On January 15th 2012, the Charismatic Episcopal Church celebrates the Feast of our Lord the Giver of Life. John 10.10 reads, " The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it abundantly." The Church proclaims, on this Sunday, that it is in relationship with the Risen Christ that men and women find true life, because Jesus not only gives abundant life, He alone is life. (John 14. 6)
John 10.10 also reminds us that the Church is in a spiritual war. This warfare is not something unique to our times but has been going on even before the foundation of the world. We know that the Church will be victorious because Christ Jesus is both King and Victor. Yet, day-by-day those anointed of God have had to come against darkness and death. The war is both individual and corporate.
Each of us is engaged in a battle for the health of our own souls. We struggle against the wages of sin, the world and the devil. Our victory comes when we put on Christ Jesus and the armor He has given us. We find our victory in prayer, which causes us to be in union with Him. Someone wrote, "prayer is not preparation for the battle, prayer is the battle."
There is also the battle for the souls of men and women. As prayer cannot be a program of the Church, evangelism cannot be a program of the Church. Evangelism is the Great Commission (Matthew 28.18-20). If we pray our hearts will be filled with compassion for the people around us who are the least, the lost, and the lonely. We will share the heart of our Lord and see them not as our enemies but as those who are harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. And, we come to recognize that we are the answer to prayer for we are the laborers called to go into the harvest field. (Matthew 9.36-38) Prayer and evangelism are not options to be considered but commands to be obeyed.
As we look back on the 20th century we find two facts. The first is that the 20th century has been a time of great spiritual renewal and revival in the Church. The 20th century has seen the outpouring of the Holy Spirit from Azusa Street in California to the corridors of the Roman Catholic Church. The Holy Spirit continues to bring renewal and revival to the Global South and we pray that same revival will come to the Western Churches in the United States, Canada, and Europe.
The 20th century was also the most violent century in history. Millions of people died in World War I and World War 2. We saw the rise of fascism and communism, which killed millions of people in holocausts and genocides. We saw the genocides in Africa as recently as the genocide of Rwanda and the Sudan. There is not the time or space to list all the horrific violence that has been unleashed against innocent men, women and children in the 20th century.
Many of our Bishops today labor in situations where they are daily confronted with violence and death at the hands evil men and women. Or, they labor in places where famine and disease have caused the death of hundreds of thousands of children while corrupt governments hold back resources for monetary and political gain. It is a sad reality that six out of ten people live day-to-day and for them survival is the next meal.
The 20th century also seen more Christian martyrs than all the other centuries combined. As evil seemed to prevail our God anointed men and women to stand up against the forces of darkness. We saw the holocaust of the Nazi regime crumble in ashes. The tyranny of atheistic communism collapse quickly, unexpectedly, and suddenly. The shackles of racism in the United States and South Africa were removed and liberty prevailed because Christian men and women stood up often giving their lives sacrificially for the sake of the oppressed. Christ in them gave life when the enemy tried to steal, destroy, and kill.
The battle does not end until our Lord comes to reign in glory and His kingdom is fully established on earth as it is in heaven. The blood of the martyrs cry out before His throne and we are reminded of the words of Tertullian, "the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church." Where there has been revival and renewal there has also been the shedding of blood. Victory comes, as always, as we pick up our cross daily and participate in the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus.
As you read this letter thousands of babies will be murdered in the womb of their mothers. Thousands of women and men will remember this day as the day they aborted their child. Most of those men and women will be scared for life physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Around the world millions of children will be murdered in their mother's womb in the next year.
Why are these children murdered? It is because the enemy has argued effectively that poverty is a result of giving birth to children. There is just too much life. If we had fewer children the argument goes then we would have less poverty, less disease, and less hunger. Abortion is aimed not at the rich who have all the resources but at the poor.
Even in the United States abortion is aimed at the poor. Abortion is aimed specifically at the African American community. Since 1973, over 25% of the black population has been exterminated by abortion. Today, almost as many African American babies are aborted as are born. A black baby is now three times as likely to be killed in the womb as a white baby. About 13% of American women are black, but they have 35% of the abortions. In the last 30 years, more than twice as many African Americans have died from abortion as from AIDS, accidents, violent crimes, cancer and heart disease combined. Planned Parenthood operates the largest chain of abortion clinics in the United States and 80% of them are in minority communities. For the killing of African American babies, the US abortion industry takes in more than $16,000 per hour.
The abortion industry wants to convince women and men that their life would be better without children. In other words, children stand in the way of the materialism and consumerism.
But I am sure that I do not need to convince you of the evil of abortion. But I do need to warn us that silence is never an answer when evil is present. It has been said that the concentration camp of Auschwitz, where over a million Jews were executed in the name of racial cleansing, was build by the evil of Nazism, but the road to Auschwitz was built by the apathy of the people of Germany. It wasn't that the people of Germany were blind to the atrocities of Nazi Germany and Adolf Hitler; it is that they choose to remain silent.
The Charismatic Episcopal Church was birthed in the Pro Life Movement. It was in the heat of battle that our first Patriarch saw the need for convergence worship. Yes, convergence worship is a return to the early church and is a sign of unity. It is also the reality that worship is spiritual warfare and that the culture of life will have victory over the culture of death because the Risen Christ is with us.
It is for this reason that I have come to believe that the CEC is not a church that is Pro Life; she is a Pro Life Church. The proclamation of life is at the core of who we are as God's people and so we must be a voice of justice, if only a small voice, for the life of all persons from conception to natural death.
When I became the Patriarch of the Church my first official act after my enthronement was to go to Washington, D.C. and join the American youth of our communion at the March for Life. The March for Life is an annual gathering of hundreds of thousands of people to mark the beginning of the abortion holocaust in America. At the March, CEC for Life hosts a gathering of CEC young people to encourage and equip them in the battle for life. The young people gather to worship Jesus, hear God's Word, receive the Eucharist, and then carry the Gospel of Life to the streets.
When we gather in Spain, in July of 2012, the young people of our church will go to the streets of Madrid with the message of life. CEC for Life is planning a large event at the main Plaza in Madrid where the young people, who are in love with Jesus, will proclaim John 10.10. We will pray, proclaim God's word, hand out literature and be a witness to the Lord, the Giver of Life.
The abortion industry is attempting to spread its vehicle of death outside the United States to poor countries of the world. Billions of dollars are being spent to legalize abortion in Africa, South America, and Asia. Politicians are being pressured to pass legislation to legalize abortion in countries that culturally have long honored and respected large families and see children as a blessing from God.
It is for this reason that my second act as Patriarch was to make CEC for Life not just a ministry of the CEC but also an arm of the office of the Patriarch. And, last year Fr. Terry Gensemer made an act of faith and left the full time pastorate of a great Church to work full time for CEC for Life and me. The Bishops of the American Church confirmed this call and pledged their support.
CEC for Life is not the answer to ending abortion. There is a need for Pregnancy Counseling Centers, Birthing Clinics, political action, ministry to post abortive men and women, and real and lasting economic relief for the poor. But CEC for Life is one response that we together can support.
My Church has been involved with CEC for Life since I came into the CEC back in 1995. CEC for Life has encouraged, equipped, and empowered the people of my congregation, particularly the young adults, to be strong in their commitment to the Gospel of life. My young adults are not anti abortion they are on fire for Jesus and because they are on fire for Jesus they have gone to the streets, their schools, and among their friends with the message of John 10.10. And, I believe with all my heart that the next generation, these same young adults, will make abortion illegal and unthinkable.
The Patriarch's Council heard the voice of the Lord over and over again that CEC for Life must be a priority. In consensus, the Bishop on the Patriarch's Council agreed that the Holy Spirit was directing us to annually take up an offering for the work of CEC for Life. They heard the Holy Spirit tell us that every CEC congregation on the Feast of the Lord the Giver of Life should take up an offering and send this offering to the Patriarch's Office for the work of CEC for Life. The Holy Spirit has directed us on how we can be a part of proclaiming John 10.10 to the world particularly when it comes to abortion.
I certainly want to encourage you to take up the offering on January 15th, 2012. But it is not because we are trying to raise funds. Of course, CEC for Life needs money and resources, we all know that ministry takes finances. All of us could use more resources for cars, buildings, programs, and leadership. And, we all know that this takes financial backing. I am encouraging you to take up the offering because I believe it is being obedient to the word of the Lord given to our Bishops. And, I believe obedience opens the door to more blessings. We can be faithful not in what we don't have but in what we have and our faithfulness in the small things will open us to receive more.
On a personal note, as I write this letter in my office at home, my grandson, age four years, is running up and down hallway pretty much ignoring the voice of his mother, who is trying to get him ready to go out. I can hear the patter of his feet and the laughter as he taunts his mother who is not well pleased or happy. Yet, the patter of those feet and the laughter is a sign of life. He is a survivor of the holocaust of abortion. And, he has brought more joy into my heart than any object or possession could ever begin to bring to me. He is the fulfillment of John 10.10.
Please take up the offering, and have your congregations take up an offering on January 15th of 2012 for CEC for Life. Please take part in this holy task of life and pray there is a day when we will see and know that all life is sacred.
Under His mercy,
The Most Rev. Craig W. Bates,
Patriarch, ICCEC
P.S. It was also agreed by the House of Bishops that the Lord was calling every CEC Church in North America to become a member of CEC for Life. You will receive additional information on how you can do this in another mailing.
