Fort Worth litigation

Judge John Chupp will reconvene the court hearing at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 16. Many of the Psalms make suitable prayers (e.g. 70, 71, 73, 74).

Dear Lord,
The weight of our sins pulls us down. Demonic currents entrap us in a vortex of venom. Forgive us of the sin of cold love and save us from this deadly whirlpool.
Bless the church property under litigation in Fort Worth. Bless the land and bless the buildings. May it be used for generations to come for the glory of God. Bless each pulpit in Fort Worth. May each one be used to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ crucified.
Bless our enemies. You discern the thoughts and intents of the heart, Your word dividing spirit and soul. You alone know their inmost needs. Bless them in Your infinite wisdom. Amen.
Hebrews 4:12, Matthew 24:12

Pray for the Communion Partners bishops

I confess I’ve not yet read the full statement posted at the ACI and signed by 11 or more of the “Communion Partners” bishops.  But from what I’ve skimmed of the blogs this morning and seen of the hostile reaction from TEC’s progressive wing  (see: here, here, and here for starters) leads me to believe that commenter TJMcMahon at Stand Firm is right.  The bishops that signed this statement need our prayers.  Here’s what TJ wrote:

We do need to pray for the men who signed this. Whether we are in TEC or out, they need our prayers and our support. They have done something bold in defense of the Church.  Reading the list serve and some of the blogs, there are those out there who are literally trying to raise the fires of hell against these bishops and priests.

It may be that the last battle for the soul of the Episcopal Church has begun.

Lord, have mercy upon us.

A good reminder and exhortation.  So let’s be in prayer.  May I suggest the compilation of Scripture-based prayers for our leaders that I compiled a number of years ago?  It gives prayers straight out of Scripture.

Here is a list of the bishops who signed the ACI document on the Polity of the Episcopal Church:

The Right Reverend  James M. Adams, Jr  (Bishop of Western Kansas)

The Right Reverend Peter H. Beckwith (Bishop of Springfield)

The Right Reverend William C. Frey (Assisting Bishop of Rio Grande; Retired Bishop of Colorado)

The Right Reverend Alden M. Hathaway (Retired Bishop of Pittsburgh)

The Right Reverend John W. Howe (Bishop of Central Florida)

The Right Reverend Russell E. Jacobus (Bishop of Fond du Lac)

The Right Reverend Paul E. Lambert (Bishop Suffragan of Dallas)

The Right Reverend Mark J. Lawrence (Bishop of South Carolina)

The Right Reverend Edward S. Little II (Bishop of Northern Indiana)

The Right Reverend William H. Love (Bishop of Albany)

The Right Reverend D. Bruce MacPherson (Bishop of Western Louisiana)

The Right Reverend Edward L. Salmon, Jr. (Retired Bishop of South Carolina)

The Right Reverend Michael G. Smith (Bishop of North Dakota)

The Right Reverend James M. Stanton (Bishop of Dallas)

The Right Reverend Don A. Wimberly (Bishop of Texas)

Also Endorsed By:

The Reverend Canon Professor Christopher Seitz

The Reverend Dr. Philip Turner

The Reverend Dr. Ephraim Radner

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.

Standing Committee on Liturgy & Music

From Oct 13-17, the SCLM will hold their last meeting before the release of the Blue Book for GC2009. The SCLM has a new chair, Julia Huttar Bailey, a church musician. Any proposed resolutions on liturgy for GC2009 will come through this committee. They have been commissioned to develop a liturgy for the healing of post-abortion stress. This week’s meeting takes place in Ashland, Nebraska.

Lord, we will praise You with all our hearts. We will tell of all the wonderful things you have done. We will sing with joy because of You. Almighty God, we will sing praise to You. You, O Lord, can raise the dead.
We pray that the members of the Standing Committee on Liturgy and Music–Julia, Devon, Samuel, Gregory, Henry, Carl, Ernesto, Ruth, Sandra, Clayton, Jeannine, Jennifer, Mildred, George, Frank, and Jessica–affirm the death, resurrection, and ascension of Your Son Jesus Christ in their life and ministries.
Give them discerning hearts to recognize evil. May they think deeply about sin and, in fear and trembling, offer the right sacrifices to You. May they lean on You and not on worldly understanding. You alone, O Lord, can keep them perfectly safe. Amen.
Psalm 4, Luke 8:30, Acts 26:8

House of Bishops

This coming Wenesday, the Episcopal House of Bishops will convene in Salt Lake City.

O Lord, Your Holy Scripture tells us that the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water. The Episcopal Church is a parched and thirsty land. You promise Your blessings to those who keep Your testimonies, who seek You with their whole hearts.
We ask You to bless all the members of the Epsicopal House of Bishops. We ask You to stir in their hearts a hunger to read Your Holy Word as they make preparations for the meeting. You know the needs of each and every bishop. Speak to each one through Holy Scripture and meet every individual at his point of need.
The Episcopal House of Bishops is a divided house, and many members have divided hearts. O Lord, have mercy.
Send Your Holy Spirit down upon them. Open their eyes to recognize those false assumptions that lead them away from You. Convict them of these false understandings. Heal their image of You. Help them to walk in Your laws and testimonies and to seek You with undivided hearts.
Bring forth springs of living water in this dry and thirsty church. We cry out for a spiritual Elim, with 12 wells and 70 palm trees. We ask this in the name of Your Son, Christ Jesus the Healer. Amen.
Isaiah 35:7, Psalm 119:2, Exodus 15:27

Standing Committee on Liturgy and Music

The SCLM has a new chair, Julia Huttar Bailey, a church musician. Any proposed resolutions on liturgy for GC2009 will come through this committee. They have been commissioned to develop a liturgy for the healing of post-abortion stress.

Lord, we will praise You with all our hearts. We will tell of all the wonderful things you have done. We will sing with joy because of You. Almighty God, we will sing praise to You.
We pray that the members of the Standing Committee on Liturgy and Music–Julia, Devon, Samuel, Gregory, Henry, Carl, Ernesto, Ruth, Sandra, Clayton, Jeannine, Jennifer, Mildred, George, Frank, and Jessica–will please You in worship, in the manner of their lives, and in their ministries within the church. May they obey You in everything and always do what is right. May their words be true and sincere. Guard them from slander and from gossip. Help them to discern righteousness from iniquity that they may honor Your faithful servants. Fortify them to always do what they promise, no matter the cost. We humbly beseech You in the name of Your Son. Amen.
Psalm 9:1-2, Psalm 15:2-4

Mark 1:21-27

Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught. (Mark 1:21)
Jesus, please enter every parish and seminary of the Episcopal Church and teach your people.

And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. (Mark 1:22)
Jesus, reclaim the teaching authority that is rightfully yours in the Episcopal Church. The leaders and teachers and people of the Episcopal Church no longer acknowledge your authority.

Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? Did you come to destroy us? I know who you are–the Holy One of God!” (Mark 1:23-24)
Holy Spirit, please come and cleanse your people of every unclean spirit.

But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” (Mark 1:25)
Jesus, please rebuke every demonic influence in the Episcopal Church.

And when the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him. Then they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority he commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” (Mark 1:26-27)
Father, please help the leaders and teachers and people of the Episcopal Church to acknowledge the authority of your teaching.

In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. (Judges 21:25)
Jesus, the leaders and teachers of the Episcopal Church no longer acknowledge you as sovereign over them and each does what is right in his own sight. Have mercy on us and rescue us from this moral chaos. Thank you.

Visit, we beseech you, O Lord, the Lambeth Conference, and drive far from it all the snares of the enemy; let your holy angels dwell there to keep you bishops in peace; and may your blessing be upon the Anglican Communion evermore. Through Jesus Christ your son our Lord, who lives and reigns with with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Prayer Of St Ignatius
Teach us, good Lord, to serve thee as thou deservest; to give and not to count the cost; to fight and not to heed the wounds; to toil and not to look for rest; to labour and not to seek for any reward; save that of knowing we do thy will. Who livest and reignest, world without end. Amen.

A word received: Prepare, my people. Prepare for my coming among you.
Holy Spirit, help us welcome you among us.

Sunday: 114, 115; Joshua 1:1-18; Acts 21:3-15; Mark 1:21-27
Monday: 9, 15; Joshua 2:1-14; Romans 11:1-12 Matthew 25:1-13

Albany Intercessor