‘The Anglican church can’t now renege on women bishops’
John Inge, the Bishop of Worcester, writes this opinion piece for the BBC.
“When the decision was made to ordain women as priests, solemn promises were made to them that they would continue to have an honoured place in the Church of England.
To renege on that now would seem like a betrayal.”
Related: Developments in York.
Some deep reflection needed
“
I have been reading an immensely interesting book in the last couple of weeks. It is by Peter Hitchens, British journalist, author, broadcaster and brother of celebrated ‘new atheist’ Christopher Hitchens.
It is interesting for a whole host of reasons…”
– ACL President Mark Thompson writes at Theological Theology.
The C of E’s General Synod: Doing the Best Things in the Worst Times
“While some may draw comfort from the apparent ruling out (if he was ever ruled in) of Jeffrey John as Bishop of Southwark, the Church of England’s direction of travel is now abundantly clear. Whether or not we agree with David Virtue’s assessment that the Church of England ‘is now Province XVII of The Episcopal Church’, he is absolutely right that we are seeing the same ruthless marginalisation of the orthodox as has happened in the United States…”
– Charles Raven’s latest commentary at SPREAD.
The Anglican Curmudgeon on developments in York
“…the women priests in Synod combined with a sufficient number of male priests to ensure, by a bare minimum, that the wisdom of the other orders in the Church of England would not be put into practice. And in that description of the result is all the data that anyone needs to conclude that the admission of women to the priesthood in the Church of England was just the first step in a widening gyre.
There will be no turning back: after the approval of the ordination of women to the episcopate, the numbers will so change in the Church of England’s House of Bishops, and in the lay delegates as well, as to make inevitable the ordination of LGBT’s to the episcopate. And at that point, the Church of England — in whatever form it then remains — will be indistinguishable from ECUSA.”
– A S Haley (Anglican Curmudgeon) looks at the trajectory on which the Church of England has launched itself. (Photo: Women in the Church.)
After women bishops, what next?
“I’ve not had time to follow the Synod debate on women bishop’s much less to comment. However, I was having a discussion with some of our own folks on Thursday night, where I observed that the introduction of women bishops is by no means the end of the line, for there are explicit indications amongst the chief supporters of the consecration of women that our theology and liturgy are also in line for changes.
Just to give an idea of what this entails, I have simply cut and pasted the following from a paper on the WATCH website:…”
– John Richardson writes about moves for women bishops at the Church of England General Synod (which meets until Tuesday).
Recovering the priority of relationships
“Some recent conversations to which I have been a party suggest we talk a good game when it comes to the priority of relationships while our practice is practically indistinguishable from the relational desert inhabited by those around us.
Is there, as some people are beginning to suggest, a sad disconnect between our confession and life at this point?”
– Mark Thompson asks some fair questions at Theological Theology.
A Dangerous Structure: Can General Synod Stave Off Collapse?
“London’s Lambeth Council has some helpful advice on its website about dangerous structures: ‘If you notice a building or structure that appears to be in a dangerous condition, or in serious neglect, an engineer will inspect the problem and take the necessary action. If the structure is unsafe, but there is no immediate danger, then the owner will be contacted to make it safe – if they don’t, they may face enforcement action.’
There is no question of course that the material fabric of Lambeth Palace, the historic London home of the Archbishop of Canterbury, is in good order. In fact, the Archbishop’s website reassures us that there are ’plans for future work to upgrade the fabric of the Palace’, but the spiritual fabric of the Church over which he presides is looking increasingly precarious.…”
– Charles Raven observes how quickly the Church of England is losing the plot.
Shedding some Light on Twilight
“The highly anticipated third film in the wildly popular Twilight series opens today. … The first two movies — Twilight and New Moon — took in a sensational $1.1 billion at the box office. In 2009 and 2010, the movies topped the teen choice awards, and swept virtually all the categories at the MTV Movie Awards. Twilight has become the hottest love story of our time. It’s a teen rage, and a significant cultural phenomenon.
The question that I always ask, when I see something so grip the hearts and minds of women, is “Why?”. And it was this question that was foremost in my mind when I finally sat down a couple weeks ago to watch and analyze the first two movies…”
– Helpful analysis from Mary Kassian. (h/t Tim Challies.)
A Canonical Analysis of ‘Mitregate’
AS Haley (the Anglican Curmudgeon) looks at the fuss about why Katharine Jefferts Schori had to apply for a license to officiate as a priest (and not a bishop) at Southwark Cathedral last week.
(Photo: ENS.)
All you need is ‘love’
Bishop Michael Bird, Anglican Diocese of Niagara, in a letter to the National Post , claims –
“… whether a man loves a woman or another man, or a woman loves a man or another woman, to God it is all love …”
– in response to this article about St. Hilda’s Anglican Church Oakville, which left the Anglican Church of Canada.
h/t the Anglican Essential Canada blog. (Photo: Diocese of Niagara.)
Checked your lectionary lately?
An Episcopal blogger has noticed that some passages are mysteriously omitted from the Revised Common Lectionary used in the Episcopal Church –
“You see, during the weekdays, the RCL usually reads straight through a book of the Bible so that you can get through the entire Gospel of Luke for example in a series of daily readings. But look at what happens to Paul’s letter to the Romans between Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.”
– Story here.
TEC and Friends: Inclusion with Attitude
“Although TEC’s Presiding Bishop, Katherine Jefferts Schori, avoided an explicit attack on Rowan Williams in her sermon at Southwark Cathedral yesterday, it is clear that TEC and its allies are becoming more militant and that far from suggesting that the Windsor Covenant process has at last found teeth, the Archbishop’s attempt to discipline TEC only underlines its ineffectiveness…”
Divorced Bishops in the C of E: another nail in the coffin?
“One of the most depressing experiences I ever had in a Diocesan Synod was the morning on which ours debated the proposals to change the Church’s regulations on the remarriage of divorcees.
Until 2002, considering the many other ‘easings’ of the Church of England’s doctrinal adherences, its position on divorce and remarriage had remained remarkably consistent with a traditionalist understanding of Scripture…”
– John Richardson wonders what else can happen once Biblical teaching is ignored.
The Amazing Technicolor Multifaith Theology School
“The leftward march of liberal Protestantism is hardly news, but on occasion a development arises that serves as something of a parable of that trajectory. Such is the case this week with news from California that the Claremont School of Theology, a school historically related to the United Methodist Church, is transforming itself into a multifaith center for the training of clergy…
What this implies, of course, is that ministers, priests, rabbis, and imams, along with Buddhist and Hindu spiritual leaders, are just different varieties of clergy…”
– Albert Mohler’s latest column. (Photo: This sign on a Sydney church last week reflects similar sentiments.)
Confusion reigns
Canterbury’s continuing chaos: does anyone know what is going on?
“The fallout for the Anglican Communion following the consecration of Mary Glasspool is, for many of us, becoming more confusing by the day…”
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…