Dear brothers and sisters and friends,

God willing, in 2019 I will be 91 and able to look back on 67 years as a priest.

Assuming that God reverses the current decline in membership, then ten years from now I will expect to see a branch of his Church showing the following marks:

1. Seminaries that emphasize training in personal prayer and the importance of personal Bible study.
2. As much emphasis on the person and work of the Holy Spirit as on the Father and the Son.
3. A general recognition that only bishops have the responsibility for settling doctrinal issues.
4. Priests who declare that Jesus is the incarnation of the only true God.
5. Many Alpha courses and much emphasis on mentoring and discipling new Christians.
6. Many local in-depth Bible study and prayer groups.
7. General availability of the sacrament of reconciliation (ministry of private confession).
8. A return to orthodox teaching on the sacrament of marriage.
9. General acceptance of tithing as the normal method of support for both missionaries and parish clergy.
10. Increased understanding of and cooperation with Christians in other churches.
11. A general understanding that Christians are involved in spiritual warfare against demonic forces and therefore we should expect misunderstanding and persecution.

I was present at the 1963 Anglican congress in Toronto  where someone said, “The church that lives to itself dies by itself” and I heard a Canadian bishop say, “It may be that the Anglican Church should die so that the (whole) Church should live.”

So far, although we teach that death and resurrection are built-in principles of God’s creation, I see little evidence that Christians of any branch are willing to let their denomination die so that the greater Church may flourish. But as one who was ordained during a period of church building, I see the current increase in church closings and wonder if the 1963 statements are prophecies coming true.

Anglican scholarship and practice have much to offer to the other branches of Christ’s Church, and some denominations are already incorporating aspects of Anglicanism into their theology and liturgy; but we cannot offer anything if we are dead, and I believe it is as we emphasize the points above that new life will come back into this dying branch.

Yours respectfully,

(Rev.) Al Reimers, B.A., L.Th., M.Ed.

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