Bishop of Maidstone calls Scottish Episcopal Church to turn back to God
The Bishop of Maidstone, the Rt Rev’d Rod Thomas, today responded to the decision by the Scottish Episcopal Church to change its canons of marriage. He said:
“The decision by the Scottish Episcopal Church (SEC) to change its canons of marriage in order to allow same-sex marriages in church is very serious. By its actions it is denying the goodness and authority of God’s Word to us in the Scriptures.
As a result it is breaking communion with the majority of Anglicans worldwide. This leaves me with no choice but to recognise that the SEC has walked away from our communion, so I will no longer be able to accept invitations to Christian meetings where bishops of the SEC are actively participating, unless their broken communion is recognised in the arrangements.
I pray that this declining church will understand that their position is not blessed by God, will repent of their action and turn back to Him.”
He also wrote,
“I … welcome the steps that GAFCON … is taking to support those who are seeking to stand firm by the Bible’s teaching on marriage and sexual relationships, and wish to assure Canon Andy Lines of my prayers as he becomes a missionary bishop.”
– Read this, and another interesting development, at The Bishop of Maidstone’s website.
The GAFCON Missionary Bishop for Scotland and Europe
“Canon Andy Lines’ consecration will not be irregular or invalid.
His Holy Orders in the Province of South America have been duly and lawfully transferred to, and likewise received by, the ACNA. He will be consecrated by acting primates, archbishops and bishops of the Anglican Communion. His consecration will fall within the historical tradition of faithful Bishops who have created order in the Church during times of crisis.
These are times when faith and doctrine have been threatened by others’ failure to guard against false teaching – or worse, have actively promoted such false teaching. One can trace this all the way back to Athanasius and the crisis of Arianism in the early Church. …”
– Canon Phil Ashey, President of the American Anglican Council, provides historical background for the decision to consecrate Andy Lines as a Missionary Bishop.
Faith in a Time of Crisis – Standing for Truth in a Changing World – Review
“The book could not have come at a more vital time. The Scottish Episcopal Church has just agreed to perform same sex weddings. It is only a matter of time before the Church of England follows, as it has historically done on other issues.”
GAFCON UK Statement on the announcement of the Gafcon /ACNA Missionary Bishop to Europe
“GAFCON UK is delighted at the announcement that its chairman Canon Andy Lines is to be consecrated by the Anglican Church in North America as a missionary bishop to Europe under the auspices of GAFCON.
We believe this will play an important part in the renewal of orthodox Anglican Christianity in Britain and further afield. Read more
Canon Andy Lines to be ACNA Missionary Bishop
In the wake of today’s vote by the Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church, purporting to redefine marriage, Archbishop Foley Beach spoke in Edinburgh on behalf of the GAFCON Primates Council to announce Canon Andy Lines (pictured) as the new Missionary Bishop:
Bishop Foley announced,
“The Gafcon Primates have asked our Province, the Anglican Church in North America, to take on the task of providing a missionary bishop for Scotland.
Our Province was formed at the direction of Gafcon 2008 after many of the Provinces of Gafcon had provided the same kind of oversight for clergy and congregations in North America. They have asked us to consecrate Canon Andy Lines. …
The Consecration will take place on the morning of 30 June in Wheaton, Illinois and the service will include Primates, Archbishops, and bishops from all over the world. Although the Anglican Church in North America is the consecrating Province, this is an initiative of the wider Anglican Communion.”
Read the text of the announcements from the press conference.
See also the Press Kit released by GAFCON:
1: Press Statement by Archbishop Foley Beach – 8th June 2017.
2: Press Statement by Scottish Anglican Network (SAN) – 8th June 2017.
3: Biographical Information on GAFCON Press Conference speakers.
4: ACNA FAQs on Missionary Bishop.
Related:
Scottish Episcopal Church votes to allow ‘equal marriage’ – Anglican Communion News Service – 8th June 2017.
Scottish Anglican Network Responds – 8th June 2017,
“We are thankful for support we have received from many in the Anglican Communion and particularly from the Archbishops who lead the GAFCON movement. We are grateful for their support in prayer, their counsel and their practical support, not least in their decision to consecrate a missionary bishop for Europe. We now look forward to building stronger relationships with the leaders and churches of the global Anglican Communion who remain faithful to Jesus Christ and the authority of the Bible.”
Sermon By Canon Andy Lines At The Consecration Of The Revd Ferran Glenfield as Bishop of Kilmore, Elphin & Ardagh. At St Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh – 31 May 2013,
“Paul was able to say to the Ephesian elders that he had not shrunk from declaring to them the whole purpose of God – he preached the whole gospel from the whole Bible to them. Not all of it was palatable or easy but the ministry of God’s gospel requires complete integrity and honesty – there will be many temptations to leave the word of God, to, as I have sometimes heard, ‘move on’ from a simple biblical faith to see what is black and white actually as rather more complicated and nuanced…”
The Business of GAFCON
“I remember being part of a meeting about fifteen years ago. One of the people in the room said something simple but effective.
He pointed out that the two sides of the debate about sexuality had different strategies. If you wanted change, the strategy was long term and incremental. What you needed was courage to keep talking about the issue and constantly, though slightly, breaking the boundary. You then needed patience to wait for the institution to concede, inch by inch. It would take twenty years, he said (!), but victory would be yours.
But what if you wanted to maintain the position which all Christians had believed was the truth based on the word of God? For you, this was much more difficult.”
– GAFCON General Secretary Peter Jensen explains the need for, and the business of, GAFCON in his latest post. Essential reading.
Scottish Episcopal Church to vote on gay marriage in church
“The Scottish Episcopal Church will hold a historic vote later on whether to allow gay couples to marry in church.
If the vote is passed, it will become the first Anglican Church in the UK to allow same-sex marriage.
However, it will also leave the Church at odds with most of the rest of the worldwide Anglican Communion. …”
– BBC News report.
With the GAFCON press conference to be held early tomorrow, Australian time.
World Environment Day – ‘Connect with nature’
“The message today for International Environment Day is ‘connect with nature’ and this is what Jesus constantly advised his followers to do. …
Take off your shoes to listen to the voice of God in nature, hear the cry of the earth…”
– Published by the Anglican Communion News Service. Mystical environmentalism has replaced the gospel and evangelism in far too many Anglican churches.
The Crisis of ’77
This month marks the 40th anniversary of ‘church union’ – the formation of the Uniting Church in Australia, by the amalgamation of the Methodist and Congregational Churches, as well as around two-thirds of the Presbyterians.
It also marks the 40th anniversary of the Presbyterian Church of Australia ‘continuing’ – with a number of ministers and parishes choosing not to join the UCA – many convinced that ‘Uniting’ would take them down a liberal path, and ultimately away from ‘the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints’ (Jude 3) .
In a 2004 speech in Melbourne, the Rev. Bob Thomas shared his personal reflections on the events of 1977.
(Bob Thomas was for many years the Editor of Australian Presbyterian Life, served as Moderator-General, and is currently Editor of New Life Christian newspaper. He is also the Minister of St. Kilda Presbyterian Church.)
Why did members walk out of the 1974 General Assembly of Australia, to a hall across the street, after it had voted to ‘go Uniting’? What was their experience? Who did they discover to be their friends? You may, or may not, be surprised.
At a time when believers in England, Scotland and elsewhere are thinking about what future they have in their increasingly liberal denominations, the Presbyterian experience is worth learning about.
Download The Crisis of ’77 as a 2.3MB PDF file, courtesy of The Rev. Bob Thomas.
Crest courtesy of the Presbyterian Church of Australia.
Related:
Burning Or Bushed? – The Presbyterian Church of Australia 40 Years On, about union and its aftermath, edited by Paul Cooper and David Burke, will be launched at the NSW Presbyterian General Assembly in July. (Click the link above to pre-order a copy.)
GAFCON Missionary Bishop for Scotland
Via Anglican Mainstream:
“On 8 June 2017, the Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church (SEC) is scheduled to vote to finalise a change to their canons that would attempt to redefine marriage. If this action is taken by the SEC it will further marginalise faithful Anglicans in Scotland who seek to uphold Jesus’ teaching on marriage.
This change comes in the context of a global reformation that is happening in the Anglican Communion. While Anglican provinces such as The Episcopal Church (USA), Anglican Church of Canada, and Scottish Episcopal Church are rejecting the authority of the Bible, faithful Anglicans are uniting through Gafcon to proclaim and defend the unchanging truth in a changing world.
Recognising the pastoral need that arose following the initial SEC vote (in June 2016), in April of this year the Gafcon Primates authorised the consecration of a Missionary Bishop to care for those who seek to remain faithful to the scriptures and Jesus’ teaching on marriage.
On 8 June 2017 Gafcon will hold a press conference in Edinburgh, Scotland at 5pm.
At this press conference the Missionary Bishop will be announced and introduced. He will be joined by a Gafcon Primate and representatives of those whose fellowship with the SEC will be broken by the Synod decision.”
Related: Remnant in Scotland find hope through Gafcon.
Forty-forty vision
“Thursday 22nd June marks forty years of a refocussed and refreshed church.
The Presbyterian Church of Australia (PCA) is almost unrecognisable from what it was in the 1960s. I suggest each congregation might pause during the week of 22 June … to pray for the PCA and thank the Lord for all the fruit of our renewal. We belong to a blessed church.
Four decades represents a significant milestone. We learn from the Scriptures that God required Moses to spend forty years in the wilderness country of Midian before engaging in his life’s mission. Moses needed to learn to be a faithful provider for his own family and to care for his father-in-law’s sheep prior to the trust of looking after God’s flock. It was a probationary period for Moses. Are we emerging from forty years probation?
If so, what has the Lord released us to do?…”
– John P Wilson, Moderator-General of the Presbyterian Church of Australia, gives thanks – and asks some probing questions – as the Presbyterian Church of Australia marks forty years of ‘continuing’.
(The Uniting Church was formed on 22nd June 1977 by the amalgamation of the Methodist, Congregational and most Presbyterian churches in Australia. The continuing Presbyterian Church of Australia has largely returned to its Evangelical and Reformed roots.)
How God sustained two faithful churches through tough times
From GAFCON:
“This article looks back 10 years and examines two churches in the USA which faced ruin because they took a courageous stand for biblical truth. We consider the severe trials they faced, how they responded, how God acted and where they stand today.
The first story concerns the Anglican Church of The Good Shepherd, Binghamton, New York.…”
– Two stories of encouragement from the USA.
From our archives: Earlier posts mentioning The Church of the Good Shepherd in Binghamton. (Not all of the older links are still active.)
What can Rome learn from the Anglican Church?
Would it be “processes of synodal life”?
From a Vatican Radio report:
“‘Walking together on the way’ is the title of a new document to be published by the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission, whose members met this month in Erfurt, Germany.
Despite some ‘difficult conversations’ and ‘hard questions’ over the past year, the Anglican and Catholic theologians who make up ARCIC III managed, at the May 14th to 20th meeting, to conclude the first part of their mandate, finding agreement on ways in which the two Churches are structured at local, regional and universal levels. …”
The Secularisation of the Church of Scotland
“Much to no-one’s surprise, the Church of Scotland General Assembly has just voted to accept the Theological Forum’s report which changes the Churches definition of marriage to include same sex marriages and to apologise to gay people for their previous understanding.
I know there are various caveats and nuances but that is the reality of what has just happened – and although some will say ‘its not over’ – in the eyes of the Kirk, it’s a done deal.
One of the devil’s greatest tricks is that he loves to sow confusion and doubt, and thereby cause division. Yesterday was a great example of that. …”
– At The Wee Flea, David Robertson in Dundee looks what the Church of Scotland General Assembly’s decisions really mean.
Church of Scotland Assembly agrees on apology to gay people
“The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland has approved an apology to gay people for the history of discrimination they have faced in the Church.
Commissioners also approved a report which could pave the way to allow some ministers to conduct same sex marriages in the future. …
Professor Torrance told commissioners that the Church’s journey on the issue had parallels with the one it has taken on the ordination of women in the 1960s.”
– Report from The Church of Scotland. Photo credit: Church of Scotland.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…