‘England bypassed. Global Communion isolated.’
Many years ago a Dutch friend of mine told me about a cartoon which expressed what they thought about the English attitude: an English newspaper headline read, “Fog in the Channel. Continent cut off.”
In the same way, we have seen English bishops, and indeed Archbishops, complaining that GAFCON has not shown due regard for Anglo-centric structures and personalities — that they, and not ‘self-appointed’ individuals and bodies, have the right to define the terms by which Anglicanism is constituted and operates.…
– John Richardson writes on the mindset of the Church of England at the Ugley Vicar.
Book review: Surprised by Hope
N. T. Wright is one of the most talented writers among New Testament scholars today. In this book he presents his understanding of what the Scriptures teach about heaven, the resurrection, and the church’s mission. …
Wright appeals to many because he is brilliant and fascinating, and some of what he says is helpful. Nevertheless, his failure to emphasize the centrality of the gospel is troubling, and pastors who find his work illuminating need to be careful that they do not veer away from their central task of proclaiming the good news to a lost generation.
– Thomas Schreiner, Professor of New Testament at SBTS, reviews Bishop Tom Wright’s recent book, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church – at 9 Marks.
Earlier posts: on Tom Schreiner, on Bishop N T Wright. (Update: David Virtue has a related commentary on recent statements from Bishop Wright – at Virtue Online.)
If I were a Patron
What can be done to halt the Liberal drift of the Church of England identified at the post-GAFCON gathering at All Souls Langham place on the 1st July?
The answer is not “Sign a petition in support of the GAFCON principles,” although I suggest you do exactly that…
The problem with the Jerusalem Statement and Declaration, is that it declares what every minister working for the Church of England is required to declare on their appointment. …
– John Richardson reminds us of the influence of patrons and parish representatives in the appointment of a parish minister. At the Ugley Vicar.
‘Figure behind Anglican schism is a puritan who sees no room for compromise’
Until a few weeks ago few people outside the city where he preaches would have been familiar with Peter Jensen. …
The 64-year-old cleric, one of the architects of the Global Anglican Future Conference, Gafcon, the new power bloc that rejects a liberal stance towards homosexual clergy and same-sex unions and which plans to “reassert the authority of the Bible”, has been a thorn in the side of Australian Anglicans for years. …
– Story by Barbara McMahon in Sydney for The Guardian.
(These excerpts give a feel for the story – “puritanism, power bloc, thorn in the side, limited parish experience, inner circle, said to rule the diocese with an iron hand, churns out hardline evangelicals, fundamentalism, narrow, almost worshipped, a threat, bullies, culture of fear”.) Photo: Joy Gwaltney.
Peter Jensen: We should not be naive
The Sydney Morning Herald today publishes an op-ed by Archbishop Peter Jensen –
“We should not be naive about the slow and steady influence of revisionist teaching and why the seven men who lead some of the largest Anglican churches in the world have decided to stand up and be counted. …”
– Read it in The Sydney Morning Herald. (Photo: Joy Gwaltney.)
GAFCON is vital for the Anglican Communion
If the current dispute is merely a matter of different perspectives and emphases, as the Archbishop of Canterbury suggests, why are the bishops who are promoting this different gospel driving people out of their churches and removing licences from priests such as Dr Packer?
Gafcon became necessary following the persistent failure of the current authorities in the Anglican Communion to do anything about this deliberate flouting of Christian teaching and decisions of the whole Anglican Communion and its leadership. …
– Canon Chris Sugden writes in The Guardian.
British media misses GAFCON message
In all my years as a journalist, first working on large city dailies, then Christian magazines, a brief stint as an Episcopal Diocesan Managing Editor and now as an Internet Online news writer, whose website annually draws more than 4 million readers from 172 countries, I have never encountered such appalling spin, outrageous lies, pure mendacity and gay-baiting towards a group of godly men and women of orthodox faith as I encountered recently in Jerusalem by the secular press. …
– David Virtue, who reported from Jerusalem during GAFCON, comments at VirtueOnline.
(See also this comment from Chelmsford Anglican Mainstream on one newspaper report.)
No split in Anglican marshallow
“Like all old style bureaucracies, the Anglican denomination worldwide moves at about the same pace as the friendly slugs on the morning kids’ programme my youngest daughter likes to watch. But at long last, it looks like something may actually be happening within the normally staid and stodgy Church of England. …”
– The Daily Telegraph in Sydney published this opinion piece by Gordon Cheng.
(Photo: Joy Gwaltney)
My other Gafcon
The one thing you have to realise in order to understand the Global Anglican Future Conference – if you are indeed burning to understand a Global Anglican Future, and dedicated to doing so properly – is that it is not really anything to do with sex. …
True, sex may have been one of the presenting issues. But that’s not what Gafcon is about. Gafcon is about the Gospel. It’s about what kind of a creature a Christian is, what nature of God we believe in, and who is the Lord we follow. …
– Anne Atkins (profile) writes in The Guardian.
Pilgrim’s Progress audio book reminder
If you were planning on downloading the free copy of the Pilgrim’s Progress Audio book from Christian Audio – but haven’t yet done so – their offer expires on Monday night. See this post.
GAFCON day whatever-it-is: Acceleration
This afternoon, the draft Conference Statement was presented to the whole conference, and then discussed in detail by all the participants meeting in their different provincial groups. There is a strict media embargo on the text of the Statement, and those of us who are blogging have been sworn to secrecy. I will therefore say no more about it, except to promise that when the final text is released (on Sunday), you will want to read it. …
– Tony Payne at The Sola Panel.
Dawn in Jerusalem
According to the schedule the final communiqué will be reviewed and put forward for adoption on Sunday morning. Participants will discuss a draft of the final this morning in small workshop groups.
The process by which the communiqué is being drafted is an interesting one. The purpose is to include the whole conference in creating the final draft. Cynical observers (like myself unfortunately) might assume that the content of the communiqué is foreordained; that the pretence of pilgrim participation is just that, but I do not think so this time. …
– Matt Kennedy posts at Stand Firm.
Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi (Kenya) with Mrs. Kwashi (Nigeria) at press briefing. Photo: Joy Gwaltney.
The pointy end of GAFCON
“As GAFCON makes its exciting, inspiring and exhausting way into its second half, the question of ‘What next?’ is becoming more and more urgent. So many are looking for so much from this conference. We are facing a danger of unrealistic expectations.
And yet, as GAFCON has already, from my point of view at least, achieved so much more than a realist would expect, then just maybe the crucial final statement will do the job.
There are at least four distinct groups of delegates here, all with different approaches to GAFCON. …”
– Bishop Robert Forsyth writes from GAFCON at SydneyAnglicans.net. So does Dr Karin Sowada. (Photo: Russell Powell.)
Bishop J.C. Ryle: strangely up-to-date
“In reviews, magazines, newspapers, lectures, essays and sometimes even in sermons, scores of clever writers are incessantly waging war against the very foundations of Christianity.
Reason, science, geology, anthropology, modern discoveries, free thought, are all boldly asserted to be on their side. No educated person, we are constantly told nowadays, can really believe supernatural religion, or the plenary inspiration of the Bible, or the possibility of miracles.
Such ancient doctrines as the Trinity, the deity of Christ, the personality of the Holy Spirit, the atonement, the obligation of the Sabbath, the necessity and efficacy of prayer, the existence of the devil and the reality of future punishment, are quietly put on the shelf as useless old almanacs, or contemptuously thrown overboard as lumber!
And all this is done so cleverly, and with such an appearance of candour and liberality, and with such compliments to the capacity and nobility of human nature, that multitudes of unstable Christians are carried away as by a flood, and become partially unsettled, if they do not make complete shipwreck of faith.”
– Bishop J. C. Ryle (1816–1900) in chapter 19 of his classic book, “Holiness”.
Secular media response to GAFCON
Secular media covering the Global Anglican Future Conference are seriously distorting both the content and message of the 1200 mostly Global South Anglican leaders, which includes 300 bishops from 38 countries …
– David Virtue comments at VirtueOnline.
(Photo: Joy Gwaltney)
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…