The Anglican Mission is pleased to announce two recent presbyteral ordinations. On April 13, Bishop Doc Loomis ordained David Friedrich at Rivers Cross Anglican Church in Newport News, Virginia. On April 21, Bishop Sandy Greene ordained Bryan Patrick on at Grace Fellowship in San Antonio, Texas. May the Lord richly bless them in the ministry to which they have been called.
The Anglican Mission is pleased to announce two recent presbyteral ordinations. On April 13, Bishop Doc Loomis ordained David Friedrich at Rivers Cross Anglican Church in Newport News, Virginia. On April 21, Bishop Sandy Greene ordained Bryan Patrick on at Grace Fellowship in San Antonio, Texas. May the Lord richly bless them in the ministry to which they have been called.
Last week The Very Rev. H Miller, Rector General of The Anglican Mission, had the opportunity to travel with Bishop Silas Ng to Toronto and then on to Vancouver where they met up with Paul Sorensen, who works with Abbeys on behalf of the Mission. The trip allowed the three men to see firsthand the incredible progress of the Asian Initiative and to discuss The Mission's important work in Canada.
"In both places there were stories too numerous to tell of people experiencing life transformati...
Last week The Very Rev. H Miller, Rector General of The Anglican Mission, had the opportunity to travel with Bishop Silas Ng to Toronto and then on to Vancouver where they met up with Paul Sorensen, who works with Abbeys on behalf of the Mission. The trip allowed the three men to see firsthand the incredible progress of the Asian Initiative and to discuss The Mission's important work in Canada.
"In both places there were stories too numerous to tell of people experiencing life transformation through the person of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit," H says. "It is evident that Silas' clear and consistent plan of micro and macro discipleship is bearing fruit in evangelism, developing disciples and church planting."
The Lord continues to open up new doors across Canada for a three streams approach in places as diverse as urban regions like Vancouver and Toronto all the way to the remote Yukon.
The Anglican Mission is pleased to announce that Bishop Philip Jones of All Saints Dallas has accepted the call to succeed Bishop Chuck Murphy as The Mission's next Apostolic Vicar, following Bishop Chuck's stepping down in December 2013. The Apostolic Vicar serves The Mission by governing the spiritual, pastoral and ecclesiastical matters in order to fulfill its call to plant churches in North America.
The Mission's College of Consulters, consisting of retired archbishops Emmanuel Kolini, M...
The Anglican Mission is pleased to announce that Bishop Philip Jones of All Saints Dallas has accepted the call to succeed Bishop Chuck Murphy as The Mission's next Apostolic Vicar, following Bishop Chuck's stepping down in December 2013. The Apostolic Vicar serves The Mission by governing the spiritual, pastoral and ecclesiastical matters in order to fulfill its call to plant churches in North America.
The Mission's College of Consulters, consisting of retired archbishops Emmanuel Kolini, Moses Tay and Yong Ping Chung, issued the invitation to Philip at Winter Conference 2013 in Greensboro, North Carolina. After prayerful consideration, Philip and his wife Claudia agreed to assume responsibilities in January 2014. Philip, Claudia and a team of lay leaders from All Saints Dallas traveled to Pawley's Island this week for extended conversations with The Mission's leadership that will prepare them for their new role.
"I am so grateful to God for raising up Philip for this important work, and I look forward to working with Philip and the leadership of this Mission, and of All Saints Dallas, during these next 10 months as we prepare to make this transition," Bishop Murphy says.
"I love All Saints Dallas and all that God is doing in and through us, and my primary calling is to pastor the people of All Saints Dallas... I believe the acceptance of this call is further evidence that God has plans for All Saints Dallas to play a significant role in Dallas and beyond for his kingdom," Philip says. "I'm humbled to be offered the opportunity to take this position. Through prayer and discernment we agreed to accept this call and we look forward to the continuation of Chuck's leadership through the end of the year. God has called the Mission in a fresh wind of the Holy Spirit to raise up and release His people for mission, ministry and apostolic work. I'm so thankful for the authentic and life-giving leadership of the Mission."
Philip has led churches in Marshall and El Paso, Texas, and was the longtime senior pastor of St. Andrew's Church in Little Rock, Arkansas. He now serves as a Missionary Bishop and Senior Pastor of All Saints Dallas, a thriving church plant recently identified as one of The Mission's three inaugural Mission Abbeys. The board of stewards of All Saints Dallas unanimously agreed to affirm Philip's acceptance of the call. After becoming Apostolic Vicar, he will remain at All Saints and continue his ministry there.
The Venerable H. Miller, Rector General of The Mission, believes Philip and All Saints Dallas are uniquely qualified for the task.
"It is clear that the Lord has called Philip to this new role and that God's grace is upon him," H says. "This week has provided a wonderful opportunity for the Mission staff to get to know Philip and some of his team from All Saints Dallas better. I am confident that as we look forward to the transition at the end of this year, we have every opportunity to open a new chapter that will propel the Mission forward growing from strength to strength."
Over the next year, Philip will be working more and more closely with Bishop Murphy and The Mission staff to ensure consistent direction and a smooth transition. This will include establishing new rhythms and close working relationships.
"As always, I ask your prayers for Bishop Jones, Claudia, and everyone else who will be involved in this important season of preparation and transition," says Bishop Murphy.
Winter Conference 2013 Friday and Saturday Highlights
Intoxicated With Jesus
"If we aren't intoxicated with Jesus, neither are our people," declared Derwin Gray, Founding and Lead Pastor of Transformation Church in Indian Land, North Carolina.
Addressing leaders as the pastor of one of the fastest growing churches in America, Gray warned that we can lose our first love in the midst of church work, allowing ministry to become an idol stripping us of our humanity. He encouraged the way to maintaining spiritual strength is by letting "our roots g...
"If we aren't intoxicated with Jesus, neither are our people," declared Derwin Gray, Founding and Lead Pastor of Transformation Church in Indian Land, North Carolina.
Addressing leaders as the pastor of one of the fastest growing churches in America, Gray warned that we can lose our first love in the midst of church work, allowing ministry to become an idol stripping us of our humanity. He encouraged the way to maintaining spiritual strength is by letting "our roots grown down into God's love" from Ephesians 3.
A professional football player with the NFL for five years, Gray shared a humorous, personal testimony about the way a teammate embodied the content of the Gospel half naked in the locker room and led him to faith in Christ. Admitting that he is a compulsive stutterer who didn't grow up in church, Gray challenged the Mission to attempt things that only Jesus can pull off.
He remarked that sometimes we are called to do things that make people mad and that saying "we've done it this way before" can kill church life. "If people walk into your church and it looks like 1972, they won't come back," he said with humorous honesty. Courage to dismantle things frees people to be missionaries that allow people to be fishers of men. "Don't limit God through your imagination," he encouraged leaders.
When the Harvest Isn't Tangible . . .Yet
Jeff Forester, Lead Pastor of Heritage Church in Sterling Heights, Michigan began his talk on Friday morning with the admonition that we don't understand the laws of God yet they still apply to us. He maintains that God is our source and supply (Psalm 23) when we become fearful that we will not have what we need.
“God is our source and supply,” says Jeff Forester.
Forester addressed those discouraged by a lack of harvest in their church communities as well as those struggling with resources, encouraging conference goers with moving stories from his own experience as a church planter.
"We confuse the channel with the source of blessing," he warned. If we rely on a job, retirement, bank account, large donors as some of those channels, Forester says when the channel is broken, we mistake the channel God is using to bless us as the source. Noting that the warning light revealing our misguided trust often looks like the red light of worry.
Setting Sail for the Future
On Saturday, February 9, the closing day of the Winter Conference, The Rt. Reverend Chuck Murphy, Chairman of the Anglican Mission blessed Andy and Judy Piercy as they pursue new ministry in the coming days and step down from the role of Director of Worship Development. He also made a brief announcement that the College of Consulters issued a call to the Rt. Reverend Philip Jones as the next Apostolic Vicar for the Anglican Mission for which Jones will enter a season of prayerful consideration.
A panel discussion led by H Miller, Executive Director with church planters and leaders in the Mission, inspired the crowd in the closing session. Highlights of church growth and discipleship through innovative ministry and dynamic leadership from the panel motivated the crowd to go forth in ministry to serve the Lord in their respective communities. "I think this is the best Winter Conference we've ever had," declared Peter Klenner, All Saints Community Church in White Rock, BC Canada.
Boldly Go Where Some Have Gone Before
Ric Thorpe, church planter from Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB) and Bishop of London's Advisor for Church Planting, began his plenary revealing that over eight thousand churches have closed in the UK since 1980. While some have waned to a place of small ministry and others have closed, HTB is called to take a race that has already run by renewing old structures and boldly go where some have gone before.
HTB celebrates thirty new churches since 1985 with a h...
Ric Thorpe, church planter from Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB) and Bishop of London's Advisor for Church Planting, began his plenary revealing that over eight thousand churches have closed in the UK since 1980. While some have waned to a place of small ministry and others have closed, HTB is called to take a race that has already run by renewing old structures and boldly go where some have gone before.
HTB celebrates thirty new churches since 1985 with a high value in planting pregnant churches, those with the ability to plant again. It's what he is doing alongside his wife Louie as Vicar of St. Paul's Shadwell.
Ric Thorpe encourages church planters from experience in the UK.Thorpe shared about his own family journey to restart a church established in 1656 in an undesirable, dangerous area of East London struggling with poverty. The surrender to God's leading resulted in making disciples and reaching the lost in a community of four thousand where less than two percent are Christians. St. Paul's Shadwell celebrates three further church plants in the same area since 2005.
Some of the attributes leading to a successful church planting team in Thorpe's experience include: Dynamic leaders uncomfortable with the status quo, bishop support, honoring authority in the community surrounding the church, relentless optimism, learning from failures, overflowing generosity and the desire to ask how you can be a catalyst.
While he stressed the importance of submitting to structures he also encouraged the Mission to seize opportunities challenging, "The time is now to go for it and make disciples."
Celebrating Eleven New Deacons
On Thursday evening, February 7, conference attendees witnessed eleven ordinations to the diaconate; four from the Congo, and seven from Tanzania.
The Rev. Bob Grant, Director of Clergy Formation, reminded the Ordinands that Jesus modeled being a deacon by washing the disciples feet. He affirmed a deacon's first order of call from Acts 6 to be filled with the Holy Spirit and wisdom to serve successfully.
He reminded them that serving doesn't come naturally in a world where we learn to say "mine" early in life, that being a deacon means living supernaturally; awakening every day seeking to serve others. "Recalibrating to Jesus, doing what I cannot do for myself by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit," declared Grant.
A Timely Message for Clergy Wives
Clergy wives enjoy rare face to face fellowship with one another at a special luncheon.
Emily Freeman, author of Grace for the Good Girl and Graceful, spoke to clergy wives over lunch on How to Breathe in a Breathless World. As the mother of three and wife of a youth pastor for the past twelve years she encouraged women from vignettes of her own experience. Some pieces of wisdom from her talk include:
Productivity is not my god. When we recognize our own uselessness, it reminds us of His sufficiency.
Refuse to confuse the urgent with the important. Urgent is bossy. Important is what motivates us on the inside with a sense of purpose.
When we feel like we can't breathe for all the busyness, move toward community, not away from it. We can often move into a place of isolation when things get out of control, which communicates to others that we have no needs. Then we get mad at people for not acknowledging that we have needs. When we express our needs to others we are going to Jesus with them, because Jesus lives within His people.
When we have one day that feels useless it doesn't mean they are all useless. It simply means one day didn't work out the way we thought it would.
Are you willing to do less and be more? Jesus longs for me to trust him, more than to please him.
Emily also led a workshop on Why Your Influence Matters taken from her upcoming book to be released in November by Revell.
The Anglican Mission is pleased to announce that Bishop Philip Jones of All Saints Dallas has accepted the call to succeed Bishop Chuck Murphy as The Mission's next Apostolic Vicar, following Bishop Chuck's stepping down in December 2013. The Apostolic Vicar serves The Mission by governing the spiritual, pastoral and ecclesiastical matters in order to fulfill its call to plant churches in North America.
"I love All Saints Dallas and all that God is doing in and through us, and my primary calling is to pastor the people of All Saints Dallas... I believe the acceptance of this call is further evidence that God has plans for All Saints Dallas to play a significant role in Dallas and beyond for his kingdom," Philip says. "I'm humbled to be offered the opportunity to take this position. Through prayer and discernment we agreed to accept this call and we look forward to the continuation of Chuck's leadership through the end of the year. God has called the Mission in a fresh wind of the Holy Spirit to raise up and release His people for mission, ministry and apostolic work. I'm so thankful for the authentic and life-giving leadership of the Mission."
Over the next year, Philip will be working more and more closely with Bishop Murphy and The Mission staff to ensure consistent direction and a smooth transition. This will include establishing new rhythms and close working relationships.
Addressing leaders as the pastor of one of the fastest growing churches in America, Gray warned that we can lose our first love in the midst of church work, allowing ministry to become an idol stripping us of our humanity. He encouraged the way to maintaining spiritual strength is by letting "our roots grown down into God's love" from Ephesians 3.
