Lack of clergy training partly to blame for tribal conflicts

Truro has several mission partners working in the Sudan: 5 Talents, Becky Shah and Tom Prichard.  Archbishop Moses Deng Bol traces much of the conflict in the region to an inadequate understanding of the gospel.  That is true not just in the Sudan but also in the USA.  Those who have a shallow and inadequate grasp of the gospel of peace tend to escalate rather than deescalate conflict.

Let us continue our work among the Sudanese as well as continue to grow with them in the work of peacemaking.

Read more here.

The Team at the HTB Leadership Conference

HTB Leadership Conference

Tory is at the Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB) Leader Conference this week. To see what is happening at the conference, click here.

Statement of the Truro Vestry

Statement of the Truro Vestry
On the Virginia Supreme Court Ruling of April 18, 2013 

Read it here. 

Why We Use the ESV

(In honor of Nancy Thonus Hudson, my high school friend who has served the Wycliffe Bible Translators for nearly thirty years.)*

Bible translation is an ancient and venerable practice.  One of the earliest was in Coptic for Egyptians, which dates to AD 270.  An Ethiopic translation was completed in early 5^th century AD.  Fragments of an early Syriac translation has been discovered, which is not surprising since one of the major early ethnic churches was the Syrian Church.  Between the years AD 350 to AD 439 the Scriptures were translated into Armenian for those in the Caucasus mountain region and in an adjacent region another translation into Georgian was done in AD 450.  An old Latin Bible was completed in AD 195 (which Augustine used) and Jerome completed his new and improved Latin Vulgate (vulgates referring to the common tongue) in 404 AD.  Unlike the old Latin Bible, Jerome relied on the original Hebrew in his translation. This particular translation was to dominate the landscape in the Middle Ages, and unfortunately led the Western Church to neglect the original languages of the Bible up until Erasmus and Luther.   Much more could be said about translations in the East as well as the history of translations in English.  However, at this point we should note four features of translations in the early history of the Church:

• .       Translations were a function of the missionary nature of the Christian Church which was a vernacular movement, the assumption being that people needed to hear the word of God in their own native tongue (cf. Acts 2).
• .       The whole process started in fits and starts and because of the needs of the missionaries, not because of some central authority’s efforts.  Thus, these early translations are uneven in quality.
• .       It was assumed that a translation of the Bible could be called the word of God for this language group, yet…
• .       Figures such as Jerome and much later Erasmus, Luther and Tyndale realized that these vernacular translations needed to be based on the original Hebrew and Greek texts. 

All English translations are in some measure dependent on the ground-breaking translation of William Tyndale, who in turn was influenced by Luther’s translation.  He was both a first-rate Greek scholar and master of early English prose.  To him we owe memorable phrases like “my brother’s keeper” (Gen. 4:9), “the salt of the earth” (Matt. 5:13), “a law unto themselves” (Rom. 2:14) and “the powers that be” (Rom. 13:1).  As you can tell, Tyndale was attentive to the aural qualities of the Bible.  He understood that the written text was in service to its oral quality and purpose: scriptures were originally written primarily to be read and heard a loud in public worship.

When people ask me why I (and now Truro) use the ESV for public worship its oral quality is one of the primary reasons I give.  There are numerous good translations on the market; I own and read several of them.  But I prefer the ESV for public worship because it stands squarely in the Tyndale tradition of Bible translation, especially his concern for good aural sense.  Because I also believe it is important for the Christian community to memorize key portions of the Bible, the ESV excels over other translations in this regard as well.  As a literal translation, it attempts to follow the rhythm and rhyme, the alliteration and assonance of the original text. The ESV has preserved the felicitous and memorably translated phrases of Tyndale which are noted above. 

 I encourage you to buy a reference edition for your personal study.  Mostly I encourage you to “read, mark, learn and inwardly digest” the word of God in whatever translation you use.  For the word of God is “living, active and sharper than any two-edged sword” exposing our souls to God and God to our souls so that we can become wise in matters of eternal significance.







*Heavily indebted to Alistair McGrath's In the Beginning: The Story of the King James Bible... and Ben Witherington's The Living Word of God

Guest Preachers at Truro

I am pleased to welcome two great Anglican leaders to Truro's pulpit these next two Sundays, September 30 and October 7.  The Rev. Dr. Justyn Terry and the Rev. Dr. Ephraim Radner are former pastors and now teach at two of our most strategically placed Anglican seminaries, Trinity School for Ministry and Wycliffe College, respectively.  Dr. Terry also serves as Dean of Trinity.

The Rev. Dr. Justyn Terry 

The Rev. Dr. Ephraim Radner

I have asked them to further catechize us in our apostolic faith and our Anglican identity.  Please make a point to hear their sermons and their teaching at the Rector's Forum.  Dr. Radner will also have lunch with the Vestry and giving a poetry reading as a postlude to our Fairfax Fall for the Book Festival on Saturday, October 6th.  

A Parish Built on Love.....

... is the theme of our winter parish mission.  We will be hosting Don Renzo Bonetti from Verona, Italy, the premier Catholic pastoral authority on marriage and family as a spiritual vocation.  In addition, two old friends of Truro are returning: Christopher West and Matt Maher.  Roman Catholic, Baptist, Pentecostal and other Christian leaders will be present.  Everyone reserve the weekend of January 26-27.  

We will be updating this post as we approach this extraordinary week. 

Don Renzo Bonetti

Christopher West

Matt Maher

The Path of Peace: A Precondition of Evangelistic Fruitfulness

Dear Truro Family,

Below are words of encouragement that I received from some of our best leaders of the church, as we pioneer a peaceable way into God’s future:

We are so looking forward to welcoming Bishop Shannon Johnston and Tory Baucum to our Leadership Conference in London. Our prayers are with them –and all our brothers and sisters at Truro Anglican Church and throughout the diocese of Virginia – as you work together to bring peace, unity and healing.

Nicky Gumbel

Vicar, Trinity Brompton

Faith, hope and love are commended to us in God’s word and you have shown all three virtues. I give thanks to God for the faith you have shown in standing firm, for the hope you’ve expressed in stepping out and, most of all, for the love you have shown in staying gracious. May the God who led Israel through the wilderness go with you in the days ahead.

The Reverend Canon J. John

Conventry Cathedral

I am truly delighted to hear the news and progress regarding Truro Church from the Rector and the Bishop. This is indeed a true act of reconciliation. Therefore it is a true act of Christ as we are all called to be Ambassadors of Reconciliation (II Cor. 5.20). It always involves love and compromise but ultimately always demonstrates the love of Christ.

Canon Andrew White

Baghdad, Iraq

Tory Baucum and Bishop Shannon Johnston have built a friendship and respect despite disagreements, that provides a valuable model for the rest of the Anglican Communion.

Reverend Dr. Graham Tomlin

Dean, St. Mellitus College, London

We are delighted and heartened by all that Tory Baucum, Bishop Shannon Johnston and Truro are doing to restore relationships within the Anglican communion and to bring greater unity within the Body of Christ.

Nicky and Sila Lee

Holy Trinity Brompton

I warmly applaud the deep and patient commitment to peacemaking, and a continued relationship, that Truro Church and Bishop Shannon Johnston of the diocese of Virginia have made. When Christians profoundly disagree they are still to relate to one another as Christians. Rector Tory and Bishop Shannon, and all those who have worked with them during this painful and demanding process, have set a vital example of what this can mean. Miroslav Volf wrote that the question we need to ask today is ‘What resources do we need to live in peace in the absence of the final reconciliation?’ You have begun to provide a tangible answer to that question, which I pray will be reproduced in many other divided parts of Christ’s Church. I applaud you, will pray for you, and encourage you to continue of this way.

+Graham Cray

Archbishop’s Missioner for the Church of England and Leader of the Fresh Expressions Team

Division, dislike and even hatred are the quickest ways to kill churches. The first to leave is the Spirit of God. Reconciliation and modeling difference without enmity to a world in desperate need of it is both healing spirituality and effective testimony to Christ. I was privileged to be with Tory and Elizabeth and Bishop Shannon recently and it renewed my vision.

+Justin Welby

Bishop of Durham

It was a delight to welcome the Rector and the Bishop to London and to share a meal with them. I was deeply impressed by the spirit in which they were determined to work together for the common good and cause of the gospel. I believe that the ball is at the feet of the Christian community in this very distressful time for the world. We need to do everything we can to promote the spirit of reconciliation and offer the hope there is in Jesus Christ to a very needy world.

The Rt Revd & Rt Hon Richard Chartres

Bishop of London

We in the diocese of Kigezi thank God  for Truro’s “partnership in the gospel” (Phil 1:5) with us. You have “partnered in the Gospel” with us in ministry, visits, financial support (for the Diocese, Rugarama Hospital, and Bishop Barham University College), sponsorship of orphan children through TOUCH & Compassion International, support for missionaries, friendships, and more. You have become a precious part of our lives. Laura and I have appreciated being with you, at your invitation to strengthen the relationship. Though you cannot see the outcome, trust the Lord, for He knows what is best. Be assured that He sees your trials and He is with you in your tests. We pray that in the days ahead, Truro will “be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power … by putting on the whole armor of God.” (Ephesians 6:10.11).

+George Katwesigye

Bishop of Kigezi, Uganda

Jesus asked us to love one another and lay down our lives for our friends. The Apostle Paul spoke of Christians as “ambassadors of the Kingdom of God”. I am delighted to publicly brag about Tory Baucum and Truro and to identify you as outstanding examples of what Jesus and Paul called for: kingdom  ambassadors who lovingly, in word and deed, make real the rule and reign of God for the good of others. I am proud to call you friends!

+Todd Hunter

Assisting Bishop to the Bishop of Pittsburgh/Churches For the Sake of Others

I don’t have the facilities to make a video tape greeting, but please extend my greetings and best wishes to all of the greater Truro community. The Parish and Rector are “always in my mind” –with great fondness and thanksgiving. The “Truro years” were the best in our lives.

Warmest regards in our Lord,

+John W. Howe, Ph.D., D.D.

Retired Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida, former Rector of Truro Church



Elizabeth had brain surgery shortly after our special service and I never had the opportunity to thank and recognize all the leaders who are wishing us well in our peace-making endeavors.  So I write a general thankyou to all my friends who are walking with us in the path of Christ, the prince of Peace. I also write a particular thank you to Bishop Howe who opened doors closed to me and to Nicky Gumbel who created a great environment for truthful and redemptive conversation.

 These quotes represent not only our most orthodox leaders in Anglicanism but those who are evangelistically effective leaders, the ultimate test of orthodoxy.   (Those on the right and left who remain coiled for action and are riven in spiritual sterility are seldom as orthodox as they claim.)  But these leaders walk the talk of obedience to Jesus.  

I will be sharing more about the importance of these alliances in our work and witness in the months ahead.  

Two of these leaders are serious contenders for Archbishop of Canterbury.  Please keep Bishop Chartres and Bishop Welby in your prayers.  They are dear men of God and dear friends to Truro. 

What common themes do you find in their comments and in their lives?

Through the Bible, Week One

The Creator and Creation

Genesis One is more about the Creator than the creation.  When read against its original background of Ancient Near Eastern creation myths, Genesis 1 comes across as a poetic monotheistic polemic - something that could have been memorized and sung in the liturgy.  Using the world- picture of the ancient world ("let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters....let the waters be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear"), it simultaneously and fundamentally shatters its world-view (the underlying vision of reality).  The sun, moon and stars are no longer seen as deities but now are parts of the one God's creation.  Indeed, the only object that shares the divine nature ("in our image") are humans, who now stand at the apex of creation.  The objects of worship in the ancient world - astral objects and animals - are actually below man in the view of reality portrayed here.  The subliminal message of Genesis one would be, "why would you bow down to something beneath you?"

Stott expresses my sense of this opening chapter: "From this crude polytheism it is a relief to turn to the ethical monotheism of Genesis 1."

Let us consider the implications of this radical breakthrough into the nature of Reality.  What does it mean to live in a world that is a product of God's free will and love (He did not make us out of necessity nor constraint) as opposed to a world that is produced from the body of a deceased god, the product of a divine battle amongst the gods, which was the basis of all the ancient creation myths.  The Bible grounds all of reality - all that is - in the overflowing love life of the Trinity.

I suggest three important implications - or matters to discuss - for our lives of discipleship:

1) Creation is a gift, not a given.  As gift, our relation to it is one of stewardship.  There is a built-in ecology in our relationship to the world.  Just as our society has developed an ecology for trees, for example, there is a deeper ecology of persons.   The gift-ness of persons places limits on our behavior, our speech toward them.  Stott wisely references James 3:7-12 in his discussion of persons as God's image-bearers.  He writes: "The sanctity of human life arises from the value of God's image bearers (9:6).  Human beings are god-like beings. They deserve to be loved and served."

2) Since creation is not a necessity, there is freedom.

3) The appropriate response to gift (and freedom) is wonder and gratitude.

Genesis three will document what occurs when wonder and gratitude, and the trust underlying them, are lost.  Paul comments on this theme in Romans one, "for although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened."  We anticipate Genesis three and its aftermath in these themes.  These early chapters teach us how to read all that follow......

What do you think?

Through the Bible, General Introduction

Rules for Reading........

The best way to read the Bible is to begin reading it with other Christians, living and dead (thus we are inviting Brother John into our conversation).  Reading the Bible with the Church - both militant and triumphant - is one of the best ways I know to practice the Communion of Saints and to acquire the mind of Christ.  But only if the conversation leads to further conversion and transformed conduct.  Reading simply for information or to win arguments is dangerous.  This blog class on the Bible will encourage a life & death, close to the bone, holy conversation around the Word of God to guide our walk ("your word is lamp to my feet and a light to my path" Psalm 119:105).  As we are led into the light, the word of God should turn vicious lives into virtuous lives.  The only thing worse than a vicious person is a vicious religious person.  And what kind of religious person you become largely depends on how you learn to read and live this holy book.

As we read the Bible I encourage to us learn new ways of thinking, to have our minds transformed.  We will engage concepts, even literature, that is foreign to most of us.  Barth called the Bible "that strange new world."  And it is.  There is a constant temptation to domesticate the word of God into  "concepts and ideas" which we then defend as if our constructions are God's instructions. There is nothing wrong with describing a kiss, unless of course, you think you have been kissed once you've described it.  I will encourage us to let the word of God be sovereign in our thinking, even by giving us the rules by which it is to be read.  There should be an encounter and not merely an essay as a result of our reading.  Close textual and allusive reading (comparing scripture to scripture across the entire grand pageant of redemption) will assist us in such an encounter of the living God.

John Stott was one of the great modern teachers of the Bible.  And this guide book, which he wrote in the last decade of his life, is one of my Stott favorites.  It represents the fruit of a life-time of Bible reading and study.  His mind was shaped by the grammar of scripture.  This becomes apparent in his treatement of the first 11 chapters of Genesis, which functions as a theological introduction to the whole Bible.  Stott spends the first four weeks of the guide discussing these 11 chapters, a disportionate amount of attention to such few chapters given the size of scripture.  I believe he does so because he understands these chapters are foundational to all that follows.  You will note he skirts the misguided creationist debates (a classic category mistake for NA Christians); his instincts are wise.  

I think of Genesis 1-11 as the grammar for reading the poem which is the Bible, a theological storied primer for all that follows.  I will introduce just three rules for reading which these chapters introduce, and in some measure, begin to develop.

#1 - Type scenes - repeat events across scattered intervals in the biblical narrative.  These doubling and tripling of events is seen in modern times as bad editing of source material, but in the ancient ways of reading these scenes were known as "the deeds of the father are a sign for the sons".    We see this rule in Cain repeating Adam's avoidance of responsibility to the other ("am I my brother's keeper").  We will see this in the way Abraham's sons repeat their father's marital infidelities.  The various nuptial type scenes are crucial for understanding the message of scripture.  By the time we reach the New Testament, we will be ready for a righteous husband.  This is just one of several type scenes we will encounter as we read.  However, I think nuptial type scenes to be one of the most important.

#2 - Character Types - usually contrast characters within a narrative such as Cain (farmer) and Abel (shepherd), or Cain (older brother) and Abel (younger brother).  Much of the tension and energy in the biblical narrative sparks off of these particular contrasts: younger vs. older brother, shepherd vs. farmer.  Pay attention to which of these pairs tend to be favored by God.  Hint:  Abraham, Moses and David were all shepherds or became shepherds.  But not all were younger brothers.......Jesus was the good shepherd, but was not a younger brother.  Yet he went to the far country to find us younger brothers, in contrast to most of the older brothers of scripture.  Jesus is establishing a different sibling relationship for his new family...  Keep your eye on that dynamic as we read the Bible through the year.  

#3 - Key words/phrase repetition - usually create a kind of technical language for the expression of precise generalized concepts.  There are two basic words and word phrases which are introduced in Genesis 1-2 and are crucial to understand correctly.  The word God in our English translations renders the hebrew plural noun "Elohim."  Since it is accompanied by a singular verb, we translated the word "God" rather than "gods".  Grammarians call this a plural of plentitude (a foreshadowing of the Trinity).   But another important (and often overlooked) feature of this word is that in the polytheistic culture out of which the word arose (and the world out of which the biblical characters are being converted), it often signified the "high" or "ultimate" God that a people would imagine to be beyond reach or to be reached through intermediaries, like lesser, tribal gods.   The other important word for deity in the OT is "YHWH" which is rendered LORD (in all capitals to differentiate it from "Lord" which is yet another word in Hebrew) in English.  LORD is not a generic word or title but is the personal name for God, his name given to those with whom God enters into a covenant relationship.  If "God" is the ultimate deity, then "YHWH" is the personal, intimate deity. 

Part of the tension of the biblical narrative derives from the characters' lack of recognition that these two are the same God (Jacob reveals this misunderstanding at Bethel, Genesis 28:21).  The monotheism of the Bible is hard-earned and does not come all of a sudden nor is it easily kept once it is achieved.  The pull of polytheism is constant in the story of Israel, as is the pull of sectarianism (Israel often forgets it was blessed to be a blessing not just to recieve a blessing).    The Biblical God is both ultimate and intimate, both high and low, both transcendent and immanent.   Today we are not tempted by polytheism as OT believers were, but the pull of idolatry remains strong and the lure of false gods abides as does the false assurances of sectarianism.  Pay particular attention to the phrase "the LORD God" or the two words in close proximate, when it appears.  Note the context and try to understand what is happening in the imagination of the OT believer.  The phrase, fully understood, represents a transformation of the imagination and a conversion of the heart - indeed, as Paul said of those in Christ - "a new creation."  The narrator uses it often, but he knows what it means.  As do the psalmists.  Usually.  

Future post won't nearly be this long.   Tomorrow I will write a brief blog with some discussion questions.

Through the Bible

Beginning on September first we will be reading through the Bible together.  John Stott's Through the Bible will be our common guide.  At the beginning of each week I will post a commentary and questions to start off our weekly conversations around the Word of God.  Sometimes I will directly engage Stott.  Other times I will bring other reading to bear.  But the focus will be on the actual words of Scripture and it's guidance for our common discipleship to Jesus.

As I come to the Bible again this year with a desire to hear the Lord's guidance and direction I do so with a couple of overarching queries:

1) How does the Lord effectively exercise his authority in our lives?  How, in others words, does his "kingdom come on earth as it is heaven?". How does the Bible narrate his regency?  What does it look like on earth when His reign is acknowledged by His creation?

2) There are two parts to the question above: How does God exercise his authority and how do we acknowledge and respond to it?  It seems to me there is a dilemma in the heart of God which scripture invites us into: God has all power but what He really wants cannot be forced.  How does God convert us (our unruly wills and our wayward hearts) to the joining of His purpose to heal the world, to establishing his kingdom on earth as it is heaven?  So we must look at our interactions with The Lord God, how He exercises his sovereignty - a sovereignty that comes to its fullest and truest expression in Jesus enthronement on Calvary. 

Through the Bible

Starting in September I will be reading through the Bible with John Stott's guide Through the Bible Through the Year.  Stott divides the Bible into three sections:
1. September-December (Creation to Christ):The Life of Israel
2. January-April (Christmas to Pentecost): The Life of Christ
3. May-August (Pentecost to Parousia): Life in the Spirit

A few times a week I will post my own reflections as I spark off of Stott and other authors.

Lyn Adams will have copies available for purchase on August 19th.  I hope many of you will join me in this wonderful discipline.