Ecclesial disintegration countdown to primates meeting

Jan 10 Ending several years of restraint by the diocese of Colorado, Bp Robert O’Neill ordained a partnered lesbian.
Jan 12 Bp Gene Robinson tells national newspaper, “I will be careful not to be especially Christian in my Prayer” for Obama inaugural event.
Jan 23 A single candidate for the bishop of Northern Michigan was announced, the same person who designed the Episcopal Ministry Discernment process and who headed up the Episcopal Ministry Discernment team. Rev. Kevin Thew Forrester is a principal author and signatory to a document which declares each of us to be “only begotten child of God” and that we are all “incarnations of the Trinity.”
Jan 23 PB Schori accepts the ‘voluntary renunciation’ of orders of US Bishop William Wantland and British Bishop Henry Scriven even though no such renunciation was offered. (I think this makes six conservative bishops she has kicked out, none following canon law.)
Jan 23 Bishop Ronald Ferris (retired, Algoma) leaves the Anglican Church of Canada and joins the Anglican Network in Canada. (This makes the third Canadian and the 16th North American conservative bishop to join another ecclesial entity in two years.)
Jan 23 Bishop Jack Iker of Ft. Worth is threatened with lawsuits.
Jan 24 Diocese of Virginia, a “moderate” diocese, affirms the inherent integrity and blessedness of committed Christian relationships between two adult persons . . . and introduces liturgies for same sex couples as part of the “listening process.”
Jan 24 Diocese of North Carolina passed a resolution encouraging clergy to decline acting as state agents in the contracting of civil marriages
Jan 25 Legal dispute over Diocese of Pittsburgh money erupts.

Dear Lord, we are such sinful creatures.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

The Lord’s Resistance Army

The Monitor recounts story of LRA abductees rescued by the Ugandan army. The army has gained some information about collaborators.

Psalm 18:2-3 (New International Version)
The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.
He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise,
and I am saved from my enemies.

Lord,
We thank You for delivering these children. We praise You for the release of these captives. Be their refuge and heal their wounds.
Deliver Your people in Uganda, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo from the Lord’s Resistance Army. Bring the financial and government collaborators to justice. At Your name, every knee must bow in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. At Your name, the idols of greed and lust for power must yield. We speak the name of Jesus over this land. Break this stronghold. Amen.

The East African Revival–Walking in the Light

One of the great themes of the East African Revival was the view that true Christian conversion must be accompanied by a contrite confession of sin. After being convicted of their wrongs by the preaching of the cross, believers should be willing to give public testimony to what Christ has done in their lives and be willing to make restitution to anyone who has been harmed by their sins. There is a plethora of stories in East Africa of new believers returning things that had been stolen, or confessing past ethnic hatred or sexual misconduct. Such a confession must be accompanied by a willingness to lead a new life of honesty and openess, a lifestyle described as ‘walking in the light.’

If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 1 John 1:6-7

This revival, which began in 1929, spread from Rwanda to Uganda and Kenya. Also, Burundi and Tanzania were affected. It shaped the Protestant church in eastern Africa, and it has also helped shape the current Anglican crisis. The primate of Rwanda, Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini, moved by what he coined “spiritual genocide” in the Episcopal Church, was involved in the establishment of the Anglican Mission in America. After the consecration of Gene Robinson, the primate of Uganda, Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi, with his bishops broke communion with TEC and refused to accept any official monies from her, and Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi of Kenya said, “Repentance must begin with the leadership. The church leadership must repent. Are the bishops role models? And the theological seminaries? . . . ECUSA has kicked itself out of the Anglican Communion. You can act in such a way to kick yourself out. It pains us because we want to have everyone in the communion. It is the leaders that are responsible.”

Lord God Almighty,
Unbound by time, You set a light on a hill for this present darkness. We thank You for the East African Revival. We thank You for the light that shines from Mt. Kilimanjaro, across the Serengeti, to the headwaters of the Nile, and down the East African Rift. May it shine to Alexandria, and may there break out in the primates meeting a revival that will spread throughout the Anglican Communion.
Bright Morning Star, may a new day dawn in the Communion–a day of contrition and restitution, a day of repentance and testimony. We cry out, May the primates revere Your name! Sun of Righteousness, rise with healing in Your wings.
Bright Morning Star, we honor Your name. Heal the Anglican Communion! Lead Your angel-armies and free us from this bondage. May the primates leave the meeting, leaping with joy and bursting with energy, like calves released from the stall.
Bright Morning Star, we want to walk in Your light. Amen.

A Kenyan reflection on Psalm 23

Isaiah 48:9-12

“For my name’s sake I will defer my anger, and for my praise I will restrain it from you, so that I do not cut you off.” (Isaiah 48:9)
      Father, in your mercy do not cut off the Episcopal Church; please restrain your righteous anger with us. We are a sinful people and deserve your wrath, but we ask for your mercy instead.

“Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.” (Isaiah 48:10)
      Jesus, your people are being refined in the furnace of affliction — remove the impurity of sin and unbelief from among us.

“For my own sake, for my own sake, I will do it; for how should my name be profaned? And I will not give my glory to another.” (Isaiah 48:11)
      Thank you, Father, for refining us; thank you for being true to yourself and calling us to holiness.

“Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel, my called: I am he, I am the First, I am also the Last.” (Isaiah 48:12)
      Jesus, you are our all-in-all. Guide us by your Holy Spirit so that we answer your call. Thank you.

A word received: I AM calling my people back to me. I AM with you; don’t be afraid.

Monday: 41, 52; Isaiah 48:1-11; Galatians 1:1-17; Mark 5:21-43
Tuesday: 45; Isaiah 48:12-21; Galatians 1:18-2:10; Mark 6:1-13

Albany Intercessor