New York Times covers Bristol Episcopal controversy

“I’m ashamed to be an Episcopalian,” said Father Helmandollar, who has a certificate in Anglican studies from Yale Divinity School and two master’s degrees. He said he grew up the youngest of seven children in West Virginia coal country, and lived on the streets for two years after dropping out of ninth grade. A father of three, he spent 20 years in the Navy and 17 more as a military contractor before pursuing a career in the clergy.

He said he was dismayed that the church’s philosophy of inclusion did not seem to extend to conservative factions like his own, complaining, “It includes everybody except us.”

“In the last 50 years, as society has changed, the church has changed,” he added. “It has become more revisionist and more liberal.” While he could accept those changes on theological grounds, he said, the recent quarrel over sexuality “has turned out to be the tripwire.”

With the showdown looming, banners made by parishioners have been taken down from Trinity’s nave for safekeeping, and Father Helmandollar has packed up some books he kept in his office. Bank accounts and valuables, he said, have been left alone until an agreement or court order decides their fate.

Read it all here.

Pray For America Today: The Call

Today's the day!

Church for Men

You've seen the pews and maybe you've seen the statistics: in the American Church the population is mostly female. How can this be fixed? Now there's something called Church For Men. Before you laugh, watch this video (3m 42s):



What do you think?

What is the impact of gambling in Connecticut?

The State is going to find out:

Foxwoods Resort Casino and the Mohegan Sun casino pump about $445 million into the state’s general fund each year.

“The casinos over the last five to 10 years have been a stable segment of the state budget,” Robert Genuario, Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s budget director said.

However critics says state officials have taken the money and ignored the negative consequences of legalized gambling.

In May, Special Revenue Executive Director Paul Young said the last study cost about $400,000, and it now will cost more than $700,000 to hire experts to gauge “the good, the bad and the ugly” of legalized gambling.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the legislature conducted gambling studies every five years. The last study was done in the mid-1990s and published in 1997, only a few years after Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun had opened.

Let's pray for a complete picture.

Tags: Christian, Connecticut, Foxwoods, gambling, Mohegan Sun

Cal Thomas defends anti-islamist comments

This is different from making anti-Islamic comments. I hope we can make the distinction. Please pray for the gathering of Muslims in Hartford this weekend.

JesusFest 2007 coming up this weekend

Reminder:

JesusFest 2007 is a free, all-day RAIN OR SHINE Christian Country Fair, Music & Arts Festival on Saturday, July 7 from 11 am to 9 pm. There will be plenty of activities planned for everyone, from little tykes to senior citizens!

For complete information, visit: www.JesusFestCT.org

Pray Connecticut launches new web site design

Stop in and visit our main site at www.prayct.org, where we've just completed a new design which will make our site fresher and easier to use! All your favorite features are still there, just with less clutter. Thanks for your continued support, which has helped us to grow significantly over the past six months.

Connecticut Episcopal Bishop defrocks priest

Bishop Seabury would have a hard time figuring this one out.

What was this man of the cloth's crime? Did he steal from the collection plate? Or, perhaps, was he found drunk and disorderly on a public street, unshaven and snarling? Did he, one wonders, leave his wife and family for a man and begin a homosexual and very public relationship with him, expressing a desire for legal marriage between two men?

Actually no: in this priest's denomination, that last one qualifies you to be made a bishop.

The pastor in question is the Rev. Donald Helmandollar of Trinity Episcopal Church in Bristol. The Courant explains:

The pastor of a Bristol parish that voted itself out of the Episcopal Church in May has been removed from ministry by the Connecticut Diocese, and church members have been given until July 8 to vacate their building.

Connecticut Bishop Andrew Smith said the Rev. Donald Lee Helmandollar "renounced his orders" and was deposed - the equivalent of being defrocked - on June 13 by the clerical members of the diocesan standing committee. Smith said he has since written to leaders at Trinity Episcopal Church informing them that the diocese intends to take over the property July 8.

The diocese's decision to claim the property was not unexpected: The same scenario is playing itself out in other parts of the nation as the Episcopal Church grapples with the fallout from the 2003 election of the openly gay Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire.

That decision has united conservative congregations in the U.S., such as Trinity, with like-minded African churches that believe the Episcopal Church's liberal position on homosexuality goes against the Anglican beliefs inherited from the Church of England.

Trinity was the first parish in Connecticut to split with the wider Episcopal Church. The congregation voted in January to join the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, a self-described mission of the conservative Anglican Church of Nigeria, but a formal announcement of the split didn't come until May 27.

Trinity has since hired a lawyer and intends to fight the diocese's order to vacate the property, Helmandollar said Friday. He also said he has continued to lead worship services in the church, despite being notified by Smith that he is no longer a priest in the Episcopal Church.

The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church says that the numbers of those leaving the Church is small. She is probably right. Many of those who are concerned over biblical orthodoxy left a long time ago for more welcoming shores. Those that are leaving now are those who felt led by God to hang in and fight to turn the ship around before it heads over the falls.

Tags: Connecticut, Christian, Christianity, Episcopal, Anglican, Bristol

Get ready for your summer missions trip

The excellent site called Heal Your Church Web Site is out with a great article entitled Maximize Your Summer Missions Impact With Disruptive Technologies. The big idea: instant updates and even live reporting from that missions trip are now available. What more can churches be doing to connect congregations with the field other than showing PowerPoint slides (or regular slides) the week after everybody get home tired and tanned? The writer says:

In my line of work, individuals measure ‘tech time’ in terms of ‘dog years,’ meaning one multiplies by a factor of 7.

This means that if you’re are returning to a missions field with the same technological mindset you perhaps traveled with in 2003, then basically you’re hitting the road with know-how that’s 28 years in the past … which for those of us old enough to remember what it was like back then … your digital thinking is ‘disco-era’ … and nobody wants that!

That's a good warning, and it's followed by practical suggestions. Read more here.

Warrior Poetes in Meriden this Friday

Musical group The Warrior Poetes will be at the Fusion Youth Center this Friday, June 29, 92 Main Street, Meriden, CT. For details contact Pastor Rob Dennis at (203) 630-3012 or write him at pastorrob@fusionlive.org

Gospel tent meetings begin tonight in Somers

The Church of God in Christ, Mennonite invites you to a series of Gospel Tent meetings at the Four Town Fairgrounds, 56 Egypt Road in Somers. There will be a cappella hymn singing and gospel preaching as multiple Mennonite Fellowships from Canada and North Eastern US will be gathering. The meeting begin tonight and run though Sunday, July 1, starting at 7:15 each evening.

More on armed citizen patrols in New Haven

The Christian Science Monitor has more here on the ongoing controversy regarding citizen patrols in New Haven.

"We used to get a lot of grants to help [with community policing] – a couple million dollars a year. But we lost those grants over the last six years," says Chief Ortiz. He explains the war on terror came at a price to community policing efforts that allowed officers enough time to work small beats and get to know the residents and their concerns. "The country shifted its focus. Like Cyclops with one eye, it took its eye off" community policing, he says.

Good news from Iraq?

We don't sail into these waters too often, but military historian and author Victor Davis Hanson tells us in National Review why there is reason for optimism in the Middle East.

Please remember to pray for our military and for the families of those who have made such great sacrifices. The Hartford Courant has a special section here featuring the Connecticut servicemen and servicewomen who have lost their lives in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Obama attacks the Religious Right

(Is there a Religious Left? Just wondering.)

FIC's Peter Wolfgang nails this one, which I'm sure wasn't difficult for him:

...Obama is peddling one of the cultural Left’s most deeply held lies here. Christian conservatives are not the aggressors in America’s culture wars, we’re the ones playing defense...

The cultural Left thinks the grassroots rebellion that has risen up against their assaults on faith and family is simply the result of “so-called leaders” cynically manipulating a malleable public. That says more about the Left’s own low regard for their fellow Americans than they realize.

Catholic Bishops assail "Plan B" as an attack on religious liberty

...which it surely is.

The bishops in this heavily Catholic but pro-choice state say the legislation, already signed into law by the Republican governor, could force Connecticut's four Catholic hospitals to perform what they consider chemical abortions.

An attorney for the hospitals said they are considering state or federal legal action claiming the new law that takes effect Oct. 1 infringes on their constitutional rights.

“If the religious liberty of a Catholic hospital can be violated on this issue, what's next?” asked Bridgeport Bishop William E. Lori. “Will the law insist that Catholic hospitals further violate their ethical standards by performing abortions on demand? Or will the law someday force Catholic hospitals to euthanize those deemed not fit to live?”

The poor record of American Christians when it comes to understanding and resisting the abortion culture leads me to think that those will indeed be the next steps. Evangelicals and Catholics historically "do not play well together" but even the efforts of their combined leadership has not sufficed to place many obstacles in the way of our society's embrace of death.

Connecticut-based Christian band suffers bus fire

The New Haven Register couldn't resist resorting to puns in reporting on the bus fire suffered by the band Holy Fire. But it was no laughing matter. Read the story and then consider helping out:

Fortunately for Holy Fire, not all was lost.Most of their equipment, such as amplifiers and instruments, was in a trailer towed behind the incinerated bus. It was largely undamaged and the contents are mostly salvageable.

However, clothes and other personal belongings were lost in the fire. That’s why any donations to the band would be "greatly appreciated," members said.

For more information about helping the band, call 203-887-3141 or write to the band’s central office at 2340 State Street Hamden, 06517.

More on Facebook

Thanks to Peter Wolfgang at the FIC Blog for publicizing the new group for Connecticut Christians on Facebook.

Check it out!

Can you be both a Muslim and a Christian?

No, of course not.

But a Seattle Episcopal priest, the Rev. Ann Holmes Redding, is now claiming to be both.

Joe Carter at Evangelical Outpost demolishes this sort of nonsense by reminding us:

While she rejects such orthodox Christian beliefs as the Trinity and the divinity of Christ, she believes that Jesus died on the cross and was resurrected. This belief is, as she readily admits, in conflict with the teachings of the Quran. When it is pointed out that she has violated the law of non-contradiction, Redding responds, "That's something I'll find a challenge the rest of my life."

Of course there is no "challenge" in reconciling the two views since they are completely incompatible. The matter is not one of challenge but of impossibility. The law of non-contradiction is non-negotiable. Just because one wants to feel that the two religions are ultimately compatible does not make them so.

It would be easy to dismiss Redding's unsophisticated beliefs as the confusions of a rather dim dhimmi. But this Episcopalian Muslim is representative of the muddled understanding of pluralism that pervades American culture....

Truth is incompatible with non-truth, which is why we must reject all self-contradictory claims made by others and root them out of our own belief systems. In rejecting contradictory thinking we accept an uncomfortable truth: true tolerance sometimes requires being intolerant of willful stupidity.

This is exactly so. When will people drop the pretense of calling themselves Christians when they refuse to acknowledge the core doctrines of the faith - and most especially who Jesus is?

Ted Baehr talks about "Jesus Almighty"

Dr. Ted Baehr of Movieguide writes this about films... and faith:

People of faith and values are concerned about the collapse of culture. Recent polls from Cornell University and Barna Research found that only one out of 10 children keep the faith and values of their parents. Further studies have shown that this is because parents are not engaged in teaching their children cultural wisdom.

The mass media, however, is advertently or inadvertently teaching children their values, and even when these values are not inflaming lust, greed, violence, ambivalence, and envy, they are all too often undermining the sure salvation that is available only through Jesus Christ. And, all too often, caught up in the publicity machine of the Entertainment Industry, the church and its associates such as Christian magazines, radio and television are promoting the movies and entertainment that undermine its future and true faith and values.

Much has been said about post-Christian culture. Europe is a sad example. There are more Muslims in Europe than there are Protestant Christians. Why does this matter? Because eternal life in the Kingdom of God is only available through Jesus Christ, and if we truly love our neighbor, then we do not want him or her lost forever. According to surveys, fewer and fewer children understand this.

Although we don’t want to be hard on the compelling movie characters Bruce and Evan, who should be commended for helping the audience understand a lot about humility, faith and obedience to God, it is clear that the view of salvation and the view of God presented in the movies featuring “Bruce Almighty” and “Evan Almighty” do not adhere to the Truth. For example, although “Evan Almighty” contains a reference to “alpha and omega,” the Book of Revelation’s designation of Jesus Christ’s divine nature, the movie scrupulously avoids any other identification of its God character with Jesus Christ.

The Truth is, however, that salvation is found in none other than Jesus Christ. When God became flesh as one of us, it is only as Jesus Christ. When God appears to Moses or anyone else, it is as Jesus Christ. He is the Truth, the Way and the Life. In that sense, it is important to note that the Hebrew word for Truth means, “to reveal.” Jesus Christ alone reveals completely and totally who the almighty triune God is.

These winsome movies and many others scrupulously avoid the Truth that Jesus Christ is God and that God has a name – Jesus Christ. They present God as a clown of a thousand faces or as just one of us in a manner that is reminiscent of Henotheism at best and Buddhism and Hinduism at worst. In fact, the watered-down view they present of God contains more pre-Christian, unattainable, works-oriented religious views than the clear representation of the very good news that salvation is available to all mankind though the free gift of Grace paid for by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

That said, people who know the Truth will not be hurt by this, but children of all ages may buy the lie that God is just a sweet old man. Witnessing to them may not get at the root confusion, and therefore too many of them will fall into the 90 percent of children who drift away from the only Truth that can save their eternal souls.

It is interesting that movies don’t mind using the word "God," "Buddha," "Mohammed," or the names of the saints, but they carefully and politically correctly avoid the positive mention of Jesus, unless, of course, they are taking his name in vain, even though they would never take the name of Buddha, Mohammed, or others in vain. What significance does this have? It shows the almighty power of the name of Jesus because it is only in the name of Jesus, through his death and resurrection, that anyone and everyone can be saved.

Therefore, while we appreciate and applaud allegory, incarnational theology, Jesus types and Christ types, as found in family movies such as “Evan Almighty,” the true story that the church should shout from the housetops and proclaim in every media is “Jesus Almighty.”

After all, there is no other God and no other name through which we can be saved.

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. . . .

“No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.”

-- John 1:14,18

Well said.

From: Assist News.

The Contradictions of Connecticut - The Pocket State

For cities its size, Stamford is a very safe place. How safe? Safe enough to be the 9th safest city in the country. And, what's more:

Stamford was the second safest among 26 cities in the Northeast with populations of at least 100,000, trailing only the town of Amherst, N.Y. Bridgeport ranked 25th and Hartford ranked 26th among Northeast cities in that category.

But all is not rosy even in Stamford:

Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy said he was pleased with the ranking but said the police department faces a new challenge in keeping Stamford among the elite during a budget crisis.

"How do you continue to do that in light of the resources?" Malloy said. "We're all scratching our heads over that question."

The department has cut overtime spending, taken officers out of the detective bureau and reduced the number of on-duty patrol officers to cope with budget cuts slated for 2007-08.

The city's violent crime rate has climbed five years in a row, including double-digit percentage increases in 2005 and 2006, city records show.

Police responded to 393 violent crimes last year, up from 353 in 2005 and 305 in 2004 - a 29 percent increase over two years.

The increase outpaced the nationwide jump in violent crime over the last two years. Violent crime in the United States increased by 2.3 percent in 2005 and 1.3 percent last year after declining consistently for nearly a decade.

Experts have blamed the trend on declining federal aid to police departments and rising youth violence.

Well, there are problems - and then there are problems. Would Mayor Malloy swap his problems for Hartford's? Or Bridgeport's?

Stamford was the second safest among 26 cities in the Northeast with populations of at least 100,000, trailing only the town of Amherst, N.Y. Bridgeport ranked 25th and Hartford ranked 26th among Northeast cities in that category.

In case you're wondering, New Haven typically doesn't report numbers to the FBI. They are perhaps too busy at the moment subverting Federal law by legitimizing illegal immigration. Whatever your views on that, what does this teach the next generation about lawlessness? I frankly find it disturbing. And, to even ask the question about how many crimes are being committed by illegal immigrants is to invite accusations of racism and xenophobia.

More to the point, what does it say about us as a people that Connecticut is the Pocket State - a pocket of money here, a pocket of poverty there, a pocket of safety here, and pocket of real danger there? How long can this be a viable model?

I could have linked to stories about the crime in Hartford (four killings in one weekend) but I don't know which one to pick.