UPDATE: Diocese of Carolinas: Anglican Church in North America

Anglican Church in North America

30 April 2015 A.D. UPDATE: Rev. Dr. R.C. Sproul’s Health

30 April 2015 A.D. UPDATE: Rev. Dr. R.C. Sproul’s Health

Bingham, Nathan W. “Update on R.C. Sproul’s Health, Now Home.” Aquila Report. 25 Apr 2015. http://theaquilareport.com/r-c-sproul-in-hospital-with-suspected-mild-stroke/. Accessed 29 Apr 2015.

Update on R.C. Sproul’s Health, Now Home

Dr. Sproul is home from the hospital

Written by Nathan W. Bingham | Saturday, April 25, 2015

Nathan Bingham of Ligonier Ministries sent this update on Dr. Sproul’s health.

Dr. Sproul is home from the hospital. As many of you know, he suffered a stroke, which required an extended hospital stay. We give thanks to God that there has been no paralysis and he remains his same jovial self. But there are some remaining effects of the stroke that affect his speech and strength. Further, he’s been diagnosed with a diabetic condition that will be addressed through diet and regular medical attention. He is fatigued and in coming days will be concentrating on regaining his strength as well as his speech therapy. Again, Dr. Sproul expresses his thanks for all of the prayers that have been lifted up on his behalf to our merciful, sovereign, and faithful heavenly Father.

*******************

Last Saturday, April 18, Dr. Sproul checked himself into the hospital. The doctors suspect he had a mild stroke. He remains in the hospital for further testing and observation. The Sproul family requests your prayers.Regrettably, this means we will be postponing this week’s Google Hangout. God willing, we will reschedule this special event for later in 2015 when Drs. MacArthur and Sproul have joint availability.

Update

On Tuesday, April 21, 2015 Ligonier Ministries issued the following update on R.C. Sproul, Sr., who recently suffered a stroke: Thank you for your continued prayers for Dr. Sproul. The doctors did confirm a stroke occurred but we are thankful to God that there is no paralysis. In fact, he is very alert, feeling well, and resting comfortably. And the hospital staff is enjoying his sense of humor.

30 April 2015 A.D. ELIZABETH CITY, NC: David Bane Restored as Episcopal Bishop

30 April 2015 A.D. ELIZABETH CITY, NC: David Bane Restored as Episcopal Bishop

Kelly-Goss, Robert. “Homeward Bound: History in the making Monday as David Bane is restored as Episcopal bishop.” 25 Apr 2015. http://virtueonline.org/homeward-bound-history-making-monday-david-bane-restored-episcopal-bishop.  Accessed 29 Apr 2015.

Homeward Bound: History in the making Monday as David Bane is restored as Episcopal bishop

By Robert Kelly-Goss
http://www.dailyadvance.com/
April 25, 2015

On Monday, Bishop David Bane will return home.

Bane, an Episcopal bishop who left the Episcopal Church of the United States for the Anglican Church in America back in 2009, will make history Monday night. He will be the first bishop in the church's long history to be officially reinstated as an Episcopal bishop after leaving his ordination for another church.

The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church of the United States, Katherine Jefferts Schori, will perform what is being termed "a reconciliation." Not only will it be the first time in the church's history that a bishop is reinstated, says Bane, it will also be the first time the national presiding bishop of one of this country's oldest churches comes to Elizabeth City.

Bane and his wife Alice moved to Elizabeth City back in 2006 after he retired as the bishop of southern Virginia. Their daughters lived here, along with their children, and the Banes saw it as an opportunity to be near family.

"When I was still bishop up there (Virginia), my wife Alice is a special fundraising consultant and she was the point person for the Benjamin House," said Bane.

That fact had already brought the retired bishop and his wife close to the Elizabeth City community. Relocating here was a natural decision.

But back around 2007 some members of Christ Episcopal Church had made a decision to split from the Episcopal Church and join the newly formed Anglican Church in America. It was a decision based on differences in doctrine and scriptural interpretations.

In 2009, as a retired bishop, an old friend, a bishop who had joined the Anglican Church, had approached Bane and asked him to consider joining the newly formed church.

"I wasn't ready to go to a rocking chair yet, I was 64," said Bane of his decision to join the Anglicans. "I got invited by the archbishop of the Anglican Church in America, they said they needed help."

Bane worked with the Anglican Church of the Redeemer in Camden County. Made up of former parishioners from Christ Episcopal Church, and currently led by the rector, The Rev. Craig Stephans, Bane says he made good friends there, and enjoyed working with Stephans, a man he is happy to call friend.

"I love Craig Stephans and the folks at Redeemer," said Bane. "They are still dear friends."

But Bane had realized, he explained, that the Episcopal Church is his home, and he was ready to return to it. It is a decision that has roots in his decision to become a priest in the first place.

Bane, the son of an Episcopal priest, had grown up in the church. But going away to college, and then joining the Air Force, he drifted from the faith of his youth.

He would eventually earn an MBA and become a businessman. But something, he recalls, was missing in his life. There seemed to be a hole he could not fill.

He and Alice would attend church now and again. He maintained a casual relationship with his faith until one day he realized what was missing in his life.

At 40 years old, Bane told Alice that he wanted to attend seminary and become an ordained Episcopal priest. It was a decision that would mean sacrifice for a family with four children.

Financially, it looked like an impossibility. But as Bane looks back on it, he says he understands that if this was a "God thing," they could do it.

And as soon as Bane had figured out that going to seminary was the right thing to do, that hole, that feeling that something is missing in his life, it all went away.

"It was an incredible time," recalls Bane. "It was dicey financially, but it worked out."

Bane would become a priest working with three different churches before becoming a bishop. As a bishop in southern Virginia, he worked with 125 churches in his diocese. As a retired bishop, he was not paid to work in the church, but maintained an active role, working with the church wherever he was needed.

When he left the Episcopal Church for the Anglican Church, Bane gave up his role as a retired Episcopal bishop. So when he expressed a desire to return, he says there was no precedence for restoring a bishop. He spoke with Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori and while she and the church were willing to take Bane back, there was no process in place for such a request.

It took over a year to figure out just how to handle his request. And then the decision to restore his ordination was made by Jefferts Schori.

"The first thing that hit me when the presiding bishop said I am going to restore your ordination, the first thing I felt was a sense of belonging again," said Bane.

So Monday evening, Bane will officially be restored as an Episcopal bishop. There will be a liturgy read that he wrote for the service. Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori will make a statement, and Bane will sign the Oath of Good Formity. It is the same oath he signed when he was ordained as bishop the first time around.

He will don a bishop's robe and miter, the pointed hat commonly associated with the church office. And from that point forward, Bane will be known as an Episcopal bishop, albeit a retired bishop.

The service will be attended by a number of community members outside of the church itself. Several area church choirs will sing, and clergy members from area churches will also be on hand.

And Bane will return to his work in the church as a retired clergy. While he will not be paid, Bane will still help at the parish, and fill in as priest wherever he is needed, at home, where Bane says he belongs.

The service to restore Bishop David Bane will take place at 7 p.m., Monday, at Christ Episcopal Church in downtown Elizabeth City.

30 April 1998 A.D. QUARRYVILE, PA: Rev. Dr. Prof. John W. Sanderson Passes

30 April 1998 A.D. QUARRYVILE, PA: Rev. Dr. Prof. John W. Sanderson Passes

Archivist. “April 30: Dr. John W. Sanderson.” This Day in Presbyterian History. 30 Apr 2015. http://www.thisday.pcahistory.org/2015/04/april-30-2/. Accessed 30 Apr 2015.

April 30: Dr. John W. Sanderson

Some Pastors Are Born Teachers.

Born in Baltimore, Maryland on March 19, 1916, John W. Sanderson later attended Wheaton College, graduating with the BA degree in 1937. He then attended Faith Theological Seminary, earning the Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1940 and the Master of Sacred Theology degree in 1945. In 1949 he earned an MA degree from the University of Pennsylvania. A final degree, the Doctor of Divinity degree, was awarded by Geneva College in 1966.

Rev. Sanderson was licensed and ordained in 1940 by Chicago Presbytery of the Bible Presbyterian Church. His first pastorate was at the First Bible Presbyterian Church of St. Louis, Missouri, serving there from 1940 until 1943. He was the first pastor of this church, and upon his departure, the congregation next called the Rev. Francis A. Schaeffer. From 1945 to 1952 and again from 1955 to 1956, Rev. Sanderson served as Assistant Professor of Systematic Theology at Faith Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, PA. Between those two terms as professor, he served as the pastor of the Bible Presbyterian Church of Newark, DE from 1952 to 1955.

In the academic year of 1956-1957, Sanderson served as a professor at Covenant College, which was then located in St. Louis, Missouri. Leaving that position briefly, he served as a professor at Westminster Theological Seminary from 1957 to 1963. Returning to St. Louis, he taught at Covenant Seminary, 1963-1964, and then moved with the 1964 Covenant College relocation to Lookout Mountain, TN, working at the College variously as professor, dean and vice president between the years 1964–1976. Dr. Sanderson finally returned to teach at Covenant Seminary from 1976 to 1984.

Rev. Sanderson’s honors include serving as the Moderator of Synod for the Bible Presbyterian Church in 1951. Other fields of service included teaching in India (1973), Chile (1978) and Peru (1978). For a brief time, 1956-1957, Rev. Sanderson had also served as editor of The Bible Presbyterian Reporter.

He was honorably retired from the ministry in 1986, and died on April 30, 1998. He had transferred his ministerial credentials into the PCA in 1982 when the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod was received into the PCA, and at the time of his death, though residing at the Quarryville (PA) Retirement Community, was a member of the PCA’s Missouri Presbytery.

We close our post today with a brief but useful article by Rev. Sanderson which was published in Salt, a student publication at Covenant Seminary.

Great Biblical Ideas: God’s Omniscience.

God’s omniscience has meant much to me. Scripture teaches that the Lord knows all things about me (Psalm 139), about the world (Proverbs 15:3), and about Himself (1 Corinthians 2:10).

In its practical outworking, this concept gives comfort because it teaches us that there can never be any surprises for God, any unforeseen obstacles, nor any changes in His working because of developments of which He knows nothing. In one of his moments of assurance Job said, “But he knoweth the way that I take; when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” (Job 23:10). Job uttered these words against a background of his own bitter ignorance of his situation, and he found some help in this truth.

God’s omniscience also helps us during times of temptation. The assurance that nothing can be hid from Him is a deterrent to sin.

Clarence E. Macartney, in his volume The Way of a Man with a Maid, tells of a scene from a drama on the life of Joseph. Potiphar’s wife is puzzled because Joseph will not succumb to her temptation. Then she spies over in the corner an idol “looking” at them. Thinking the idol’s “presence” is what is deterring Joseph, she takes the cover from the bed and covers the idol’s face. Then she turns again to Joseph, fully expecting him to do now as she wishes. In the play Joseph still refuses because his God never hides His face.

Although this is only a fictionalized account, it illustrates vividly how God’s omniscience, when we are persuaded of it in practical living, is a positive incentive to holiness. God’s full knowledge is a sobering thought for the Christian (Hebrews 4:13) as well as for the disobedient (Jeremiah 23:23); Ezekiel 11:5).

God’s omniscience is one of the reasons for our believing in the full truthfulness of Scripture. We are assured of the integrity of the Word because the Word is an expression of the Spirit’s knowledge. Notice the way Paul develops this in 1 Corinthians 2. No man knows the future which God has planned for us (vs. 9), but God has revealed the future by His Spirit. The Spirit is qualified to do this revealing because He has searched all things, “yea, the deep things of God” (v. 10). Now these things have been given to the apostles by the Spirit (v. 12). The apostles preach these things and so they communicate to “spiritual” men what Paul calls “the mind of Christ” (v. 16). What a comfort in times of doubt and criticism — God knows more than the critics and this knowledge stands behind the words of Scripture!

God’s omniscience should drive us to worship. Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived, and his fame was so great that the queen traveled “from the uttermost parts of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon” (Luke 11:31). Read her reaction in 1 Kings 10 — “there was no more spirit in her.” Perhaps we should say that she was breathless! Yet Jesus says that she will condemn His generation because “a greater than Solomon is here.”

Today we revere scholars and are overwhelmed by their scholarship. How much more should we be overwhelmed by the “fountain of all wisdom” and tremble when we handle His Word!

“Great Biblical Ideas,” excerpted from Salt: Official Student Publication of Covenant Theological Seminary, 1.2 (18 December 1968): 10.

30 April 2015 A.D. Nigerian Author, Poet and Playwrite Wole Soyinka: Quotations on Islam from Notable Non-Muslims: "England is a cesspit..."

30 April 2015 A.D.  Nigerian Author, Poet and Playwrite Wole Soyinka: Quotations on Islam from Notable Non-Muslims : "England is a cesspit..."

http://reformationanglicanism.blogspot.com/2014/08/25-august-2014-ad-quotations-on-islam_25.html

Wole Soyinka

Akinwande Oluwole "Wole" Soyinka (born July 13, 1934) is a Nigerian writer, poet and playwright. In 1986, he became the first African to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. In 1994, he was designated UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for the promotion of African culture, human rights, freedom of expression, media and communication.

“England is a cesspit. England is the breeding ground of fundamentalist Muslims. Its social logic is to allow all religions to preach openly. But this is illogic, because none of the other religions preach apocalyptic violence. And yet England allows it. Remember, that country was the breeding ground for communism, too. Karl Marx did all his work in libraries there.

. . .

“We should assemble all those who are pure and cannot abide other faiths, put them all in rockets, and fire them into space.
. . .

“A virus has attacked the world of sense and sensibility, and it has spread to Nigeria.
. . .

“The assumption of power over life and death then passed to every single inconsequential Muslim in the world-as if someone had given them a new stature...Al Qaeda is the descendent of this phenomenon. The proselytization of Islam became vigorous after this. People went to Saudi Arabia. Madrassas were established everywhere.^[142][143]”

AND NOW, for illustrative quotes the President. Our President is a Muslim son and grandson of Kenyan born Muslims, a world class and credentialed historian, a lawyer, and a man of robust and unimpeachable honesty. Here is Imam Barack Hussein Obama: 

20 Quotes By Imam Barack Obama About Islam and Mohammed

#1 “The future must not belong to those who slander the Prophet of Islam”

#2 “The sweetest sound I know is the Muslim call to prayer”

#3 “We will convey our deep appreciation for the Islamic faith, which has done so much over the centuries to shape the world — including in my own country.”

#4 “As a student of history, I also know civilization’s debt to Islam.”

#5 “Islam has a proud tradition of tolerance.”

#6 “Islam has always been part of America”

#7 “we will encourage more Americans to study in Muslim communities”

#8 “These rituals remind us of the principles that we hold in common, and Islam’s role in advancing justice, progress, tolerance, and the dignity of all human beings.”

#9 “America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles of justice and progress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.”

#10 “I made clear that America is not – and never will be – at war with Islam.”

#11 “Islam is not part of the problem in combating violent extremism – it is an important part of promoting peace.”

#12 “So I have known Islam on three continents before coming to the region where it was first revealed”

#13 “In ancient times and in our times, Muslim communities have been at the forefront of innovation and education.”

#14 “Throughout history, Islam has demonstrated through words and deeds the possibilities of religious tolerance and racial equality.”

#15 “Ramadan is a celebration of a faith known for great diversity and racial equality”

#16 “The Holy Koran tells us, ‘O mankind! We have created you male and a female; and we have made you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another.’”

#17 “I look forward to hosting an Iftar dinner celebrating Ramadan here at the White House later this week, and wish you a blessed month.”

#18 “We’ve seen those results in generations of Muslim immigrants – farmers and factory workers, helping to lay the railroads and build our cities, the Muslim innovators who helped build some of our highest skyscrapers and who helped unlock the secrets of our universe.”

#19 “That experience guides my conviction that partnership between America and Islam must be based on what Islam is, not what it isn’t. And I consider it part of my responsibility as president of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear.”

#20 “I also know that Islam has always been a part of America’s story.”

OR, beside Imam Obama’s insights above, a few Quranic verses that have inspired many Islamo-fascists.

Qur'an 3:32—Say: Obey Allah and the Apostle; but if they turn back, then surely Allah does not love the unbelievers.

Qur'an 48:29—Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and those who are with him are severe against disbelievers, and merciful among themselves. You see them bowing and falling down prostrate (in prayer), seeking Bounty from Allah and (His) Good Pleasure. The mark of them (i.e. of their Faith) is on their faces (foreheads) from the traces of (their) prostration (during prayers). This is their description in the Taurat (Torah). But their description in the Injeel (Gospel) is like a (sown) seed which sends forth its shoot, then makes it strong, it then becomes thick, and it stands straight on its stem, delighting the sowers that He may enrage the disbelievers with them. Allah has promised those among them who believe (i.e. all those who follow Islamic Monotheism, the religion of Prophet Muhammad SAW till the Day of Resurrection) and do righteous good deeds, forgiveness and a mighty reward (i.e. Paradise).

Qur'an 4:24—Also (forbidden are) women already married, except those (captives and slaves) whom your right hands possess. Thus hath Allah ordained (Prohibitions) against you: Except for these, all others are lawful, provided ye seek (them in marriage) with gifts from your property—desiring chastity, not lust, seeing that ye derive benefit from them, give them their dowers (at least) as prescribed; but if, after a dower is prescribed, agree mutually (to vary it), there is no blame on you, and Allah is All-knowing, All-wise.

Qur'an 5:33—The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His apostle and strive to make mischief in the land is only this, that they should be murdered or crucified or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposite sides or they should be imprisoned; this shall be as a disgrace for them in this world, and in the hereafter they shall have a grievous chastisement.

Qur'an 9:5—Then, when the sacred months have passed, slay the idolaters wherever ye find them, and take them (captive), and besiege them, and prepare for them each ambush. But if they repent and establish worship and pay the poor-due, then leave their way free. Lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.

Qur'an 9:29—Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day [notice it says "fight those who do not believe," not "fight people who are attacking you"], nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the Religion of Truth, from among the People of the Book [the people of the book are Jews and Christians], until they pay the Jizyah with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.

Qur'an 9:73—O Prophet! strive hard against the unbelievers and the hypocrites and be unyielding to them; and their abode is hell, and evil is the destination.

Qur'an 9:111—Surely Allah has bought of the believers their persons and their property for this, that they shall have the garden; they fight in Allah's way, so they slay and are slain; a promise which is binding on Him in the Taurat and the Injeel and the Quran; and who is more faithful to his covenant than Allah? Rejoice therefore in the pledge which you have made; and that is the mighty achievement.

Qur'an 47:35—Be not weary and fainthearted, crying for peace, when ye should be uppermost: for Allah is with you, and will never put you in loss for your (good) deeds. 

Qur'an 2:106—Whatever communications We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, We bring one better than it or like it. Do you not know that Allah has power over all things?

From the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, the Collect for Good Friday:

O MERCIFUL God, who hast made all men, and hatest nothing that thou hast made, nor wouldest the death of a sinner, but rather that he should be converted and live; Have mercy upon all Jews, Turks, Infidels, and Hereticks, and take from them all ignorance, hardness of heart, and contempt of thy Word; and so fetch them home, blessed Lord, to thy flock, that they may be saved among the remnant of the true Israelites, and be made one fold under one shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen. 

30 April 2015 A.D. Anglican Book of Common Prayer: What’s the Relevance for Today’s Worship

30 April 2015 A.D. Anglican Book of Common Prayer: What’s the Relevance for Today’s Worship?

Editors. “The Anglican Book of Common Prayer: What Relevance Does It Have to Today's Contemporary Worship?” Together for the Gospel. 14 Apr 2015. http://resources.thegospelcoalition.org/library/the-anglican-book-of-common-prayer-what-relevance-does-it-have-to-today-s-contemporary-worship. Accessed 29 Apr 2015.

The Anglican Book of Common Prayer: What Relevance Does It Have to Today's Contemporary Worship?

Round 3: Workshop 13

John Yates II and John Yates III | April 14, 2015

Event: 2015 TGC National Conference (Workshop)

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http://resources.thegospelcoalition.org/library/the-anglican-book-of-common-prayer-what-relevance-does-it-have-to-today-s-contemporary-worship

More and more pastors and church leaders are discovering the remarkable contribution Thomas Cranmer made to us all through his Book of Common Prayer. This Reformation martyr's understanding of what matters in worship is reverberating more and more through the evangelical community all around the world. The genius of Reformation Anglicanism is found in Cranmer's timeless insights into the human heart and our motivations for Christian service. In this workshop we will acquaint you with the background and some of the major insights of the Book of Common Prayer and what we are learning about how it relates to personal and corporate worship today.

April 2015 A.D. ENGLISH REFORMATION: Remembering Knox Seminary, D.Min. Program in English Reformation—Dr. Gerald Bray, Rev. Dr. Ashley Null, Dr. Jonathan Linebaugh, and Rev. Dr. Justin Holcomb

April 2015 A.D.  ENGLISH REFORMATION: Remembering Knox Seminary, D.Min. Program in English Reformation—Dr. Gerald Bray, Rev. Dr. Ashley Null, Dr. Jonathan Linebaugh, and Rev. Dr. Justin Holcomb

New at Knox Seminary = Doctor of Ministry–Theology and Worship of the English Reformation Track

New at Knox Theological Seminary. 

http://www.knoxseminary.edu/programs/programs-of-study/doctor-of-ministry/doctor-of-ministry-theology-and-worship-of-the-english-reformation-track/

Doctor of Ministry–Theology and Worship of the English Reformation Track

*NEW FALL 2014*

The Theology and Worship of the English Reformation Track is designed to equip those in ministry to understand the doctrinal and liturgical reforms of the 16th and 17th centuries.

The received traditions of Catholic faith and practice were rethought in 16th century Britain along the “evangelical” lines of the Reformation, resulting in a consistent though broad Protestantism lived and expressed through the Book of Common Prayer. The early English evangelicals did find a middle-way of sorts, but not as is often imagined a via media between the Reformation and Rome. Rather, the English Reformation listened to and learned from both the Lutheran and Reformed traditions and attempted to express and embody a Protestantism that could include both (or at least not exclude either).

This track encourages an understanding of the mutuality of theology and worship and considers the complexity of contextualization, as well as the process of learning from the past for the sake of the present.

Learning Outcomes

A graduate of the Theology and Worship of the English Reformation Track will be capable of:

• Understanding the complex social, political, and theological conditions that lead to and shaped the English Reformation

• Understanding the social, political, and theological consequences of the English Reformation

• Seeing the interconnectedness of doctrinal and liturgical reform

• Learning from and thinking with the worship and theology of the English Reformation for contemporary ministry

Required Courses

Anglican Studies

• The English Reformation: 1519-1688

• The Theology of Cranmer and the Book of Common Prayer (1549 &1552)

The Theology of the English Reformers (choose one)

• Theology of Thomas Cranmer

• The Theology of the Elizabethan Divines

• The Theology of the Protestant Reformers in England

• The Shape and Theology of the Thirty-Nine Articles

Understanding the Present: Turning Points from a Protestant Perspective (choose one)

• Turning Points: Laudianism, Tractarianism, and the 1979 Book of Common Prayer

• Comparing the Prayer Books: From 1549-1979

• The Americanization of the English Reformation: The Great Awakening, the Revolution, and the Rest

4 elective courses 

Taught by Leading Scholars in the field of Anglican Studies and the English Reformation:

• Rev. Dr. Ashley Null (the world’s leading Cranmer scholar)

• Dr. Gerald Bray (editor of Documents of the English Reformation)

• Dr. Jonathan Linebaugh

• Rev. Dr. Justin Holcomb

Final Project

The final project will be an historical and theological study that looks back to the English Reformation as it looks forward to the contexts and conditions of contemporary ministry. The student will engage with an aspect of the liturgical, social, political, and theological transformations that occurred during and/or after the English Reformation. This research will facilitate an understanding of the complexities of contextualization, the deep mutuality of doctrinal and liturgical reform, and the process of listening to and learning from the past for the sake of the present. The project concludes with a consideration of the ways in which the materials studied can serve contemporary ministry.

The first course in this track is being offered in January 2015. To view all courses being offered, please see the DMin course schedule.

30 April 1945 A.D. VIRGINIA CAPES, VA: U-Boat (U-548) Sunk by USS THOMAS (DE-102), USS BOSTWICK (DE-103), USS COFFMAN (DE-191) and USS NATCHEZ (PF-2)

30 April 1945 A.D. VIRGINIA CAPES, VA: U-Boat (U-548) Sunk by USS THOMAS (DE-102), USS BOSTWICK (DE-103), USS COFFMAN (DE-191) and USS NATCHEZ (PF-2)

http://www.navy.mil/search/display_history.asp

1798 - Congress establishes the Department of the Navy as a separate cabinet department. Previously, naval matters were under the cognizance of the War Department. Benjamin Stoddert is named as the first Secretary of the Navy.

1822 - USS Alligator, commanded by Lt. W.W. McKean, captures the Colombian pirate schooner Ciehqua near the Windward Islands.

1945 - USS Thomas (DE 102), USS Bostwick (DE 103), USS Coffman (DE 191) and frigate Natchez (PF 2) sink German submarine U 548 off the Virginia Capes.

1945 - Navy patrol bombers PB4Y (VPB 103) and a PBY-5A Catalina aircraft flown by Lt. Fredrick G. Lake from VP 63 sink two German submarines off the coast of Brest, France.

2005 - USS Robert G. Bradley (FFG 49) conducts its second significant drug interdiction operation in the first month of its deployment to the U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command area of responsibility, disrupting the smuggling of 4.6 metric tons of narcotics from the fishing vessel Salomon.

30 April 1945 A.D. BERLIN: Hitler swallows cyanide capsule and then shoots himself with revolver—his 1000-year reign ends

30 April 1945 A.D. BERLIN: Hitler swallows cyanide capsule and then shoots himself with revolver—his 1000-year reign ends

Editors. “1945 – Der Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler, dictator of Germany, burrowed away in a refurbished air-raid shelter, consumes a cyanide capsule, then shoots himself with a pistol.” This Day in U.S. Military History. N.d. https://thisdayinusmilhist.wordpress.com/2014/04/30/april-30/. Accessed 29 Apr 2015.

1945 – Der Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler, dictator of Germany, burrowed away in a refurbished air-raid shelter, consumes a cyanide capsule, then shoots himself with a pistol, on this day in 1945, as his “1,000-year” Reich collapses above him. Hitler had repaired to his bunker on January 16, after deciding to remain in Berlin for the last great siege of the war. Fifty-five feet under the chancellery (Hitler’s headquarters as chancellor), the shelter contained 18 small rooms and was fully self-sufficient, with its own water and electrical supply. He left only rarely (once to decorate a squadron of Hitler Youth) and spent most of his time micromanaging what was left of German defenses and entertaining such guests as Hermann Goering, Heinrich Himmler, and Joachim von Ribbentrop. At his side were Eva Braun, whom he married only two days before their double suicide, and his dog, an Alsatian named Blondi. Warned by officers that the Russians were only a day or so from overtaking the chancellery and urged to escape to Berchtesgarden, a small town in the Bavarian Alps where Hitler owned a home, the dictator instead chose suicide. It is believed that both he and his wife swallowed cyanide capsules (which had been tested for their efficacy on his “beloved” dog and her pups). For good measure, he shot himself with his service pistol. The bodies of Hitler and Eva were cremated in the chancellery garden by the bunker survivors (as per Der Fuhrer’s orders) and reportedly later recovered in part by Russian troops. A German court finally officially declared Hitler dead, but not until 1956.

30 April 1945 A.D. BERLIN: Hitler commits suicide

30 April 1945 A.D. BERLIN: Hitler commits suicide

Editors. “Adolf Hitler commits suicide.” History.com. 2009. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/adolf-hitler-commits-suicide. Accessed 29 Apr 2015.

On this day in 1945, holed up in a bunker under his headquarters in Berlin, Adolf Hitler commits suicide by swallowing a cyanide capsule and shooting himself in the head. Soon after, Germany unconditionally surrendered to the Allied forces, ending Hitler’s dreams of a “1,000-year” Reich.

Since at least 1943, it was becoming increasingly clear that Germany would fold under the pressure of the Allied forces. In February of that year, the German 6th Army, lured deep into the Soviet Union, was annihilated at the Battle of Stalingrad, and German hopes for a sustained offensive on both fronts evaporated. Then, in June 1944, the Western Allied armies landed at Normandy, France, and began systematically to push the Germans back toward Berlin. By July 1944, several German military commanders acknowledged their imminent defeat and plotted to remove Hitler from power so as to negotiate a more favorable peace. Their attempts to assassinate Hitler failed, however, and in his reprisals, Hitler executed over 4,000 fellow countrymen.

In January 1945, facing a siege of Berlin by the Soviets, Hitler withdrew to his bunker to live out his final days. Located 55 feet under the chancellery, the shelter contained 18 rooms and was fully self-sufficient, with its own water and electrical supply. Though he was growing increasingly mad, Hitler continued to give orders and meet with such close subordinates as Hermann Goering, Heinrich Himmler and Josef Goebbels. He also married his long-time mistress Eva Braun just two days before his suicide.

In his last will and testament, Hitler appointed Admiral Karl Donitz as head of state and Goebbels as chancellor. He then retired to his private quarters with Braun, where he and Braun poisoned themselves and their dogs, before Hitler then also shot himself with his service pistol.

Hitler and Braun’s bodies were hastily cremated in the chancellery garden, as Soviet forces closed in on the building. When the Soviets reached the chancellery, they removed Hitler’s ashes, continually changing their location so as to prevent Hitler devotees from creating a memorial at his final resting place. Only eight days later, on May 8, 1945, the German forces issued an unconditional surrender, leaving Germany to be carved up by the four Allied powers.