Recovering the priority of relationships

“Some recent conversations to which I have been a party suggest we talk a good game when it comes to the priority of relationships while our practice is practically indistinguishable from the relational desert inhabited by those around us.

Is there, as some people are beginning to suggest, a sad disconnect between our confession and life at this point?”

– Mark Thompson asks some fair questions at Theological Theology.

A Dangerous Structure: Can General Synod Stave Off Collapse?

“London’s Lambeth Council has some helpful advice on its website  about dangerous structures: ‘If you notice a building or structure that appears to be in a dangerous condition, or in serious neglect, an engineer will inspect the problem and take the necessary action. If the structure is unsafe, but there is no immediate danger, then the owner will be contacted to make it safe – if they don’t, they may face enforcement action.’

There is no question of course that the material fabric of Lambeth Palace, the historic London home of the Archbishop of Canterbury, is in good order. In fact, the Archbishop’s website  reassures us that there are ’plans for future work to upgrade the fabric of the Palace’, but the spiritual fabric of the Church over which he presides is looking increasingly precarious.…”

– Charles Raven observes how quickly the Church of England is losing the plot.

Shedding some Light on Twilight

“The highly anticipated third film in the wildly popular Twilight series opens today. … The first two movies — Twilight and New Moon — took in a sensational $1.1 billion at the box office. In 2009 and 2010, the movies topped the teen choice awards, and swept virtually all the categories at the MTV Movie Awards.  Twilight has become the hottest love story of our time. It’s a teen rage, and a significant cultural phenomenon.

The question that I always ask, when I see something so grip the hearts and minds of women, is “Why?”. And it was this question that was foremost in my mind when I finally sat down a couple weeks ago to watch and analyze the first two movies…”

– Helpful analysis from Mary Kassian. (h/t Tim Challies.)

A Canonical Analysis of ‘Mitregate’

AS Haley (the Anglican Curmudgeon) looks at the fuss about why Katharine Jefferts Schori had to apply for a license to officiate as a priest (and not a bishop) at Southwark Cathedral last week.

(Photo: ENS.)

All you need is ‘love’

Bishop Michael Bird, Anglican Diocese of Niagara, in a letter to the National Post , claims –

“… whether a man loves a woman or another man, or a woman loves a man or another woman, to God it is all love …”

– in response to this article about St. Hilda’s Anglican Church Oakville, which left the Anglican Church of Canada.

h/t the Anglican Essential Canada blog. (Photo: Diocese of Niagara.)

Checked your lectionary lately?

An Episcopal blogger has noticed that some passages are mysteriously omitted from the Revised Common Lectionary used in the Episcopal Church –

“You see, during the weekdays, the RCL usually reads straight through a book of the Bible so that you can get through the entire Gospel of Luke for example in a series of daily readings. But look at what happens to Paul’s letter to the Romans between Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.”

– Story here.

TEC and Friends: Inclusion with Attitude

“Although TEC’s Presiding Bishop, Katherine Jefferts Schori, avoided an explicit attack on Rowan Williams in her sermon at Southwark Cathedral yesterday, it is clear that TEC and its allies are becoming more militant and that far from suggesting that the Windsor Covenant process has at last found teeth, the Archbishop’s attempt to discipline TEC only underlines its ineffectiveness…”

– Charles Raven comments.

Divorced Bishops in the C of E: another nail in the coffin?

“One of the most depressing experiences I ever had in a Diocesan Synod was the morning on which ours debated the proposals to change the Church’s regulations on the remarriage of divorcees.

Until 2002, considering the many other ‘easings’ of the Church of England’s doctrinal adherences, its position on divorce and remarriage had remained remarkably consistent with a traditionalist understanding of Scripture…”

– John Richardson wonders what else can happen once Biblical teaching is ignored.

The Amazing Technicolor Multifaith Theology School

“The leftward march of liberal Protestantism is hardly news, but on occasion a development arises that serves as something of a parable of that trajectory. Such is the case this week with news from California that the Claremont School of Theology, a school historically related to the United Methodist Church, is transforming itself into a multifaith center for the training of clergy…

What this implies, of course, is that ministers, priests, rabbis, and imams, along with Buddhist and Hindu spiritual leaders, are just different varieties of clergy…”

– Albert Mohler’s latest column. (Photo: This sign on a Sydney church last week reflects similar sentiments.)

Confusion reigns

Canterbury’s continuing chaos: does anyone know what is going on?

“The fallout for the Anglican Communion following the consecration of Mary Glasspool is, for many of us, becoming more confusing by the day…”

– John Richardson’s post is worth reading in full.

Leadership: Casting the Right Vision

In some Christian circles at the moment there is quite a deal of talk about leadership and vision. It is the language of international politics with aspiring Prime Ministers and Presidents seeking to position themselves as genuine leaders with expansive (and yet still economically responsible) vision. As so often happens, churches then echo the concerns and the rhetoric of the community at large.   Read more

Gifted Individualism is not Leadership — Church Record editorial

Editorial from the June 2010 Australian Church Record –

One of the great privileges of being part of the Lord’s people is rubbing shoulders with so many gifted people. Paul’s image of ‘the body’ (1 Corinthians 12) displays such a beautiful picture of the organic unity that exists amongst God’s people. Here we find the Spirit of God has baptised all of us into the body-life of the congregation, and God has richly gifted his people. This is so that the body-life can function well, with security and stability, thus promoting the movement towards ‘growing up into the head (Christ)’, our ultimate maturity (Ephesians 4).

At least two factors in the last half-century have placed ‘giftedness’ firmly on the agenda, especially when it comes to discussions of ‘leadership’. The first is within ‘Christian culture’, namely, the influence of neo-pentecostalism. This has made it almost axiomatic for Christians to wonder about the gifts the Spirit may have distributed to them. The second (and related) factor comes from general culture, namely, the so-called ‘sixties revolution’, a phenomenon which simmered across the decade, came to a head in 1968, and then continued to bring massive cultural transformation across the seventies and beyond.   Read more

Disorganised Doubt

Charles Raven:

“It seemed to me that pretty much all that needed to be said about Rowan Williams’  Pentecost letter ‘Renewal in the Spirit’  had been said, with general agreement that his rebuke of the American Episcopal Church for proceeding with the consecration of Mary Glasspool was little more than a token gesture. Although his admission that the Communion has not ‘found a way of shaping our consciences and convictions as a worldwide body’ was surprisingly frank, he had nothing new to offer for the future beyond a plea for diversity and ‘mutual exploration’ within the framework of the now widely discredited Covenant process.

Yet when I heard the first of this years’ BBC Radio 4 Reith lectures by the eminent cosmologist and astrophysicist Professor Martin Rees, his description of the scientific enterprise as ‘organised doubt’ set in motion a train of thought which led me to think that the term ‘disorganised doubt’ could shed some light on why Dr Williams and the other ‘instruments of unity’ are incapable of restoring coherence to an increasingly disordered Communion…”

– read it all at SPREAD.

Some thoughts for Trinity Sunday

“In the Church of England’s calendar, today is Trinity Sunday, but time was when the Church of England seemed to become a bit embarrassed about this.

Indeed the calendar was re-written so that Sundays after Trinity, which run from now until the run-up to Christmas became Sundays after Pentecost. Pentecost seemed much more in keeping with the new mood of the Church. Pentecost was about experience — present experience of the Spirit in the life of the Church and the believer. Trinity seemed to be about an obscure doctrine rooted in the Church’s past…”

– John Richardson writes.

Time to end the Nanny Church?

“In our area… we have been told to come up with a deanery mission strategy. But we cannot control our budget and we cannot control our staff — the ‘quota’ we pay to diocesan central funds is set by the diocesan centre, and is increasingly beyond the reach of dwindling congregations of elderly people. But we are rated as a ‘rich’ area, so the level is set accordingly.

At the same time, however, the number of clergy we are allowed to deploy is restricted to what we are allowed by the bishops, so we cannot increase the workforce who might increase the membership…”

– John Richardson also wonders about the future of the Church of England.

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