TEC and the Anglican Communion a ‘Post-Modern Fantasy’
The problem with Indabbaing your way through life without addressing the crises that are strangling life (and members) out of the church is that it is based on a post-modern fantasy that the atmosphere is more important than the true state of things.
In the emerging train wreck, it is like focussing on the musical program in the ballroom of the Titanic. In the case of our crisis, there are plenty of life boats available for the people. The problem is that they are being lulled into thinking that the crisis is exaggerated. …
– Bishop Bill Atwood, missionary bishop of the Anglican Church of Kenya, writes at VirtueOnline. (GAFCON photo: Russell Powell.)
Whirlwind tour of the Anglican world
David Virtue’s weekly summary of goings-on in the Episcopal and Anglican world makes sobering reading –
“It was not a good week for The Episcopal Church especially in the Diocese of Virginia. For the third time, a judge ruled in favor of 11 churches in that diocese who had decided to depart for greener spiritual pastures. …
The next big speed bump for the House of Bishops is the deposition of the Rt. Rev. Bob Duncan at the HOB meeting in Salt Lake City Sept 16-19. Mrs. Jefferts Schori is planning on installing her bishop within days after the vote…”
– from VirtueOnline.
Test Revival with Doctrine
“Lee Grady, the editor of Charisma, one of the main charismatic magazines, has written a lament and critique of the Lakeland ‘revival’ which is now in a tailspin over the leader’s announced separation from his wife.
Grady’s summons to pray for the church and our nation is right, and among his commendable questions and observations are these…”
– Read John Piper’s comments at Desiring God.
And from the Charisma article to which he refers –
“Why did God TV tell people that ‘any criticism of Todd Bentley is demonic’?
This ridiculous statement was actually made on one of God TV’s pre-shows. In fact, the network’s hosts also warned listeners that if they listened to criticism of Bentley, they could lose their healings.”
Open Evangelicalism, NEAC 2008 and the future of the Church of England
The Church of England Evangelical Council website is now advertising ‘NEAC 2008’ – a consultation in continuity with the previous ‘National Evangelical Anglican Consultations’. Meanwhile, on the Fulcrum website, there are rumblings about whether this is going to be truly ‘representative’ of the current state of Anglican Evangelicalism in England. …
Fulcrum was founded in reaction to the direction being taken during the organizing of the last residential NEAC, at Blackpool in 2003. … Since then, Fulcrum has claimed the ‘Evangelical Centre’ and, simultaneously, has steadfastly opposed more Conservative groupings such as Reform, and initiatives such as GAFCON. In effect, therefore, it has formalized the divisions in Evangelicalism between its Conservative and Open strands.
Thus Evangelical unity in the Church of England is probably at an all-time low since the end of the Second World War. …
– John Richardson provides an insight into the state of ‘evangelicalism’ in the Church of England at The Ugley Vicar.
What seems like an age ago (1993), we published this article by John on the then state of UK Evangelicalism – in the ACL’s newsletter.
Dr Williams and his Bishops: wheels within wheels?
The ability of the Anglican Church to undergo apparently impossible convolutions has been further highlighted by the publication of, on the one hand, letters written between Rowan Williams during his time as Archbishop of Wales and a former Anglican Evangelical and, on the other, a letter supporting Dr Williams signed by nineteen bishops and published in today’s edition of The Times.
Dr Williams’ letters tell us nothing really new in terms of either his theology or his church polity. …
– John Richardson writes at the Ugley Vicar.
Reflections on Lambeth’s Reflections
We need to remind ourselves what the Lambeth Conference was convened to achieve. The answer is, nothing. …
And now a Conference called for no particular reason, holding meetings designed to reach no particular conclusions, has produced not a report but a series of reflections. Read them, if you will.
Having decided to decide nothing, it appears that the Conference felt it must comment on everything. Thus the reader who is willing may wade through page after page of good intentions about good causes ranging from disaster relief to carbon footprints. Yet, of course, nothing is (nor could be) specific — not even the gospel which, it is claimed, lies at the heart of the Communion’s concept of mission. …
– John Richardson writes at The Ugley Vicar. Worth reading in full.
GAFCON, the future and the Jerusalem Statement
The Global Anglican Future CONference held in Jerusalem at the end of June 2008 occurred not to stop a split in the Anglican Communion but because there already exists such a split. That is a sad but hard fact. …
In 2002 Rowan Williams was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury. Rowan Williams had publicly admitted to ordaining a man he knew had a homosexual partner …
– David Holloway, Vicar of Jesmond Parish Church, Newcastle upon Tyne, reflects on the need for GAFCON – at Anglican Mainstream. (Photo: Reform.)
Reports of Anglican demise exaggerated
There is an industry saying that people uncritically accept media reports, except in their area of expertise. Then the media gets it totally wrong. Although I have been a journalist for 30 years, my time in the GAFCON pressroom proved that old adage.
As well as being responsible for Archbishop Jensen’s media liaison, I was privileged to be a part of the GAFCON media team, a group made up of Anglican press officers from around the world: Uganda, Canada, Nigeria, the US and Kenya plus a Norwegian fellow traveller. …
– Russell Powell reflects on the media’s reporting of GAFCON at SydneyAnglicans.net.
(Russell interviews Bishop Al Stewart – with Tim Robinson filming – overlooking the Sea of Galilee . Photo: Zac Veron.)
… it’s knowing they’re foreign that makes them so mad
I was reminded of this line from the Flanders and Swann piece of gentle self-mockery, A Song of Patriotic Prejudice, when I discovered that in a cross post to my little article on Thirty-two years of women’s ordination in the American context someone on the Stand Firm website had listed a whole string of similar words and actions which we in England might find bizarre, but which are quite common, it would seem in TEC. …
– from John Richardson at the Ugley Vicar.
Why we need an ACL
– That’s not the title of the Rev. Todd Wetzel’s report from Canterbury, but the American experience shows what can happen when committees and synods take on a life of their own, not representing the local churches.
In 2000, I called the Rev. Canon Gene Robinson the most dangerous man in the Episcopal Church.
Before you jump to conclusions, let me say that I was very clear that it was not because I considered him a “bad” person. Quite the contrary, he was (and is) very articulate, a capable and well liked priest, intelligent, reasonably good looking, a skilled consultant who was (and is), by his own admission, non-celibate and a person of homosexual orientation. As a member of the diocesan staff, he was well known locally. I called him ‘dangerous’ because he was elect-able. And, if elected, and consecrated, chaos would emerge within the Episcopal Church and the Communion. …
Read his full post at Anglicans United. (See also the ACL’s Policy Objectives.)
The Pointy Hat Club
Once upon a time in a far away place called Dar Es Salaam there was a party attended by boys and girls who liked to wear pointy hats, including one girl who liked to wear a pointy hat, but who sometimes wore a rainbow-colored oven mitt on her head instead. The other boys and girls were very polite and never used the words “oven mitt” in front of the one girl because they knew it would make her very cross. …
– Robert S. Munday, Dean of Nashotah House Theological Seminary in Wisconsin, has written this little story. You might enjoy it – but it has a serious side.
(Photo: Episcopal Life Online / Richard Schori.)
On the Windsor Continuation Group
John Richardson, just back from his honeymoon (congratulations John and Alison), has some refreshingly honest words about the preliminary observations of the Windsor Continuation Group at the Lambeth Conference.
The executive summary of his analysis?
“as much use as a chocolate ladder at a house fire”
Read John’s post here.
John recently appeared as a spokesman for Reform on the UK’s Christian channel – Premier TV – in a programme (‘The Gay Christian debate’) about Lambeth and Gene Robinson. It may now be seen here.
See also Ruth Gledhill’s “Lambeth Diary: ‘Pastoral Forum’ proposed” in Times Online.
Blame Africa? The Anglicans and their troubles
The Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops is meeting in Britain, even as the worldwide Anglican communion is about to tear itself asunder over issues of homosexuality, gender, and biblical authority. Over 200 conservative bishops are boycotting the conference, and the global media are trying to figure out how to report the meeting.
One of the most creative and revealing attempts at an explanation comes now from The Economist. …
– Al Mohler comments on some classic spin.
How many CHURCHGOING Anglicans does Lambeth represent?
A lot of things have been said over the last few months about just who represents whom in the Anglican world. GAFCON, for example, is pilloried by the media and the leadership at Lambeth as a “breakaway” movement. But, is this right?
Already some journalists are beginning to realise that while the Lambeth Conference might have a large number of bishops in attendance, those bishops actually represent a SMALL MINORITY of the world’s Anglicans. …
– Bishop David Chislett, of the Anglican Catholic Church in Australia, looks at the numbers.
(Bishop Chislett served as a Rector in the Anglican Diocese of Brisbane until 2005.)
All but unmentioned
The Lambeth Conference 1998 famously adopted a resolution on human sexuality, resolution I.10. The failure of the American and Canadian churches to honour that resolution are at the centre of the conflict which overshadows Lambeth 2008.
The Lambeth Conference 1998 also adopted a resolution, numbered III.2 calling on Provinces “to make such provision, including appropriate episcopal ministry”, as will enable those who dissent from and those who assent to the ordination of women to live “in the highest degree of Communion possible”.
The patent failure of the American and Canadian churches to honour this resolution has gone all but unmentioned at Lambeth 2008. …
– Warren Tanghe writes from an Anglo-Catholic perspective at the Forward in Faith website.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…