Holy Week

Let us pray for
Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC)
The Rt. Rev. Donald Harvey (Moderator and Chair)
Anglican Province of the Southern Cone

Prayer and praise items for Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC)

· Praise God for the 15 churches now under the episcopal oversight of Bishop Donald Harvey and the jurisdiction of the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone

· Pray for the clergy of those parishes who are now facing various canonical charges – this includes charges of Abandonment of Ministry for a number of clergy, including the Rev Dr J I Packer.

· Pray for those parishes now in dispute with their former diocese regarding property ownership. Pray that this will not distract from their ministries and that they will know God's direction in this matter.

· Pray specifically for a court case on March 20 in Southern Ontario that could be precedent setting. Please pray for the two churches involved - St George's Lowville (Milton) and St Hilda's (Oakville) - and the clergy who must prepare affidavits for this court appearance - the Rev Canon Charlie Masters (also General Secretary of the Common Cause Partnership) and the Rev Paul Charbonneau. Please pray for an unbiased judge; for clarity of thought and presentation for our legal representatives and witnesses; that God would be honoured in all we do; and that the outcome would be to His glory and the building of His Kingdom.

· Praise God for a favourable earlier interim court decision on February 29 that allowed these two parishes to remain in their buildings until March 20.

· Praise God for a more amicable approach to ANiC parishes in one diocese.

· Despite the numerous legal and canonical attacks, the real battle is spiritual, so please pray for spiritual protection for our clergy and leadership and their families – as well as for good health. Pray specifically for our bishops, Bishop Don Harvey and Bishop Malcolm Harding.

· Pray for unity in the parishes; pray that satan will not be able to drive in any wedges.

· Finally, please pray for orthodox Canadian Anglicans who remain in the Anglican Church of Canada. Pray for wisdom and courage as they continue to stand for Truth and against the moral and theological decay of the Anglican Church of Canada.

Scripture

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. I Corinthians 1:18

Tradition

'Twas I that shed that sacred Blood,I nailed him to the Tree,I crucified the Christ of God,I joined the mockery.Yet not the less that Blood avails to cleanse me from sin,and not the less that Cross prevails to give me peace within. Horatius Bonar, 1856. #135 in The Book of Common Praise, 1938 (Canada)

Reason

...what Christ bore on the cross was the Godforsakenness of penal judgment, which we shall never have to bear because he accepted it in our place. The appropriate formulation is that on the cross Jesus’ representative relation to us, as the last Adam whose image we are to bear, took the form of substituting for us under judgment, as the suffering servant of God on whom the Lord ‘laid the iniquity of us all’. The two ideas, representation and substitution, are complementary, not alternatives, and both are needed here. J.I. Packer, What Did the Cross Achieve?