The Trigger-Happy Church
Who’s suing who?
Christian lawyer A S Haley, who blogs at Anglican Curmudgeon, provides links to some of the lawsuits going on in the Episcopal Church.
Interesting reading.
Reactions to Lambeth span spectrum
The Episcopal News Service has produced a summary – with links – to a range of reactions to Lambeth. You can read it here.
(Photo: Lambeth Conference media.)
‘He just slipped away, our noble prince’
Canterbury, England
I am glad I came here for this Lambeth and worshipped one last time in the Cathedral home of Augustine and Dunstan, Anselm and Becket, Cranmer and Laud, Temple and Ramsay. I had come to speak a word of hope and perhaps to intervene on behalf of our beloved, but in the last resolve the family refused the long needed measures. So he just slipped away, our noble prince, one dreary morning in Canterbury with hardly even a death rattle.
The new prince was born last month in Jerusalem. I was there—arriving late, departing early. I was never quite sure what I was witnessing. It was an awkward and messy birth. He hardly struck me as I gazed upon him there in the bassinet as quite ready to be heir to the throne. I even wondered at times if there might be some illegitimacy to his bloodlines. But that I fear was my over weddedness to a white and European world. May he live long, and may his tribe increase—and may he remember with mercy all those who merely mildly neglected his birth.
As for me my role for now is clear, to hold together as much as I can for as long as I can that when he comes to his rightful place on St. Augustine’s throne in Canterbury Cathedral he will have a faithful and richly textured kingdom. …
– From Bishop Mark Lawrence of South Carolina.
(See also, from March 2008, Bishop Mark Lawrence upholds the uniqueness of Christ.)
Photo: Bill Murton, Diocese of South Carolina.
Archbishop Peter Jensen on Lambeth 2008
Statement from the Archbishop of Sydney, Dr Peter Jensen
4th August 2008
“We have been praying for the Lambeth conference and now that it has ended we look forward to talking with those who were there.
It seems it has fulfilled the desires of the Archbishop of Canterbury and we also look forward to hearing from him.
Our absence focussed minds on the problems within the communion and spoke louder than our presence would have. However, the issues which have caused such division are still before us and require decisive action so that the mission of the church will not be further impaired.”
Lambeth ‘failure’ featured on ABC Radio
This morning’s AM programme on ABC Radio covered the conclusion of the Lambeth Conference.
Audio of the segment (in which Gene Robinson describes Bible-believing bishops as ‘bullies’) is now available from the ABC website. Direct link to mp3 file. (The 1.5MB file runs for 3 minutes 15 seconds.)
Lambeth ends: TEC PB’s statement
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori at the conclusion of the 2008 Lambeth Conference:
“… The Anglican Communion is suffering the birth pangs of something new, which none of us can yet fully appreciate or understand, yet we know that the Spirit continues to work in our midst. …”
– read the full statement via the Episcopal News Service.
Also worth reading: Galatians 1:3-9.
(Photo: Episcopal Life Online.)
Communion broken, patient dying from wounds
From the beginning, numerous voices here at Canterbury have been saying that this was the Archbishop’s show – start to finish – his to win or his to lose.
He’s functioned admirably as teacher and retreat leader. His lectures were excellent. He succeeded in keeping everyone here talking. Meanwhile Canterbury has added the weight of history. This is the mother church of the Communion.
The Communion gathered here at Canterbury is broken.
The Episcopal Church has run helter skelter through its ranks and left devastation – a rogue elephant that simply will not be reigned in. The problem is it’s a very wealthy rogue and the trail of money is everywhere. …
– The Rev. Todd Wetzel reports from Canterbury at the end of the Lambeth Conference for Anglicans United and Latimer Online.
Bishop Lawrence: GAFCON is heir apparent
The Global Anglican Fellowship Conference (GAFCON) is the heir apparent to assume leadership of the Anglican Communion, said three bishops during an informal media briefing this afternoon at the Lambeth Conference.
Bishops Mark Lawrence of South Carolina and Keith Ackerman of Quincy were joined by Bishop Hector Zavala of Chile from the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone on the campus of the University of Kent, Canterbury, shortly before Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams was scheduled to deliver his final presidential address of the conference. …
– Report from The Living Church. (Photo: Bill Murton, Diocese of South Carolina.)
Archbishop Mouneer Anis at Lambeth press conference
“From my experience of the Bible studies and of the Indaba discussions I see a great wall being put up by revisionists against those orthodox who believe in the authority of Scripture. The revisionists among us push upon us the view that current secular culture and not the Bible should shape our mission and morals. In this we are not divided by mere trivialities, or issues on the periphery of faith but on essentials.
I am shocked to say that we are finding it very hard to come together on even the essentials of the faith we once received from the Apostles. …”
– Archbishop Mouneer Anis, Primate of the Middle East, at a Lambeth press conference. Text via Global South Anglican.
Bishop Richard Ellena of Nelson: Lambeth an expensive exercise in futility
Stand Firm has published, with permission, a letter from Bishop Richard Ellena of the New Zealand Diocese of Nelson:
We are now in the last couple of days of Lambeth and I am feeling deeply sad.
I don’t know why at the moment – everything I came here hoping for looks set to be agreed to:
It is very likely that the Windsor continuation report will be approved – which means that a moratoria on gay bishops will continue etc….
And it seems likely that a covenant process will be endorsed and a draft agreed to.
All this seems good to me and yet I can’t help this overwhelming sadness.
Because I am more convinced than ever that none of this will help us. Those who have stayed away will not agree to it and will continue their ministry in the States. And TEC will continue to bleat that they won’t follow the moratoria while these Africans continue to ignore it.
I believe (at this stage – and there are still two days to go) that this has been the most expensive exercise in futility that I have every been to. …
– Read the rest of the message at Stand Firm.
Sarah Hey of Stand Firm has also posted online an audio interview with Bishop Ellena.
(Photo: Diocese of Nelson.)
Lambeth 2008: A Conversation with Archbishop Venables
Kevin Kallsen of Anglican TV has posted online a 35 minute video interview with Archbishop Gregory Venables.
Archbishop Venables compares Lambeth with GAFCON and notes that Lambeth has totally ignored GAFCON – it’s as if it didn’t happen.
At Lambeth? “We haven’t talked about the gospel. We haven’t talked about salvation.” “The toothpaste has been squeezed out of the tube and we are not able to put it back again.”
Pittsburgh changes address – just in case
The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh is in the process of moving its online home to www.pitanglican.org. The new address, based on Pittsburgh’s airport code, now is the primary host for the diocesan website and all diocesan staff email accounts.
“We are grateful for the use of our former address, pgh.anglican.org, which has been very kindly loaned to us by the Society of Archbishop Justus for more than a decade. That said, given the diocese’s coming vote on realignment and the decision of the Society earlier this year to take back the Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin’s address after it approved a similar vote, it seemed prudent to make this change now,” said the Rev. Peter Frank, director of communications for the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh.…
– More at pitanglican.org. (See also “San Joaquin website disappears” from March 2008.)
“An Open Door, Pittsburgh Laity Discuss Realignment”
A ten minute video has been produced to help members of the Diocese of Pittsburgh as they consider realigning with the Province of the Southern Cone.
Featuring lay members of churches across the diocese, the stark choice of either staying in The Episcopal Church or leaving is clearly presented. Worth watching as a reminder to pray for these brothers and sisters as their diocesan convention approaches next month.
– The video is available at parishtoolbox.org – a website produced by the Diocese of Pittsburgh. (Photo: Dr. Edith Humphrey narrates the video.)
Bishop speaks of ‘Interfaith relations’ with members of the TEC House of Bishops
Bishop Peter Beckwith of Springfield spoke of his own Christian faith and responded to questions from the media during a 45-minute session at the Lambeth Conference on July 30.
It was one of the few unscripted moments that the media have been able to observe to date at this event, and Bishop Beckwith drew a large group that delayed the start of an official Episcopal News Service media briefing…
[Speaking of some of his TEC episcopal colleagues, he said –]
“It’s not just that we’re not on the same page,” he said. “We are not in the same book. We are in different libraries. I am dealing with interfaith relations within The Episcopal Church.” …
– Report from The Living Church. (Photo: Diocese of Springfield.)
Archbishop Mouneer Anis spells it out
“I find that many of our North American friends blame us and criticise us for bringing in the issues of sexuality and homosexuality but in fact they are the ones who are bringing these issues in. Here at Lambeth, you come across many advertisements for events organised by gay and Lesbian activists which are sponsored by the North American Church.
If you visit the marketplace at the conference, you will notice that almost half the events promoted on the noticeboard promote homosexuality and are sponsored by the North Americans. And in the end, we, the people who remain loyal to the original teaching of the Anglican Communion, which we received from the Apostles, are blamed. They say that we talk a lot about sexuality and that we need to talk more about poverty, about AIDS, and injustice. They are the ones who are bringing sexuality into this conference. It’s not us. We want to talk about the heart of the issues which divide us, not only sexuality. That is just a symptom of a deeper problem. …”
– Archbishop of Egypt, Dr Mouneer H. Anis in “Lambeth Voices: a panel of Anglican bishops share their views with Faith Online” at TimesOnline. (Photo: ENS.)
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…