Anglican Church in the Philippines (Traditional) Inc.

ACPT, to plant growing and reproducing Churches for 2012 and beyond...

2012-01-20T06:57:00.002-08:00

Plant a seed and reap a harvest, start a mission and reap a planted church!

After the resurrection, Christ commissioned His eleven disciples to go into the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and told them to teach their followers to observe the things, which He taught and commanded them to do. In so doing, He will be with them always up to the end of ages. The good news is that the same command has been extended to us, the 21st century Church.

We are to be the light of the world to dispels darkness, the salt of the earth to bring transformation to our communities and societies, bringing hope to the hopeless, sight to the blind while setting free those who are held captive. It is on a sad note that the church today is lagging in this commission. We have become limited because of “man-made” divisions, which we have built due to prejudices, hatred and competition. These attitudes have hampered our attempts towards growth and maturity hence, it slowed down God’s design for the Church’s progress and unity.

The fragmentations brought by prejudices toward other members of the Church Universal had somehow weakened Her of vitality and stamina crippling Her to become an effective witnesses for Christ into the world. The scandals, heresies and the most serious, apostasy, brought death to the Church’s faith, which apparently led towards idolatry, arrogance, self sufficiency and liberalism.

Because of this, I am not surprised if today, we hear of church buildings that were once glorious and majestic in state are now empty of church-goers and converted to museums. These structures were intended basically as an ornament of worship by the faithful from the very beginning. If such are now used for public amusement other than its initial purpose, then we see that indeed the Church had drifted away from the standards that God set for Her; one of which, is to bring hope and light to the nations. We have ceased in letting our light shine and may be hiding our lights “in a bushel”.

The challenge for us is clear: we have to strengthen what remains and to restore back to the Church that which was lost; Her first love and Her savor in order to preserve her being an effectual and living witness for Christ and in displaying God's manifold wisdom and grace to the world. The book of revelation presents the condition of the 21^st century Church when God’s messenger addressed the seven churches regarding their contamination from the world. God in His word did not only reveal their shortcomings against His set standards but also offered remedies and a way of escape from the wrath and destruction, which were to come. This is the grace and mercy of God undeniably reaching to the churches: there is a way out, if only we hear what the Spirit of God is saying.

Those confronting words construed were to correct their insensitive heart and dull ears. God wanted the churches to be overcomers and be the recipients of the rewards of eternal life. God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him and will never withhold any good thing from us! May our hearts be tuned to His Holy Spirit and hear what is He saying today, bearing witness of His excellence and majesty.

ACPT

Mission Impossible? ACP makes it Possible!!! (San Jose and Cansal-ing Anglican Mission of ACPT)

2012-01-04T23:37:00.000-08:00

An portable Altar in the village use for the Mass at Cansal-ing

Neither a fancy or a simple altar can alter the efficacy of the substance in the elements offered in the altar. What mater is the Presence of the Father , Christ the Word, the Holy Spirit and the celebrant in the sacrament that validates the gifts and the offerings.

Visiting one of ACP's outreach near the seashore of San Jose with Ptr.Moralde, Sr.Marie Clare, Bishop Belmonte and Bro.Jayson.

Easy to do this ? No! but it's easy to those who are called to this kind of Ministry.
We go where others doesn't want to go!!

Bro.Jayson preparing the children for the mass

Bishop with the children and parents in San Jose, Negros Oriental ACPT mission in the Visayas

Ptr. Elliezer Moralde with Sr. Joseph Marie Clare in Dumaguete

Working together, we make this task possible as these people prepare food for the feeding of children in Cansal-ing.

Simple people with a Big heart!, this is with the community of Cansal-ing and San Jose

Sr. instructing these children to line up making ready for feeding this is done after teaching of God's word.

Sharing Christ Love with them will cause to have a change in their heart.

Want to extend help to this child?

A place for feeding and for a Chapel

In the gospel of St. Luke 4:18 says; "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He has anointed Me to Preach the Gospel to the Poor and to heal the broken hearted....... His anointed Mission was that the Gospel should be preach to the poor, for them to get out from poverty mentality!!! ACP continue the ministry of Christ to the poor so that the poor will be empowered and by that empowerment have a fair chance to live a better life in the world.

Please Note that these Photos was taken before Typhoon "Sendong" hits Dumaguete.

2011-12-31T09:17:00.001-08:00

Happy New year!

We have given another year full of God's goodness, may we use our God given ability to glorify Him.

May this year challenge us to do more and excel in God's vineyard, ministry and Job. God Bless.

An appeal to your compassionate heart

2011-12-22T15:30:00.000-08:00

Prayers are offered to those who were seriously affected by the recent typhoon that hit Iligan ,Cagayan de Oro and Dumaguete City. We have started collecting clothings and other things from generous givers to give to the victims of this calamity. We ask your compasionate heart to extend your extras to give to these people who lost their families, houses and even lives this Christmas season. Donations will be given directly and be use for rehabilitation and restoration of victims lives. Donors are welcome to call us or send an email. Our email address and telephone number are posted on our webpage.
Thank you for your Prayers.
Our lates update: We sent boxes of clothings and relief goods to those who were affected in ACPT Missions in Dumaguete. We extend our hearthful thanks to those who sacrificially gave and assisted in this Christian endeavor.
ACPT

ACPT Mission areas affected by the recent typhoon (San Jose and Cansal-ing,Negros Oriental

2011-12-22T07:38:00.000-08:00

Damage bridge and roads

Floods in San Jose children crossing using refrigerator housing as boat.

Muddy roads

This is a newly built chapel made with Nippa leaves and bamboos
in Cansal-ing that was damage by the Typhoon.

Floods in San Jose

This was the newly built chapel made of Nippa Leaves for the Church in Calsal-ing Negros Oriental and was destroyed by typhoon Sendong.

House of Ptr. Ellizer Moralde that was flooded

Another view of flooded area in San Jose

San Jose Negros Oriental

Another view of Ptr. Moralde's house that was flooded.

Photos speaks of their conditions

Bro. Jayson in Action in Ajong.

Lates update we received from Bro.Jason Bermas, above photos was the damage done by the typhoon, part of our newly build chapel in Cansal-ing affected by the Typhoon and needed to be renovated and restored. Due to the overflowed water from the sea and heavy rains, San Jose was flooded and the house of Ptr. Elliezer Moralde was affected together with some of ACPT members. These were the areas affected by the devastating storm that hit recently the Philippines.

More dead from the floods in the Philippines

2011-12-19T22:52:00.000-08:00

Officials prepare mass graves as nearly 700 dead in Philippines floods

Reuters Dec 19, 2011 – 9:52 AM ET | Last Updated: Dec 19, 2011 12:12 PM ET

Ted Aljibe / AFP / Getty Images

A resident stands next to an overturned vehicle swept away at the height of the devastating floods in Iligan City, in southern island of Mindanao on December 19, 2011

By Erik de Castro

ILIGAN, Philippines — Disaster agencies on Monday delivered body bags, food, water, and medicine to crowded evacuation centres in the southern Philippines as officials ordered the digging of graves to prevent disease after hundreds died from flash floods.

The national disaster agency said 684 died after Typhoon Washi slammed ashore in Mindanao island while residents slept at the weekend, sending torrents of water and mud through riverside villages and sweeping houses out to sea.

The Philippine National Red Cross put the toll at 652 killed and more than 800 missing. The casualties far exceeded the 464 people killed in 2009 when a tropical storm dumped heavy rain on the main Luzon island, inundating nearly the entire capital Manila.

The head of the national disaster agency, Benito Ramos, had earlier suggested digging mass graves to prevent outbreaks of disease, but the two worst hit cities took different approaches.

Officials in Iligan said they would bury about 80 bodies at a public cemetery on Monday — but in individual plots and tombs. Workers were rushing to construct tombs.

“Definitely, we are not burying them in mass graves. That is not allowed any more,” Levi Villarin, city health officer, told Reuters.

In Cagayan de Oro, further east along Mindanao’s north coast, officials moved hundreds of unclaimed bodies to a sanitary landfill for a mass burial after residents complained of the stench.

“They (local officials) have to bury these decomposing bodies because they could no longer be recognised and they’re avoiding a potential outbreak of disease,” Mr. Ramos said.

Vicente Emano, mayor of Cagayan de Oro, said officials were planning to put some bodies into refrigerated trucks until law enforcement agencies identify the dead through fingerprints and DNA tests.

Erik De Castro / Reuters

Residents wade in knee-deep mud in a subdivision hit by flash floods caused by Typhoon Washi in Iligan city, southern Philippines December 19, 2011

President Benigno Aquino is due to visit the two cities on Tuesday.

The cities are running out both room at evacuations centres and coffins. The Health department was sending 600 body bags and medicines to the affected areas, Social Work Secretary Dinky Soliman said.

The Maoist-led Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) rebels, which have battled government forces for 40 years, said they had declared a six-day unilateral Christmas truce to help those affected by the floods. The government last week announced a 19-day truce.

The government said nearly 143,000 people were affected by the flash floods and landslides, of which 45,000 people were staying in evacuation centres. The rest stayed with relatives.

Save the Children, a London-based non-government organisation, estimated more than half of those affected were children.

A Reuters photographer saw three white wooden coffins of children 7 to 10 years old lined up at a church in Iligan converted into an evacuation centre.

Mr. Ramos, head of the national disaster agency, said six helicopters and two dozen boats were dispatched to search for survivors and drowning victims.

“From the helicopter, we saw four major river systems, all houses along the riverbanks were totally destroyed,” he said.

Some bodies were found on the shore of Camiguin island, 77 kilometres from Cagayan de Oro.

Rescuers pulled the bodies of at least 13 people from a two-storey concrete house in Iligan flattened by huge logs that fell from the mountains. They fear more bodies lay under the debris as many residents sought safety there, thinking the house could withstand the flash floods.

Disaster officials said the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs had started a damage and needs assessment survey to help the government and aid agencies respond to the disaster.

Foreign governments have sent condolences and promised to donate food and other relief supplies.

The Agriculture department said about US$184,000 in mostly rice and corn crops were lost.

Mindanao island, the southernmost in the Philippines, is a mineral-rich region not normally in the path of the average 20 typhoons that hit the Southeast Asian country each year.

Typhoon in the Philippines kills at least 400, thousands more missing
© Thomson Reuters 2011
Posted in: News, World Tags: Philippines

Another Philippine disaster that hit the South

2011-12-17T08:33:00.000-08:00

Typhoon in the Philippines kills at least 400, thousands more missing

Reuters Dec 17, 2011 – 9:51 AM ET | Last Updated: Dec 17, 2011 10:14 AM ET

Erik De Castro/Reuters

A general view shows a village hit by flashfloods caused by typhoon Washi in Cagayan de Oro in southern Philippines December 17, 2011. More than 250 people were killed and almost twice that number were missing after the typhoon hit the southern Philippines, officials said on Saturday, triggering flash floods and landslides and forcing tens of thousands from their homes.

By Erik De Castro
More than 400 people have been killed and thousands more have been made homeless or are missing after a typhoon hit the southern Philippines, Philippine National Red Cross Secretary-General Gwendolyn Pang said in a text message to Reuters.
Typhoon Washi, with winds gusting up to 90km/h (56 mph), hit the resource-rich island of Mindanao late Friday, bringing heavy rain that also grounded some domestic flights and left wide areas without power.

“The death toll might still rise because there are still a lot of missing people,” said Pang.
She said the hardest-hit areas were in the cities of Iligan and Cagayan de Oro.

Erik De Castro/Reuters

An aerial view shows villages inundated in floodwaters caused by typhoon Washi in Cagayan de Oro, southern Philippines, December 17, 2011. More than 250 people were killed and almost twice that number were missing after the typhoon hit the southern Philippines, officials said on Saturday, triggering flash floods and landslides and forcing tens of thousands from their homes.

The Philippines social welfare department said about 100,000 people were displaced and brought to more than a dozen shelters in Iligan and Cagayan de Oro.
“WE RAN FOR OUR LIVES”
Army spokesman Colonel Leopoldo Galon said search and rescue operations would continue along the shorelines in Misamis Oriental and Lanao del Norte provinces.
“I can’t explain how these things happened, entire villages were swept to the sea by flash floods,” Galon said.
“I have not seen anything like this before. This could be worse than Ondoy,” he said, referring to a 2009 storm that inundated the capital, Manila, killing hundreds of people.
Television pictures showed bodies covered in mud, cars piled on top of each other and wrecked homes. Helicopters and boats searched the sea for survivors and victims.

“We ran for our lives when we heard a loud whistle blow and was followed by a big bang,” Michael Mabaylan, a 38-year-old carpenter, told Reuters. He said his wife and five children were
all safe.
Aid worker Crislyn Felisilda said World Vision was concerned about children who became separated from their families or lost their parents.
“Many children are looking for their loved ones,” she said, adding children were “crying and staring into space.”
Rescue boats pulled at least 15 people from the sea, another army spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Randolph Cabangbang, told reporters.
Iligan City Mayor Lawrence Cruz said many people were caught by surprise when water rose one meter (three feet) high in less than an hour, forcing people onto roofs.
“Most of them were already sleeping when floodwaters entered their homes,” he said. “This is the worst flooding our city had experienced in years.”
The national disaster agency said it could not estimate crop and property damage because emergency workers, including soldiers and police officers, were evacuating families and recovering casualties.
Six domestic flights run by Cebu Pacific were cancelled due to the rain and near-zero visibility in the southern and central Philippines. Ferry services were also halted, stranding hundreds of people.
An average of 20 typhoons hit the Philippines every year, often causing death and destruction.
© Thomson Reuters 2011

Erik De Castro/Reuters

Damaged vehicles swept away by flashfloods caused by typhoon Washi lie in a ditch in Balulang village in Cagayan de Oro, southern Philippines, December 17, 2011. More than 250 people were killed and almost twice that number were missing after the typhoon hit the southern Philippines, officials said on Saturday, triggering flash floods and landslides and forcing tens of thousands from their homes.

Erik De Castro/Reuters

A boy fetches water from a broken pipe among destroyed houses along a road in a village hit by flashfloods caused by typhoon Washi in Cagayan de Oro, southern Philippines, December 17, 2011. More than 250 people were killed and almost twice that number were missing after the typhoon hit the southern Philippines, officials said on Saturday, triggering flash floods and landslides and forcing tens of thousands from their homes.

Posted in: News, World Tags: Philippines, Typhoon

ACPT Northern Luzon and Central Visayas update

2011-12-11T06:15:00.000-08:00

Traditional Anglican Mission in the Visayas
Sts. Peter and John, Cansal-ing, Negros oriental
Started the construction of ACPT chapel in Cansal-ing. Community with their barangay Captain Jun Abueva joined hands in building their new place of worship and were excited to start their Traditional Christmas Eve masses (Simbang Gabi) and their Christmas celebration.

St. Jude Anglican Mission, San Jose
Evangelism campaign started in San Jose and many responded to the invitation. They are expecting an increase in number this coming Chrismas for preparation of the Traditional Christmas Eve masses (Simbang Gabi) also. Distribution of Children clothes for the poor children of San Jose will be given for this season. The box of clothing came from Bishop and Dr.Mary Grundorf, APA
By Bro. Jason Bermas, ACPT in Central Visayas

Traditional Anglican Mission (Northern Luzon)
Tabban Anglican Mission:
Newly started mission outreached of ACPT Northert Luzon Missionary Diocese:
Preparation for their church building extension is being done for Simbang Gabi. The community of Tabban are excited to celebrate their first Christmas Celebration with ACPT
There will be a distribution of chrildren bracelets for the poor children of Tabban. These bracelets was sent by Fr. Kevin Burks and his parishioners of St. Luke's Anglican Church in Port Orange, Florida.
By Bro. Marlon Villotes, ACPT Northern Luzon

EMMANUEL!

Davao City

2011-12-08T16:59:00.000-08:00

History

DAVAO- Is known to be the largest city in the world in terms of land areas with 2,443.61 square kilometers. It’s one of the most visited city of the Philippines; like Manila in Luzon & Cebu in Visayas, where Davao is situated in Mindanao. The ever famous Mount Apo, famed to be the 2nd highest peak in the world, where lots of hikers and trekkers found it to be their favorite destination. and the Durian fruit, many said it smells like hell but tastes like heaven.

Davao, was coined from the words Davoh, Duhwow, Davau, davoh, where the three Bagobo subgroups the aboriginal Obos, the Clatta or Guiangans, and the Tagabawa Bagobos used them to describe the Davao river, when asked where they were going, the usual reply is davoh, while pointing towards the direction of the place. Duhwow which also refers to a trading settlement where they barter their forest goods in exchange for salt or other commodities, that’s why the famous street TRADING, which is located somewhere in Boulevard, where actually the first trading of goods happened.

It was in 1848 that a Spaniard Don Jose Uyanguren, helps spread Christianity in the swamp area of mangrove, popularly known now as Bolton Riverside, after having defeated Datu Bago and its troops from a battle. He then renamed the region Nueva Guipúzcoa, in honor of his home in Spain, and became its first governor. Developed private farm ownership grew and transportation and communication facilities were improved, it was after a few years the American forces conquered the area in 1990.

Kichisaburo Ohta, A Japanese entrepreneur who was granted a permit to take advantage with the vast of land to become an abaca and coconut plantations. It was 1903 that the first Japanese workers came. While creating a little Japan here, they manage to have their own school, newspapers, an embassy, and even a Shinto Shrine. They established extensive abaca plantations around the shores of Davao Gulf and developed large-scale commercial interests such as copra, timber, fishing and import-export trading. Filipinos learned the techniques of improved cultivation from the Japanese and agriculture became the lifeblood of the province’s economic prosperity.

Because of the increasing influence of the Japanese in the trade and economy of region, on March 16, 1936, Romualdo Quimpo, the congressman from Davao filed Bill no. 609 and was subsequently passed as Commonwealth Act no. 51 creating the City of Davao from the Town of Davao (Mayo) and the Guianga District. The bill further called for appointments of the local officials from the President.[2]

Davao was formally inaugurated as a chartered city on October 16, 1936, by President Manuel L. Quezon.The City of Davao then became the Provincial capital of the then undivided Davao Province. Davao officially became a city in 1937.

On December 8, 1941 Japanese planes bombed the city. Japanese occupation started in 1942.

In 1945, American and the Philippine Commonwealth forces liberated Davao City from Japanese forces.

Thirty years later, in 1967, the Province of Davao was subdivided into three independent provinces, namely Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, and Davao Oriental. The City of Davao was grouped with Davao del Sur and was no longer the capital. However, it became a center of trade for Southern Mindanao. Over the years, Davao has become an ethnic melting pot as it continues to draw migrants from all over the country, lured by the prospects of striking it rich in the country’s third largest city.

In 1970′s to present, Davao became the Regional Capital of Southern Mindanao and with the recent reorganization, became the regional capital of the Davao Region (Region XI).

reference: wikipedia.com

Island of Bohol Philippines

2011-12-05T05:33:00.000-08:00

Come and Visit Bohol

Bohol -- The Island Province

OVERVIEW

Brief History

Created by virtue of Act 2711 of March 10, 1917, this island province of Bohol is the tenth largest island in the Philippines. This oval-shaped island has an area of 4,117 sq. km. and is located in the central portion of the Visayas lying between Cebu to the northwest and Leyte to the northeast. To its south is the big island of Mindanao which is separated from Bohol by the wide Mindanao Sea. Aside from the mainland, Bohol has 61 smaller offshore islands and islets. Bohol is about 700 kilometers directly south of Manila and is about 70 kilometers southeast of Cebu City.
The people of Bohol are said to be descendants of the last group of inhabitants who settled in the Philippines called Pintados (the tattooed ones). Before the Spaniards arrived in 1521, Boholanos already had a culture of their own as evidenced by the artifacts dug at Mansasa, Tagbilaran, and in Dauis and Panglao using designs during the Ming dynasty (960-1279). They had already a system of writing but most of the materials used were perishable like leaves and bark. They spoke a language similar to that of the nearby provinces.
The name Bohol is thought to be derived from the name of the barrio of Bo-ol, a barangay found in Tagbilaran City which was among the first places toured by the Magellan expedition. History has it that one of the Spanish ships of Magellan (the Concepcion) was burned in this province after Magellan was killed by Lapulapu in Mactan. In 1565 Miguel Lopez de Legazpi anchored in Jagna, one of the eastern municipalities of Bohol. He made a blood compact with the Chiefs Sikatuna and Sigala in a small village near the present capital of the province, Tagbilaran City, signifying they were blood brothers. The province became a Jesuit mission in 1595. At this time, Bohol was a part of the province of Cebu and was called a residencia. It became a separate politico-military province on July 22, 1854, together with the island of province of Siquijor. In 1879, there were 34 towns belonging to the province with a total population of 253,103.
Two significant revolts were recorded during the Spanish regime. The Tamblot Uprising in 1621 led by a native priest or Babaylon, and the Dagohoy Rebellion from 1744 to 1829 led by Francisco Dagohoy which is considered as the longest revolt recorded in the annals of Philippine history. American forces seized the province in March 17, 1900.
Bohol is the home province of the fourth President of the Republic of the Philippines, Carlos Polistico Garcia (1957-1960) who was born in the municipality of Talibon.

Geography

General Geographic and Geologic Features
Bohol must have been developed from the magmatic tectonic mechanism which resulted from the underthrusting of the southwest Philippine Plate east of Samar and Surigao. The Alicia Schist, the oldest known rock formation in the island, is inferred to be part of the Bohol crustal rocks before plate interactions. All the succeeding igneous extrusive and intrusive events in Bohol are the results of these resurging interactions. Ongoing erosion, transport and sedimentation continue to accumulate marine and terrestrial deposits in the Bohol basin. Topography and Drainage
Bohol's mainland exhibits the following salient physiographic units:
1. The east and west coast display northeast trending ranging up to 870 meters in elevation (Mt. Mayana) that drop steeply to the coast. These ranges reflect the major structural units of the island.
2. The central (Carmen area) and northern part of the island (Trinidad) are a vast expanse of relatively rolling plains and flatlands.
3. The development of beautifully-arranged, symmetrically formed "haycock hills" in Carmen-Batuan-Bilar-Balilihan area in the east central part of the island is suggestion of a well-defined system of shears and joints.
4. An elongated cluster of hills of moderate height lies in the northeastern part of the island (Ubay area).
5. An east-west ridge connects Alicia with Carmen.
6. The Anda Peninsula and Loon Peninsula strongly suggest elevated plateaus.
7. At least five different Plio-pleistocene terrace levels ranging in height from 10 to 300 meters have been etched both in Carmen sandstone and shales and Maribojoc limestone.
8. The drainage pattern is generally radial. The west is drained by the Abatan River (350 sq. km.) and Wahig-Inabanga Rivers (570 sq. km.); the north by Alog, Ipil (250 sq. km) and Soon Rivers; the east by the Mabini and Guindulman Rivers; and the south by the Loboc-Loay (160 sq. km.), Jagna and Garcia-Hernandez Rivers. These rivers are not important for navigation purpose.
9. The "Ilihan Plug" south of Tubigon with an elevation of 240 meters above sea level, presents a unique geomorphologic element. At a distance, this plug is suggestive of a limestone hill with white cliffy margins.
Mountain Ranges
There are two sets of mountain ranges located between the municipalities of Alicia and Ubay on the northeastern side of the mainland which generally trend to the north and south directions. The first range attains a maximum elevation of 404 meters above sea level while the second range of elongated clusters of hills has a maximum elevation of about 120 meters above sea level. The northern end of the mountain range is drained by the Lomangog River while the southern end by the east-flowing San Pascual River which empties into Cogtong Bay.
About two kilometers south-southwest from Tubigon is Mt. Ilihan which is 240 meters high with steep, almost bufflike sides. Farther east are two mountain ranges, Mt. Tanawan and Mt. Candungao with 460 and 500 meters elevation, respectively. Both are prminent landmarks rising as they do several meters above the several meters above the surrounding countryside. From Mt. Tanawan going southwestward, the range presents a monotonous karst topography, declining gradually in height until finally it joins the foothills about 4.5 kilometers southwest of Calape. The main range of hills extending from Calape southwestward joins the southwestward trending mountain range from the interior, runs south and out to Loon Peninsula and terminating in Punta Cruz (Maribojoc).
The Sierra Bullones Range follows roughly the trend of the south coast. It commences from the vicinity of Loboc, extends eastward and finally northeastward terminating at about Biabas, Candijay. The highest point of this range and in the entire province is Mt. Mayana (870 meters). Other prominent peaks found in this range are Mt. Gordo, Mt. Amicay and Mt. Binalao.
Soil and Vegetation Cover
There is relatively thin soil cover over Bohol, bedrocks cropping out even at the valley and shore areas. Over most of the hills and ridges are meager to no soil cover. This is due to the fairly rapid surface drainage over types of Bohol's land area. The soil derived from from all the rock types are generally clay and silty with sandy soil limited to some parts of the coastal area.
Climate
Bohol's climate is characterized by having no pronounced maximum rain period and no dry season. It is typically warm and dry along the coasts and cold and humid in the interior. Typhoons are not a frequent occurrence and maximum precipitation occurs in June to October. Average annual temperature is eighty-two degrees Fahrenheit.

Political Subdivision

The province of Bohol is a first-class A province composed of 47 municipalities and one city, Tagbilaran, which serves as its capital. There are 1,109 barangays with a total population of 948,315 (1992) with an average household size of 5.4. Population
Bohol's population is relatively young with 39% of its household population below 15 years old. Since 1960 until the census in 1980, there were more females than males. In the census in 1990, the number of males was higher than females. Likewise, there were more single males than females. Every 10 adults (of working/productive age) in supporting seven children and one elderly person. Almost 95% of the household population (5 years old and over) in Bohol have resided in the same municipality for at least five years.
The majority of the people in Bohol live in the rural area. The province's density is two people to a hectare. Only 25% live in urban areas. Bohol's population has almost doubled since the census in 1948 due largely to natural increase. It will take another 42 years to double Bohol's population at the present growth rate of 1.6% or 15,544 annually. Most Boholano women marry at the age of 21. On average, most couples have four children.
Language/Dialect
The majority speak the native dialect which is distinctively Boholano. Cebuano, Tagalog and English are also spoken and understood.

Major Industries

Manufacturing
Although Bohol is predominately an agricultural province, home-based industries which are mostly in the micro and cottage-size levels, play an important role in the economy.
Five firms are considered to belong to the large-scale category with a combined capitalization of P251.3 million and have employed 600 persons. These firms include the Philippine Sinter Corporation, Philippine Starch Industrial Corporation, Southern Industrial Projects, Inc., Tagbilaran Coca-Cola Bottlers, inc. and Frontier Resources, Inc.
Micro and cottage-size manufacturing industries, with asset sizes ranging between P1 to P10 million, dominate the industry in terms of number. In 1992, this industry sector has more than 500 firms with a combined caitalization of more than P50 million.
The handicraft sector is one of the most dominant manufacturing industries, yet one of the earliest to have been established since the 1920's. Basically home-based and labor intensive, this sector employed the most number of workers: 24,000 in 1992, in 8,232 families, found in almost all municipalities. In terms of capitalization, the industry accounted for a total of P15.55 million. Sales figures reached P489.64 million from 1989 to 1992.
The subsectors of the 400 handicraft industry firms include mats and baskets which have 3,080 and 3,278 families, respectively, as direct beneficiaries. Sales volume for mats and baskets alone amounted to P426 million. Loom weaving, on the other hand, has 1,874 families with sales volume of P63.64 million.
Other industry sectors include fashion accessories, shellcraft, woodcraft, food processing, ceramics and handmade paper and novelty items.

Trade

Imports/Exports
Total value of incoming commodities in 1992 totalled P1.61 billion. Grocery items topped the list of imports followed by wine, liquor, hardware, cement, corngrits, animal feeds, rice, refined sugar, medicine, flour, appliances, fertilizer, cooking oil, dry goods and veterinary products.
Outgoing products reached P845.6 million in 1992. Galvanized iron sheets led the top fifteen outgoing pproducts followed by cattle, carabao, cooked fish, native products, grocery goods, fruits, cassava chips, fresh fish, mangoes, silica sand. salted fish, rice and banana. Trading Establishments
There are 6,382 business establishments in the province which include trading and service firms. The central business district is located in Tagbilaran City although business thrives in the growth center of Ubay, Tubigon, Carmen and Jagna. Big establishments in Tagbilaran do peddling in the municipalities. All the municipalities have their own market centers where trading activities are conducted during market days.
Export Performance
In 1989, two products in the province directly found their way to the export market. These are the starch produced by the Philippine Starch Industrial Corporation (PSIC) in Carmen town and the limestone from the Philippine Sinter Corporation (PSC) in Garcia-Hernandez. Both products are exported to Taiwan.
Handicrafts, seaweeds and prawn are also exported indirectly and are sold to Cebu and Manila-based exporters and buyers who in turn sell to foreign markets.
Total export sales amounted to $30 million broken down as $18.2 million for handicrafts and $11.8 million for aquaculture from 1989 to 1992.
Investment Priority Areas

Tourism
Gifts, Toys & Housewares
Agriculture
Aquaculture
Agroforestry

Other investment areas include mineral water, fish canning, farm implements, steam laundry,shipbuilding, and terra cota production.

TOURISM

Industry Profile
There is more in Bohol than just the Chocolate Hills. A large part of Bohol's exotic appeal lies in its natural wonders. Pristine white-sand beaches with clear blue water and colorful coral reefs dot the coastline, offering one of the world's best diving havens. Its cascading waterfalls, unexplored caves and bubbly springs are added advantage to the island's paradise prestige.
Other tourist attractions include the Hinagdanan Cave, Mag-aso Falls, Badiang Spring, Balicasag Island, Pamilacan Island, Blood Compact Site, Punta Cruz, and river boat rides to Busay Falls, among others.
The cornerstone of tourism investment in Bohol is the Panglao Island Tourism Estate (PITE). Home to prestigiuos Bohol Beach Club, Panglao is the largest island municipality in the province. Existing recreational facilities in Panglao are oriented towards snorkeling, diving and sailing. Distinctly missing are restaurants and shopping outlets.
PITE requires an investment of about P300 million. The government will provide basic infrastructure, while the private sector is expected to invest in beach resorts, retirement home villages, golf courses and restaurants.
To be located in the southern coastline of Panglao is the proposed Sikatuna Tourisn Development Complex. It will sit on 437 hectares of land and beach area. The complex will accomodate a 60-hectare hotel zone, beach resorts, and a marina. The plan includes the construction of a handicraft village complete with a landscaped mini-urban park, a five-hectare sports center, a 50-hectare botanical garden, a second-home village and an airport.

Tourist Attractions

Historical

BLOOD CAMPACT SITE
Barangay Bool, Tagbilaran City
An historical marker marks the location where Datu Sikatuna, a native chieftan, forged a blood compact with Don Miguel Lopez de Legazpi representing the King of Spain, for the purpose of fostering friendly relations between the two nations. The Blood Compact on March 16, 1565 is considered as the first "Treaty of Friendship" between Europe and Asia. PRESIDENT CARLOS P. GARCIA MEMORIAL PARK
Tagbilaran City
A joint undertaking of Boholanos from all over the country and abroad have erected a park in loving memory of the greatest Bohoano -- Carlos Polistico Garcia, the fourth President of the Republic of the Philippines. It sits on a rolling site with an area of 11 hectares chosen by Garcia himself in 1939 when he was governor of Bohol. Here, one can see the exquisite monument of marble base and a life-size bronze statue by Bohol's famous scuptor, National Artist Napolean Abueva. In the background is the provincial capitol.
MT. CARMEL HILL
Balilihan -- 24-km from Tagbilaran City
Atop the Mt. Carmel Hill right in the heart of Balilihan town, is an historical tower of adobe and limestone. These materials were hauled from the town of Baclayon. It was built to serve as a belfry of a church which was burned down during the Philippine revolution. Like a sentinel, the tower stands as guard over the town. Concrete stairways were built to make the tower more accessible.
BEHIND THE CLOUDS
Catigbian -- 38 km from Tagbilaran City
This is the cradle of the resistence movement in Bohol during the Japanese occupation when a group of courageous men composed of disbanded soldiers and ordiary citizens started guerilla operations to liberate the island. The encampment nestles in a deep ravine hidden from the enemy. When opposition headquarters were transferred to Carmen, the encampment was used to hold enemy prisoners.
DAGOHOY MARKER
Danao -- 92 km from Tagbilaran City
The Dagohoy historical marker in Magtangtang, Danao town was installed by the Philippine Historical Comission tko honor the heroic deeds of Francisco Dagohoy who led the longest revolt in the country against the Spaniards which lasted for 84 years. Magtangtang was Dagohoy's headquarters or hideout during the revolt. Hundreds of Dagohoy's followers preferred death inside the cave than surrender. Their skeletons still remain.
PUNTA CRUZ
Maribijoc -- 14 km from Tagbilaran City
The is an ancient stone watchtower built by the townspeople as a lookout for incoming pirates. On a rock lip that juts out into the sea fronting the tower stands a wooden cross. Legend has it that by extending a mysterious spell over the sea, the cross has saved many people from the ravages of pirates and marauders. The tower holds a commanding view of the sea facing Cebu, Siquijor and Mindanao and has been officially designated as a historical tourist spot. The area surrounding the tower has been developed into a park.

Cultural

BOHOL MUSEUM
Hontanosa Street, Tagbilaran City
Once the home of former President Carlos P. Garcia and his family, the museum gives the visitor a feel of what Bohol was, is and will be. Also on display are memorabilia, relics and samples of island flora and fauna.

Beaches

KAINGIT BEACH
Tagbilaran City
A popular beach resort in Tagbilaran which is crowded with bathers during weekends. It is situated in a cove which provides for calm water even during stormy weather. It is located at the end of a side street from Graham Avenue. It is being developed and maintained by the city government. SANTA FE BEACH
Albuquerque -- 13 km from Tagbilaran City
A favorite white-sand beach fronting the open sea of Mindanao. It is located about 1.5 km from the poblacion of Albuquerque.
ANDA BEACH
Anda -- 101 km from Tagbilaran City
A white-sand beach along the poblacion noted for its cleanliness and unpolluted sea.
LAYA BEACH
Baclayon -- 9 km fromTagbilaran City
A wide area shaded by tall coconut trees, Laya Beach is ideal for picnicking. A rest house is available at minimum cost.
BIKINI BEACH
Dauis -- 8 km from Tagbilaran City
An ideal beach for all bathers with calm waters and shading palm trees. Huts and benches are available for picnickers. Coral fishes abound here. (Bring your own bikini!)
IMELDA BEACH
Dimiao -- 40 km from Tagbilaran City
Once chosen as the campsite for Boys and Girl Scouts of Bohol, it is located along the national highway before reaching the Dimiao town proper.
DUERO BEACH
Duero -- 77 km from Tagbilaran City
A beautiful beach located in the eastern part of Bohol noted for its stretch of white sand shaded by palm and coconut trees.
CANUBA BEACH
Jagna -- 58 km from Tagbilaran City
An ideal place for bathing with clean water and white sand. The beach is shaded by palm trees and a cliff in the eastern part of the beach.
CLARING BEACH
Loay -- 28 km from Tagbilaran City
A long stretch of white sand, the beach was developed during the time of Senator Jose Claring. It is complete with recreational facilities and a bath house. It is located 1 km from Loay.
LINTUAN BEACH
Loon -- 25 km from Tagbilaran City
It is the favorite beach resort in this part of the province. It has white sand extending out for some distance and is ideal for children.
ALONA BEACH
Panglao -- 20 km from Tagbilaran City
A long stretch of white sand facing the Mindanao Sea, Alona has many full-service beach and dive resorts. Excellent scuba diving is nearby and trips to Balicasag and Pamilacan Islands can be arranged.
DOLJO BEACH
Panglao -- 19 km from Tagbilaran City
Ideal for scuba diving, the long stretch of white sand fronts undisturbed coral reefs harboring numerous fish and beautiful sea shells. The waters are clear and calm.
MOMO BEACH
Panglao -- 19 km from Tagbilaran City
Another white-sand beach found at the northern part of Panglao Island.

HILLS

BANAT-I HILL
Tagbilaran City
This hill commands a scenic view overlooking the vast Sea of Mindanao, Negros and Siquijor provinces, and the strait of Panglao Island. Elevation is 145 meters. ELLY HILL
Tagbilaran City
Its formation is similar to that of the famous Chocolate Hills. Elevation is 100 meters and it is situated in the northern part of the city about 5 km away.

CHOCOLATE HILLS
Carmen -- 55 km from Tagbilaran City
This is the most famous tourist attraction in Bohol. Among the thousands of perfectly cone-shaped hills which abound in Central Bohol, two of the hills have been developed into a resort. On top of the hill are two youth hostels with a conference room, cozy cottages with private rooms and accomodation.
On top of the second hill is an observation deck with 213 concrete steps. Once on top, one can view the exquisite panorama of God's wondrous creation spread as far as the eyes can see.
Food is served at the restaurant The site is connected by a cemented winding road to the main highway.
HIMONTAGON HILL
Loay -- 20km from Tagbilaran City
Located in Sitio Candoon in Barangay Botoc Occidental, the Himontagon Hill is a very scenic place overlooking the Mindanao Sea. Visible from atop the hill are the sparkling evening sceneries which portray a beautiful glittering city mid-sea, the lights being provided by lamps of fishermen. During clear weather, Hibok-Hibok Volcano on the island of Camiguin is visible in the distance. The hill also provides fascinating scenes during sunrise an susnset.
OMHON RESORT
Dimiao -- 40 km from Tagbilaran City
Omhon is located in one of the highest elevated parts of the province and the climate is cool. It is planned to be the summer capital of the province.
TONTONAN FALLS
Loboc --21 km from Tagbilaran City
The Tontonan Hydroelectric Plant is generated by these falls which is the first of its kind in the Visayas. It is capable of supplying electric power to six municpalities. The plant machinery is located in a deep tunnel a few meters from the Loboc River.

LOBOC RIVER
Loboc -- 21 km from Tagbilaran City
A fascinating boat ride along the Loboc River has recently been discovered. Starting from Loay Bridge which is the outlet of Loboc River, motorized pump boats start the exciting boat ride along palm-fringed banks inland. The water is serene. The boat ride ends near the Busay Falls where the cascading water provides a pleasant bathing spot.
BUSAY FALL
Sevilla -- 34 km from Tagbilaran City
Busay Falls are located inland of the Loboc River past Sevilla town. These beautiful falls provide an exciting scenery for bathers who flock here during weekends. Two little islets in the middle of the river make the place an ideal site for picnickers.
BADIANG SPRINGS
Valencia -- 44 km from Tagbilaran City
An underground freshwater spring gushes from twin pipes near the sea. The large volume of water normally flows over a waterfall but can be diverted to fill an adjacent swimming pool. Swimmers can chose between the large pool, a small children's pool, or the sea. Sheltered picnic tables are on a veranda overlooking a smooth-stone beach.
INAMBACAN FALLS
Antiquera --19 km from Tagbilaran City
A beautiful cascading waterfall in a forest setting, it has potential as a water supply source. It is located about one kilometer from the poblacion.
HINAGDANAN CAVE
Dauis -- 6 km from Tagbilaran City
An eerie underworld cavern of stalactites and stalagmites its underground pool catches fresh, cool water gushing from its rock walls. Shafts of sunlight pierce through two natural openings almost directly above the pool. It is located about 2 1/2 km from the poblacion.

RELIGIOUS SITES

BACLAYON CHURCH
Baclayon -- 6 km from Tagbilaran City
The oldest stone-church in the Philippines was built by the Jesuits in 1595. Its ancient massive edifice still retains its centuries-old architectural design. Church relics and artifacts from this early period can be viewed at the adjacent museum.
DAUIS CHURCH
Dauis -- 3 km from Tagbilaran City
One of Bohol's most beautiful churches, its semi-modern facade still retains the original Spanish architecture. The interior has lifelike murals painted on the ceiling.
The patron saint, the Virgin of the Assumption, is believed to possess miraculous powers and is the object of veneration particlularly during its annual festivities.
Legend has it that when the town was invaded by pirates, the townfolk locked themselves inside the church until they ran out of provisions and water. Suddenly a well appeared at the foot of the altar where people started drawing water. It is still the main source of water for people living in the church vicinity. The water is, surprisingly, absolutely fresh even though the well is located a short distance from the sea.
FATIMA HILL
Carmen -- 55 km from Tagbilaran City
The venerated image of Our Lady of Fatima stands on a hill with concrete stairs. A pilgrimage to the hill is celebrated every 13th of May by the faithfull.
ILIHAN HILL
Jagna --54 km from Tagbilaran City
Ilihan Hill has become a religious site for pilgrimages by the faithful. It is located about 4 km from Jagna town by winding road. It overlooks the Sea of Mindanao and the evening vista is beautiful. On top of the hill is the image of the Barangay Sang Birhin where a chapel has been in her honor.
LOON CHURCH
Loon -- 25 km from Tagbilaran City
This ancient church is connected to Napo, the former seat of the town, by 154 stone steps believed to be the longest stairway in the country and a reminder of Spanish forced labor.

MAN-MADE

JAYCEE PROMENADE
Tagbilaran City
A joint project of the Bohol Jaycees and the city government, the prominade juts into Tagbilaran Bay near the K of C reclamation area. It is a favorite spot for lovers who stroll in the late afternoon to watch the sunset across the bay. RIZAL PARK
Tagbilaran City
Previously known as Plaza Principe, it was renamed after Jose Rizal and contains a life-sized statue of the national hero. It is located in front of the Capitol Building and St. Joseph's Cathedral. Flag poles for the Flags of Nations were installed by the Tagbilaran Lion's Club where flags of different countries are raised particularly during their national day.
CHILDREN'S PLAYGROUND AND MINI PARK
Tagbilaran City
Near the St. Joseph Cathedral is the Lion’s Children’s Playground where the little kids enjoy with playground facilities. Across is the Lionnette’s Mini Park. A beautiful fountain with dancing waters has been installed. The park is being landscaped and improved by the provincial government.
MAGSIHA SWIMMING POOL
Balilihan -- 24 km from Tagbilaran City
This is a swimming pool supplied by water from a spring nearby. Barrio folks take time out to enjoy bathing in this artificial pool.
MAGSAYSAY CAMP
Bilar -- 45 km from Tagbilaran City
This Boy Scout camp is cool and tranquil. The entire area is surrounded by tall trees that make it a pleasant place to stay. It is located in the mountains a few kilometers from the poblacion of Bilar town. The campgrounds is one of the best in the area.
BILARMA CAMP
Bilar -- 45 km from Tagbilaran City
This is the provincial girl scout encampment. A beautiful site for camping where the youth communes with nature. There is a swimming pool where abundant fresh water cascades from a source which seems inexhaustable even durng summer. Bathers from Tagbilaran take the long ride just to enjoy the beauty of the site.
THE HOME
Carmen -- 55 km from Tagbilaran City
This is a project of the Catholic Women’s League diocesan chapter. It is both a tourist attraction as well as a community project. It is a home for orphaned, abandoned, and malnourished children from broken homes. It is located in Barangay Katipunan, 1.5 km from the town proper and consists of 11 hectares.
ROXAS PARK
Garcia-Hernandez -- 55 km from Tagbilaran City
A beautiful park with two adjacent swimming pools supplied with water coming from the rocks. The park is situated 3 km from the poblacion. There is a statue of the late President Manuel Roxas.
CASTILLO SWIMMING POOL
Loon -- 25 km from Tagbilaran City

From the Loon municipal building. bathers descend to the sea through the Castillo swimming pools, consisting of a pool for adults and a wading pool for children.

Communion between two continuing Anglican Churches

2011-09-24T06:12:00.001-07:00

Communion Accomplished

Belleville, IL;

9/22/2011 —

On September 22, 2011, the Anglican Church in America (ACA), meeting in its Eighth General Synod at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows, unanimously endorsed a resolution for inter-communion agreement with the Anglican Province of America (APA). The APA also unanimously endorsed this agreement at its Provincial Synod on July 15, 2011.

Bishop Walter Grundorf, Presiding Bishop of the APA, stated, "This is a result of the recognition that both churches have so much in common theologically and historically and was fueled by the friendships developed by the bishops of both churches. The intent of bringing both churches together in this way is to eventually knit back together that which had been divided." The Presiding Bishop of the ACA, the Rt. Rev. Brian Marsh, said, "We are absolutely delighted to be in communion with our brothers and sisters of the Anglican Province of America. It is God's will that this has been done." Both bishops indicated that work will commence to move forward the hoped for union of the two churches.

The key points of the agreement are:

1. Each jurisdiction recognizes the catholicity and independence of the other;

2. Each jurisdiction agrees to welcome members of the other jurisdiction to participate in the Sacraments, recognizing as well the validity and interchangeability of each others' Holy Orders;

3. Each jurisdiction recognizes that the other holds all essentials of the Christian Faith and seeks to teach and proclaim the same;

4. We commit ourselves to work toward an ever closer bond between our two churches, seeking always to discern God's will for us and for those we serve.

Call to prayer

2011-09-05T08:37:00.001-07:00

And My people who are called by My name humble themselves and Pray and Seek my Face and Turn from their Wicked Ways, then I will HEAR from heaven FORGIVE their sin and HEAL their land. 2nd Chronicles 7:14 ( NASB)

A voice crying out from the wilderness. Pray!

ACP / APA livelihood Project

2011-08-17T06:04:00.000-07:00

We provide goats, hogs and ducks to ACP members, who are willing to care for goats to alleviate the from condition of their lives. Once the goat gives birth, if it's two, one will go to the one who care for the goat and the other one will go to the church.

The photos are the goats of one of our recipient, a member of OLPU, an ACP mission church in Dumayop. Special thanks to APA churches who donated the funds to buy the goats to expand this project. As a result of this, the project will be extended also to our Missions in Negros Oriental.

In Deuteronomy 28:8. God promised the children of Israel that He will cause the works of their hands to prosper if they will obey His laws and commandments. This promise was extended to the church through Christ and still at work today for those who will believe. A challenge to Filipinos, that God can bless us here in our own country and do not need to go to foreign lands to be slaves of wants and needs. Why not invest your skills and expertise here in our country, in that way you contribute for the advancement of your country.

The blessing of the Lord maketh rich and He add no sorrow to it.
Akoy isang Pinoy!!

APA Approves ACA Inter-communion Offer

2011-07-20T03:28:00.000-07:00

National Office of Communications - 14 July 2011

The Provincial Synod of the Anglican Province of America (APA) has unanimously passed a resolution embracing an inter-communion agreement with the Anglican Church in America (ACA). The General Synod of the Anglican Church in America will vote on this resolution at its meeting in September. The agreement has already been approved by each of the four domestic ACA dioceses.

In part, the resolution stated “That this preliminary document will serve as a catalyst for the eventual reconciliation of our two jurisdictions, that it will encourage other continuing jurisdictions to seek greater unity and that it will bring to fruition the unity of purpose that God clearly intends for his people.” Each church body will recognize the catholicity and independence of each other, will welcome members of each other’s bodies to receive the Sacraments, and will recognize the validity of each others’ holy orders. The resolution also states that both church bodies will work toward a closer bond between the two jurisdictions. The resolution clearly stated that “possessing a common heritage and in recognition of our spiritual kinship, we acknowledge that we are members of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.”

The Anglican Church in America along with the Anglican Province of America of America are two of the largest traditional Anglican Church bodies in the United States. Both seek to uphold the Catholic Faith, Apostolic Order, Orthodox Worship and Evangelical Witness of the Anglican tradition within the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ. The Communion holds Holy Scripture and the ancient Creeds of the Undivided Church as authentic and authoritative, and worships according to the traditional formularies of the Church. The Eastern and Western Churches split in 1059 and the Anglican Church, which existed in the British Isles since the first century, joined with Rome in 664 and later separated from the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th Century.

In a statement issued by the President of the House of Bishops, the Rt. Rev. Brian Marsh said "The APA action reaffirmed what we have known in both bodies for a number of years, that in Christ and in each other, we are one Church, one body. I applaud Bishop Grundoff and the Synod of the APA for their actions to to which I am sure we will respond in kind in September."

Provincial Synod of APA in Dunwoody this coming July 2011.

2011-06-21T08:35:00.000-07:00

Anglican church leaders to gather in Dunwoody in July
Posted by Joe Earle on Jun 16 2011. Filed under Brookhaven Community, Buckhead Community, Dunwoody Community, Sandy Springs Community. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Anglican clergy and leaders from across the country are scheduled gather in Dunwoody in July.
About 150 delegates will take part in the gathering, called a synod, scheduled for July 11 through 15, said Bishop Chandler Jones of St. Barnabas Anglican Church in Dunwoody. During the synod, clergy and church leaders conduct church business.
“A synod is basically the ecclesiastical legislative body of the church,” Jones said, “but it’s also a family reunion. This is really an opportunity for people to come together.”
Most of those attending will come from the eastern United States. But Anglican clergy and lay delegates from as far as Arizona and California are expected to take part because the gathering will include representatives from the Diocese of the Eastern United States, the Diocese of Mid-America and the Diocese of the West, the three dioceses that cover the U.S., Jones said. A delegation from the Philippines also may attend, he said.
“Our meetings are really devoid of any controversy,” the bishop said. “We’re looking at strengthening our ties with Anglicans worldwide.”
The group will meet at the Holiday Inn, Perimeter and at St. Barnabas, Jones said.
The meeting will be held in Dunwoody, Jones said, because St. Barnabas is one of the larger Anglican congregations in the country. Also, Jones was installed as a bishop, the Anglican church’s youngest, last year.
St. Barnabas hosted a similar synod in 2001. One reason for the return this summer, Jones said, is that the church sanctuary and nave have been renovated since that 2001 meeting.
The Dunwoody congregation, founded in 1979, calls itself “a traditional Anglican Church” that bases its services on the 1928 Book of Common Prayer. Anglicans split from the larger Episcopal Church in the 1970s because they believed the American version of the denomination had become too liberal and strayed too far from its original teachings, members say.

ACPT is a Traditional ANGLICAN CHURCH in the Philippines that UPHOLDS THE CATHOLIC FAITH AND BIBLICAL MORALITY

2011-06-20T02:09:00.000-07:00

The Anglican Church in the Philippines (Traditional) is NOT in communion with the Church of England. Therefore, We do NOT participate and want to be included on this controversial issue of elevating openly practicing homosexual Clergy to become Bishops.

WE ARE IN FULL COMMUNION WITH THE ANGLICAN PROVINCE OF AMERICA.

The Anglican Church in the Philippines (Traditional) does NOT participate on this controversial guidelines allowing openly homosexual clergy to become Bishop.

2011-06-20T01:31:00.000-07:00

Anglican Church to allow homosexual bishops: report | ABS-CBN News ...
20 Jun 2011 ... LONDON - The Anglican Church was on Monday set to approve controversial guidelines allowing openly homosexual clergy to become bishops.
www.abs-cbnnews.com/.../anglican-church-allow-homosexual-bishops-report

Anglican Church to allow homosexual bishops: report

Agence France-Presse
Posted at 06/20/2011 9:25 AM | Updated as of 06/20/2011 1:14 PM

LONDON - The Anglican Church was on Monday set to approve controversial guidelines allowing openly homosexual clergy to become bishops.

In a paper due to be published Monday, the Church will seek to move in line with Britain's Equality Act by updating its rules to permit celibate homosexual men to be promoted.

The paper, entitled "Choosing Bishops - The Equality Act 2010", provides legal guidelines for those considering candidates for promotion and spells out that sexuality must not be a factor in the final decision.

"A person's sexual orientation is in itself irrelevant to their suitability for episcopal office or indeed ordained ministry," the paper said.

However, the report does advise that church leaders could block a candidate if "the appointment of the candidate would cause division and disunity within the diocese in question.

"It is clearly the case that a significant number of Anglicans, on grounds of strongly held religious conviction, believe that a Christian leader should not enter into a civil partnership, even if celibate, because it involves forming an exclusive, lifelong bond with someone of the same sex," it added.

"It is equally clear that many other Anglicans believe that it is appropriate that clergy who are gay by orientation enter into civil partnerships, even though the discipline of the Church requires them to remain sexually abstinent," the paper continued.

The Church has been urged to clarify its position after Jeffrey John, a celibate priest who is in a civil partnership with another cleric, was forced to stand down as suffragan bishop eight years ago.

The guidelines will be presented before the Church's General Synod in July.

The Anglican Church, which split from Rome in 1534, has 77 million followers worldwide and is Britain's dominant religion.

THE ANGLICAN CHURCH IN THE PHILIPPINES (TRADITIONAL) INC.(ACPT) IS NOT IN COMMUNION WITH THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND THEREFORE, WE ARE NOT PART OF THIS CONTROVERSIAL ISSUE!

Trinity Sunday

2011-06-14T09:00:00.000-07:00

As traditional Anglicans we believed in God the Father Almighty, the creator of all things visible and invisible. And of His beloved Son Jesus Christ born of a woman who physical lived on earth, suffered,crucified,died for the redemption of humanity and was resurrected after the third day. And the Holy Ghost the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son of the same substance with the same attributes. The Nicene creed speaks clearly of the trinity, this is the standard of faith and what Christianity believes during it's infant stage of growth. There is one God but three distinct persons. Having the same substance and attributes not separated from each other but moves and exist as one. Man in his limited understanding tried to divide God through religion and philosophy but God cannot be divided and separated by no one else because God is one!

From proper prefaces: Trinity Sunday

WHO, with thine only-begotten Son, and the Holy Ghost, art one God, one Lord, in Trinity of Persons and in Unity of Substance. For that which we believe of thy glory, O Father, the same we believe of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, without any difference of inequality.

Pentecost, commonly called Whitsunday.

2011-06-11T07:24:00.000-07:00

Acts 2:1-13

1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire,

and it sat upon each of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.
6 Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.
7 And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?
8 And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?
9 Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,
10 Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,
11 Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.
12 And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?
13 Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.

Newly installed Archbishop for the Province of the Anglican Church in the Philippines(Traditional) Inc.

2011-02-26T07:56:00.000-08:00

Most Rev.Walter Howard Grundorf, D.D. of APA and Most Rev. Frederick Luis M. Belmonte of ACP

Installed as the Archbishop for the Province of the Anglican Church in the The Philippines (Traditional) Inc. The Most Rev. Frederick Luis M.Belmonte last February 20,2011, 10 am. at St.John Vianney Anglican Mission Church in Solano, Nueva Vizcaya Philippines. The installer was the Most Rev. Walter Howard Grundorf, D.D., assisted by Fr. Johann Vanderbijl,III, Vicar General of APA, Rector of St. George the Martyr Simpsonville, South Carolina DEUS. Attended by Bishop, Priest, ministers, APA team, friends and parishioners of Our Lady of Peace and Unity Anglican Parish and St. John Vianney Anglican Mission Church

MABUHAY!

The Province of the Anglican Church in the Philippines (Traditional) and The Anglican Province of America

2011-02-13T16:13:00.000-08:00

Most Rev. Walter Howard Grundorf D.D. (APA)

Bishop Fredrick Luis M. Belmonte (ACP)

We are happy to announce the upcoming installation of Bishop Frederick Luis Belmonte as Acrhbishop for the Province of the Anglican Church in the Philippines (Traditional) Inc. on February 20, 2011 at St. John Vianney Anglican Mission Church in Solano, Nueva Vizcaya Philippines. The Installer will be the Most Reverend Walter Howard Grundorf, Presiding Bishop of the Anglican Province of America. The traditional 1928 Prayer Book will be use during the installation.

Pray for the Philippines

2011-02-11T01:24:00.000-08:00

Republic of the Philippines

See Prayer Information

Geography

Area: 300,000 sq km
80 provinces; 7,250 islands, of which over 700 are inhabited, 11 of which contain the vast bulk of the population. The largest are Luzon (116,000 sq km) in the north and Mindanao (102,000 sq km) in the south. Over 75% mountains; prone to devastating typhoons.
Population: 93,616,853 Annual Growth: 1.83%
Capital: Manila
Urbanites: 66.4%
HDI Rank: 105 of 182 (UN Human Development Reports 2009)

Peoples

Peoples: 186 (11% unreached) All peoples
Unreached Peoples Prayer Card

Official language: Filipino (based on Tagalog), English Languages: 181 All languages

Religion

Largest Religion: Christian

Religion		Pop %	Ann Gr
Christians	86,361,547	92.25	1.7
Evangelicals	11,558,344	12.3	3.1

Answer to Prayer

The continued growth of nearly all evangelical denominations, most marked among the indigenous Pentecostal denominations, but almost all evangelical denominations are growing significantly faster than the national growth rates. Church planting rates have slowed since the surge of the 1980s, but many large and megachurches have sprung up, and the sophistication and diversity of ministry within evangelical churches have come along significantly.

Challenge for Prayer

Philippines’ great economic and political potential is not yet realized despite a wealth of natural resources, deeply democratic sentiment and a well-educated population. Failures by successive governments to deal with serious economic and social issues hold back development, accelerate unsustainable urbanization and keep half the population in poverty. Pray specifically for:
a) A government that actively pursues justice and righteousness. Increasingly, committed Christians take major posts of leadership; pray that they may decisively influence the nation for good. Pray for the Fellowship of Christians in Government, which promotes biblical standards in state structures and among Christian public servants.
b) The end of corruption and graft, which has robbed the country of $48 billion in the last 20 years. A flawed political system helps maintain endemic greed and cronyism and keeps the country’s elite in power and wealth. The fact that the Philippines is Asia’s most Christianized nation – yet is the fourth most corrupt – is scandalous.
c) Recovery from the tropical storms of 2009. A series of storms battered the country, displacing millions of people, killing over 1,000 and causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. The aftermath revealed the need for change in a number of areas: government that mishandles disaster relief and assigned relief funds, deforestation that leads to flooding and landslides, and poverty that leads to illegal shantytowns forming in high-risk areas. There are no easy solutions, but many pressing problems.
d) Much needed reform to land ownership issues. Most farmers are landless. Changes would hugely improve the lot of the tens of millions of poor. Reform laws passed in 1988 are not implemented; continued injustices produce frustration and violence and perpetuate poverty for millions of farmers. Long-term investment into health, education and other basic infrastructures is also greatly needed, but requires commitment, huge sums and long-term vision by the government.
e) Peace in Mindanao among the marginalized, resentful Muslim (Moro) population, the government and the local “Christian” majority. Islamist factions, such as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, will not compromise. They claim four provinces, two with Muslim minorities, for an Islamic state. Pray for a fair, workable solution that ends the cycle of military presence, violence, kidnappings and suffering. Pray also that centuries of perceived “Christian” oppression might end with freedom and respect for the gospel.

More Information

The Operation World book, CD-ROM, and DVD-ROM provide far more information and fuel for prayer for the people of Philippines.

APA Global Partnerships -The Philippine Visit

2011-02-05T02:06:00.000-08:00

Interesting Facts

Geography: 300,000.00 sq. km. 80 provinces, 7,250 islands, 75% mountains.

Peoples: Malayo-Indonesian Filipinos 98,1%, Chinese 1.7%, Other 0.2%, literacy 92.6%

Economy: Agricultural and industrial economy, massive gaps between rich and poor.

Politics: Spanish Colony 1565-1898, USA Protectorate 1898- independence in 1946.

Religion: Freedom of Religion. Christian 92.25%, Muslim 5.65%, Other 2.1%

Missionaries from the Philippines: Estimated 4,500 long-term.

Answers to Prayer

The continued growth of nearly all evangelical denominations.

Increased spiritual unity.

Emergence as missionary-sending force.

Challenges for Prayer

Pray for:

The government to address issues of justice and righteousness.

The end of corruption and graft.

Full recovery from the storms of 2009.

Reform to land ownership issues.

Peace in Mindanao.

For relations with the Roman Catholic Church.

Church Growth.

Spiritual vitality to equal biblical truth.

Discipleship and solid biblical teaching.

A healthy attitude for churches with regard to addressing poverty.

Church leadership development.

Growth in Missionary Zeal.

For the less reached peoples and areas in Mindano, the Sulu islands, Palawan, north-central Luzon, and the most needy region, Visayas.

The ethnic minorities - Chinese and South Asians (Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus)

Operation World: The Definitive Prayer Guide to every Nation, by Jason Mandryk, completely revised-7^th Edition, Biblica Publishing, Colorado Springs, CO, 2010, 682-688

Christmas Greetings

2010-12-25T03:39:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!

Maligayang Pasko at Manigong Bagong Taon! (in Filipino)

from ACP

Response from the Clergy conference

2010-12-20T07:00:00.000-08:00

Thank you for your prayers offered for the success of ACP 2nd Clergy conference. We were blessed to hear positive responses from the participants. Special Thanks to Dr. Chris and Rachelle Ruhm.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-26T06:15:00.000-08:00

As we reflect and celebrate the goodness of God this year and the years
past, there are many things that we can thank and praise Him.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. (1 Thessalonian 5:18) You are blessed!

The Collect

O MOST merciful Father, who hast blessed the labours of the husbandman in the returns of the fruits of the earth; We give thee humble and hearty thanks for this thy bounty; beseeching thee to continue thy loving-kindness to us, that our land may still yield her increase, to thy glory and our comfort; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Archbishop of Canterbury moves to flush out Anglicans plotting to defect to Rome

2010-10-22T19:32:00.000-07:00

The Archbishop of Canterbury moved last night to counter secret plotting among disaffected Anglicans who are planning to defect to Rome.

By Tim Ross, Religious Affairs Editor Published: 7:30AM BST 21 Oct 2010

Dr Williams's suggestion came in his first public remarks since a parish in Kent and a London bishop announced their intention to accept the Pope's offer to convert to Roman Catholicism

Photo: REUTERS

In a surprise announcement, Dr Rowan Williams said he wanted to establish a new joint group of Roman Catholic and Church of England figures to oversee the conversion process.

The proposed group would be designed to enable smooth and less painful transition for those who want to leave the Church of England to become Roman Catholics in protest at the ordination of women bishops.

Related Articles

It would also bring into the open the negotiations between disaffected Anglicans and the Vatican which have been taking place in secret for months.
Dr Williams’s suggestion came in his first public remarks since a parish in Kent and a London bishop announced their intention to accept the Pope’s offer to convert to Roman Catholicism.
Last Friday, St Peter’s church in Folkestone and the Bishop of Fulham, the Rt Rev John Broadhurst, disclosed their plans to join the so-called English Ordinariate, a new body proposed by the Vatican as a home for disaffected Anglicans.
At least two more bishops are widely rumoured to be planning to join the Ordinariate when it is established next year, but their negotiations with Rome are taking place behind closed doors.
Neither Lambeth Palace nor the Roman Catholic authorities in England and Wales know the extent of the numbers of Anglicans who are likely to switch allegiance.
Under Pope Benedict XVI’s plan, Anglicans would be able to move into full communion with Rome while at the same time preserving some of their traditions and heritage.
In an interview with The Hindu newspaper, while on a trip to India, Dr Williams spoke of his frustration at the Pope’s decision to announce the Ordinariate to the public with little prior warning a year ago.
“I was very taken aback that this large step was put before us without any real consultation. And it did seem to me that some bits of the Vatican didn't communicate with other bits,” he said.
“It caused some ripples because I think there was a widespread feeling that it would have been better to consult.
“As this is now being implemented, we are trying to make sure that there is a joint group which will keep an eye on how it's going to happen. In England, the relations between the Church of England and Roman Catholic Bishops are very warm and very close. I think we are able to work together on this and not find it a difficulty.”
It is understood that neither the Church of England nor the Roman Catholic authorities in England and Wales have yet agreed to Dr Williams’s proposal for a joint group to oversee the Ordinariate.
In the interview, Dr Williams acknowledged that the ordination of homosexuals and women as bishops threatened to create “deeper divisions” within the world-wide Anglican Communion.
"I feel that we may yet have to face the possibility of deeper divisions," he said.
"I don't at all like, or want to encourage, the idea of a multi-tier organisation. But that would, in my mind, be preferable to complete chaos and fragmentation. It's about agreeing what we could do together."

Interesting news, when East meets West, in Indian soil.

2010-10-22T08:45:00.000-07:00

When churches come together and start extending respect and kindness to each other the impossible becomes possible.
Pwede naman pala!

'Juan' destroys almost P5 billion worth of crops, properties

2010-10-21T17:19:00.000-07:00

From: Philstar.com - Thursday, October 21

MANILA, Philippines – Almost P5 billion worth of properties and agricultural products were destroyed during the wake of super typhoon "Juan," according to the latest assessment report of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).

The disaster-preparedness agency reported that P4.2 million of schools in regions 1, 2, 3 and the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) were damaged as the typhoon battered the areas.
NDRRMC said “Juan (international codename Megi) also destroyed P4.7 billion worth of livestock, fisheries, vegetables, and fruits crops such as mango, banana and papaya, and agricultural equipment in the regions.
Meanwhile, the national government, through the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and the respective local government units were able to raise around P7.5 million of assistance to the affected regions. - By Dennis Carcamo (Philstar News Service, www.philstar.com)

Northern Luzon was heavily damage by typhoon Juan (Megi).

2010-10-19T11:21:00.000-07:00

Residence of Delfin Albano township in Ilagan Isabela.

Aerial view of Baguio city flooded effect of the typhoon Meji

May we request you to please pray with us for the recovery of those who were badly affected by this disaster. Any assistance will really be a great help to those who suffered so much from this calamity. Northern Luzon was heavily damaged by this typhoon specially Cagayan, Kalinga and Apayao.

The Church as Steward of God's grace.

2010-10-05T13:36:00.000-07:00

The task entrusted by our good Lord to the Church is great and difficult, but the God whom we serve is greater than any of these difficulties in this present age. I want to quote this scriptures for us:

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.
Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written,
“FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG;
WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.”
But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:18-25, 35-39, NASB) ACPT

2010-10-03T06:29:00.000-07:00

TEC Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori says she will attend 2011 Primates Meeting in Dublin
Orthodox Anglican Primates have said they will not appear if she is there

By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
Sept. 22, 2010

A number of African Archbishops including a Southeast Asian and Middle Eastern Presiding Bishop meeting recently in Entebbe said they would no longer attend any gathering of Primates called by the Archbishop of Canterbury if the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church is present. Their non-appearance would signal a de facto split in The Anglican Communion.

"We are committed to network with orthodox Anglicans around the world, including Communion Partners in the USA and the Anglican Church in North America, in holistic mission and evangelism. Our aim is to advance the Kingdom of God especially in unreached areas," they wrote in a communiqué to the wider Anglican Communion.

"In order to keep the ethos and tradition of the Anglican Communion in a credible way, it is obligatory of all Provinces to observe the agreed decisions and recommendations of the Windsor Report and the various communique of the past three Primates Meetings, especially Dar es Salaam in 2007. We as Primates of CAPA and the Global South are committed to honor such recommendations."

In an e-mail sent to a number of orthodox Anglican Archbishops, VOL was told that if the US Presiding Bishop shows up in Dublin next year, they would not attend. At the HOB meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, this week the Presiding Bishop said, when asked at a press conference if she would attend, gave an unequivocal yes.

Likely no shows are: Nigerian Archbishop Nicholas Okoh, Ugandan Primate Henry Luke Orombi, Kenya Primate Eliud Wabukala, Rwanda Primate Onesphore Rwaje, Indian Ocean archbishop Ian Ernest, SE Asia Primate John Chew, Middle East Presiding Bishop Mouneer Anis and Southern Cone Primate Gregory Venables. (The latter was not present in Entebbe). Together they represent more than 75% of the Anglican Communion. (NOTE: This list is not complete and may include other archbishops).

In an e-mail to VOL, Archbishop Ernest said, "As mentioned in the letter addressed to the Archbishop of Canterbury on the 12th April 2010, there were conditions attached to my being present at the Primates Meeting."

In Ft. Worth, Texas, this week Bishop Mouneer Anis excoriated The Episcopal Church (TEC) describing them as "Arians" because of its theology and steadily declining membership and increasing marginalization in the Anglican Communion. Referring to the latest meeting of the Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa (CAPA), at Entebbe, Uganda, Anis stated that TEC "was not really welcome," despite being allowed a presence at the event.

Church of England bishops fear for 'fragile unity' of Anglicanism over new gay marriage moves

2010-09-28T02:37:00.000-07:00

Senior bishops have warned that new plans to allow homosexual marriages could destroy the "fragile unity" of the global Anglican Communion.

By Martin Beckford, Religious Affairs Correspondent

Published: 8:00AM BST 11 Jul 2009

The Church of England leaders fear that the controversial move would go against traditional biblical teaching and have "immediate and negative consequences" for relationships with other provinces around the world, as well as the central position of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

In an official letter they also urge clergy to "maintain a critical distance" from governments and resist any moves they make to allow "gender neutral" weddings.

Their strongly-worded letter - made public on the first day of a meeting of the Church of England's governing body, the General Synod in York - comes just days after a new traditionalist group was formed to oppose the liberal direction of Anglicanism.

It highlights once again the threat to the unity of the 80 million-strong Communion posed by conflicting attitudes to homosexuality.
The latest fears have been raised over plans by the Church of Sweden, which is formally linked to the Church of England through an agreement called the Porvoo Declaration, to make its marriage liturgy "gender neutral" so that same-sex couples can have traditional wedding services for the first time.
The warnings come in a letter to the head of the Church of Sweden written by the Bishop of Guildford, the Rt Rev Christopher Hill, who is chairman of the Church of England's Council for Christian Unity, and the Bishop of Chichester, the Rt Rev John Hind, who is chairman of its Faith and Order Advisory Group.
They write: "If we understand the situation in the Church of Sweden correctly, what is now proposed appears to be a fundamental re-definition of the Christian doctrine of marriage and of basic Christian anthropology.
"This development might be seen as part of a wider shift within Western culture and theology to a position in which the idea of a fundamental distinction between the genders is seen as irrelevant and in which marriage is therefore seen as something that can and should be gender neutral."
They warn that this goes against biblical teaching and say it is "vital" for the Church to "maintain a critical distance from the state and resist what the state is doing if this is at odds with scripture".
The bishops say plans by any church to revise Christian teaching over sexuality will have "immediate and negative ecumenical consequences" and point out the damage similar moves have had in the USA, where the first openly gay bishop, the Rt Rev Gene Robinson, was ordained in 2003.
The bishops add: "Because of the role of the Archbishop of Canterbury within the Anglican Communion they could also further undermine the fragile unity of the Anglican Communion."

Archbishop of Canterbury: Gay rows wounding church

2010-09-27T08:42:00.000-07:00

LONDON – Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams was quoted Saturday as saying he is not opposed to the appointment of gay people as bishops, if they pledge to remain celibate.
Williams, the spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion, was quoted as telling the Times of London that he could in the future support the appointment of homosexual bishops — but not those in active sexual relationships.
"To put it very simply, there's no problem about a gay person who's a bishop. It's about the fact that there are traditionally, historically, standards that the clergy are expected to observe. So there's always a question about the personal life of the clergy," Williams was quoted as telling the newspaper.
The archbishop has been accused by equality campaigners of inconsistency because celibacy is not regarded as compulsory for heterosexual clergy.
Differences over the elevation of gay clergy have caused turmoil within the Anglican Communion — an association of churches with 80 million members in about 160 countries. Some conservatives have quit the association in protest, while the U.S. Episcopal Church — the branch of the Anglican Communion in the United States — has appointed two gay bishops since 2003.
Last year, the Vatican put forward plans to make it easier for traditional Anglicans upset over the appointment of female priests and gay bishops to join the Catholic Church, whose teaching holds that homosexual activity is sinful.
Williams earlier this year blocked the appointment of the Very Rev. Jeffrey John, a celibate gay cleric, to the post of bishop of Reading, and imposed sanctions on the U.S. Episcopal Church over the elevation of Mary Douglas Glasspool, a lesbian, to a position as an assistant bishop.
Williams said the issue of homosexuality has become "a wound in the whole ministry" since his appointment as archbishop in 2002.
He told the Times that in the past he had ruled against endorsing gay relationships for clergy, and against the appointment of John as a bishop, because "the cost to the Church overall was too great to be borne at that point."
Gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell said Williams had gone too far in seeking to accommodate conservative Anglicans. "Before he became Archbishop of Canterbury, he supported gay inclusion and equality. Now he victimizes gay clergy," Tatchell told the newspaper.

CORRECTED - Gay bishops are okay if celibate - Anglican leader

2010-09-27T08:21:00.001-07:00

(Corrects to show Williams is spiritual head of Anglican Communion, not Church)LONDON (Reuters) - The spiritual head of the Anglican Communion, Archbishop Rowan Williams, backed gay people becoming bishops on Saturday as long as they remain celibate, risking more divisions within the Church on the issue.
Making one of the most explicit statements he has made on the subject, the head of the Church of England told the Times newspaper that he had "no problem" with their consecration.
But he would not endorse gay clergy in active relationships because of tradition and historical "standards" that require celibacy, he said in the interview.
Williams went to great lengths to explain why he stands with conservatives against gay clergy when it comes to doctrine.
He said he had to decide against endorsing gay relationships for clergy and bishops because "the cost to the Church overall was too great to be borne at that point".
The Archbishop said that since his appointment eight years ago he knew the gay issue as "a wound in the whole ministry".
"To put it very simply, there's no problem about a gay person who's a bishop. It's about the fact that there are traditionally, historically, standards that the clergy are expected to observe," Williams said.
His comments provoked an angry response from campaigners who accused him of being inconsistent because they say he previously blocked the appointment of a celibate homosexual cleric.
"Yet again, Rowan is sitting on the fence regarding gay clergy ... I don't know how Rowan sleeps at night," rights campaigner Peter Tatchell was quoted as saying.
Conservatives say his stance is at odds with 2,000 years of Christian teaching, the Times reported.
His views may endanger an Church unity scheme to be based around a new covenant on which all branches of the Church agree.
(Writing by Stefano Ambrogi; Editing by Louise Ireland)
(For more news, visit Reuters India)

Quoted from 1 Corinthians 6 : 9- 11. (New American Standard Bible)

9Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. 11Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

God loves sinners but despised Sin. If this kind of Moral Standard is allowed in the church what kind of a church will it be. An APOSTATE church departing from orthodoxy of the faith handed down by the early church and the apostles (1Timothy 4:1). Jesus told his disciples: " You are in the WORLD but NOT of this WORLD"( its systems and standards). Whats happening now is, the world standards is in the church, instead the church being the LIGHT to the world. There is no distinction anymore, between the World and the Church except the church was in a religious garb.

2010-09-27T02:45:00.000-07:00

Suffragan Bishop consecrated for Diocese of the Eastern US:

Rt. Rev. Chandler Jones was consecrated to fill the position of
Bishop Peter Brewer, who retired as Suffragan Bishop.
Bishop Jones was consecrated last
September 18, 2010 at St. Alban’s Cathedral in Oviedo, Florida
Congratulations to Bishop Chandler Jones may our good Lord be with you always as you serve faithfully the flock of Christ.

APA Prayer Books

2010-08-18T21:19:00.000-07:00

AVAILABLE NOW!
APA (1928) Prayer Books
Click HERE to Purchase deusbooks.org

Deus Publications and the Diocese of the Eastern United States are pleased to bring you our very first offering: a personal edition of the Book of Common Prayer. We hope you will be pleased with this book, as we hope to be able to bring you other works for the good of the Church and the spread of the Kingdom of God.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nigeria : Anglican Primate Condemns Homosexuality, Same Sex Marriage and Pedophilia in Maiden Speech

2010-07-16T19:13:00.000-07:00

By David W. Virtue http://www.virtueonline.org/
July 16, 2010

The Nigerian Anglican Archbishop of more than 18 million Anglicans, the largest province in the Anglican Communion, blasted what he called an “invading army of homosexuality, lesbianism and bisexual lifestyle under any guise” coming from the West and said same sex marriage, pedophilia and all sexual pervasions should be roundly condemned by all who accept the authority of Scripture over human life.

In his first press conference since assuming the leadership of the Anglican Church of Nigeria following the retirement of Peter Akinola, Archbishop Nicholas Okoh said the issue at stake of human sexuality is not an Anglican prerogative and it is by no means limited to the Anglican circle as it is clearly shown all over the world.

“The Church in the West had vowed to use their money to spread the homosexual lifestyle in African societies and Churches; after all Africa is poor. They are pursuing this agenda vigorously and what is more, they now have the support of the United Nations. We therefore call on parents to ensure that their children obtain their first degree in Nigeria before travelling abroad. Parents and guardians should closely watch and monitor the relationship which their children or wards keep so that deviant behavior could be timely corrected. The sin of homosexuality, it must be reemphasized, destroyed the communities of Sodom and Gomorrah.”

Okoh ripped the comparison of those who ordained gay bishops with those who cross borders for “pastoral work” and had been accused of breaking the call for a moratorium.

“We reject being put in the same category with churches conducting gay ordination and same sex marriage, and the equating of our evangelical initiative (for which we should be commended) with those who are doing things unbiblical. But for the Nigerian initiative and others like her, many of our faithful Anglican American friends who cannot tolerate the unbiblical practices of the Episcopal Church in America could have gone away to other faiths. The great commission to go in to all the world to save souls is our compelling constitution.”

Okoh called the step taken by the [Archbishop of] Canterbury “ill-advised and does not make any contribution towards the healing of the ailment in the Anglican extended family.”

“Our main thrust as a Church remains the evangelization of our people. The Gospel is not only proclaimed as a religious faith but a means of godly civilization. By evangelism we mean the spreading of “the faith once for all delivered to the Saints” (Jude 3). We equally mean effective teaching and discipling to reduce the yearning gap between profession of faith and morality. It also includes getting deeply involved in the work of mission by providing some amenities and support to individuals and rural communities so as to reduce poverty and complement the effort of Government that the people may have life more abundantly.”

The archbishop also attacked Nigeria’s numerous social evils and said he would not draw back from addressing them. “Like Biblical prophets of old who were champions of moral, socio-political and economic destinies of their nations, we do not intend to abandon this divine responsibility.”

“I wonder why we still lack vision and mission such that can explore resources to employ and feed all our people; why do most people hunger when God has so endowed us. There is clearly poverty in the land as evidenced in our housing, food and clothing in most rural communities. In spite of this, corruption is still growing in all segments of society; leaving the most vulnerable in society completely dispossessed. There is warning everywhere that fossil oil will not continue to rule the world. Serious scientific research is going on around the world to find viable alternatives.”

Okoh said he was grateful to God that the nation had survived a 3-year bloody civil war and that a sense of pride at the restoration of democracy after a prolonged military rule.

Before being elected in September 2009 to serve as primate by the church’s bishops, Okoh was archbishop of Bendel province and bishop of the Diocese of Asaba.

Okoh said that he'd spent his first months as primate touring all 14 internal provinces of the Church of Nigeria, and that the conversations and feedback from Anglicans throughout the country had informed his address to the press.

The church's main priority, he concluded, "remains the evangelization of our people. The Gospel is not only proclaimed as a religious faith but a means of godly civilization."

Greetings

2010-06-19T08:14:00.000-07:00

To a loving dad, godly fathers, responsible fathers, caring fathers, providing fathers, merciful fathers, faithful fathers, spiritual fathers, cruel fathers, irresponsible fathers, absentee fathers, OFW's Fathers to all fathers: Happy Father's day! From us, sons and daugthers. We love you!!! and God loves you!

Trinity Sunday May 30,2010

2010-05-22T05:30:00.000-07:00

The Collect

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who hast given unto us thy servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of the Divine Majesty to worship the Unity; We beseech thee that thou wouldest keep us stedfast in this faith, and evermore defend us from all adversities, who livest and reignest, one God, world without end. Amen.

The Epistle
Revelation 4:1

AFTER this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes before and behind. And the first was like a lion, and the second like a calf, and the third had a face as a man, and the fourth was like a flying eagle. And the four living creatures had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. And when those living creatures give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, the four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are, and were created.

The Gospel
St. John 3:1

THERE was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: the same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

THE MALE PRIESTHOOD

2010-05-16T12:57:00.000-07:00

Anglicans believe that the sacred, threefold ministry of Deacons, Priests and Bishops is limited to males. To explain this, we must delve somewhat into the differences between the Catholic and the Protestant traditions of Christianity.

A Protestant minister is a minister. A Catholic priest is both a minister and a priest. The difference is both subtle and great. A “minister” is a preacher, pastor, teacher, counselor (and, of course, administrator). But he does not serve at the altar, he does not administer the Sacraments, and he does not stand in the unbroken line of descent from Christ’s Apostles.

This last point, the Apostolic Succession, is important. The threefold Apostolic Ministry has been a hallmark of the Church Catholic since the earliest days. However, the Protestant part of Christendom chose to discard this hallmark at the Reformation. It thereby discarded Catholicism and the Sacraments, and kept for itself only ministers, not priests.

It is unarguable that the Deity is not sexual, as that term is understood by human beings. Nevertheless, Christ was, in His human nature, a male. He consistently taught us to think of God as a Father. One cannot ignore this consistent imagery, plus the fact that Christ did not choose to include women among His Apostles, and thereby established the principle of a male priesthood. For two thousand year the Church Catholic has followed His lead in this matter.

There is certainly no bar to women in the ministry. Christ had many women in His following and they undoubtedly ministered in various ways to His disciples. There would seem to be nothing in Christ’s teachings or practice to prohibit women from serving as ministers in many aspects of Church life—as teachers, counselors, administrators, etc. They do serve in many of these areas in Catholic bodies. But in Catholicism, of which Anglicanism is a part, that ordained ministry carried with it priesthood, and thus women cannot be accepted into ordination. The Priest serves at the altar, and the altar is not just another piece of furniture, not just a repository for cross, flowers, and a Bible. It is the place where the great Sacramental Mysteries of God are celeb rated. When the Priest stands at the altar to celebrate the Last Supper, the Eucharist, the Mass, he does so as Christ’s icon, as Christ’s “other self;” he stands in the place of the God who came to us in human form as a man. When he pronounces the absolution, he is the delegated successor of the Apostles, men to whom Christ gave the power to “remit” and to “retain.”

The inability of women to serve in this way has nothing to do with their physical, mental, or moral ability to serve. Many could do all the things that priests do. In individual cases, they might do them better than given individual men. But the form of the priesthood as set by Christ, not by men, and we must remain loyal to Him.

This categorical principle of priesthood in no way stigmatizes women as inferior. It is a mystical, dominical, and theological differentiation between women and men, just as real as the physical differentiations between women and men. God has highly honored women. He chose Mary to be the Mother of Christ, making her that mysterious and paradoxical figure, “the Mother of God.” Christ highly honored women. He loved Mary and Martha. He forgave and loved Mary Magdalene. To women was entrusted the honor of discovering the empty tomb and thus being the first witnesses to the Resurrection. But as God in His wisdom chose to send His Son to the world as a man, so Christ, in His divine wisdom chose to use men as His Apostles and the prototypes of the priesthood. The pattern has been set of us. Can we change all this? The Catholic has always believed we cannot.

Holy Trinity Anglican Church

Graciously hear us, O Lord.

2010-05-10T03:56:00.000-07:00

A prayer for a peaceful and honorable Election.

In the Name of the Father + the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Almighty God, to whom we must account for all our powers and privileges: Guide the people of the Republic of the Philippines in the Election of Officials and Representatives; that, by faithful administration and wise laws, the rights of all may be protected and our Nation be enabled to fulfill your purposes; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. God Bless the Philippines!!!

Please Vote on May 10, 2010

CHRIST our PASSOVER has been sacrificed for US: therefore let us celebrate the feast!

2010-03-29T00:56:00.000-07:00

Suffering could not stop Him, Crucifixion could
not bind Him, Death could not destroy Him. In the
midst of supposedly defeat, Jesus Christ rose from the
dead and gain the victory over him who had the power
of death and has now the keys of death, hell and the
grave. He turned it over to us (His One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church) to enforce that victory
over this present darkness.

Happy Resurrection!

ACPT

The APA Statement on the Vatican Announcement

2009-10-28T00:10:00.000-07:00

Monday, October 26, 2009

APA Statement on the Vatican Announcement of October 20, 2009

From the Office of the Presiding Bishop,
The Most Rev. Walter H. Grundorf, D.D.
October 26, 2009

The Anglican Province of America (APA) welcomes with hopeful interest the Note of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith about Personal Ordinariates for Anglicans entering the Catholic Church. It has opened a way for persons who are currently Anglicans to enter into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church while retaining elements of Anglican liturgy, spirituality, theology, discipline and ethos. This remarkable decision demonstrates on the part of the Roman Communion a recognition of the integral virtues of historic Anglicanism. These characteristics can serve to be a gift to the wider Catholic and Apostolic Church. The new structure proposed by the Roman Communion is a fruit of the prayer and labor of faithful souls who for over a century have devoted themselves to such a form of reconciliation. While many in the Continuing Anglican movement may not avail themselves of this new ecclesiastical structure, the APA awaits with anticipation more information, which will give it a greater opportunity for consideration and reflection.

Our Province remains grateful to Almighty God for the positive relationships which have existed and continue to exist between the Roman Catholic and Anglican traditions. Traditional Anglicans possess in common with the Roman Communion the essentials of the Catholic Faith, including the canonical Scriptures, the universal Creeds, the Seven Sacraments, the male character of the Apostolic Ministry of bishops, priests and deacons, and traditional Christian teaching and doctrine concerning Holy Matrimony. We share what Pope Paul VI and Archbishop Michael Ramsey called in 1966 a Faith “founded on the Gospel and on the ancient common Tradition.”

Our differences over the role and authority of the papal office, the infallibility and universal jurisdiction of the Pope as defined in the decrees of the I Vatican Council of 1870, the 1854 and 1950 dogmas regarding the Blessed Virgin Mary, the validity of Anglican Orders and Apostolicae Curae will require further intensive and deliberate dialogue. Nevertheless, we anticipate a deepening relationship and collaboration with the Roman Catholic Church as a result of the new Apostolic Constitution about to be promulgated, a Constitution we are eager to read, evaluate and prayerfully consider.

We commit ourselves to fervent prayer for all those who will follow the path now created by the See of Rome, as we pledge to continue our prayer and work with Roman Catholics everywhere for the visible unity of Christ's One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

2009-10-20T23:08:00.000-07:00

The Anglo-Papalist Ordinariate

The new 'ordinariate' for Anglican Papalists today erected by the CDF offers the greatest hope to those currently of the Anglican obedience who desire to enter into full communion with the See of Rome, and is undoubtedly a fruit of the prayers, longings and labours of many holy and faithful souls who for over a century and a half have devoted themselves to this cause. It is undoubtedly the fulfillment of the highest aspirations and deepest desires of a not inconsiderable number of Anglo-Papalists since the heady days of the Catholic Revival. Let us certainly pray for those who will seek to enter the Roman Communion by the path which has now been paved for them by Pope Benedict XVI. In terms of ecumenical activity, the establishment of the ordinariate may be the most momentous event since the sixteenth century Reformation.

This news is indeed fascinating and compelling, and will undoubtedly be equally fascinating to watch unfold in the days and weeks ahead. But it must be said that we should very much doubt that many in the orthodox Continuing Anglican movement will avail themselves of this new constitutional structure in the Roman Communion, as our priests and people are generally not inclined or disposed to accept the Papal Claims and Dogmas and have no affinity with Papalism. We should confidently assert that most of our Continuing Churchmen repudiate the I Vatican Council of 1870 and so find no overwhelming attraction to this new offer. Papal Infallibility and Papal Universal Jurisdiction, combined with Rome's rejection of the validity of Anglican Orders and its assertion of the de fide and salvific character of the Marian Dogmas, is altogether a situation most Traditional Anglicans will find simply too difficult to accept. Assuredly, for most Continuing Churchmen, the observance of the creation of the new body will be intriguing, but academic, detached and remote, and likely nothing more. We shall be 'observers and by-standers' during the process to come.

In the meantime, we await with hopeful expectation what yet may come from dialogue with the Orthodox Church in America and what relationship may yet emerge between Eastern Orthodox Christians and us, the original Catholics of the Anglican Rite.

In short, as riveting as it is, the new Anglo-Papalist entity will not affect most Continuing Anglican jurisdictions in any direct way, save the Traditional Anglican Communion. But in all love and charity let us pray fervently for those who will now swim the Tiber in this fashion and wish them well in their journey of faith, love, hope and conscience.

It could be argued that Pope Leo XIII was partially prophetic in his declaration of September 1896, in that Holy Orders now conferred in several provinces of the Lambeth Anglican Communion are in many places invalid due to the invalidity of ministers of episcopal consecration and priestly ordination - that is, women who purport to be bishops or men purportedly consecrated to the episcopate by women. In those cases Apostolicae Curae is undoubtedly correct, but not for the reasons identified by the Roman Pontiff. It is not the defect of intention or form, but defect of minister, which renders such ordinations invalid. Subsequent to 1896, all of the world's Anglican bishops, from 1932 in England and 1946 in the USA, have received episcopal consecration in a line from the Old Catholic Churches of the Utrecht Union, which are held by Rome to be undoubtedly valid.

The infusion of Old Catholic Orders, coupled with the use of the 1662 Anglican Ordinal (which Ordinal was not condemned by Apostolicae Curae but in fact was rather asserted by Leo XIII rightly to acknowledge each Order being conferred in each ordination rite), created a situation never envisioned by Leo in the nineteenth century. We should remember it was the 1550 Edwardine Ordinal, not the 1662, which was claimed to have a defect of form. Every living validly-ordained Anglican bishop and priest now possesses Orders from a source that Rome is compelled, at least theoretically, to recognise as valid.

In our own case, Bishop Grundorf was initially consecrated by bishops of the English Matthew Old Catholic line in 1976 before he was conditionally consecrated by Anglican Communion bishops in 1991, thus settling this issue for us permanently. But Apostolicae Curae, it has been said rightly by others, is the second Galileo case, and presents a neo-scholastic theology riddled with inconsistent leaps of logic and largely devoid of patristic sacramental theology, as was amply demonstrated by the Archbishops of England in their Responsio of 1897, Saepius Officio. I for one have moral certainty that Anglican Orders have always been valid since the Reformation: Accipe Spiritum Sanctum!

Even if Apostolicae Curae were correct in its claim of defective form and intention for the Anglican Ordinal, Apostolic Succession undoubtedly was restored with Old Catholic co-consecration, even if the sacramental form utilised by the Old Catholics is not the one identified by Pius XII in 1947. But, of course, I hold Leo XIII was misled and misinformed by some members of his commission and was incorrect in his judgement of 1896. Four of the eight theologians of the 1896 commission held Anglican Orders were valid, but they were ignored principally in favour of Cardinal Vaughn of Westminster, who proposed to the Pope that the condemnation of Anglican Orders would lead to a mass exodus of Anglo-Catholics from the Church of England into the Roman fold. He too was incorrect and misjudged the situation.

All that being said, the position of the APA, the Anglican Church in America, the Anglican Province of Christ the King and some other Continuing Churches regarding validity of Orders is that of Saint Augustine of Hippo: where valid matter, form, minister, intention and subject are unquestionably found, the ordination in question is valid. This means that as long as male bishops consecrated by male bishops in an unbroken succession ordain male priests and deacons or consecrate other male bishops, using the laying on of hands and prayer for the gift of Holy Orders in a recognisable ordination rite, the Orders are always valid. Thus, we receive in Orders male bishops, priests and deacons from the Episcopal Church or other Lambeth Anglican Communion churches, so long as it can be substantiated that their ordaining prelates were male, consecrated by males.

The 1979 American rite, although certainly leaving much to be desired, is essentially a valid ordination rite and is accepted as valid by the APA, for the 1979 rite contains the necessary essentials of ordination.

Usually only in cases where the ordaining bishop's succession is in doubt does the APA require ordination sub conditione. Sacramental intention is actually the simplest of all the necessary requirements for valid ordination, for the only necessary intention is 'generally to do what the Church does,' that is, to ordain bishops, priests and deacons as the Church has always done. One does not have to intend what the Church intends, but merely to do what the Church does.

A bishop may have in his mind and heart an heretical or schismatical intention or understanding of the sacraments, even of Orders, or may belong to a communion or sect that holds officially to false doctrine, even concerning the sacraments, and still validly ordain, so long as he intends seriously to perform the rite as practised by Christians or as instituted by Our Lord. As long as one intends in a general way to ordain according to the mind of Christ, or the New Testament Church, or the true Church, or God's will, the ordination is valid.

This is because the intention necessary for valid ordination is expressed ritually, exteriorly, in the rite itself - and thus ordination is always valid when a valid rite is used. A valid bishop and subject and a valid rite effect a valid ordination. The problem now is that under Mrs Jefferts-Schori 'bishops' are ordained who are not bishops for lack of a valid minister of consecration. So we must do our homework to ensure that the ordaining bishop in every case is in fact a bishop.

Most Continuing Churches follow the historically Augustinian-Western approach to this subject. I should deem the practice of some other Continuing Churches, the Polish National Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodoxy to be Cyprianic in origin.

It is indeed difficult to know exactly how far an ecclesial body has to go into heresy, even heresy regarding Holy Order, before its sacramental intention, the ritual ecclesiastical intention of a Church as a corporate body, is rendered null and void. The Anglican precedent would maintain that such a corruption would have to be of the most extreme and severe kind. The Arians presumably had valid orders, as do Nestorians and Monophysites today, but, of course, their heterodoxies are Christological and not directly sacramental. The Episcopal Church presents an almost unique situation of being a Church having had Apostolic Succession that has introduced a heresy targeting specifically Holy Orders (and, by relation, Christian anthropology in general, as we have seen with the homosexualism and deconstruction of Matrimony crises). There are few examples of this particular kind of error in history of which I am aware, for most sects that strayed over time from orthodoxy as far as TEC eventually abandoned altogether even the semblance of Holy Order - I think of the Montanists, Albigensians, Cathari, and other sects of a gnostic orientation. Such abandonment of Order is now inevitable for the Episcopal Church. TEC will follow suit and has initiated the process of eliminating the Catholic priesthood one ordination at a time.

Even the protestantising 'heresies' of Archbishop Cranmer and his associates, which are said to have denied the mediatorial-sacrificial character of the priesthood and in some cases even sacramental grace in ordination, did not destroy the valid intention of the Church of England, for the Preface to the Ordinal and the Anglican Rite themselves ensured the necessary transmission and preservation of the essentials of Holy Order by establishing the intention of the whole Church. What matters is the intention of a Church openly declared and expressed in the liturgical rite and action of ordination.

The private opinions of Archbishop Cranmer and friends did not eradicate the necessary intention because the rites used were and are valid. In such a case heretical opinions may exist subjectively - but the valid rite confects objectively. Otherwise no one could ever know or have any assurance or guarantee whatever that any sacraments at any time were valid, and that state would thwart the very purpose for which the sacraments were instituted: the efficaciousness of the sacraments is given by Our Lord through the covenantal signs of grace, not through the personalised or interior beliefs of the celebrant. Thus when the sacrament is celebrated according to the Church's rite with the Church's mandated essentials as given by Our Lord and the Apostles, the sacrament is valid.

If we go too far in our requirements concerning sacramental form and intention in ordination we may fall into Leo XIII's trap, but we must maintain the irreducible minimum of what is actually required by the Church for the valid conferral of the Church's own Apostolic Ministry. Even the Episcopal Church and the 1979 rite officially intend to continue both the Apostolic Ministry of bishops, priests and deacons as received by the historic Catholic Church, and the transmission of the grace of Holy Order. But in practice a defect of ministers and subjects breaks the succession in many places.

I would assert that to lose the grace of ordination a Church must so corrupt an ordination rite that one of the essential requirements for validity has been eliminated. Where the sacraments are concerned, the Church always takes the safer course and requires a certitude for the validity of sacraments - it would not be permissible for the Church to risk the loss of sacramental assurance and grace for the People of God by allowing doubtful Orders and sacraments to be administered in her communion. Orders are presumed valid when the proper form, matter, minister and subject are present - for then you have intention with them. When one of these necessary elements is in doubt, the only solution is conditional ordination.

For those who may be interested... subsequently our hierarchy was consecrated by Bishops of the Anglican Communion episcopate in 1981 and 1991.

The English Old Catholic Succession from Bishop Arnold Harris Matthew

Gerardus Gul, 8th Old Catholic Archbishop of Utrecht on 28th April 1908 consecrated, with JJ Van Thiel, NBP Spit, and J Demmel, at Utrecht according to the Pontificale Romanum,

Arnold Harris Matthew, Regionary Old Catholic Bishop for Britain, who on 28th October 1914 consecrated at Bromley, Kent,

Frederick Samuel Willoughby, Bishop Coadjutor of the Old Roman Catholic Church, who on 9th July 1922 consecrated

James Bartholomew Banks, who, with James Dominic Mary O’Gavigan, on 28th May 1940 consecrated at East Molesey, Surrey

Sidney Ernest Page Needham, who on 4th January 1945 consecrated sub conditione

Hugh George de Willmott Newman, who, assisted by John Sebastian Marlow Ward and William John Eaton Jeffrey, on 25th August 1945 consecrated sub conditione, at New Barnet,

Joseph K. Chengalvaroyan Chittoor Pillai, Metropolitan of the Indian Orthodox Church, who on 29th December 1968 at Cincinnati, Ohio consecrated

James Hardin George, Junior, 2nd Bishop Primus of the American Episcopal Church, who on 11th February 1970, consecrated

Anthony Forbes Moreton Clavier, 3rd Bishop Primus of the American Episcopal Church, who on 26th March 1976 in Knoxville, Tennessee consecrated

Walter Howard Grundorf, Bishop Suffragan of the Diocese of the Eastern United States.

The American Old Catholic Succession from Bishop Arnold Harris Matthew

Arnold Harris Matthew in London on 29th June 1913 consecrated

Prince de Landas Berghes et de Rache, Archbishop of the North American Old Roman Catholic Church, who with William Henry Francis Brothers, on 4th October 1916 at Saint Dunstan’s Abbey, Waukegan, Illinois consecrated

Carmel Henry Carfora, Archbishop of the Old Roman Catholic Church in North America, who on 15th August 1943 in San Jose, California consecrated

Frederick Littler Pyman, who on 8th July 1972 in San Jose, California, consecrated

Larry Lee Shaver, who was received into the communion of the American Episcopal Church in March 1975, and who on 26th March 1976 in Knoxville, Tennessee consecrated

Walter Howard Grundorf, Bishop Suffragan of the Diocese of the Eastern United States.

The Old Catholic Consecrators

Following on the intriguing discussion at The Continuum, below is the carefully-researched essay by Father John Jay Hughes found in his 1970 defence of Anglican Orders, Stewards of the Lord:

Whatever view one takes of the criticisms of Apostolicae curae in this book, it is indisputable that the situation envisaged by the Bull no longer exists. In the course of the last half-century bishops recognized by the Holy See as validly consecrated have taken part in a considerable number of Anglican episcopal consecrations as co-consecrators. A majority of the Anglican bishops in the world today, and probably the large majority, can trace their consecration to bishops about whose episcopal character there is no doubt. This has rendered the verdict of Apostolicae curae obsolete by creating a new situation which could not be foreseen in 1896. As exact information about the new streams of succession introduced into the Anglican episcopate in the last half-century is difficult to come by, we present here a brief list of consecrations and of the bishops concerned. Although the information which follows is believed to be accurate in all details, it can make no claim to completeness.

On 28 April 1908 three bishops of the Dutch Old Catholic Church consecrated the former Roman Catholic priest, Arnold Harris Mathew, a bishop in Utrecht. On 29 June 1919 Bishop Mathew consecrated Bishop de Landesberghes et de Rache.1 He was a co-consecrator on 12 January 1915 of Hiram Richard Hulse as Episcopalian Bishop of Cuba. Bishop Hulse, through his participation in numerous subsequent consecrations in the Episcopal Church, appears in the Table of Succession of almost all present bishops of the Episcopal Church in the United States,2 and in the Table of Succession of many of the present bishops of the Anglican Church of Canada.

Subsequent to the establishment of full intercommunion between the Anglican communion and the Old Catholic Church, bishops of the two churches began to take part as co-consecrators in the episcopal consecrations of the other church on a reciprocal basis. Each church recognised the validity of the other's ministry in advance. The exchange of consecrators was not motivated, therefore, by any residual doubts on one side or the other about the validity of the orders conferred in the two churches. The mingling of the two lines of episcopal succession was desired by both sides as a logical consequence of the existing relationship of intercommunion. Old Catholic bishops have acted as co-consecrators at the consecration of the following Anglican bishops:

George Francis Graham-Brown, Bishop in Jerusalem; and Betram Fitzgerald Simpson, Bishop of Kensington, 24 June 1932

Harold Jocelyn Buxton, Bishop of Gibraltar; and Alfred Morris Gelsthorpe, Assistant Bishop on the Niger, 24 February 1933

Geoffrey Francis Alien, Bishop in Egypt(later translated to Derby, England); and Kenneth Charles Harman Warner, Bishop of Edinburgh, 25 January 1947

Robert Wright Stopford, Bishop of Fulham (now Bishop of London); and John Keith Russell, Assistant Bishop on the Upper Nile, 11 June 1955

Stanley A. Eley, Bishop of Gibraltar; John H. L. Phillips, Bishop of Portsmouth; A. W. Goodwin Hudson, Bishop Coadjutor of Sydney (Australia), 25 March 1960

George Christopher Cutts Pepys, Bishop of Buckingham; and Ronald Cedric Osbourne Goodchild, Bishop of Kensington 3, 1 May 1964

In addition bishops of the Polish National Catholic Church, whose orders are also recognized as valid by the Holy See, have taken part as co-consecrators in the consecration of the following Anglican bishops in North America:

United States of America

Harold E. Sawyer, Erie, Pa.; Horace W. B. Donegan, Suffragan (later
diocesan) of New York, 6 November 1946

Lauriston L. Scaife, Western New York, 28 October 1947

David Ernrys Richards, Suffragan of Albany, 19 July 1951

Donald H. V. Hallock, Coadjutor of Milwaukee (two Polish National Catholic
co-consecrators), 10 January 1952

Frederick J. Warnecke, Coadjutor of Bethlehem, Pa., 5 February 1953

William S. Thomas, Suffragan of Pittsburgh, 29 September 1953

John H. Esquirol, Suffragan of Connecticut, 9 April 1958

Charles Packard Gilson, Suffragan of Honolulu, later Bishop of Taiwan, 28 September 1961

Charles Waldo MacLean, Suffragan of Chicago, 14 February 1962

James Winchester Montgomery, Suffragan of Chicago, 29 September 1962

Albert Arthur Chambers, Springfield, Illinois, 1 October 1962

Charles Bowen Persell, Jr., Suffragan of Albany, 9 February 1963

Canada

Walter E. Bagnall, Niagara, 21 September 1949

Frederick H. Wilkinson, Coadjutor of Toronto, 6 January 1953

William A. Townshend, Suffragan of Huron, 30 November 1955

George B. Snell, Suffragan of Toronto, 25 January 1956

Henry R. Hunt, Suffragan of Toronto, 6 January 1960

Harold F. G. Appleyard, Suffragan of Huron, 6 January 1961 4

It is sometimes argued that the participation of these non-Anglican bishops as co-consecrators is worthless because a defective sacramental form was used at these consecrations,5 or because the co-consecrators in the Anglican rite do not join in reciting the words of the essential form, but merely lay their hands on the head of the bishop being consecrated while the form is said by the archbishop or other chief consecrator alone. The assumption underlying the second of these two objections is not entirely correct. The custom at the consecrations in England is for the Old Catholic bishops to lay on hands either with the Anglican bishops or subsequently, and to say, 'Accipe Spiritum Sanctum'.6 To argue, however, that the silent imposition of the co-consecrators' hands in the Anglican rite, while the chief consecrator alone says the form in the name of all, is worthless is to impose upon Anglicans standards which Roman Catholic theologians would not think of imposing upon their own bishops. This argument is like saying that all Roman Catholic ordinations to the priesthood today are invalid because the essential laying on of hands is separated from the utterance of the essential form as defined by Pius XII in 1947. The answer to this objection is that there is a 'moral unity' between the silent and essential laying on of hands and the following prayer which contains the words of the essential form. On the same principles the silent participation of co-consecrators in the laying on of hands in the Anglican rite of episcopal consecration is a 'moral participation' in the essential form, which is said by the chief consecrator alone.7

The second objection, that the participation of Old Catholic and Polish National Catholic consecrators in Anglican consecrations over the last decades is worthless because of the use of an invalid form, may be dealt with even more briefly. The form condemned in Apostolicae curae has not been used since 1662: the Bull deals specifically with the form in use from 1552 to 1662. And we have already noted the opinion of the Bull's principal author, that the form as expanded in 1662 could conceivably be valid.8

The consecrations listed above are of significance not only for the Anglican bishops concerned, but for all other bishops to whom they have passed on their succession, and to the clergy ordained by such bishops. Since the required minimum of three consecrators is normally greatly exceeded at Anglican episcopal consecrations, the bishops who have been listed above have very quickly passed on their succession to others.

The new situation thus created has not yet been the subject of a formal ruling by the Holy See. However as long ago as 1960 Rome took official cognisance of this changed situation by granting to a convert Anglican priest in the United States a dispensation from the diriment matrimonial impediment of major orders so that he could convalidate his putative marriage of many years, which was invalid according to Roman Catholic canon law. This case is especially significant in view of the fact that one of the precedents cited by Apostolicae curae involved 'a certain French Calvinist' who had been ordained priest in the Church of England and, after subsequently entering the Roman Catholic Church, desired to marry. It was decided in 1684 that he had not contracted a diriment impediment to marriage by being ordained in the Church of England, since the ordination was invalid.9 The present author's conditional ordination to the diaconate and priesthood by the then Bishop of Munster, Dr Joseph Hoffner, on 27 January 1968 was based upon the facts set forth in this appendix. These facts form no part of the argument of this book. They are included here merely for the sake of completeness, and because the rather 'mechanical' or 'pipeline' view of apostolic succession assumed here governs the practice of the Holy See, and will continue to govern it until catholic theologians are able to find general acceptance for a reasonable restatement of prevailing notions of apostolic succession. The understanding of apostolic succession here criticised has been correctly described by Roger Beckwith as 'un-Anglican'.10 The present author hopes to see the day when it may be generally regarded as un-catholic as well.

____________________________________

1 Cf H. R. T. Brandreth, Episcopi Vagantes and the Anglican Church, London 1947, 12, 16, and 24.

2 The Table of Episcopal Succession for all living bishops of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America is published annually in The Episcopal Church Annual. Prior to 1952 this work was published annually under the title, The Living Church Annual and contained the Table of Succession of all deceased bishops of the American Episcopal Church as well.

3 Information kindly supplied by the Rev'd Canon J. R. Satterthwaite of the Church of England Council on Foreign Relations. The first of these consecrations, that in 1932, is attested by a lengthy Latin protocol preserved at Pusey House, Oxford, and Lambeth Palace, London, in which the Old Catholic Bishop of Haarlem, Henry Theoroe John van Vlijmen, declares that when laying on hands with the Archbishop of Canterbury and saying the formula, 'Accipe Spiritum Sanctum' he 'formally intended to confer . . . the order of the episcopate according to the mind of our holy mother, the Catholic and Apostolic Church . . . and to impart the same episcopal character which . . . we bishops of the Old Catholic Church possess, that is, the fullness of priesthood with each and every function pertaining thereto and with the faculties inherent in the same, in the precise sense in which the fullness of the priesthood has been understood everywhere, always, and by all.' (Emphasis in original.) The document also states that the reason for the Bishop of Haarlem's participation was 'to mingle as two streams the episcopal succession which has come down from the Apostles, namely that derived through the bishops of the Old Catholic Church and that which has come down through the Anglican hierarchy until the present time.'

4 Information kindly supplied by the Ven. Henry P. Krusen, Archdeacon of Western New York.

5 Cf AODI 192f

6 Information kindly supplied by Canon Satterthwaite.

7 It is interesting to note that the Second Vatican Council conformed the practice at the consecration of bishops in the Latin rite to that of the Anglican Ordinal: henceforth all the bishops present may join with the three consecrating bishops in the laying on of hands. Cf CLit 76.

8 Cf the letter of Cardinal Merry del Val on p 237 above.

9 Cf ANUV 297f

10 Cf Roger Beckwith, 'What are Anglican Orders?': CIRev 53 (1968) 879-84. However see also the present author's 'Ecumenism is a Two-way Street: A Reply to Roger Beckwith': CIRev 54 (1969) 275-80.

2009-10-20T22:44:00.000-07:00

New era begins as Benedict throws open gates of Rome to disaffected Anglicans

By Damian Thompson Religion Last updated: October 20th, 2009

The Pope is offering Anglicans worldwide 'corporate reunion' (Photo: AFP)

This is astonishing news. Pope Benedict XVI has created an entirely new Church structure for disaffected Anglicans that will allow them to worship together – using elements of Anglican liturgy – under the pastoral supervision of their own specially appointed bishop or senior priest.
The Pope is now offering Anglicans worldwide “corporate reunion” on terms that will delight Anglo-Catholics. In theory, they can have their own married priests, parishes and bishops – and they will be free of liturgical interference by liberal Catholic bishops who are unsympathetic to their conservative stance.
There is even the possibility that married Anglican laymen could be accepted for ordination on a case-by-case basis – a remarkable concession.
Both Archbishop Vincent Nichols and Archbishop Rowan Williams are surprised by this dramatic move. Cardinal Levada, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, was in Lambeth Palace only yesterday to spell out to Dr Williams what it means. This decision has, in effect, been taken over their heads – though there is no suggestion that Archbishop Nichols does not fully support this historic move.
Incidentally, I suspect that Rome waited until Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor’s retirement before unveiling this plan: the cardinal is an old-style ecumenist who represents the old way of doing things. His allies in Rome, and many former participants in Anglican-Catholic dialogue, are dismayed by today’s news, which clears away the wreckage of the ARCIC process.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is unlikely to be pleased, though he was vigorously concealing any displeasure at a press conference this morning. (There was a lot of spin about this decision “arising out of dialogue”.) The truth is that Rome has given up on the Anglican Communion. With one announcement, the Pope has given conservative Anglicans a protected route to union with Rome – and promised that, even once they are members of the Catholic Church, they will be offered a permanent structure that allows them to retain an Anglican ethos.
Thousands of Anglicans who reject women bishops and priests and liberal teaching on homosexuality are certain to avail themselves of this provision. Within a few years, there will probably be “Anglican ethos” Catholic parishes in England and Wales (and one wonders how many conservative cradle Catholics will gratefully start attending Mass there).
Under the supervision of a “Personal Ordinary”, who can be a priest or unmarried bishop, ex-Anglicans will be able to put forward their own candidates for ordination. In the short term, there will be no difficulty in ordaining married former Anglican clergy.
The Vatican would not use the phrase, but this is very close to the setting up of a “Church within a Church”. Yet that is not as unusual as it might seem: Eastern-rite Catholics have their own liturgy and church structures, and in America a small number of ex-Anglicans use service books that borrow from the Book of Common Prayer.
Anglicans will have to request their own “Personal Ordinariate”, to use the Vatican’s clunky term. How might that play out in England? This is just a guess, but the most pro-Roman C of E bishop, the Rt Rev Andrew Burnham, Bishop of Ebbsfleet, could submit a request to Rome. He would be ordained a (married) Catholic priest, and might himself be made “ordinary” (bishop in all but name) of ex-Anglican clergy and lay people who have been received into the Catholic Church together.
This unprecedented canonical structure will affect different countries and dioceses in different ways. But we are not talking about the creation of an “Anglican-Rite” Catholic Church. Although some parishes will want to use the Anglican-usage liturgy, in England many ex-Anglican congregations will be only too happy to avail themselves of the new English translation of the Roman Rite, to be introduced next year.
This is a decision of supreme boldness and generosity by Pope Benedict XVI, comparable to his liberation of the Traditional Latin Mass. The implications of this announcement will take a long time to sink in, but I suspect that this will be a day of rejoicing for conservative Anglo-Catholics and their Roman Catholic friends all over the world.

Tags: Anglo-Catholics, Archbishop Rowan Williams, Archbishop Vincent Nichols, Pope Benedict XVI

Our Church and School of the month featuring St. Yves. School in Haiti

2009-10-19T04:44:00.000-07:00

This is St. Yves School (Haiti)

Special thanks to Most Rev'd.Walter H Grundorf , APA family and parishes. This building would not be standing today if not for APA's sacrificial and generous giving! In behalf of St. Yves faculty,staff and parishioners.

Thank you very much. Fr.Mews

2009-09-30T17:36:00.000-07:00

The Validity of Anglican Orders

By the Reverend William J. Alberts

IT is a not unusual experience for an Anglican, entering a Roman Catholic Church, to find, prominently displayed in a tract case, some pamphlet attacking the validity of Anglican Orders. In fact, this is one of the favorite topics of Roman authors.
Controversy is frequently unpleasant and always a possible source of that vicious lack of charity which every Christian ought to try to avoid. Nevertheless, necessity is laid upon us to try to present our answer to the charges which Roman Catholics make against the validity of our Orders, and consequently against the Catholic heritage of our beloved Church and the validity of our Sacraments.

Let it be stated at once that this article will not be exhaustive, nor will it be able within its brief compass to give detailed references. All it will attempt is a statement of the main Roman Catholic objections to the validity of our orders and to indicate a brief reply to them.

According to generally accepted Catholic practice no sacraments are valid in which there is a defect of matter, form, or intention. By 'matter' is meant some external thing which is used in conjunction with the administration of a particular sacrament. An example of such matter would be the water used in Holy Baptism. By 'form' is meant the words which give signification to the use to which the matter is being put. An example of 'form' would be the words 'John, I baptize thee, in the Name, etc.,' at Baptism. By 'intention' is meant that in conferring a sacrament the minister must have at least a virtual intention of doing what the Church does. Any supposed sacramental rite which was deficient in one or more of these three requisites would be invalid and would lack the assurance which Catholic Sacraments give: that they are the very means by which God bestows upon His children the particular grace for which the Sacrament was instituted.

The guarantor of sacramental grace is, humanly speaking, the Episcopate: no Bishop, no Church, no Sacraments, no divinely assured salvation. It is therefore of utmost importance that we be assured that our orders of ministers are valid, that is to say, that they are the same which our Lord gave to the Apostles and which the Apostles transmitted to other fit men to be the means of continuing in union with the divine Head of the Church, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Nobody questions that the Church in England was a valid Catholic Church up to the reign of our supposed founder, Henry VIII. This king was a staunch Catholic. His vigorous attack against the errors of Luther earned for him the title 'Defender of the Faith' bestowed upon him by a grateful pope. This title is still the proud possession of every monarch in England.

Henry got into matrimonial difficulties, the ramifications of which we cannot now discuss. Suffice it to say that he wanted a papal annulment of his marriage with Catherine of Aragon which had yielded no living male issue. Since no woman had ever successfully inherited the English throne, and since Henry's own father's title had been none too secure, he was anxious for a male heir.

The Roman Catholic, and even some secular, history books make it out to appear that Henry's desire to get rid of Catherine was his lust for Anne Boleyn. Without attempting to defend Henry's doubtless none too pure intentions, let it be said, for the sake of justice, that the first time the question of an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon arose the much maligned Anne Boleyn was a child seven years old.

Political considerations — and not the high ideals of Papacy — made such an annulment difficult. Henry, never the world's most patient citizen, was aided in his dilemma by Cranmer who suggested that the matter of the legality of the marriage to Catherine might well be settled by the English authorities without recourse to Rome. Henry acted upon this advice, had his marriage annulled, and declared that 'The Bishop of Rome hath no more power in England than any other foreign bishop.'

Thus was the breach with Rome begun. Be it noted that the same Bishops, Priests and Deacons who were in union with the Papacy the day preceding the break with Rome continued their offices after the break. There was practically no exception to this fact. Mass and other sacramental rites were continued as formerly; Henry VIII never heard Mass in English in his life; and he burned men at the stake for denying the Real Presence of our Lord in the Eucharist.

Henry was succeeded by his son Edward VI. He was a mere boy at the time of his accession to the throne and he was guided by two protectors whose sympathies were definitely on the side of the Reformation. Under Edward VI, and guided doubtless by Cranmer who was now Archbishop, there was put forth in 1549 the first English Prayer Book. One year later appeared an Ordinal — a book which set forth the matter, form and intention in making additions to the ministry.

On September 13, 1896, Pope Leo XIII issued a now famous Bull called Apostolicae Curae in which he declared Anglican Orders invalid due to alleged defects in this and subsequent ordinals. To the arguments of Leo XIII we will now address ourselves.
Anglican Orders, says Leo XIII, are defective because they do not employ the proper matter and form. He admits that the 'matter' is variable and that the laying on of hands alone is at least permissibly valid in itself, so long as the 'form' sufficiently sets forth that the reason for using such laying on of hands is to make a true Priest or Bishop in the Catholic Church.

At the time of the split between England and Rome, ordination to the Priesthood was accompanied by presentation of the Chalice and Paten, and by anointing the hands of the ordinand. The first Ordinal of Edward VI omitted the anointing, but continued the
transmission of the instruments and bestowed also a Bible. The second Prayer Book, issued in 1552, dropped the transmission of the instruments and simply continued the giving of the Bible after the laying on of hands, the Bishop saying as he delivered the Holy Scriptures: 'Take thou authority to preach the Word of God, and to minister the Holy Sacraments in this congregation, where thou shalt be appointed.'

It is interesting to notice that when Anglican Orders were first attacked in the 17th century by English Romanists, their invalidity was asserted on two counts:

1. That there was no tradition of the instruments which was then held to be the real 'matter' of the Sacrament of Holy Orders; and

2. a denial of the orders of Archbishop Parker, from whom, in the reign of Elizabeth in 1559, subsequent English orders were derived.

It is perhaps indicative of the desperation of those who attacked Anglican Orders at that time that this alleged invalidity of Parker's orders was based upon what was called the Nag's Head Fable. In this incredible story, which was solemnly told as true by Romanist propagandists, Parker was party to a mock ceremony which happened at Nag's Head Tavern. It seems that the third cousin of the wife of somebody's brother had a friend who had heard from a friend who had heard from somebody who knew the man who did it that he looked through a keyhole and saw one of the supposed consecrators of Parker place a Bible on his head and that was all the ceremony there was. This story was, as I have said, accepted and used despite the fulness of the records of Parker's consecration by Bishops Barlow, Scory, Coverdale and Hodgkins, all of whom, it is explicitly stated, laid their hands upon his head and repeated the words of consecration.

Since we have mentioned the consecration of Parker, let it here be said that Romanists frequently center their attacks upon that event. They have, of course, abandoned the Nag's Head Fable since one of their able historians, Lingard, showed it to be completely untrue. But they now attempt to deny the validity of Parker's consecration on the ground that there is no record of Barlow's consecration, and that Barlow was Parker's chief consecrator. Into the details of this we cannot now go. Suffice it to say that there were many records of unquestioned Bishops which we do not now have. But even if the unlikely were true and Barlow were not consecrated, it is good Roman Catholic doctrine that all the assistant Bishops in consecration act as co-consecrators, so that were one invalid, the consecration's validity would be assured by the others. It is perhaps worth mentioning too, that Cardinal Pole, who was sent to England during the reign of Mary Tudor who reconciled England to the Papal obedience, accepted Barlow's consecration without question.

However, we must return to the matter and form of the first Ordinal. It is with the 'form' that we now concern ourselves. The 'form,' you will recall, is the words which determine what is being done. The Ordinal of 1550 prescribed that the Bishop shall place his hands upon the ordinand's head and say 'Receive the Holy Ghost, whose sins thou dost forgive they are forgiven ; and whose sins thou dost retain they are retained ; and be thou a faithful dispenser of the word of God and of His holy Sacraments. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.'

This form, says Leo XIII, is defective because the words 'Receive the Holy Ghost' certainly do not in the least definitely express the Sacred Order of Priesthood, or its grace and power, which is chiefly the power 'of consecrating and of offering the true body and blood of the Lord . . .' (Council of Trent, Session XXII d. Sacr. Ord. Can 1).

Furthermore, says Leo XIII, Anglicans themselves recognized that this form was defective, and in 1662 they added 'For the office and work of a Priest in the Church of God, now committed to thee by the imposition of our hands' in a vain attempt to make the form valid.

To anyone not conversant with the facts, and to an Anglican layman reading these impressive words in a two-penny tract such pronouncements might cause some heart searching. But whether the Pope or an angel from heaven utters them, they are simply not historically true. There is no mention of the priestly function of offering 'The sacrifice of Masses' in any unquestionable Catholic ordination forms prior to the ninth century — possibly even later than this. And as far as making a specific mention of the office to which the man is to be ordained, there are not fewer than nine references to this in the ordination of priests in the 1550 Ordinal.

The addition of the words 'For the office and work of a Priest, etc.,' in 1662 was not made because Anglicans recognized a defect in their previous form, but was inserted against the Presbyterians who maintained that there was no essential difference between the office of Presbyter and that of a Bishop. In inserting the words 'for the office and work of a Priest' and 'for the office and work of a Bishop' the Church of England was affirming her belief in the validity of her Catholic orders and their difference from the Presbyterian form of the ministry.

More serious, and certainly more convincing to the average layman, is the pointed omission of the function of offering the sacrifice of Masses in the Anglican Rite. Let it be at once admitted that this is a fact. There is no mention of the 'sacrifice of Masses.' This was a deliberate omission for two reasons at least.

First, because Cranmer and others who worked with him in the compilation of the Ordinal were determined to avoid the dangerous medieval conception which seemed to consider every Mass as another immolation of our Lord. In this sense they denied the sacrifice of Masses — and be it noted Rome officially does too. That the Mass itself is a repleading of the 'one oblation of Himself once offered' upon the Cross and that this offering is a 'full perfect and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world' ought to be, it seems to us, clear to anyone who can read English and who takes the trouble to read the Canon of
the first English Prayer Book — or of the later ones.

The second reason for the omission of the function of sacrifice is that English Bishops desired to emphasize the other functions of the priestly office which were gravely neglected. Surely a priest of the Catholic Church is as much bound to be a shepherd of souls as he is to offer sacrifice. If we take the Lord's own words as our criterion, and take those very words which Roman Catholics so love to use in connection with their defence of Papal Infallibility, i.e., 'Feed my sheep,' the pastoral office was one of the duties Jesus laid upon the Apostle Peter.

Roman Catholics argue that if a man gave authority to a steward to act for him and sign checks and then later give him power to act for him, without specifically mentioning the function of signing checks which he had hitherto enjoyed and exercised as a prerogative of his office, it would be pretty conclusive evidence that he was rescinding the power of the steward to sign his checks. Likewise they argue, the failure of the Anglican Ordinal to mention specifically the power to sacrifice proves that it never was intended to bestow it. But such a conclusion by no means follows. What is nearer to historical facts is that the man who gave his steward power to act for him and to sign checks found that the said steward was neglecting the other duties just to sign checks. So, in order to remind him that he was not doing his full job merely by being a check signer, he emphasizes that the steward has power to act for him in all matters. The emphasis is on the 'all' matters and the plain inference is that the steward should stir about some of his father's other business.

It should be borne in mind that prior to the 9th century no sacramentary contained the anointing of the hands; the transmission of the instruments; the words 'Offer sacrifice for the quick and the dead' or 'whose sins thou dost forgive,' etc. If because of the omission of any of these Anglican Orders are invalid, then no orders in Christendom, including those possessed by Rome, are valid either.

We come now to the next matter which must occupy our attention. It is the assertion of Leo XIII that the formulators of the Ordinal had no intention of perpetuating Catholic Orders or Sacraments. I have already dealt with the claim that they did not intend to make sacrificing priests, I shall now deal with the general intention of the Ordinal to continue the Catholic orders.

Rome makes much of the fact that Cranmer and others who shared his opinions had a prejudice against the Roman Catholic conceptions of a sacrificing priesthood. In this they are doubtless correct. But as the Reverend Doctor Felix L. Cirlot has so ably demonstrated in his monumental work Apostolic Succession and Anglicanism , the private opinions of Cranmer, or even the public opinions of Cranmer and his followers do not commit the Anglican Church to such views.

As a matter of fact it is good Roman Catholic doctrine that the private opinions of a minister, however erroneous they may be, cannot affect the validity of any sacrament he administers. So long as he acts as the official representative of the Church and uses her formularies, then by that very fact he intends what the Church intends.

The importance of this is vital. Since nobody can ever see into another's mind and determine with what intention he administers any sacrament, it is most essential that the recipient have an objective assurance that he receives a valid ministration of the Church. It is the Church's official formularies which supply this assurance. Lex orandi, lex credendi — 'the rule of prayer sets forth what is believed.' If the validity of a sacrament depended upon the private opinion of the celebrant, or upon his personal orthodoxy, how could one ever be sure he was receiving a valid sacrament?

As Dr. Cirlot points out in the above mentioned work, the only way Rome can establish her case against Anglicanism is by deciding quite gratuitously that every doubtful or ambiguous word or phrase in the Anglican Formularies be interpreted in the most Protestant way and as though that way represented the mind of the whole Anglican Communion rather than of a small but powerful minority within it in 1550.

This kind of argument may establish a Roman Catholic case, but it hardly establishes a sufficient ground of truth to cause any Anglican priest to doubt the validity of his Orders, or for any Anglican communicant to become concerned about the Sacraments received from such Anglican priests. Moreover, the matter of what the Church officially intended to do is set forth in the Preface to the Ordinal of 1550. It is significant that nowhere in the Bull of Leo XIII which condemned Anglican Orders is any mention made of the intention there set forth. We refer our readers to the text of the Preface to the Ordinal as it appeared in 1550, and as it has appeared in every Anglican Prayer Book since then, down to the present day.

It would be difficult, we think, to find a more explicit statement of intention than that. This, whatever the private opinions of Cranmer, is the official intention of the Church. It sets forth what the Church of England believes about Holy Orders and what it requires for them. Only by adopting the querulous prerogative of Humpty-Dumpty in Alice in Wonderland and making words mean 'anything I want them to mean' can this plain statement be explained away.

Two minor points I should like to note in conclusion: there is now a tendency on the part of some Roman writers to deny jurisdiction to bishops not in communion with Rome. Let me dispose of this by pointing out that there never was a time in the Church's history when the universal jurisdiction of Rome was accepted. See Waddington History at the Church p. 234. where it is pointed out that in the Pontificate of Alexander II (1061) a constitution was drawn up under which 'No Bishop in the Catholic Church was permitted to exercise his functions until confirmed by the Holy See.' This is by way of reaction from previous confirmation of the Emperor who appointed Popes, Bishops, etc. So Henry VIII in taking back the right to appoint was only rescinding a Papal action of llth century.

The last point is the sly Roman reference to the 39 Articles and their supposed denials of Catholic truths. The articles appeared in 1562. The decisions of the Council of Trent which set forth the present Roman Catholic official position concerning the Eucharist were not officially accepted and confirmed until 1564. To attempt to use the Articles as denying doctrine which even Rome did not officially accept until two years after the Articles appeared is a feat of logical legerdemain worthy of those Indian fakirs who throw a rope into the air, climb up on it and then they and the rope disappear. Nobody has ever seen this done. But everyone will admit it is a good trick — if it can be done. But so far as this Anglican is concerned, until he sees it, and until he sees a better case for Rome than has yet been produced, he won't believe it!

Posted by Father Chad at 5:37 PM

About Me

The Reverend Canon Chandler Holder Jones, SSC
Parish Priest and Rector of Saint Barnabas' Anglican Church in Dunwoody, Georgia, I serve as Canon Vocations Director of the Diocese of the Eastern United States of the Anglican Province of America. I also serve as the Chairman of the Diocesan Board of Examining Chaplains. I am a member of the Society of the Holy Cross.
View my complete profile

Notice to the Anglican Community

2009-09-21T22:54:00.000-07:00

We regret to inform the Anglican community that Ptr. Henry Chomarsin was never ordained in the Anglican Church in the Philippines (Traditional) Inc. as a deacon nor do we have any plans of doing so in the future. Let it be known further that he is not in any way connected with any of our mission churches and any activity or solicitation in relation to the same is not authorized by the Anglican Church in the Philippines effective October 31, 2009. For the public's guidance and information.

Let us go back to our Traditional Faith

2009-08-09T05:04:00.000-07:00

Episcopalians for Traditional Faith

Preserving and promoting use of the

1928 Book of Common Prayer

within the Episcopal Church

Where will the money come from to keep the Episcopal Church afloat?

How much longer can the well-heeled Northeast foot the bill while tiny off-shore dioceses are along for the ride and Church legal bills pile up? Read this commentary by ETF reporter Jay Akasie.

*Visit this website often to read the latest articles and opinion pieces by ETF reporters, as TEC turns its back on the global Anglican Communion; withholds information on how many millions of dollars it has spent on lawsuits against its parishes and dioceses; adopts abortion rites; affirms homosexual priests and bishops; plans funeral rites for animals; and moves forward with same-sex “marriage.”

*The 1928 Book of Common Prayer unites all in prayer and praise. We can maintain our religion by insisting, respectfully and persistently, that our clergy use the 1928, not the clutter of rites Church revisionists plan to offer on the TEC website as cut-and-paste options — a different experience from church to church! Let’s unite our fragmented Church in common worship with our time-tested 1928 BCP.

To read ETF reports direct from the

General Convention floor, click here.

Sign captures mood of Episcopal Church General Convention --jm photo

Welcome to

ETF’s Home Page

Please vote in the poll on this page, and tell us what you think in our DISCUSSION section.

EPISCOPALIANS FOR TRADITIONAL FAITH is a nonprofit organization of volunteers dedicated to preserving and promoting the use of the classic, traditional 1928 Book of Common Prayer within The Episcopal Church.

We invite you to browse through this website to learn what ETF is doing to encourage 1928 BCP use and how you can help preserve and maintain our religion, heritage, and culture within your own parish church. We welcome your comments and ideas, which you can write on this website or send to us here. Please send your opinions as well as news from your local church and diocese to Attention: Editor in your email or to: ETF, P.O. Box 361, Mill Neck, NY 11765.

If you’d like to receive ETF’s weekly e-newsletter, send your request to tcranmer@etf1928.org.

Start or join a conversation on Prayer Book issues by going to the DISCUSSION section on this website.

Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.

– 1 Thessalonians 5:21

Let us visit the Province of Albay

2009-07-30T03:11:00.000-07:00

Province of Albay

............................................................................................................................

Albay Province is where Mayon at 8075 ft is located, one of the highest peaks in the Philippines. It is extolled as "the most nearly perfect conical volcano". This may be rather an exaggeration, but it is certainly a beautiful mountain. However the behaviour of this elegant gaint can sometimes be quite horrible.
Towering right on the edge of the Philippines valley, at a point where, deep below ground, the Eurasian and Philippines tectonic plates grind against each other, the volcano is under constant pressure from the magma pushing up beneath it. Mayon is one of the most active volcanoes in the country and also one of the most destructive, because of the density of the surrounding population. It has erupted several times with devastating consequences. When it is at peace, the mountain is a fascinating place for climbing, although the ascent takes at least two days and is by no means easy. Legapsi City, named after the governor general of the Philippines, Miquel Lopez de Legapsi is the provincial capital and is at the foot of Mayon is worth visiting, especially for the delightful country surrounding it

Greetings from ACPT to APA DEUS Synod 2009 (July 20 -24, 2009)

2009-07-23T20:32:00.000-07:00

Greetings to DEUS SYNOD 2009

From The Anglican Church in the Philippines, we are extending our warmest greetings to the participants and delegates of DEUS Synod 2009 from the parishes and mission churches of the Anglican Province of America converging at the Hilton Garden Inn, Gainesville, GA (USA)

As the leadership of APA, with all the Bishops, the clergy, ministers, workers, visitors and the faithful gather for a time of refreshing, planning and evaluation, we join you in prayer for the manifested presence of God to grant you an outpouring of God’s grace and an increase of God’s anointing and empowerment to accomplish the calling the Lord had ordained and placed upon the Church to complete.

We partner with you in praying that you may not only expand your territories but more than ever be involved in every good work for God’s kingdom to extend around the world.

We may not be able to join you physically but we are certain that we could be one in the spirit in terms of vision and purpose, and in the desire to press on toward the goal of making Christ known through the Anglican Church, in our community, in our country and in the world.

Finally may you continue to be firm, steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the Lord; always being superior, excelling, doing more than enough in the service of the Lord, knowing and being continually aware that your labor in the Lord is not futile, it is never wasted or to no purpose.

Greetings from the Philippines!

Bishop Frederick, Eros, Praise Abigail and the Anglican Church in the Philippines (Traditional) with its Churches and Missions.

2009-07-19T04:34:00.000-07:00

"Be careful not to sacrifice the permanent on the altar of the immediate."

Portion of this land had been generously given to the Anglican Church in the Philippines (Traditional), Inc.

2009-06-27T05:07:00.000-07:00

On this SITE will rise an Anglican Church (ACPT) for the community in Brgy. Dumayop, Bagabag, Nueva Vizcaya.

Most Rev'd Frederick M. Belmonte,

Rev'd Henry Chomarsin and

Mr. Fidyo Talingdan

Apostolic Successions of ACPT extended by APA

2009-06-16T18:39:00.000-07:00

The origin and history of the Apostolic Successions of the Anglican Church in the Philippines (Traditional), Incorporated extended by the Anglican Province of America.

1. For Bishop Pillai, bishop of a body called the 'Indian Orthodox Church,' a jurisdiction affiliated with the 'Catholicate of the West' of Bishop de Willmott Newman, before joining the American Episcopal Church:

A. The Old Catholic Succession of the Church of Utrecht.

Hugh George de Willmott Newman , Mar Georgius, Patriarch of Glastonbury, Catholicos of the West, assisted by John Sebastian Marlow Ward and William John Eaton Jeffrey, on 25th August 1945 consecrated sub conditione at the Cathedral of Christ the King, New Barnet
Joseph K. Chengalvaroyan Chittoor Pillai , Mar James, Archbishop of India and Exarch of the Catholicate of the West and the Indian Orthodox Church and 1st Bishop Primus of the American Episcopal Church, who on 29 th December 1968 at Cincinnati, Ohio consecrated
James Hardin George, Junior, 2nd Bishop Primus of the American Episcopal Church, who on 11th February 1970 , consecrated
Anthony Forbes Moreton Clavier , 3rd Bishop Primus of the American Episcopal Church, who on 26th March 1976 consecrated Walter Howard Grundorf, Bishop Suffragan of the Diocese of the Eastern United States.

B. The Syrian Orthodox Succession of the Patriarchate of Antioch:

Benjamin Charles Harris, Bishop of Essex, consecrated in the line of Mar Ignatius Peter III (Mar Bedros), Bishop of Emesa (Homs) and later Syrian Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, who consecrated on 2nd June 1866 at Homs, Syria
Julius Ferrete , Mar Julius, Bishop of Iona and Patriarchal Legate for Western Europe --
on
17th November 1944 Bishop Harris consecrated
Joseph K. Chengalvaroyan Chittoor Pillai , Mar James, Metropolitan Archbishop of India and Exarch of the Catholicate of the West and the Indian Orthodox Church and 1st Bishop Primus of the American Episcopal Church, who on 29th December 1968 at Cincinnati, Ohio consecrated
James Hardin George, Junior , 2nd Bishop Primus of the American Episcopal Church, who on 11th February 1970 , consecrated
Anthony Forbes Moreton Clavier , 3rd Bishop Primus of the American Episcopal Church, who on 26th March 1976 consecrated
Walter Howard Grundorf , Bishop Suffragan of the Diocese of the Eastern United States .

2. The Philippine Independent Catholic Church line:

Francisco J. Pagtakhan de Jesus, Bishop Secretary for Missions and Ecumenical Affairs and sometime Bishop of Oriental and Occidental Negros Island, an official representative of the Philippine Independent Church, who, with Sergio Mondala and Lope Rosete, Bishops of the IFI, on 26th September 1981 at the Church of Jesus the Nazarene in San Diego, California consecrated sub conditione according to the Anglican rite, Anthony Forbes Moreton Clavier and Walter Howard Grundorf to the Sacred Order of Bishops.

3. The Conditional Consecration by Bishops of the Anglican Communion:

On 3rd October 1991, at the Conference on Anglican Unity held at Deerfield Beach, Florida, Robert William Stanley Mercer, CR, sometime 4th Bishop Ordinary of the Diocese of Matabeleland in the Province of Central Africa and 3rd Bishop Ordinary of the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada, Robert Herbert Mize, Junior, sometime 6th Bishop Ordinary of Damaraland (now the Diocese of Namibia) in the Church of the Province of Southern Africa, sometime Assistant Bishop of Matabeleland and Assistant Bishop of San Joaquin, and Charles Francis Boynton, sometime Bishop Suffragan of New York and 3rd Missionary Bishop of Puerto Rico, the 442nd Bishop of the American Succession, consecrated sub conditione the Most Reverend Anthony Forbes Moreton Clavier and the Most Reverend Walter Howard Grundorf to the Sacred Order of Bishops. On 1st and 2nd October 1991, successively, Bishop CF Boynton, in anticipation of conditional consecration, ordained sub conditione Bishop Clavier and Bishop Grundorf to the Sacred Order of Deacons and to the Sacred Order of Priests according to the Anglican rite.

On 26th of March 2000 at St. Barnabas Anglican Church in the City of Shoreline, County of Ring in the State of Washington, the Most Reverend Walter Howard Grundorf, Presiding Bishop of Anglican Province of America (Diocese of the East), with Rt. Revs. Richard John Boyce and John Matthew Hammers consecrated Frederick Luis M. Belmonte to the Episcopate for the Anglican Church in the Philippines (Traditional) Inc.

Courtesy of The Reverend Canon Chandler HolderJones,SSC
Rector of St. Barnabas Anglican Church, Dunwoody, Georgia USA

Special thanks to:
The Most Reverend Walter Howard Grundorf
Rt. Rev. John Matthew Hammers
Rt. Rev. Richard John Boyce
who generously extended their Apostolic lines to the Most Rev. Frederick Luis M. Belmonte, Presiding Bishop of ACPT

Ordination of Revs. Robert and Dr. Rico from Bicol region to the Diaconate

2009-04-12T12:27:00.000-07:00

Last May 24, 2009 at Our Lady of Peace and Unity Anglican Parish in Nueva Vizcaya Philippines, the Most Rev. Frederick M. Belmonte, Presiding bishop of the Anglican Church in the Philippines(Traditional) also known as ACPT, ordained two deacons: Rev. Robert C. Gerna and Rev. Dr. Rico G.Villanueva of Bicol and appointed them as missionaries for ACPT's missions in the province of Albay and Naga City. The two deacons were given new copies of APA's prayer books donated by Fr. Douglas King and St. Paul's Anglican Church in Melbourne, Fl. The ordination had been attended by parishioners of OLPU, and visitors. A simple reception followed after the service. The church members were so excited to welcome and received the two Rev'ds. after their ordination. Mabuhay! Revs. Robert and Rico. Welcome to ACPT Family.

Historical Background of Naga City

2009-03-13T19:52:00.000-07:00

Even before the coming of the Spanish colonial government, Naga, which was then a flourishing village off the riverbanks of the storied Naga River, was already a thriving community. As pointed in the book of Prof. Danilo M. Gerona, a local historian, Naga was then a premier village with a comparatively sophisticated weaponry and surprisingly advanced technology. The name “Naga” derived its origin from the narra trees, which were then in abundance. Thus, in 1573, when the Spanish Troops arrived led by Capt. Juan de Salcedo, the colonizers were amazed to find a community with a fairly well advanced culture. In 1574, Captain Pedro de Chaves founded Ciudad de Nueva Caceres in honor of Don Francisco de Sande, then governor of the province and native of the City of Caceres in Spain. Naga, the premier native village and then a Spanish pueblo, formed part of the Spanish colonial city. Nueva Caceres remained the capital of Ambos Camarines provinces and later of the Camarines Sur province until the formal creation of the independent component city of Naga under the Philippine Republic. Naga’s birth as a chartered city formally took place on December 15, 1948 by virtue of Republic Act No. 305. Rep. Juan Q. Miranda sponsored this legislative act which put flesh into the city’s bid to become among the only few independent component cities in the country.

CIUDAD NIN NAGA has been for hundred of years a center of trade, education and culture, and the seat of governmental and ecclesiastical jurisdiction.

In 1573, on his second expedition to this region, the great conquestador, Juan de Salcedo, discovered here a flourishing Bikol Village called Naga, because it is said, of an abundance of Narra (naga in Bikol) trees about the place. In 1575 (200 years before the start of the American Revolution), Capt. Pedro de Chavez, the commander of the garrison left behind by Salcedo, founded on the site of the present business center (across the river from the original Naga) a Spanish city which he named Ciudad de Caceres, in honor of Francisco de Sande, the governor general and a native of the city of Caceres in Spain. It was still by this name that it was identified in the papal bull of August 14, 1595 that erected the See of Caceres (together with those of Cebu and Nueva Segobia) and made it the seat of the new bishopric.

In time, Spanish city and native village merged into one community and became popularly known as Nueva Caceres, obviously to distinguish it from its namesake in Spain. It had a city government as prescribed by Spanish law, with an ayuntamiento and cabildo of its own. At the beginning of the17th century, there were only five other ciudades in the Philippines.

With the advent of the American rule, it was reduced to a municipality. In 1919, it lost its Spanish name, when, by law, it became officially known as Naga. It acquired its present city charter in 1948, and its city government was inaugurated on December 15 of the same year.

The bishops of Caceres occupied a unique place in the Philippine Catholic hierarchy during most of the Spanish regime. By virtue of the papal brief of Gregory XIII, ecclesiastical cases originating in the Spanish Indies, which ordinarily were appealable to the Pope, were ordered to be terminated there and no longer elevated to Rome. Decisions of bishops were made appealable to the archbishop and those of the latter to the bishop of the nearest see. Thus, in the Philippines, the decisions of the archbishop of Manila were subject to review by the bishop of Caceres whose jurisdiction then extended to the province of Tayabas. In this sense, bishops of Bikol were delegates of the Pope and could be considered primates of the Church of the Philippines.

This was the reason why bishops of Caceres and archbishop of Manila were sometimes engaged in interesting controversies in the sensational Naga case and in such issues as canonical visitation and the secularization of the parishes.
As papal delegate, Bishop Francisco Gainza, then concurrently bishop of Caceres, sat in the special ecclesiastical tribunal which passed upon the civil authorities' petition to divert Fathers Burgos, Gomez, and Zamora of their priestly dignity. Gainza did not only refuse the petition but also urged their pardon.

Situated at the center of the Bikol peninsula and surrounded on all sides by rich agricultural, forest and fishing areas, Naga is also at the confluence of the Naga and Bikol Rivers. Thus, it has always been an ideal place for trade, and as center for schools and church and government offices.

In downtown Naga, just opposite Naga's tallest structure, the Holiday Hotel, you will see a park situated between Peñafrancia Ave. and Elias Angeles Street, and right in the middle of it the lofty monument to Bikol's Quince Martires. Actually, Bikol's martyrs of freedom number in the thousands but these fifteen have been specially singled out as symbols of the rest because on January 4, 1897, just five days after Dr. Rizal was executed, eleven of them were likewise shot at Bagumbayan field in Manila. The others died for country in exile or in prison.They were avenged, however, at the Peñafrancia Fiesta, September 18, 1898 for corporals Elias Angeles and Felix Plazo convinced their fellow members of the guardia civil not to allow the same fate to befall them as had befallen the Daet patriots. So on the night of the fiesta they attacked the Spanish officers' quarters, routed them and then did battle with the rest of the Spanish community who had established themselves in the convento of the historic San Francisco Church (just opposite the Quince Martires monuments, its old bell tower can still be seen). When word of this startling defeat reached Partido, Legazpi, Sorsogon and Catanduanes, all Spanish forces and governmental men withdraw to Iloilo. Sad to say, in January 1900, the American imperialistic forces invaded Camarines Sur and headed for Naga. However, Naga resident General Ludovico Arejola, organized a large guerilla army and fought the Americans at Agdangan, Baao. Afterwards he set up a camp in the mountains of Minalabac and held out for a full year and two and two months more, until rampant sickness forced the surrender of himself and his men in a formal ceremony in Naga on March 31, 1901. In late December 1941, Naga was again put under another foreign power, Japan, but once again on May 1 and 2, 1942; the combined guerilla forces of the province smashed their way into Naga. Their main purpose in doing so was to liberate the 30 American prisoners in the provincial jail. At the risk of their own lives and those of their relatives and neighbors not only freed, but also sheltered their former colonizers in the mountain. On April 9, 1945, a large number of Major Juan Q. Miranda's guerillas again attacked the Japanese forces in Naga. American planes also heavily bombed the city. The American army arrived finally on April 27. Naga became a chartered city in 1948. On the first decade of 1700's the first chapel to the Virgin Mary of Peñafrancia was constructed just above the city and along the banks of Naga River that is the avenue upon which the image is triumphantly borne from downtown Naga on the afternoon of Peñafrancia Saturday. This devotion is an authentic regional fiesta and the population of the city more than doubles on those days as pilgrims come from all over the six Bicol provinces as well as many from Manila and other distant places to share in this great religious experience and festival.Three (3) of the most venerable institutions and structures in Naga are clustered together along the upper part of Elias Angeles Street. They are the Cathedral that begun in the year 1816, the Holy Rosary Seminary and the Colegio de Sta. Isabel. Founded in 1793 as both a college and a seminary, The Holy Rosary Seminary is one of the oldest schools in the republic. It educated literally thousands of the sons of all the leading families from as far north as Mauban, Quezon, and as far south as Leyte. In 1925, the laymen’s department was separated from the seminary and became the Camarines Sur Catholic Academy, which in turn, in 1940 became the Ateneo de Naga. Naga Parochial School took over the training of the elementary boys in 1948.

In 1868, the first normal school for women in the entire Orient was established in Naga as the Colegio de Sta. Isabel. Each parish in Bikol was required to send at least one pensionada to study there that they might be trained to run the parochial school in their own home place. The colegio’s present day population of more than 5,000 shows the appreciation of the Bikol people for its century of work for Bikol youth.The University of Nueva Caceres, adjacent to Naga’s Centro, is the first university in southern Luzon. Over 9,000 students are being trained “non scholae ser vitae” in its halls. Students come from as far south as Zamboanga to attend its law, engineering, commerce, liberal arts courses. Its Bicol Museum is the best in the entire Peninsula.

Naga has a multitude of other fine schools: Naga College Foundation, Camarines Sur National High School, Bicol College of Arts and Trade, Naga City Science High School, St. Joseph School, Hope Christian School, Philippine Union College and many energetic business and fashion academies.

(by Luis General, Jr. and Fr. James J. O’brien, S.J. with updates from CPDO)

Ministers received to ACP

2009-03-05T13:47:00.000-08:00

After several years of praying, interceeding and doing visitation in Bicol region (which is in Southern part of Luzon),the region is now opening its door for the Anglican Church in the Philippines(Traditional) for missions. Recently Bishop Frederick Belmonte went to Naga City and Daraga Albay and received Rev.Dr. Rico C.Villanueva who is a Baptist pastor graduated from Baptist Bible Seminary, completed his doctorate degree at the Open Seminary and Rev. Robert C.Gerna from Presbyterian Bible School. The two ministers decided to join ACPT and now part of Anglican mission in Bicol region. They are now being prepared for the Holy Orders. Welcome Revs. Rico and Robert, Mabuhay!

We extend our thanks to those who prayed and to our faithful partners in this ministry.God bless. (Dios Mabalos!)

Prayer for the One Holy Catholic Church

2009-02-27T19:06:00.000-08:00

O GRACIOUS Father, we humbly beseech thee for thy holy Catholic Church; that thou wouldest be PLEASED to fill it with all TRUTH, in all Peace. Where it is CORRUPT, PURIFY it; where it is in ERROR DIRECT it; where in any thing it is AMISS, REFORM it. Where it is Right, Establish it where it is in WANT, Provide for it; where it is DIVIDED, REUNITE it; for the SAKE of Him who DIED and ROSE again, and ever liveth to make INTERCESSION for us (HIS CHURCH) JESUS CHRIST, THY SON, our LORD. AMEN

From: 1928 Prayer Book

Please join with us praying for healing and restoration of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

Can Catholics receive communion in an Anglican Church?

2008-10-10T01:43:00.000-07:00

Just to set the record straight, this is the Anglican Policy, at least in the jurisdiction of Anglican churches I belong to (the A.P.A.): Anyone who is a Baptized Christian, Confirmed by a Bishop in Apostolic succession and believes in the Real Presence of Christ in the Sacrament can receive Communion.
By this, someone who is a member of the Roman Catholic and an Eastern Orthodox church can receive communion because the teachings of these churches are in agreement with the three conditions stipulated.
The only thing that would prevent a member of the Roman Catholic or Orthodox churches from receiving Communion is their conviction, because of the teachings of their respective churches, that Communion in the Anglican Church is not a valid Sacrament.
And I believe most, if not all, Continuing Anglican Jurisdictions have the same policy.

Source:

Being a member of a church in the Anglican Province of America.

2008-10-08T04:02:00.000-07:00

Despise not the days of small beginings.

2008-09-29T03:18:00.000-07:00

Philippines Interfaith Village Project 2008-2010
Building Multifaith Village Livelihoods

This program builds on the Dutch government-funded HRE (Human Rights Education) trainings held in several Philippine locales from 2005 to 2007 (see our Report).
Two factors helped determine our decision to support grassroots livelihoods in this way:
The difficulty of promoting the concept of religious freedom alone, divorced from the day to day lives of village people; while many people are happy to get involved with livelihood-building programs to help others improve their quality of life.
A revival of opinion in the IARF that in light of the global food, fuel and climate crises, our old SSN (Social Services Network) needs reviving.
This program therefore recognizes that respect for the right of freedom of religion cannot be simply requested of communities. Where there is poverty, conflict will follow existing social faultlines - if not wealth-based divisions, then religion-based. Or, a combination of these. Therefore with this pilot program, in communities where we are now known thanks to our previous work, we shall seek to support poverty alleviation at community level through projects that involve people of different faith working together to create and sustain livelihoods.
IARF HRE Trainings will therefore be continuing in the Philippines under a new method, wherein the local IARF members and training participants, in cooperation with the different faith communities and local government, help in implementing the project. Importantly, they have a role in making it a success, and it will give them opportunities to develop a positive relationship with one another.

Greetings to APA DEUS Synod 2009 (July 20 -24, 2009)

2008-09-23T20:11:00.000-07:00

Greetings to DEUS SYNOD 2009

From The Anglican Church in the Philippines, we are extending our warmest greetings to the participants and delegates of DEUS Synod 2009 from the parishes and mission churches of the Anglican Province of America converging at the Hilton Garden Inn, Gainesville, GA (USA

As the leadership of APA, with all the Bishops, the clergy, ministers, workers, visitors and the faithful gather for a time of refreshing, planning and evaluation, we join you in prayer for the manifested presence of God to grant you an outpouring of God’s grace and an increase of God’s anointing and empowerment to accomplish the calling the Lord had ordained and placed upon the Church to complete.

We partner with you in praying that you may not only expand your territories but more than ever be involved in every good work for God’s kingdom to extend around the world.

We may not be able to join you physically but we are certain that we could be one in the spirit in terms of vision and purpose, and in the desire to press on toward the goal of making Christ known through the Anglican Church, in our community, in our country and in the world.

Finally may you continue to be firm, steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the Lord; always being superior, excelling, doing more than enough in the service of the Lord, knowing and being continually aware that your labor in the Lord is not futile, it is never wasted or to no purpose.

Greetings from the Philippines!

Bishop Frederick, Eros, Praise Abigail and the Anglican Church in the Philippines (Traditional) with its Churches and Missions.

Who We Are

2008-05-23T05:42:00.000-07:00

The Anglican Church in the Philippines (Traditional), Inc. (ACPT) is an autonomous and independent Anglican body, a continuing Anglican Province in the islands of the Philippines and in communion with the Anglican Province of America.

We are Catholic meaning universal because we share the faith, sacraments and teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ embraced at all times and in every era while we are in fellowship with all-minded people and of “like-faith” around the world.

We are Apostolic as we continue adhere to the Apostle’s teachings and fellowship. Acts 2:42.

We are Evangelical, as we believe in the Gospel and in Jesus Christ as the only advocate and mediator between God and men. 1 Timothy 2:5. Because we believe in the Bible as the inerrant Word of God, we are Biblical in morality as we make it the sole guide for our everyday conduct of life.

We are Reformed because we hold on to the doctrines and liturgy handed down by the English Reformation in the 39 articles of Religion and the worship based on the 1928 version of the Book of Common Prayer.

We are Liturgical / Sacramental as it expresses worship of God is form and order still based on the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.

WHAT WE BELIEVE

2008-05-23T05:40:00.000-07:00

STATEMENT OF FAITH

We believe in one God; eternally in three persons: The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; each with separate and distinct, albeit common purpose, ministries and manifestations toward mankind.

We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, His virgin birth, sinless life, demonstration of miracles vicarious and atoning death through His shedding of blood at Calvary, bodily resurrection, and ascension to the right hand of the Father and His personal return in power and glory to the earth.

We believe that the Holy Bible, the Holy Scriptures are the inerrant, revealed Word of God and therefore is the ultimate authority and standard of faith and practice in our lives.

We believe that the regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential for the salvation of the lost and sinful mankind, for men have sinned.

We believe that an individual Christian is enabled to live a Godly life through the present ministry of the Holy Spirit.

We believe that the Sacraments convey grace and through them Christ is known and is manifested among believers.

We believe that Christian Morality of the New Testament is the sole guide for the Church as they make a significant difference in the world by their being a witness through their life of faith.

We believe Christ instituted the apostolic ministry of Bishops, Priest and Deacons, which is MALE in character and advocates the ministry of all believers and the laity working together with the 3-fold offices.

We believe that the Creeds, as standards of our Faith mean exactly what they say.
(The Apostle's creed, the Nicene creed and the Athanasian creed)

We believe in emphasizing the regular, reverend and disciplined worship service where we praise the Almighty God, admit our need of Him in our lives, and offer Him our prayers of thanksgiving and petition for others as well as for ourselves.

We believe in the continuity of the Church as it moves into maturity to become the Bride of Christ, in spiritual unity with those who believe in our Lord Jesus Christ and have made Him as Lord and Savior of their lives.

WHO WE ARE

2008-05-23T05:06:00.000-07:00

The Anglican Church in the Philippines (Traditional) Inc. (ACP)

The ACP is ANGLICAN
Anglican means ENGLAND. The Church of England or the Anglican Church is the Christian church in England, dating from the introduction of Christianity into that country. More specifically, it is the branch of the Christian church that, since the Reformation, has been the established as the Church of England.
The English Church became a national church within the great Western Church. Over 450 years ago, the Church of England was affected by the Reformation. At the time of the Reformation, the English Church separated from that part of the Church we now call the Roman Catholic Church. This separation was achieved in a unique way. Despite the separation the Church of England or the ANGLICAN CHURCH remained a CATHOLIC church, in part, by retaining EPISCOPAL government. By reforming itself, it became a Protestant or EVANGELICAL Church. It is APOSTOLIC as it continues to adhere to the APOSTLES’ teachings and fellowship. When the American branch of the Church of England became independent, it became a DEMOCRATIC Church. The English Reformers translated the old worship books, which is being used in its services and known as the Book of Common Prayer. The Anglicans as it worships in form and order are LITURGICAL Christians.

The ACP as a PROVINCE is a CHURCH….
There is only one Church. The Church is the visible sign of the called company of baptized believers who are members of the Church, which contains both the living and the departed. A province is where the Church is situated geographically. Provinces are formed by geographically contiguous dioceses, which are groupings of local parishes. This term province comes to us when dioceses were grouped together according to the Provinces of the Roman Empire. Our province of the Church happens to be in the Philippines and is a companion province of the Anglican Province of America.

The ACP is CATHOLIC…
Catholic means the Church established by our Lord Himself, is for ANYONE and EVERYONE who believes (universal). As Catholic, it is always served by clergy who are successors of the Apostles and who administer the Sacraments, which our Lord gave to the Church. The faith of the Church is summarized in three historic Creeds: Apostles’, Nicene and Athanasian, and in the teachings defined by the Early Church.

The ACP is EPISCOPAL…
The word Episcopal means bishops. Our Jesus Christ sent His disciples into the world. They were called Apostles, or “sent men”. The Apostles added ministers to their ranks to care for the growing Church. These men became known as bishops. Hence as Episcopal, ACP is under the care of our Presiding bishop in communion and consultation with the House of Bishops.

The ACP is APOSTOLIC...
As an apostolic church it continues steadfastly and adheres to the teachings of the Apostles and their fellowship. Acts 2:42

The ACP is EVANGELICAL…
The word evangelical means “of the Gospel”. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is found in the Holy Bible, God’s Word written by inspired people. The Bible is the book of the Church. Anglicans cherish the Scriptures. They are read in public worship; our Prayer Book is Bible-based. Its words echo the teachings, words and expression of the Holy Scriptures.

The ACP is LITURGICAL…
Liturgy means hard work. We show our duty to God and our love for Him in corporate worship. The 1928 American edition of the Book of Common Prayer is the official liturgy of this Province. Hence the expression of worship is entwined in the order and form of the liturgy.

The ACP is DEMOCRATIC…
Since the Protestant Episcopal Church was the first Anglican Church to restore to the laity the rights and duties they enjoyed in the Early Church, ACP has recognized and welcomed the laity sharing with the clergy the duty of determining the most appropriate and best policies governing the day-to-day life of the church.

The ACP is TRADITIONAL…
By traditional, we mean that we do not allow the current winds of public and societal opinion to alter that Faith which we have received from our forefathers as contained in the Holy Bible, the writings of the Early Church, and the Book of Common Prayer.

The ACP is REFORMED…
As reformed, it holds to the doctrine and liturgy handed down to us from the English Reformation in the 39 Articles of Religion and the 1928 version of the Book of Common Prayer.

The ACP is AUTONOMOUS and INDEPENDENT…
While the Church is ONE, it adapts itself to differing cultures and circumstances. Anglicans believe in the freedom of individual dioceses and provinces to respond to the needs of the particular people they serve. Autonomy and independence does NOT mean that a parish or diocese or any other level of church government has the right to change the Faith. Each congregation owns its own property. Neither the bishops nor conventions of this Church make political decisions for the people of the Church. Christians are bound to make their political decisions and exercise their rights in the light of the Gospel.

Finally, the ACP is a FAMILY OF CHRISTIANS!

You are invited to be a part of our family!