Faith Today Interviews J.I. Packer
Faith Today, the magazine of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, has interviewed Dr J. I. Packer for its current issue –
I could have said ridiculous. I could have said fantastic. I could have used other adjectives but I’ll stick with grotesque. I do not think a bishop who has not convicted me of grave moral or heretical practices is in a position to revoke my spiritual authority in Word and Sacrament. The most he can do is withdraw my permission to minister in The Anglican Church of Canada.
Since the thing that has occasioned this is the decision St. John’s and other churches have taken to leave The Anglican Church of Canada, revoking my authority to minister in the ACC changes absolutely nothing.
So I’m not losing sleep over it. Though over age, I am still a professor at Regent College and director of the Anglican studies program at Regent. No action on Michael Ingham’s part can change either of those things.
It’s worth reading the full interview here. (Photo: Ed Hird.)
Communion ‘breaking up because nobody is leading’
At a meeting in the Diocese of Fort Worth last week, Archbishop Gregory Venables said that “the Anglican Communion in the United States has been hijacked” by an Episcopal Church leadership that doesn’t “mind what happens as long as they control it”.
“I am astounded that in America, the land of the free, so many people have been robbed of their freedom,” he said.
– See The Living Church for the story.
Pittsburgh Bishops to attend Lambeth
Bishops Robert Duncan and Henry Scriven confirmed today that they will be attending both the Global Anglican Future Conference in Jordan and Jerusalem in June and the Lambeth Conference of Bishops in Kent, England, this July and August. …
– More at the Diocese of Pittsburgh website.
Don’t waste your pulpit
John Piper exhorts preachers to do what they ought to be doing, in this 4 minute video from Desiring God. (Thanks to Between Two Worlds.)
Why ‘evangelicals’ are returning to Rome
The February 2008 edition of Christianity Today ran a cover story about evangelicals looking to the ancient Roman Catholic Church in order to find beliefs and practices. What was shocking about the article was that both the author of the article and the senior managing editor of CT claim that this trip back to Rome is a good thing. …
– Seeing strong parallels with Hebrews, Bob DeWaay writes, “The Roman Catholic Church has tangibility that is unmatched by the evangelical faith, just as temple Judaism had.”
Abp of Canterbury and Pope meet
Pope Benedict XVI held a private meeting with Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams at the Vatican May 5 to discuss ecumenical and Muslim-Christian relations. … During the visit… it was announced that India-born Cardinal Ivan Dias, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, would be among the plenary speakers at this summer’s Lambeth Conference of bishops.
– Story from the Episcopal News Service. (Photo: ACNS / James Rosenthal)