High Noon in Lusaka
“We don’t yet know what will happen in Lusaka, but I can say that one way or another, it will cast the die for the future of the Anglican Communion.”
– The Anglican Church in North America’s Bishop Bill Atwood provides some context for the Anglican Consultative Council’s meeting in Lusaka in April.
GAFCON Prayer requests — March 2016
“We thank you for your continued support and prayer for the GAFCON movement. We would like to ask for your prayer over the next few weeks for a number of important areas:
1. The GAFCON Primates Council in April 2016
As the GAFCON Primates prepare to meet in Santiago de Chile please pray for the following …”
– Prayer is the wonderful privilege of all Christian believers. Here are some prayer requests from GAFCON.
Government to retain Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission
“The Government will provide certainty to the charitable sector and community organisations by today announcing the decision to retain the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC).”
Canadian Bishops explain why they are not pushing for a vote to change definition of marriage
“We spent a considerable amount of time discussing the theology of marriage and our episcopal role and responsibilities as chief pastors, and as guardians of the Church’s faith, order and unity. …
… it became clear to us that the draft resolution to change the Marriage Canon to accommodate the marriage of same-sex partners is not likely to pass in the Order of Bishops by the canonical requirement of a 2/3rds majority in each Order. Some of us talked of being mortified and devastated by this realisation…
… we feel a responsibility to convey our inability to come to a common mind in discerning what the Spirit is saying to the Church.”
– The ‘chief pastors, and guardians of the Church’s faith, order and unity’ of the Anglican Church of Canada explain why they are not pushing to change their definition of marriage at this year’a General Synod. They don’t yet have the numbers.
Update: The American Anglican Council’s Canon Phil Ashey has this commentary.
We still don’t want your money — message to TEC
Statement from the Diocese of Egypt with North Africa and the Horn of Africa regarding the Good Friday Offering
“It has come to our attention that the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church (USA) has recently issued a Lenten appeal asking the churches of TEC to remember the Good Friday offering for Jerusalem and the Middle East. In this appeal he said ‘this tradition [The Good Friday Offering] is decades old and is an important statement of our solidarity with the members of the four dioceses of the Province of Jerusalem and Middle East.’
I would like to clarify the fact that the Diocese of Egypt with North of Africa and the Horn of Africa, one of the four dioceses of the Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East does not receive funds or grants from the Good Friday offering of the Episcopal Church (TEC) in the USA. The decision not to receive these funds came after the 2003 decision by TEC to consecrate as bishop a divorced man living in a homosexual relationship. The decision not to receive money from TEC is one expression of the reality that the Diocese of Egypt with North Africa and the Horn of Africa was (and still is) in an impaired relationship with The Episcopal Church.
One of our clergy in Ethiopia states our situation in graphic terms: ‘We rather starve and not receive money from churches whose actions contradict the scriptures.’
+Mouneer
The Most Rev. Dr. Mouneer Hanna Anis
Archbishop of Episcopal / Anglican Diocese of Egypt with North Africa and the Horn of Africa
Primate of the Episcopal / Anglican Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East.”
– from the Diocese of Egypt with North Africa and the Horn of Africa, h/t Anglican Mainstream.
Archbishop Ntagali’s Lenten Appeal to Pray for Uganda and the Anglican Communion
The Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, The Most Rev. Stanley Ntagali, has issued this call to prayer for Uganda, and for the Anglican Communion. Here are two key quotes:
“Brothers and sisters in Christ, it is like we are back in 2003 where we continue to be betrayed by our leaders. The Primates voted to bring discipline to TEC and, yet, we now see that the leadership of the Anglican Communion does not have the will to follow through. This is another deep betrayal.” …
“There will be a GAFCON Primates Council meeting in Chile in April, and we will discuss how to continue advancing the mission of GAFCON as a renewal movement within the Anglican Communion. As I have stated previously, we are not leaving the Anglican Communion; we are the Anglican Communion. We uphold the Biblical and historic faith of Anglicans and have come together in fellowship with other Provinces and national fellowships that have made the same decision.”
Full text below: Read more
Spiritually Discerning the Redefinition of Marriage
“Between the 11th and 15th of January 2016 the Primates of the Anglican Communion met to deliberate over a number of issues, including the question of a growing demand for affirming homosexual unions within the Western provinces.
This week, in his Presidential address to the General Synod, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby spoke of the Primates meeting, the beauty and energy of the Anglican communion coming together in unity, as well as the crucial process of decision-making and development not being a matter of canons and rules, but one of discernment by the Spirit, based in relationship – but apparently not in revelation. Amidst all the Christian-sounding terminology, what is it that the archbishop was actually saying?
When Welby’s address is read in conjunction with the recently published letter of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York to Jayne Ozanne, a homosexual activist and director of Accepting Evangelicals, a clear pattern and approach to the questions of marriage and human sexuality on the part of the Anglican church emerges, which reflects the radically changed priorities of the established church – a process that has been going on for many decades – to declare man’s word for the cultural moment rather than God’s unchanging word to the world. …”
– So, whose word is our authority?
Dr Joe Boot, Senior Pastor at Westminster Chapel, Toronto, has published this strong piece at the Ezra Institute of Contemporary Christianity. Read the full article here.
‘Safe Schools’ program to face Government review
“The Federal Government will review the Safe Schools anti-bullying program that is designed to provide a safe environment for same-sex students.
Backbencher Cory Bernardi, who has accused the program of having a “radical agenda”, raised the issue in the Coalition party-room this morning and says there was widespread support.”
– Report and image from ABC News.
Related:
Local pastor stands up to ‘shocking’ school program – Australian Christian Lobby.
Sydney school to allow male students to wear female uniforms – ABC News.
Archbishops’ response to LGBTI activist is a ‘missed opportunity’
“The Church of England has published a reply, dated 12 February, to a letter from Jayne Ozanne, Director of LGBTI campaign group Accepting Evangelicals, and co-signatories.
The letter, which was written by the Archbishop of York on behalf of himself and the Archbishop of Canterbury, responds to Ms Ozanne’s claim that the Church of England has failed its ‘duty of care’ to LGBTI members of the Anglican Church.
Andrea Williams, chief executive of Christian Concern and a member of the General Synod, has issued the following response …
‘This letter was another opportunity for the Archbishops to demonstrate appropriate leadership by reaffirming and promoting God’s clear vision for marriage. Instead the letter suggests that the fundamental issue is an ‘ongoing conversation’ as yet unresolved, implicitly suggesting that God has been unclear.
The role of the Archbishops is not to facilitate conversation but to teach the truth, refute error and discipline those who depart from God’s pattern in either teaching or lifestyle.’…”
– Read the full statement here. Read the Letter from the Archbishop of York here (450kb OCR PDF, originally from the Archbishop of York’s website).
Related: (Canadian) Primate listens to concerns of LGBTQ Anglicans
“‘All of us belong to God,’ said Canon Douglas Graydon to Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, at a gathering held to discuss same-sex marriage in the Canadian church. ‘The question is whether we belong to the church.’
It was a question many LGBTQ Anglicans brought forward in a question and answer session that took place after a talk Hiltz gave following the ‘queer Eucharist’ service hosted monthly at the Anglican Church of St. John’s West Toronto”
TEC will go to the ACC meeting in Lusaka and they will vote, ACC chairman says
“The Episcopal Church “cannot be kicked out of the Anglican Communion and will never be kicked out of the Anglican Communion,” the chairman of the Anglican Consultative Council told a seminary audience last week…”
– Report from Anglican Ink via GAFCON.
GAFCON Chairman’s Pastoral Letter February 2016
“Some of you are asking what GAFCON’s approach will be during the three years that TEC are subject to sanctions and what will happen at the end of that time, given that TEC appear to have moved well beyond the possibility of changing course.
At our Primates Council in April, we will take counsel together on these matters, but I can say that all of us in the GAFCON movement need to set our faces to go to Jerusalem. While we honour Canterbury as the mother See of the Anglican Communion, it was at Jerusalem that we placed our hope for the future in Jesus and the truth of the Bible…”
– Read all of Archbishop Eliud Wabukala’s letter here.
Protecting free speech in the Same Sex Marriage Plebiscite debate
“An article in the The Guardian today, ‘Override hate speech laws to allow marriage equality debate, urges Christian lobby’ reports that Lyle Shelton, managing director of the Australian Christian Lobby, has made proposals urging greater protection of free speech for those opposed to the introduction of same sex marriage in the forthcoming Australian plebiscite on the topic.
Of course, the reader will see that the Guardian headline and my summary of the proposals seem quite different. In its support for same sex marriage, the Guardian and those it quotes describe the ACL proposals as follows: the ACL wants to ‘permanently override anti-discrimination laws’ …
I think the Guardian has slanted the ACL views unfairly. (Even more unfairly, the Sydney Morning Herald report on the story features a cartoon of an ACL representative complaining that they can’t be expected to make their case ‘without expressing hatred and bigotry’.) Let me suggest reasons why the ACL proposal, so far as can be ascertained from these press reports, sounds limited, moderate and sensible. …”
– Neil Foster, Associate Professor on Law at Newcastle, adds some clarity to reporting on those opposed to the introduction of same-sex marriage in Australia.
Update: See Part 2 here.
Malcolm in the Middle
“On Friday 12 February, at the invitation of the Australian Christian Lobby, I joined a delegation to meet Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, in his Sydney office. It was agreed that we confine our remarks to the issue of the plebiscite regarding single gender marriage which will be held, in the event of a coalition victory, soon after the next Federal election. …
When the PM was asked about freedom of conscience for those in the marriage industry, florists, caterers, etc, he said that he was sure that common sense would prevail…”
– Presbyterian Moderator-General David Cook reports that he was ‘profoundly disappointed’ after a meeting with the Prime Minister last week. Read it all here.
Archbishop of Canterbury gives his take on the Primates’ meeting
From the Anglican Communion News Service:
“The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has used his presidential address to the Church of England’s General Synod to update members on last month’s Primates Meeting and Gathering in Canterbury. He also gave his impression about the current state of the Anglican Communion.”
– This is Archbishop Welby’s fullest account of his understanding of what took place in Canterbury last month. Worth reading in full. Photo: ACNS.
Roman Catholic Vespers at Henry VIII’s Chapel Royal
“The Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, last night led a service of Solemn Vespers in the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace in what was the first Roman Catholic act of worship for 450 years in Henry VIII’s chapel, which was the backdrop to much of the English Reformation.
The service, sung mainly in Latin, was a unique event held to mark the 500th anniversary of Hampton Court and was in recognition of the growing relationship between the Church of England and the Roman Catholic church…”
– This report from The Anglican Communion News Service.
Photo: Cardinal Vincent, Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…