Joint statement by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York on ‘gay wedding’
“We have heard the reports of the recent service in St Bartholomew the Great with very great concern. We cannot comment on the specific circumstances because they are the subject of an investigation launched by the Bishop of London.
On the general issue, however, the various reference points for the Church of England’s approach to human sexuality (1987 Synod motion, 1991 Bishops’ Statement Issues in Human Sexuality, Lambeth motion 1:10, House of Bishops’ 2005 statement on civil partnerships) are well known and remain current.
Those clergy who disagree with the Church’s teaching are at liberty to seek to persuade others within the Church of the reasons why they believe, in the light of Scripture, tradition and reason that it should be changed. But they are not at liberty simply to disregard it.”
– from the Archbishop of Canterbury’s website. (Photo: Abp of Canterbury’s website.)
From the Files: The Limits of Fellowship
Dean Phillip Jensen’s paper, The Limits of Fellowship, was delivered at the Sydney Lambeth Decision Briefing, at St. Andrew’s Cathedral, Sydney, on Friday 14th March 2008.
With whom can, and should, we have Christian fellowship? And when should we withdraw fellowship? These are important questions for turbulent times in the Anglican Communion.
‘Why I blessed gay clergymen’s relationship’
Robustly heterosexual since early adolescence, unable to see that any love surpasses the love of women, and once branded by the odious Daily Mail as ‘Dud the Stud’, I may seem miscast in the role into which I have now been thrust, that of the turbulent rebellious priest who defies bishop and archbishop to bless two gay men, also priests, in their civil partnership.
Yet there is a sense in which I have been moving towards this point for more than thirty years. The 1970s shaped my thinking. …
– Dr. Martin Dudley, the Rector of St Bartholomew the Great in the City of London, explains his actions to New Statesman.
Anglican unity strained as conservatives prepare for key conference
Conservative Anglican leaders from around the world are preparing for a gathering to discuss the way ahead amid a deepening rift over homosexuality, just days after news broke about the ‘wedding’ of two male Anglican priests in Britain.
More than 1,000 Anglicans clergy and laity, including 280 bishops, many from Africa, are planning to attend the invitation-only Global Anglican Future Conference, to be held in Jerusalem from June 22-29. …
The Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement (LGCM), a British organization… said “the power-hungry Global South and the separatist and divisive GAFCON-ites” were trying to take over the Communion.
– Report from CNSNews.com.
Billy Graham team nearly 50 years on
Many Sydney Anglicans remember with thankfulness the 1959 Bill Graham Crusade. It had a profound impact on Australia. We thought you would find this press release of interest –
An Australian and American film crew have just completed US filming for a television and DVD special on the 1959 visit to Australia of Billy Graham.
Host Karl Faase interviewed Crusade soloist George Beverly Shea and song leader and compere Cliff Barrows at ‘The Cove’, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association’s conference centre in Ashfield, North Carolina. Read more
Reform urges UK General Synod to ‘pull back from the brink’ On Women Bishops
Statement from Reform, Monday 16th June
Reform is urging members of General Synod to “pull back from the brink” of the “deep division” that voting for a single-clause Measure on women bishops would cause.
Rod Thomas, Reform’s chairman and a member of General Synod, said: “A refusal by Synod to provide legal provisions for those who disagree with women bishops is tantamount to a clear decision to exclude many faithful Anglicans from the Church of England. We want to urge Synod members to pull back from the brink, to recognise the deep division that will occur if no legislative provisions are made.” Read more
Reform statement on the ‘gay wedding’
Statement from Reform, Monday 16th June 2008
News of the service of blessing for the union of two male clergy at St Bartholomew’s church in the City of London last month has brought to a head the issue of whether or not the Church of England intends to remain faithful to the Bible’s revelation.
The Church of England now faces the same sort of division as the Episcopal Church of the USA. Our only hope of preventing this is for bishops to exercise swift and clear discipline. Unless this happens, the floodgates of indiscipline will open. There is no longer any room for carefully constructed statements designed to hold everyone together in an uneasy truce. Schism in the church is being caused not by orthodox believers but by clergy pursuing a liberal agenda. Read more
Glasgow Cathedral to mark Lambeth
The Very Reverend Kelvin Holdsworth, Rector & Provost of St. Mary’s Cathedral, Glasgow, shares how the cathedral will mark the Lambeth Conference –
“At the end of the service, I made the following announcement: ‘I have been giving much thought as to how we should mark the Lambeth Conference this summer. All the duly consecrated bishops of the Anglican Communion have been invited to Canterbury for a conference with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams. Well, all bar one…’”
– from Rev. Holdsworth’s blog. (Photo: Glasgow Cathedral.)
Bishop Peter Brain going to both
The Anglican Church is facing ‘a watershed month’ with two significant international conferences – and Armidale’s Bishop Peter Brain will be at both.
Bishop Brain will attend the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) in Jerusalem from June 22-29 and the Lambeth Conference from July 16 to August 4 at the University of Kent’s Canterbury campus. …
Bishop Brain – the only Australian Bishop going to both conferences – said, however, that he was going to Lambeth ‘because I feel I want to have a say’.
“Certainly, my sympathies are with the GAFCON bishops, my theological loyalties all lie in that direction,” he said. …
– Story from The Armidale Express. (Photo: Diocese of Armidale.)
GAFCON leadership team meets in Jordan
The massive undertaking that is the Global Anglican Future Conference is days away from starting in Jerusalem.
Archbishop Peter Jensen, along with the Bishop of North Sydney, Glenn Davies and the Academic Dean of Moore College, Dr Mark Thompson will be meeting this week in Jordan with the conference leadership team in preparation for the seven days of prayer, Bible study and fellowship that will follow in Israel. …
– by Russell Powell at SydneyAnglicans.net. See also the linked video in which Archbishop Peter Jensen talks about GAFCON.
No place like home – St John’s Shaughnessy
“I don’t think the people at St John’s have been as happy since Christmas 2001”, commented a member of St John’s Shaughnessy in Vancouver Canada. That was the Christmas before the Synod and the Bishop of the Diocese of New Westminster agreed to permit parishes to bless same-sex unions. …
– SydneyAnglicans.net have published this report by Mark Calder on his recent time with St John’s Shaughnessy. Please be encouraged to pray for the members of St. John’s.
TEC ‘seizes property’ in San Joaquin
“The Episcopal Bishop of San Joaquin, Jerry Lamb has seized the property of the 18-member St Andrew’s Church in Taft, California … changed the locks on the parish doors and told the priest-in-charge that he was out and not to return. …”
– Report from VirtueOnline. (Photo: Diocese of Northern California.)
1 Corinthians 6 and legal proceedings
M E M O R A N D U M
Date: June 4, 2008
From: J.I. Packer
Re: 1 Cor 6 and Legal Proceedings regarding properties maintained, occupied and used for ministry by ANiC congregations
1. At Corinth, for no better reason apparently than litigiousness or greed, or maybe revenge, believers were taking each other to court before pagan judges (vss. 1, 6). Paul rebukes them, saying:
- This dishonours God, flaunting failure in the church by washing dirty Christian linen in public;
- This dishonours the church, implying that none of its members is fit to judge even small cases, when God is in fact equipping them all to judge major matters (involving angels!) one day;
- This dishonours the Christian calling, which requires willingness to be defrauded rather than disrupt fellowship.
This, however, is not the situation ANiC faces. …
– Read the full Memorandum (PDF file – updated link) on the Anglican Network in Canada website. (Photo: Ed Hird.)
The future may rest in Africa
The Lambeth Conference is held every 10 years by Anglicans worldwide to celebrate, pray and work out issues that are bound to arise in any large family. That is, until now. …
At least four Anglican provinces – Rwanda, Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda – are expected to stay away next month because of what they see as the Church’s drifting into permissiveness and sin, especially in North America. Those four national churches not only represent a startling 30 million members – more than a third of the total global membership – but also the region likely to become the new spiritual centre of the faith. The numbers help tell the tale: Canada and the United States are closing churches as membership plummets; in Africa, they cannot build churches fast enough to keep up with demand. …
– Story by Charles Lewis, National Post, Canada.
Anger at Anglican gay ‘wedding’
Traditionalists in the Anglican Church have been angered by reports that two gay clergymen have exchanged vows in a version of a marriage ceremony.
The service, at St Bartholomew the Great Church in the City of London last month, used formal rites and was said to be the first in the Anglican Church. …
– Report from the BBC. See also this story from MailOnline.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…