline.org/welby-pope-and-gafcon-primate-three-ring-ecclesiastical-circus-over-gathering-anglican-archbishops

And then a bombshell hit the Vatican. A group of 17 scholars and activists released a lengthy statement calling for Pope Francis to resign or to be formally asked to resign by the College of Cardinals.

Stating that Francis has "caused an unprecedented crisis in the Catholic Church" by his words and actions, the 17 signatories attested that the Pope has "done great harm to the Church and the whole world" since assuming the papal throne in March 2013. (Full statement is below, with a downloadable PDF here). https://drive.google.com/file/d/1u1p7_d3tgspmrFz7ZaVCxCmgo-4Icwc_/view?pli=1

Vatican reporter Jules Gomes weighs in on this crisis here:
https://stream.org/catholic-academics-call-for-pope-francis-to-resign-or-be-removed-citing-unprecedented-crisis/

It should not be lost on VOL readers that the timing was just about perfect. Welby who represents less than 30% of global Anglicans turns up in Rome with only 31 of his primates for a gabfest. Welby has already been asked to resign several times over his failures, but has chosen not to do so. He exchanges bear hugs with Pope Francis. In the middle of all this bonhomie the pope is hit with an ultimatum that his primacy is so bad he should resign. In short, he has been a wrecking ball and should go.

One wonders what Welby was thinking when he heard and read the multi-page condemnation of Francis' reign and legacy on the plane home. Time to pop another depression pill.

***

In the slow but quickening pace in the decline of The Episcopal Church there came news that the three small Episcopal dioceses of Milwaukee, Fond du Lac and Eau Claire are to become a single statewide diocese to be known simply as the Diocese of Wisconsin. It will be the reconstitution of this one state-wide diocese.

Last week the three existing Episcopal dioceses met at a special convention in Baraboo, Wisconsin to vote themselves out of existence; the first step in being united into the Episcopal Diocese of Wisconsin. The next step is for June's upcoming General Convention, in Louisville, Kentucky, to sign off on the deal.

The May 4 vote to pursue this course of action was: Milwaukee 155/4 in the lay order and 58/3 in the clerical order; Fond du Lac 48/15 in the lay order and 38/5 in the clerical order; Eau Claire 36/1 in the lay order and 16/1 in the clerical order. The proposal passed handily. You can read Mary Ann Mueller's excellent analysis of this action here: https://virtueonline.org/big-changes-planned-episcopal-dioceses-wisconsin

Following the steady but continuing decline of the church, a group of dioceses launched a coordinated effort to reduce the assessment they are expected to pay to the Church Center from 15 percent to 10 percent, over a period of years, arguing that the dioceses can make better use of the funds for mission and ministry.

In an online legislative hearing April 30, the joint Committee on Governance and Structure heard testimony for and against the idea, put forth in separate but similarly worded resolutions from the dioceses of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, and Oklahoma. Most of the resolutions call on General Convention to make an immediate reduction from 15 percent to 13.5 percent, and all of them set an eventual 10 percent target, by either 2030 or 2033. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/dioceses-seek-sharp-reduction-assessments-church-center

***

In another not so happy state of affairs; VOL correspondent Mary Ann Mueller was denied credentials to cover the next General Convention in Kentucky. She has been a journalist for more than 40 years and has covered multiple conventions either in person or online. You can read her story here: https://virtueonline.org/vol-denied-media-credentials-upcoming-general-convention

***

To round off Episcopal news, an article in the Covenant section of The Living Church magazine by Kevin Martin titled "Christianity's Future" raises more questions than it answers, and compels the question as to where the Rev. Martin's mind is with the current state of The Episcopal Church!

The article is titled Christianity's Future, a misnomer as the article is about The Episcopal Church's future, not Christianity's. Christianity will survive the revisionism and pan-sexualism of TEC and western Christianity, but TEC itself will be virtually extinct by 2040 if not sooner, based on the church's most recent demographics. His article can be read here: https://covenant.livingchurch.org/2024/05/02/christianitys-future/

The Rev. Martin laments the decline of The Episcopal Church witnessing the large loss of the Great "GI" Generation which Texas Bishop Andy Doyle called the "tsunami of death." If current trends continue, using Bishop Doyle's sea imagery, the receding tide of Boomers will mean that by 2035, Christianity in North America will drop to 10 percent or less of the population, says Martin. You can read the full story here: https://virtueonline.org/episcopal-churchs-future

***

The Anglican Church of Canada got a wakeup call this week when it learned that its numbers were in dramatic decline. There was a sharp drop during the pandemic from which the church has not recovered. The statistics officer opined that the COVID-19 pandemic saw a significant decline in church attendance, marking a "radical discontinuity" even with previous downward trends.

Canon Neil Elliot presented data from 2022 diocesan returns in a January report and said the figures show a decline on almost all fronts from 2019 to 2022, including a 12 per cent decrease in the total number on parish rolls, 26 per cent decrease in average Sunday attendance, and 17 per cent decrease in regular identifiable givers. The biggest drops came in the number of people attending services on major holy days: a 45 per cent decline in Easter attendance, 37 per cent for Pentecost and 47 per cent for Christmas.

Declines were also seen in the number of pastoral services, with 25 per cent fewer baptisms, 13 per cent fewer confirmations and 10 per cent fewer marriages--the only exception being funerals, which saw a very small increase.

"Attendance has been hit," Elliot said. "I think that's a really clear thing

Elliot projected that based on that trajectory, there would be "no members, attenders or givers in the Anglican Church of Canada by approximately 2040." Of course, if you have no Good News to proclaim, only a bunch of woke issues why would not you go out of business! You can read the full story here: https://virtueonline.org/canada-sharp-drop-during-pandemic-stats-officer

To cap off the declining world of Canadian Christianity, the Anglican Church of Canada signed an agreement to share national office space with The United Church of Canada and The Presbyterian Church in Canada at the redeveloped site of Bloor Street United Church at 300 Bloor St. W. in Toronto. The agreement reflects the churches' commitment to nurturing ecumenical relationships and cooperation, reducing costs and lessening their carbon footprint. OR, all three churches are on life support and are propping each other up even as they all sink into the sunset.

***

In the Church of England, the screws are slowly but surely being tightened around the necks of its Anglo-Catholic wing. A submission by the campaign group Women and the Church (WATCH) centered on concerns about how having a bishop who does not ordain women could undermine clergy in the diocese and the diocesan bishop's function as a figure of unity is being heralded as divisive.

The Church Times reports that: "Campaigners had raised concerns about Bishop Philip North's views on the ordination of women, which he has said is an area on which the Church of England should not be at variance with the wider Church (News, 15 September 2017). In line with the Church's Five Guiding Principles, being a traditionalist is not a bar to becoming a diocesan bishop.

"Forward in Faith remains strongly of the view that the Church of England benefits from the breadth of its witness, including the catholic teaching and practice which it holds in common with the universal Church."

"Once again WATCH show themselves in their true colours as a group of feminists using the Church to further their feminist cause regardless of the effect on others."

***

As the Church of England descends into the seemingly bottomless abyss of wokeness it should come as no surprise that its leaders should lead the way. A case in point is the Venerable Doctor Miranda Threlfall-Holmes, the newly appointed Anglican Archdeacon of Liverpool. She recently tweeted: 'Let's have anti-whiteness, and let's smash the patriarchy.' This outburst, resulting from her attending a conference on 'whiteness', prompted a litany of outrage in the media, her comments being described as racist, divisive, and nonsensical. Her views on the patriarchy are certainly odd given that the first words of the Lord's Prayer, taught by Christ, are 'Our Father' which seems very problematical for someone who wants to smash the patriarchy. She has, of course, backtracked and stated that her comments were part of a more nuanced discussion. Yea, yea, but out of the abundance of the heart the fingers tweet (to misquote Christ). You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/anti-white-anti-male-woke-voice-anglican-wilderness

***
The Living Church reports that Archbishop Thabo Makgoba of Cape Town has released six pages of draft prayers for and about same-sex couples. Remarkably for this genre of prayers, the 15 drafts released by the archbishop reflect not only proposed blessings but also a prayer of opposition and prayers that focus more on the divided nature of Anglican Church of Southern Africa.

Southern Africa’s Provincial Synod will discuss the draft prayers in September. The prayers use sparse punctuation and occasional free-form capitalization, and some push the church toward blessings.

The archbishop himself pushed toward such blessings in his two-page cover letter, issued April 25. “In order to provide ministry to all our people, we must engage this challenge, and I urge you to deliberate on it in your parishes and Dioceses,” Makgoba wrote. You can read more here: https://livingchurch.org/2024/05/09/eclectic-prayers-for-same-sex-south-african-couples/

***

The END of the Church of Scotland -- A factual video report

By THEWEEFLEA

As regular readers of this blog will be aware I have been commenting on and predicting the collapse of the Church of Scotland for a couple of decades. This video from Ready to Harvest is accurate and fair -- and not just because it quotes extensively from yours truly -- it shows just how desperate things have become. As we move towards General Assembly season -- we will hear some fanciful scenarios....and talk about how we are 'seizing the opportunity' and 'on the cusp of transformation and revival' (Rev David Cameron -- convenor of the Assembly of Trustees). It's the same nonsense we have heard every year for the past 20 years. The C of S ministers have fiddled while Rome burned.... It is utterly heartbreaking. Whilst I am thankful that there are other churches which are picking up some of the pieces -- I cannot but weep at the demise of the Kirk -- largely destroyed from within...
You can see it here: https://theweeflea.com/2024/05/07/the-end-of-the-church-of-scotland-a-factual-video-report/

***

CULTURE WARS

Is the tide turning on the transgender madness at last? You can read more here:
https://virtueonline.org/tide-turning-transgender-madness-last

Evangelicals list their top issues facing the US. A new survey reveals that Evangelicals view immigration, American sovereignty and abortion as the top issues facing the United States heading into the 2024 presidential election. Nothing about money, jobs or the economy. Politicians should take note.
https://virtueonline.org/evangelicals-list-top-issues-facing-us-survey

Why was gender ideology allowed to run amok for so long? The landmark Cass Review into gender-identity services in England, laid bare the scandal of the NHS's treatment of 'gender confused' kids. There was never any evidence for subjecting troubled, often gay, often autistic, youngsters to life-altering hormones, drugs and treatments. But clinicians did it anyway, in thrall as they were to gender ideology. After years of gender-critical voices being dismissed or ignored by mainstream media, they can be dismissed and ignored no longer. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/why-was-gender-ideology-allowed-run-amok-so-long

Ivy League schools are slowly but surely jettisoning their religious (specifically Christian) underpinnings. Columbia leads the pack.

The pre-evolution colonial-era Ivy League universities have lost their original spiritual moorings. They are now adrift in a sea of hyper secularism, wokeism, and anti-Semitic activism bordering on domestic terrorism, writes special correspondent Mary Ann Mueller.

Currently that is being played out against the backdrop of anti-Israel demonstrations, civil disobedience and campus occupations spearheaded at Columbia University which spread like wildfire throughout the elite collegiate community spilling over into other college settings. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/ivy-league-schools-jettison-religion-underpinnings

And here: https://thecritic.co.uk/the-students-are-revolting/

The Bible does not justify antisemitism: https://virtueonline.org/bible-does-not-justify-anti-semitism

There is a war on reality, writes Dave Doveton of Anglican Mainstream. The contemporary phenomenon of gender ideologies which we see promoted by certain western ruling elites has reached a stage where a particular group who self-identify as transgender have undergone hormone and psychological regimens and even surgery to alter their bodies. This amounts to a reaction to embodied reality that can only be described as a rebellion, a war on reality itself. If my internal feelings about who I am clash with outer reality, then reality is 'wrong'. Expressive individualism has asserted its autonomous right to defy reality. You can read his fine analysis of the situation here: https://virtueonline.org/war-reality

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VIRTUEONLINE IS EXPANDING ITS MINISTRY AND OUTREACH

This week I started YouTube in an interview with Dr. Gerry McDermott on the War in Israel. You can see it here: https://youtu.be/98nNyRRWIz4?si=HEnsrJHU1eRYNjC2

I have also started a SUBSTACK with my scribblings on the Middle East with the war in Israel. You can see them here: https://substack.com/@davidvirtue2?utm_source=user-menu

***

In case you missed it, United Methodists have followed the Episcopal Church and redefined marriage, ending its official teaching on homosexuality.

The Religion News Service reported that United Methodist delegates adopted a revised definition of marriage on May 2 at their quadrennial meeting called the General Conference and deleted from their rule book a condemnation of homosexuality that has riven the denomination for 52 years.

The nation's second-largest Protestant group now embraces the full equality of LGBTQ members in every aspect of church life.

While some African and U.S. delegates rallied outside the convention center against the new definition of marriage, which they contended is contrary to Scripture, the vast majority of delegates voted 523-161, or more than 3-to-1, to accept the changes to the rule book, known as the Book of Discipline.

***

Dear friends,

Over a year ago I learned that my webmaster James Syrow had been stricken with ALS at the tender age of 41. ALS is among the top 1-to-2 worst neurological diseases a person can get, worse than Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

James and his wife are looking to raise $25,000. If you can 'spare a dime' and help him raise the money so he can receive all of the necessary treatments, and finish his recovery it would be appreciated. James wrote to say he is slowly starting to recover; the money is needed to continue the recovery.

If you can help James then please hit the gofundme button below:
https://gofund.me/157d3d48

All blessings,

David