Canadian diocese declares: in full communion with Anglican Network
LC.net/Canada reports that the Synod of the diocese of Athabasca, in northern Alberta, has broken ranks with the leadership of the national Church by declaring it is “in full communion” with the parishes and bishops who have left the Anglican Church of Canada to join the Anglican Network in Canada.
The Synod reportedly passed these resolutions –
Resolution # 2008-11 – BE IT RESOLVED that the Synod inform the parishes and the bishops who have joined the Anglican Network in Canada and the Province of the Southern Cone that we are in full communion with them.
Resolution # 2008-12 – BE IT RESOLVED that the Synod of the Diocese of Athabasca express its dismay that bishops of dioceses have resorted to secular courts when parishes within those dioceses have found it necessary to align themselves with the Anglican Network in Canada and the Province of the Southern Cone. (emphasis added)
With thanks to lambethconference.net (Photo of Bishop John Clarke: Dio. Athabasca)
Dr J I Packer re-licensed to Southern Cone
Dr J I Packer is one of those re-licensed as an Anglican minister, under the jurisdiction of Archbishop Greg Venables in the Province of the Southern Cone, after he had resigned from the Anglican Church of Canada last week.
Ed Hird, Communications Director for the Anglican Coalition in Canada (and minister of St. Simon’s Anglican Church in North Vancouver), has posted a ‘visual reflection’ on this weekend’s Anglican Network in Canada national conference. (Photo: Ed Hird)
Anglican Communion ‘in first stages of divorce’
The Archbishop of the Southern Cone says the Anglican Communion is in the first stages of divorce.
“I believe that the time comes when a marriage is no longer a marriage and you have to recognise it. With reference to the two positions in Anglicanism at present we are incompatible doctrinally and ethically and quite different in our presuppositions…” said Archbishop Gregory Venables, Primate of the Southern Cone. …
Speaking at a press conference of the Anglican Network in Canada, a conference of 400 orthodox Anglicans meeting near Vancouver, BC, Venables said liberal Christianity does not have a doctrine of salvation or believe that Jesus is uniquely the Son of God. Liberal Christianity is not true Christianity. There is no eternal hope or salvation. …
from David Virtue at VirtueOnline. (Photo: Anglican Network in Canada. L–R: Bishop Don Harvey, Archbishop Greg Venables, Dr J I Packer.)
San Joaquin legal action begins
As has been widely expected, The Episcopal Church has begun legal action against the Diocese of San Joaquin (Southern Cone) –
“The Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin and The Episcopal Church (TEC) filed a complaint in Fresno County Superior Court on April 24 ‘to reclaim possession of the real and personal property belonging to the diocese’. …”
– from Episcopal Life Online.
Update: Anglican Mainstream now has a letter from Bishop Schofield to the members of his diocese.
Vero Beach Florida in ‘amicable separation’
Bishop John Howe, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida, has written to the members of Trinity Episcopal Church Vero Beach, Florida –
“It was agreed that those who wish to disaffiliate from The Episcopal Church will do so as of July 1, 2008. They will leave the historic Trinity Episcopal Church property and organize as a new congregation elsewhere. …”
Read the full letter below – Read more
J I Packer at “Compelled by Christ’s love”
Dr Jim Packer has spoken on the first day of the “Compelled by Christ’s love” conference currently being held in Vancouver.
“May I begin by saying where I come from. If a certain dignitary kept his word and threat, I am here under false pretences. Two days ago I will have been deprived of the ministry to which I was ordained in 1952 and I ought not to be wearing a clerical collar. It is utterly tragic. This led me to resonate deeply with the way Archbishop Venables presented in his talk. I have a joyful heart. …
God is preparing and toughening us for specially demanding conflict. In our call to mission, I suspect that over the next generations it is going to be exceedingly tough as we face secularism and ethnic religions surge which do not tolerate Christianity. The pressure is on and increasing. God is toughening us for mission. …”
Southern Cone bishop lends support
Why can’t Canada’s infighting Anglicans just love each other?
That’s the question one of South America’s high-level Anglicans is bringing to the country – even while he accuses Vancouver-area Anglican Bishop Michael Ingham of not being an authentic Christian for allowing the blessing of same-sex relationships.
“I tell people in Canada not to get filled up with bitterness about the homosexual issue, to just try to allow Christ’s love and generosity to come through,” says Gregory Venables, who was elected primate (senior archbishop) of the Southern Cone in 2001. … “I believe truth is above geography. I place doctrine above jurisdiction,” Venables said, the day before he was to attend a conference at South Delta Baptist Church sponsored by the Anglican Network in Canada, which represents breakaway Anglicans. …
Report by Douglas Todd in the National Post. (Photo: Bill Keay/Canwest News Service)
Second Australian woman bishop announced
This press release has just been issued by Anglican Media Melbourne –
“The Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne, Dr Philip Freier, has announced the appointment of Canon Barbara Darling as an assistant bishop in the Diocese of Melbourne. She is currently the vicar of the parish of St James’, Dandenong.
Canon Darling (60) is only the second woman to be made a bishop in Australia, following the recent appointment of Archdeacon Kay Goldsworthy as an assistant bishop in the Diocese of Perth. Canon Darling will be consecrated as a bishop on 31 May in St Paul’s Cathedral, Melbourne. …”
Read it all here. Canon Darling will be the second woman bishop in Australia.
(The first Australian woman bishop, Kay Goldsworthy, was announced on April 11. At that time, ACL President Dr Mark Thompson said that the Perth decision add “a new level of difficulty to the relationship between the various dioceses in the Anglican Church of Australia and raises a series of significant issues of conscience for those committed to living out the teaching of Scripture, rejoicing in that teaching as God’s good word to us”.)
Update: See also “Women Bishops in Australia” by David Ould, at Stand Firm.
Call for prayer for Zimbabwe this Sunday
Christians worldwide have been asked to make this Sunday (April 27) a special day of prayer for Zimbabwe, “a nation in dire distress and teetering on the brink of human disaster”. The call comes from Bob Stumbles, Chancellor of the Anglican Diocese of Harare. Read the press release via the Anglican Communion News Service.
(Graphic: Anglican Communion Office.)
The flowers are blossoming
“The flowers are blossoming into a kaleidoscope of shapes and colours. The congregations are blossoming with a variety of ministries and languages. The church’s programs are blossoming into vibrant systems of education, assistance, development and growth.
During her short stay in the Diocese of Southeast Florida April 15 – 17, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori journeyed from the northern end of the diocese to the south, visiting five churches and addressing seven gatherings along the way. …”
– What reads like a Messianic visit to Florida, from Episcopal Life Online.
(Photo: Mary Cox / Episcopal Life Online.)
Canadians compelled to act
What force could compel Canadian Anglicans to take drastic action – such as leaving the Anglican Church of Canada, risking pensions and property and reputation?
The answer is something rarely reported in the media: Christ’s love – he died for us (2 Corinthians 5:14-15).
“The Anglican Network in Canada is holding a national conference in the Vancouver area [April 25-26] to celebrate God’s gracious provision, refocus on the mission Christ gave His Church, and delight in the compelling love of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Please pray for all involved in the ANiC National Conference this weekend, that they may continue to focus on the Lord Jesus Christ, and that they may preach his gospel with such clarity and love that he will be glorified as many turn to him for salvation.
Archbishop of Canterbury: Lambeth is for making ‘better bishops’
The Archbishop of Canterbury has set out his hopes for this year’s Lambeth Conference in a video message addressed to Bishops and Dioceses across the Anglican Communion –
“We want to see this year’s conference as an occasion when Bishops learn how to be better Bishops… where people will we hope feel safe enough to share some of the most intimate things about their faith and their situation…”
Read the transcript or watch the Archbishop on YouTube via the Anglican Communion News Service.
Perhaps this would be a very good time to read again any of these –
- The Limits of Fellowship – by Phillip Jensen, Dean of Sydney
- A Crisis in Koinonia – by David Short, Rector of St. John’s Shaughnessy, Vancouver
- The Anglican Debacle: Roots and Patterns – by Dr Mark Thompson, ACL President
- Communion in Crisis: the Way Forward for Evangelicals part 1 part 2 – by Archbishop Peter Jensen, Archbishop of Sydney
Canadians set to make ecclesiastical history
Fourteen bishops, including several archbishops, many from the Global Anglican Communion, led by the Archbishop of the Southern Cone, the Most Rev. Gregory Venables, will make an historic visit to Vancouver, British Columbia, this weekend to officially launch an ecclesial organization that will stand in permanent opposition to the theologically liberal Anglican Church of Canada. …
– Story from VirtueOnline. (Photo: Diocese of Recife.)
For Kenyan Bishop it’s GAFCON
When the Rt. Rev. Dr. Eliud Wabukala, from Bungoma in Western Kenya, was asked why he was going to GAFCON, but not to the Lambeth Conference in July, he told a congregation of Kenyans in his diocese that you don’t go to a place where men marry men. …
The bishop said it was a “hard agonizing decision to make choosing not to go to Lambeth. The question then was what do we do? It became clear to us that we had to go to GAFCON.”…
David Virtue interviews The Rt. Rev. Dr. Eliud Wabukala for VirtueOnline.
(Photo: kenya2007.com.)
Canadian Anglican Clergy deny charges
Anglican Network in Canada – 21 April 2008
“We have therefore determined that in order to uphold our ordination vows, we must leave your jurisdiction, and by this letter, we hereby relinquish the licences we hold from the Bishop of New Westminster.”
Clergy in six Lower Mainland Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC) churches today denied charges they have abandoned their ministry.
In February, Bishop Michael Ingham of the Anglican Church of Canada Diocese of New Westminster issued a “Notice of Presumption of Abandonment of the Exercise of the Ministry” to nine Anglican priests and two ordained deacons. These priests and deacons – including world renowned theologian, the Rev Dr J I Packer – all serve in churches where parishioners had voted to join the Anglican Network in Canada.
In their response, the clergy and deacons point out the glaring lack of evidence as required by church canons (bylaws). They then declare that they continue to be actively engaged in the Anglican ministry to which they were ordained and intend to continue to minister in the Anglican Church – however, not under the jurisdiction of Bishop Ingham and his diocese, both of which have departed from historic orthodox Anglican teaching and practice in defiance of the Lambeth Conference, the Windsor Report and the Primates of the global Anglican Communion.
The clergy conclude their response by declaring: “We have… determined that in order to uphold our ordination vows, we must leave your jurisdiction, and by this letter, we hereby relinquish the licences we hold from the Bishop of New Westminster. Each of us will receive a licence to continue our present parish ministries from Bishop Donald Harvey, who, as you know, is under the jurisdiction of the Primate of the Southern Cone. In this way, we will be able to continue our Anglican ministry within the Anglican Church, under the jurisdiction of and in communion with those who remain faithful to historic, orthodox Anglicanism and as part of the Anglican Communion worldwide.” The two deacons signed a similar statement.
Members of the Anglican Network in Canada are committed to remaining faithful to Holy Scripture and established Anglican doctrine and to ensuring that orthodox Canadian Anglicans are able to remain in full communion with their Anglican brothers and sisters around the world. Since it launched its ecclesial structure last November under the jurisdiction of the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone, ANiC has received two bishops – Donald Harvey and Malcolm Harding – and 15 parishes.
The text of the statement released may be seen here (pdf) – or here below –
Statement by nine Anglican Network in Canada clergy to
Bishop Michael InghamDelivered April 21, 2008
We, the undersigned clergy, are writing in response to the Notice of Presumption of Abandonment of Ministry that you have sent to each of us. We would like to point out that the Notice is not in compliance with the Canons in that it does not set out the required facts but simply repeats the language of the Canon. The canonical process has therefore not been engaged.
We have not abandoned the “ministry to which we were ordained”. Each of us was ordained into Anglican ministry; indeed, we were ordained into ministry in the “Church of God” as per our ordination vows. We have been privileged to serve in the Anglican ministry for many years and it is our intention and prayer that we may continue in the Anglican ministry.
Further, it is our intention to remain members of the Anglican Church. We are not leaving the Anglican Church to become members of another church or to minister in another church, which is the concern of Canon XIX.
However, with deep reluctance and regret we have concluded that we cannot continue the Anglican ministry to which we were ordained under your jurisdiction. The Diocese, under your leadership, has departed from historic, orthodox Anglican teaching and practice. It has departed from what the Primates have unanimously recognized as the standard of teaching of the Anglican Communion. The Diocese is in a state of broken or impaired communion with the majority of Anglicans worldwide. Sadly, it appears the Anglican Church of Canada has now similarly departed from Anglican teaching and practice.
We have therefore determined that in order to uphold our ordination vows, we must leave your jurisdiction, and by this letter, we hereby relinquish the licences we hold from the Bishop of New Westminster. Each of us will receive a licence to continue our present parish ministries from Bishop Donald Harvey, who, as you know, is under the jurisdiction of the Primate of the Southern Cone. In this way, we will be able to continue our Anglican ministry within the Anglican Church, under the jurisdiction of and in communion with those who remain faithful to historic, orthodox Anglicanism and as part of the Anglican Communion worldwide.
Signed by:
Rev. Dr. James I. Packer
Rev. Dr. Trevor Walters
Rev. David Short
Rev. Simon Chin
Rev. Stephen Leung
Rev. Dr. Archie Pell
Rev. James Wagner
Rev. Dan Gifford
Rev. Mike Stewart.
See also the Anglican Network in Canada website.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…