Posted on 08/26/2015 10:04:24 PM PDT by NRx
...Greeting the delegation of the Anglican Church in North America, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill noted the difficulty of the situation in which this denomination had been established six years ago. “At the time your Church was undergoing a very difficult period in her history, which required from believers fortitude and the ability to resist great temptations,” His Holiness said.
“It is my firm belief that in the course of her history, the Church faces challenges which she must overcome with all her courage,” he continued, “There are two models of behavior of the Church and Christians. The first one implies obedience to secular power and those mighty forces that influence the development of society. The second one implies the ability to tell the truth and show commitment to Christ’s glad tidings.”
As the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church noted, the second model always implies martyrdom. “There is nothing new in it. The Lord said that we should follow the narrow path leading to the Heavenly Kingdom. A wide and nice path will not lead us there,” he said, “Here, in Russia, we realized it in the hard times of persecutions of our Church. We also could choose one of the models of behavior, and I thank God for granting fortitude to our predecessors who followed the only right path and never fell away from the Apostolic faith and the Tradition we received through the Apostles and holy fathers.”
(Excerpt) Read more at mospat.ru ...
The ACNA is the group that broke off from the Episcopal Organization following their apostasy.
We just joined an Anglican church in the ACNA. Our former church was an AG church but it merged with a church in another city that was a bit too far to drive.
Our new congregation is fantastic. One of the pastors is a retired Hebrew scholar, Bruce Walkie, who is an expert on Genesis. It is really a great group of people and we are thoroughly enjoying it.
http://www.adventanglican.org/welcome/
AG, is that Assemblies of God?
Yes, Assembly of God.
Our church left the Episcopal Church nearly 9 years ago, and left everything behind. When we loaded the U-Haul trailer with the rector’s books and papers, we had not yet found a place for our new office. We found a location the next day, and since then God has blessed us beyond belief.
Many churches today are falling away. Do not fall with them. My advice to anyone struggling with this is,follow the Word or perish! It can be a fearful thing, but the opposite of fear is Joy - and it’s God’s promise to those that are faithful.
I see my old priest shows up in the story — Fr. Chad was the founder of both the tiny mission I attend and of its mother parish.
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