The Gospel and the Anglican Tradition — new book from Martin Davie

Anglican theologian Martin Davie’s new book, “The Gospel and the Anglican Tradition” is due to be published next month. Here’s one commendation:

“The sweep of Martin’s new book is breathtaking. It conveys an encyclopaedic knowledge of church history, biblical theology and the worldwide Anglican tradition. Anyone wondering why they should be part of the Anglican church will find a very comprehensive answer here.

However, the book is much more than an apologia for Anglicanism. It is written to appeal for unity in the gospel. Martin affirms that order and truth belong together – but shows that both of these hinge, and have always hinged, on a clear understanding of the gospel. He takes the view that while diversity can be hugely beneficial, disagreement over the content of the gospel can never be.

Given that this is his message, some readers might be surprised to find him quoting so freely from the GAFCON Jerusalem Declaration and an ACNA document. His purpose, however, is to show that these stand in the mainstream of Anglican theological tradition and are thus a great reforming influence for our own day.”

– Rt. Revd Rod Thomas, Bishop of Maidstone.

Published by Gilead Books.

(Australian availability – should be updated closer to publishing time.)

See also:

Why the Arguments for a Third Way do not Work – Martin Davie (GAFCON website).

Can we agree to disagree? – Martin Davie, Crossway. (PDF)

Review of the Report from the Marriage Commission of the Anglican Church of Canada.

Anglican realignment moves forward as AMiE conducts first ordinations

“The focus for the first ordination service conducted by Gafcon missionary Bishop Andy Lines on 7th December was on the universal scope of Christ’s authority, and his commission to make disciples across national and cultural barriers. …”

– Anglican Mainstream’s Andrew Symes writes about the implications of last week’s ordinations.

Anglican Unscripted interviews Lorna Ashworth

In the latest edition of Anglican Unscripted, Kevin Kallsen interviews Lorna Ashworth.

“Unless the gospel is being taught in a church – it is not a church.”

If you assumed the gospel didn’t need to be preached afresh in the Church of England, watch this.

Related:

Andrew Symes, of Anglican Mainstream, writes:

“With unfortunate timing on its part, the C of E launched its new gender fluid policy just after the resignation of Lorna Ashworth from General Synod and Archbishops’ Council.

The well-respected conservative evangelical had warned of the policy of ‘good disagreement’ being a front for a slide into heresy. This was brushed off on Friday as a complete exaggeration by Bishops, and also by many evangelical clergy on social media. She does not need to say anything more. The headlines on Monday morning about ‘Valuing all God’s Children’ have proved her point.”

Faithfulness to Christ against the odds: the Anglican Communion and the global sexual revolution

“Global Anglican leaders will gather to meet in Canterbury in early October for a summit meeting. Most of them come from contexts where the Anglican church is continuing to teach and promote the biblical Gospel of repentance and faith in Christ for salvation, and the historic Christian understanding of sexuality and marriage. A few Provinces, with most of the wealth and power, are dominated by a leadership wanting to promote a different form of Christianity that is more acceptable to the secular West.

The last Primates meeting, in Canterbury January 2016, only made these divisions clearer. The majority of Primates resolved then to work together to continue the important work of the Anglican Communion, but required TEC to withdraw from full involvement, as they had violated the ‘bonds of affection’ by continuing to pursue their revisionist agenda, of which acceptance of same sex marriage was the latest example. But the TEC leadership, along with the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Anglican Communion Office, interpreted things very differently. …

Primates from the Global South and their advisors due to attend the meeting in Canterbury should not be in any doubt that the ground has shifted since the fruitless efforts of years gone by to discipline TEC for their revisionist actions which have torn the fabric of the Communion. …”

— The Rev. Andrew Symes at Anglican Mainstream makes clear what next week’s Primates gathering in Canterbury is about.

Please do pray for the Primates, especially that they will be faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ.

(Photo: The 2016 Primates meeting.)

A Letter to the Anglicans of Great Britain — how to ensure a faithful ecclesial future

This letter has been published at The Anglican Mission in England website, and elsewhere. We reproduce it here for you to read in full:

“Many will share our dismay at the recent decisions of the General Synod of the Church of England and the pursuing principles, values and practices contrary to Holy Scripture and church Tradition.

Given the persistent failure of the majority of the House of Bishops to fulfil the God-given duties which they have sworn to discharge these tragic developments were, sadly, not wholly unexpected.

Accordingly, and in preparation for such eventualities we, as some of those committed to the renewal of biblical and orthodox Anglicanism have already started to meet, on behalf of our fellow Anglicans, to discuss how to ensure a faithful ecclesial future.

We now wish that we have done so to be more widely known.

Our number is drawn from bishops, clergy and laity, from across Great Britain and from a breadth of traditions. Much more importantly, however, we meet joyfully united by a shared endorsement of the terms of the Jerusalem Declaration.

We will meet again, as planned and with external facilitation, mediation and episcopal advice, in October. It is our intention to welcome on that occasion an even greater diversity of contributors.

We would value your prayers and any expressions of interest from those who feel they might be able to make a valuable contribution to our deliberations.

Anyone desiring to contact us can do so through any of the organisations or churches listed.

Revd Dr Gavin Ashenden, Former Chaplain to the Queen
Mrs Lorna Ashworth, General Synod of the Church of England, Archbishops’ Council
Revd Nigel Atkinson, Vicar St John’s, Knutsford and Toft
Revd Andrew Bawtree, Chair of the House of Clergy, Diocese of Canterbury
Revd Mark Burkill, Chairman of Reform
Rt Revd John Ellison, Anglican Mission in England Executive
Rt Revd John Fenwick, Bishop Primus, Free Church of England
Rt Revd Josep Miquel Rossello Ferrer, Free Church of England
Ven Dr Amatu Christian-Iwuagwu, Vicar St Mary’s Harmondsworth & PiC Anglican Igbo Church of the Holy Trinity, London
Rt Revd Paul Hunt, General Secretary, Free Church of England
Canon Nigel Juckes, Incumbent, Llandogo, Monmouth
Mr Daniel Leafe, Gafcon UK
Mrs Susie Leafe, Director of Reform
Rt Revd Andy Lines, ACNA Bishop with Special Mission
Revd David McCarthy, Coordinator of the Scottish Anglican Network
Revd Lee McMunn, Mission Director, Anglican Mission in England
Revd James Paice, Trustee, The Southwark Good Stewards Trust
Rt Revd Jonathan Pryke, Senior Minister Jesmond Parish Church, Anglican Mission in England Executive
Revd Dr Peter Sanlon, Convenor of Anglican Partnership Synod
Ven Dr Will Strange on behalf of the Evangelical Fellowship in the Church in Wales
Revd Andrew Symes, Executive Secretary, Anglican Mainstream.”

Letter to the Archbishop of York: Please consecrate a second Reformed Anglican Bishop

“Your Grace, It would be quite understandable for you to be less than enthusiastic about receiving a missive from a ‘conservative evangelical’ in the light of the recent consecration of the episcopally licensed Curate of Jesmond Parish Church as a missionary bishop by the Reformed Evangelical Anglican Church in South Africa. But I am writing if I may to set forth the case for a second conservative evangelical bishop, in addition to the southern-based Bishop of Maidstone, to serve as senior pastor to churches and ministers in the north of England who desire his episcopal care. …”

– Julian Mann, Vicar of The Parish Church of the Ascension, Oughtibridge, in South Yorkshire, writes an open letter to the Archbishop of York.

He also responds to comments made in the last week by Church Society’s Lee Gatiss and by Gavin Ashenden.

(Photo: Julian Mann with Bishop Dr. Ben Kwashi.)

‘Welby risks a fatal Anglican split over homosexuality’

“Personally, I believe the most worrying element of the [Bishop’s Report on Marriage and Same Sex Relationships] is the way the bishops have reinterpreted the law of the C of E about where our doctrine can be found. They appear to sideline Scripture and the traditional formularies of the Church, in favour of finding the boundaries of freedom in Canon Law.”

from an interview with Reform’s Susie Leafe, speaking about the Church of England’s General Synod, meeting tonight (Australian time).

Link via Anglican Mainstream.

Where do we find Anglican Communion?

The Rev Andrew Symes, Anglican Mainstream“This idea that the church’s role is somehow to uncritically affirm the culture and hold out the love of God without any call to repentance is at the very least a defective view of New Testament Christianity and certainly cannot be called evangelical.

But for me to say such a thing is itself the problem, according to another Bishop, Colin Fletcher who has been acting Bishop of Oxford for the past 18 months…”

– At Anglican MainstreamAndrew Symes reviews the notion being pushed ahead of the Church of England’s General Synod of “unity in [doctrinal] diversity”.

The Anglican Communion and GAFCON: Interpreting the Peter Jensen interview

The Rev Andrew Symes, Anglican Mainstream“Peter Jensen, the retired Archbishop of Sydney and the current general Secretary of GAFCON, has given an extensive interview to VirtueOnline in which he expressed frankly some of his views on the current state of the Anglican Communion, and the mission of the Christian church in contemporary culture. The Virtue piece also contains some excerpts from talks that Jensen gave to the recent CANA meeting in Pennsylvania. It is worth giving these comments some analysis, as they give voice to the thinking behind GAFCON, as well as bringing to light some of the problems in global Anglicanism that derive from very different perceptions and interpretations of events…”

– Andrew Syme at Anglican Mainstream provides his analysis of the reported interview with Dr. Jensen.

Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans New Zealand launched with two conferences

NZ SRTM derived“Nearly 500 Anglicans from around New Zealand, including the Vicars of many larger churches, have met together this week at two conferences in Auckland and Christchurch to launch the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans NZ (FCANZ). FCANZ is a local expression of the Gafcon movement, and a message of support was read out at the conferences from Most Rev Dr Eliud Wabukala, Chair of the Gafcon Primates.

Video greetings were also received from Most Rev Foley Beach (Primate of ACNA) and the Rt Rev Richard Condie (Bishop of Tasmania and Chair of FCA Australia).

Rev Canon Vaughan Roberts (St Ebbe’s, Oxford) gave 4 talks on True Gospel, True Sex, True Love and True Unity, and was joined by Rev Canon David Short (Vancouver), Dr Peter Adam (Melbourne), Rev. Dr. Sarah Harris (Auckland) and others.

The formation of FCANZ has been in response to the passing of Motion 30 in 2014 and the subsequent release of the ‘A Way Forward’ Report, due to be presented to the General Synod of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia next month. The report proposes the blessing of same-sex civil marriages thereby rendering them as “rightly-ordered” relationships opening up the possibility for those in them to be accepted as candidates for ordination.

Rev Jay Behan, Chair of FCANZ, said ‘This week has been a hugely significant moment for orthodox Anglicans in New Zealand. FCANZ is committed to promoting faithfulness and providing fellowship, and orthodox Anglicans now know that through the FCANZ there is a place for all orthodox Anglicans in New Zealand, whether they are inside or outside the current Anglican structures.

We continue to pray that General Synod will pull back from making a decision which will tear the fabric of the communion, undermining the allegiance to General Synod for many Anglicans in New Zealand.’

– Media release from FCANZ, via Anglican Mainstream.

What is the Anglican Consultative Council meeting for?

chris-sugden3“The Archbishop of Canterbury has written to urge all Anglican primates to attend the Anglican Consultative Council in Lusaka from April 8-19.

The primates of Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda have indicated that their representatives cannot attend because the spirit of the Primates Meeting in Canterbury, which introduced consequences for TEC and its participation in Communion decision-making on doctrine and polity, appears to be being overridden or ignored. …

Kenya and Nigeria were very gracious in trusting the conversations at Canterbury and the decisions made there. They now suspect that they were misled.

Lusaka is not the place to sort out church polity, unity, doctrine or matters of sexuality. Those are the callings of the primates meeting and the Lambeth conference of Bishops.”

– Chris Sugden writes for The Church of England Newspaper. Via Anglican Mainstream.

True Anglicanism: Gospel proclamation, compassionate care, cultural leadership

The Rev Andrew Symes, Anglican Mainstream“Here is the main argument put forward by revisionists for the Church of England to change the historic doctrine of sexuality and marriage: ‘the majority of people believe this, so the church leadership should follow’. Leaving aside the interpretation of statistics, and the question of whether this societal change has happened by chance or as a result of sustained cultural re-education by a secular elite, we need to ask: should the Church accommodate itself to the culture as the revisionists demand, or should it be providing a lead in developing a counter-culture which influences and transforms the values of society?

Or perhaps the church should ignore the surrounding culture and be concerned only with the beliefs and actions of its own members and the small fringe of contacts which it hopes to draw in? This approach may have the strength of an authentically biblical foundation, but is it Anglican?…”

– At Anglican Mainstream, Andrew Symes looks at the way forward for the Church of England.

‘The spinning has started against orthodox Anglican archbishops’

Primates 2016“…there is a danger that if the Archbishop of Canterbury’s meeting of global Anglican archbishops next week goes south, orthodox leaders could find themselves on the end of some New Labour-style spinning.

It appears to have already started…”

– The Rev. Julian Mann writes at The Conservative Woman. Let’s hope this is not so. Thanks to Anglican Mainstream for the link.

Possibly related: What can we learn from Jesus’s hospitality? – on the Primates 2016 website. (Logo courtesy of the Anglican Communion Office.)

Crisis in the Anglican Communion: recent history and potential outcomes

The Rev Andrew Symes, Anglican Mainstream“GAFCON presents itself not as an alternative, breakaway Anglican Communion, but as the majority of the Anglican Communion, committed to renewing worldwide Anglicanism based on united confession of Christ and adherence to the Bible and the historic formularies, and necessarily rejecting revisionist doctrine and practice.

They are calling on Archbishop Justin to exercise leadership, and re-commit the Anglican Communion to a clear orthodox theology and practice as a basis for united mission in the world…”

Anglican Mainstream’s Andrew Symes pens an overview of where the Anglican Communion stands, how we came to this point, and possible outcomes to next week’s Primates’ Meeting called by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Background reading:

– all from our Resources section.

We urge all our readers to pray for a Christ-honouring outcome to the Primates’ Meeting.

And from The Anglican Mission in England:

 would like to welcome the GAFCON Primates to England for the Primates’ meetings in Canterbury, 11-15 January, and assure them (and the other Primates) of our prayers for this significant meeting.

We are grateful to the GAFCON Primates for their support of our work in England as well as recognising the Anglican Mission in England ‘as an authentic expression of authentic Anglicanism both for those within and outside the Church of England‘ (Nairobi Commitment 5).

Along with others we are encouraging all  supporters to pray for Archbishop Justin Welby, the Primates and for a God-glorifying outcome to their meetings.”

Anglican Communion ‘Secretary-General’ affirms Lambeth 1.10

Archbishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon (right) with Archbishop Justin Welby. Archbishop of Canterbury's website.Archbishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon, the new Secretary-General of the Anglican Communion, affirms his commitment to Lambeth 1.10 in an interview on the BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Programme and speaks against criminalisation of homosexual behaviour.

“Any resolution from any province that does not take Resolution 1.10 seriously is against the agreement within this church….. As Secretary General my job is to present and execute the decisions of the four instruments of unity we have…. I stand by Resolution 1.10…. This Communion has a position.”

BBC 4 Sunday Programme  August 9, 2015.  The segment begins 11:50 into the programme, with the interview starting at 18 minutes. (via Anglican Mainstream.)

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