Each year, the Patriarch of the International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church, Archbishop Craig Bates, publishes a letter on the Feast of Our Lord and the Giver of Life which is the third Sunday in January.  This year, the feast falls on January 21st.  Please take a few moments and read this message from our Patriarch.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Is there ever going to be an end to the holocaust of abortion?

Year after year, in the cold of winter, I have traveled to Washington, D.C. for the March for Life. It is a march to the Supreme Court where, in 1973, nine people unleashed the legalization of the murder of preborn children on America. At that time, most thought terminating pregnancy was merely a matter of removing “fetal tissue.” We were told that the “fetal tissue” was not human life, but human life in formation. The dissuasions centered around when that life began but, ultimately, the Supreme Court ruled that a woman has a constitutional right to choose to terminate her pregnancy.

Now, with all the scientific evidence at our disposal, we know that human life begins at conception. However, the courts continue to support a woman’s ability to choose not just the termination of pregnancy, but the ending of a human life.

We have elected “pro-life” representatives, senators, and even pro-life presidents. Yet abortion remains legal, and the politicians hide behind excuses for not passing legislation that would severely limit abortions, or even end the funding of abortion providers.

Is it hopeless?

No, it is not hopeless. But it is generational. We have made progress in educating young people about the evils of abortion.  We have raised up a generation of pro-life activists who will work tirelessly to see the end of abortion and create a time when abortion will be unthinkable. The next generation will end abortion, not only in America but worldwide.

The Charismatic Episcopal Church is not a church that is pro-life, it is a pro-life church. Our roots and heritage are not only in convergence worship, but in the message that all life is sacred and that the family rests at the core of Christian spirituality.

Over the years, CEC for Life has represented us at every major pro-life event. Not just in America, but throughout the world.  And that work has taken root. Fr. Terry Gensemer, director of CEC for Life, sits with almost every major or significant prolife group in the global community. He has, over the last decade, raised up a generation in the CEC across the world that is pro-life. Soon, that new generation will be in the leadership of CEC for Life. It is a generation raised up for the purpose of ending the holocaust of abortion and proclaiming the life giving message of the Gospel.

We need to continue our work and in fact, strengthen and build our work.

This year, the Feast of our Lord the Giver of Life falls on Sunday, January 21st. We will once again take an offering, as well as renew our memberships and the memberships of our churches in CEC for Life. There is information enclosed that will help us in meeting your obligation.

Let us continue fervently in prayer. Let us also keep steadfast in the work of the Lord Jesus until His coming again.

Under His mercy,

The Most Rev. Craig W. Bates
Patriarch, ICCEC