Disturbing Note from David Anderson, AAC

A troubling post by David Anderson, a senior Presbyter, about Arminianism and charismania (lite) inside the North American province. Also, the notable observation about his education at Virginia Theological Seminary. This is about as good as one might expect out of that place...and this is very poor. We need Reformed Churchmen, not more Arminians with their defective, lawless, and dangerous views of God. Another M3.

Friday, January 29, 2010
" Now know I that the Lord saveth his annointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand." Psalm 20:6 KJV

- A Message from Bishop David Anderson
- ABC and TEC Presiding Bishop meet with UN Secretary General
- AMiA Winter Conference celebrates 10 years of ministry
- Prop 8 Trial: Far more than marriage is on trial
- Matt Kennedy: Leaving Home, Part 1
- 'The Bible in the Life of the Church' project launched by the Anglican Communion
- The Apostolic Constitution: sceptics 'are eating humble pie'

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A Message from Bishop David Anderson

Beloved in Christ,

In the midst of all the litigation that The Episcopal Church (TEC) Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori and her chancellor, David Booth Beers, are hurling against the faithful orthodox Anglicans in the USA, and the litigation that various Anglican Church of Canada bishops are bringing against the faithful orthodox Anglicans in Canada, and in the midst of international revisionist plots and subplots to undermine the teachings of Christ, and considering Fr. Matt Kennedy's recently published recollections of being evicted last year from both church and rectory by the Episcopal Diocese of Central New York, this is a good time to stop and reflect on how we are doing spiritually. Defending yourself in litigation battles, being fully engaged in critical mission work and doing pastoral care day by day are all important, but if we forget to nurture our relationship with God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit we will disconnect from our power supply.

When I graduated from Virginia Seminary in 1970 and began ministry, I studied methods of evangelism, but found it slow going. In 1960, Fr. Dennis Bennett, an Episcopal priest in Van Nuys, California, had an experience of the Holy Spirit that changed his life and launched the charismatic movement in The Episcopal Church. Prior to that, we were used to talking about God the Father and about Jesus Christ, but we usually didn't go too deeply into things involving the Holy Spirit. Suddenly, Dennis Bennett was teaching about how to have a personal encounter with the Holy Spirit which was new and different than anything we had experienced before.

By the early 1970's, the number of Episcopalians who had received this teaching and had experienced what was termed "the baptism in the Holy Spirit" had grown to where the 1973 Encyclopedia Britannica referenced Dennis Bennett's announcement to his Van Nuys congregation about a new outpouring of God's Holy Spirit as "the beginning of the charismatic movement." This did overlook the earlier outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Azusa Street in Los Angeles in 1906, but Fr. Bennett's announcement to his congregation, and his subsequent relocation to the Seattle area, began the movement in The Episcopal Church.

I became a part of the charismatic movement when I encountered the Holy Spirit anew in February of 1978, after having read and studied about it. This study was prompted by an earlier event in my life in 1972. Apparently I had a lot of surrendering to do before I was willing to receive from God on his terms rather than on mine.

During the 1980's and early 1990's, the charismatic movement in The Episcopal Church grew and grew and impacted a large number of the clergy and laity. Its strength grew to the point that many felt the work of the Holy Spirit in bestowing supernatural gifts and bringing men and women closer to Jesus Christ would in time overwhelm, renew and reform the entire Episcopal Church. It seemed that The Episcopal Church in all of its liturgical and theological groupings could be transformed spiritually into an orthodox Anglican body.

Then the wars broke out - the battles over the uniqueness of Christ, the authority of Holy Scripture, the actual work of Christ's atonement, and the fires of Pentecost seemed to be banked. Although there are still centers of teaching on the Holy Spirit in some Episcopal and Anglican churches in North America, the wave of optimism that caused people to hope that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit would renew all of The Episcopal Church faded. Had we misunderstood what God was doing? Wasn't he going to use the renewed experience of the Holy Spirit to transform TEC? Apparently not.

It came to me a few years ago, as I considered the leaders of the realignment within TEC (almost all of whom are now out of TEC), that we had in fact misunderstood God. God was using the fire of the Holy Spirit as a refiner's fire to purify his true church, and he knew that he was going to do this years in advance of our being aware of it. In significant part, I now believe that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in The Episcopal Church was to purify, refine, and prepare certain leaders to form the orthodox core of a new church. When I look around at the current leaders of the AC-NA, almost all of them were forged in the fire of the Pentecost that emerged in the 1970-1990s and shaped the character of those who would be called upon to lead a realignment. The hope of full renewal within TEC proved to be misguided, but the conditioning of leaders to bring the bulk of the orthodox out of Egypt and into the Promised Land was true and real.

Now as we think again of our present troubles and concerns, let us remember that we need to, indeed we must, share the blessing of the Holy Spirit with a new generation of laity and clergy, and that the power that we have needed and used in realignment and in ministry is fresh and new to a younger generation.

Many of us are in our mid to late 60's and above, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that we have encountered needs to be available and the fires of Pentecost unleashed anew on God's holy church. In my life, I have found that the ministry of the Holy Spirit, besides equipping me with supernatural gifts as needed, has brought me closer to Jesus Christ, and as I have walked closer with him and listened to his words, has brought me closer to our Heavenly Father. Take the time to go deeper with God, and if you haven't encountered the Holy Spirit in the way I am speaking of, copies of Dennis Bennett's book "Nine o'clock in the Morning" are still available online; booksellers such as Amazon.com have it in stock for about $10.

Blessings and peace in Christ Jesus,

The Rt. Rev. David C. Anderson, Sr.
President and CEO, American Anglican Council