The College of Bishops and the Provincial Council of the Anglican Church in North America met last week (the Bishops on June 19-21 and the Council on June 21-23, 2023) at the Provincial Pro-Cathedral, Christ Church Plano outside of Dallas, Texas. One hundred and nine delegates from twenty-nine dioceses and jurisdictions gathered for worship and Bible teaching and to carry out the governance of the Church. Among the more important moments during the meeting were the passing of canonical amendments, the readmission of the Diocese of All Nations (formerly the Anglican Diocese of the West), the election of Executive Committee members, and an update on the growth of our congregations.

A constitutional dispute faced the College of Bishops and Provincial Council as the week began. The bishops, who are charged with “propagating and defending the Faith and Order of the Church,” and with “being in service as a visible sign and expression of the Unity of the Church,” * devoted the entire day on Tuesday to addressing a serious conflict that had been developing for months regarding the roles of the Archbishop and the Provincial Tribunal in disciplinary matters. A key question was whether the bishops signing a Presentment against an accused diocesan bishop had properly sworn to the Presentment. During the very challenging deliberations in which bishops spoke forthrightly with one another to put every perspective in the light, two principal paths forward emerged.

Read it all.

Provincial Council and College of Bishops 2023 Recap. #The_ACNAhttps://t.co/XCR9IZf68a pic.twitter.com/6SmmoFzZXH

— ACNA (@The_ACNA) June 28, 2023

The mandate was an attempt by the Biden administration to define sex to include “gender identity” for the purposes of Health and Human Services (HHS) regulations. Critics say the rule would have required doctors, clinics, and hospitals to perform procedures to which they object and insurance companies to pay for such procedures.

The Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) president Brent Leatherwood welcomed the news.

“The Biden administration’s decision to back down from the transgender mandate marks a significant victory in safeguarding the rights of medical professionals to operate in a manner consistent with their deepest held beliefs,” Leatherwood said in written comments.

“This is an important development we should take note of because it not only represents a win for conscience rights but also furthers efforts to shield vulnerable individuals who should never become pawns in the sexual revolution.”

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As of 2021, 25% of 40-year-olds in the United States had never been married. This was a significant increase from 20% in 2010, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of Census Bureau data.

Marriage has long been a central institution in the lives of Americans. In 1980, just 6% of 40-year-olds had never been married. But people born from the 1960s onward have been increasingly delaying marriage, and a growing share are forgoing it altogether.

The 2021 data marks a new milestone in that decadeslong trend.

While many unmarried 40-year-olds are living with a romantic partner, most are not. In 2022, 22% of never-married adults ages 40 to 44 were cohabiting.

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Incredibly bad news from Pew today:

“A record-high share of 40-year-olds in the U.S. have never been married.”

Poor, working-class, and black Americans hit hardest.https://t.co/EYhQGPkqX2 @r_fry1 @pewresearch pic.twitter.com/yRJudXb9Ti

— Brad Wilcox (@BradWilcoxIFS) June 28, 2023

1. When, however, they are confuted from the Scriptures, they turn round and accuse these same Scriptures, as if they were not correct, nor of authority, and [assert] that they are ambiguous, and that the truth cannot be extracted from them by those who are ignorant of tradition. For [they allege] that the truth was not delivered by means of written documents, but viva voce: wherefore also Paul declared, “But we speak wisdom among those that are perfect, but not the wisdom of this world.”And this wisdom each one of them alleges to be the fiction of his own inventing, forsooth; so that, according to their idea, the truth properly resides at one time in Valentinus, at another in Marcion, at another in Cerinthus, then afterwards in Basilides, or has even been indifferently in any other opponent,who could speak nothing pertaining to salvation. For every one of these men, being altogether of a perverse disposition, depraving the system of truth, is not ashamed to preach himself.

2. But, again, when we refer them to that tradition which originates from the apostles, [and] which is preserved by means of the succession of presbyters in the Churches, they object to tradition, saying that they themselves are wiser not merely than the presbyters, but even than the apostles, because they have discovered the unadulterated truth. For [they maintain] that the apostles intermingled the things of the law with the words of the Saviour; and that not the apostles alone, but even the Lord Himself, spoke as at one time from the Demiurge, at another from the intermediate place, and yet again from the Pleroma, but that they themselves, indubitably, unsulliedly, and purely, have knowledge of the hidden mystery: this is, indeed, to blaspheme their Creator after a most impudent manner! It comes to this, therefore, that these men do now consent neither to Scripture nor to tradition.

3. Such are the adversaries with whom we have to deal, my very dear friend, endeavouring like slippery serpents to escape at all points. Wherefore they must be opposed at all points, if perchance, by cutting off their retreat, we may succeed in turning them back to the truth. For, though it is not an easy thing for a soul under the influence of error to repent, yet, on the other hand, it is not altogether impossible to escape from error when the truth is brought alongside it.

—Against Heresies: Book III, Chapter 2.

St. Irenaeus, Martyr (202)

Disciple of St. Polycarp, he succeeded St. Pothinus in the See of Lyons. He was the first to write a reasoned summary of our Faith. His treatise: "False doctrine unmasked and refuted" called "Against heresies" gave the death blow to the gnostic heresy. pic.twitter.com/VtOuvhA8Cm

— Memento Mori (@TempusFugit4016) June 28, 2023

Almighty God, who didst uphold thy servant Irenaeus with strength to maintain the truth against every blast of vain doctrine: Keep us, we beseech thee, steadfast in thy true religion, that in constancy and peace we may walk in the way that leadeth to eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Today the Church of England celebrates Irenæus, Bishop of Lyons, Teacher of the Faith, c.200

Image: Window in Mansfield College Chapel, Oxford. Photo by Lawrence OP, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0, via flickr pic.twitter.com/WNtsGusMX8

— The Anglican Church in St Petersburg (@anglicanspb) June 28, 2023

O Lord, who hast promised a blessing for all who suffer for righteousness’ sake: Grant to all our brethren persecuted for the truth that they may rejoice in being counted worthy to suffer dishonour for thy name. Strengthen their faith and renew their love, that in their patience they may possess their souls and win their persecutors to penitence and new brotherhood in thee; for the sake of him who suffered shame and reproach and remained invincible in his love, even thy redeeming Son, Christ our Lord.

Another damp but delightful day on the hill farm …. Paws 🐾 dry .. pic.twitter.com/npvTHFbHpq

— Alison O’Neill ~ Shepherdess (@woolismybread) June 28, 2023

Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, the Hellenists murmured against the Hebrews because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the body of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brethren, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” And what they said pleased the whole multitude, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Proch′orus, and Nica′nor, and Timon, and Par′menas, and Nicola′us, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands upon them.

And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.

–Acts 6:1-7

Good rainy morning Cape Cod! Mother Nature thought I needed extra help waking up. 🌧️☔️#NatureAssistedAlarmClock
Eastham, Massachusetts. #capecod #rain pic.twitter.com/yEpxiULyLJ

— Darius Aniunas (@dariusaniunas) June 28, 2023