‘Another day, another reason to dislike WikiLeaks’
“Listening to Radio 4’s Sunday programme this morning, there was an interview with Andrew Brown from the Guardian in which he said something like this: that the reason the WikiLeaks cables were so useful was that, unlike journalists, they could disclose their sources, because those who sent them assumed that they were speaking confidentially — “But of course, they were not.”
Now this was interesting, coming as it did from a journalist…”
– This last week John Richardson has been posting some thoughtful comments on the Wikileaks saga – at The Ugley Vicar. Today’s is no exception.
After women bishops, what next?
“I’ve not had time to follow the Synod debate on women bishop’s much less to comment. However, I was having a discussion with some of our own folks on Thursday night, where I observed that the introduction of women bishops is by no means the end of the line, for there are explicit indications amongst the chief supporters of the consecration of women that our theology and liturgy are also in line for changes.
Just to give an idea of what this entails, I have simply cut and pasted the following from a paper on the WATCH website:…”
– John Richardson writes about moves for women bishops at the Church of England General Synod (which meets until Tuesday).
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.
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.
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.
Where do we go from here? — Fulcrum
The leadership team of Fulcrum, the Church of England’s ‘open evangelical’ group seems to have accepted the reality of the situation in the Anglican Communion in a post on their website –
“The bishops and Standing Committees of The Episcopal Church (USA) have consented to the election of Mary Glasspool as bishop suffragan in the diocese of Los Angeles. That consent sadly confirms that TEC is determined to ignore all the repeated appeals of the wider Communion and, in the closing words of The Windsor Report, ‘walk apart’…
It is important that this is not simply a matter of disagreement about biblical interpretation and sexual ethics although these are central and important. It is now very clearly also a fundamental matter of truth-telling and trust.”
– Read the full article.
And John Richardson comments: ‘Fulcrum: their challenge to Canterbury and the challenge they must face’.
“Understandably, the statement is at pains to recognise Rowan Williams’s past efforts. Yet it is remarkably frank in the call it now makes upon him…”
(Photo courtesy ACNS/Rosenthal.)
Liverpool’s Muddy Waters flow towards Africa
“The Bishop of Liverpool, the Rt Revd James Jones, has today shown just what a liability the Church of England is becoming to the rest of the Anglican Communion. Liverpool stands to the north of the estuary of the great Mersey River, now cleansed and restored to life after the pollution of the industrial age, but its spiritual waters are being sadly muddied.
In his Presidential Address to the Liverpool Diocesan Synod, Bishop Jones argues that the Church of England and the Anglican Communion should embrace diversity and accept that those who believe homosexual relationships are morally wrong and those who believe that, within a ‘stable and faithful relationship’, they are right can enjoy a peaceful co-existence.
He is of course by no means the first bishop of the Church of England to put this argument forward, but this is a significant moment because he is a prominent evangelical. …
But what is particularly arresting about the Bishop of Liverpool’s address is its scope. It presents a vision which does not stop at the boundaries of his own diocese. His plea is ‘that the Church of England and the Anglican Communion must allow a variety of ethical views on the subject as in this Diocese we do’ and he adds ‘This is I believe the next chapter to be written in the Church of England and the Anglican Communion. It is the chapter that is already being written in our Partnership in Mission with the Diocese of Virginia and with the Diocese of Akure in Nigeria.’”
– from Charles Raven’s latest commentary (6th March 2010) at SPREAD.
Read the bishop’s Presidential Address.
See also:
Commentary from John Richardson – “Bishop James Jones and the challenge to unity”
“The number of traditionalist clergy in the Diocese of Liverpool may be large or small, but they must surely be waking up this morning with troubled consciences. The Bishop has declared not only his own position but, ostensibly, that of his diocese as being one which accepts diversity on sexuality.”
Peter Ould also weighs in – “Why James Jones is Wrong”
(Photo: Diocese of Liverpool.)
Classic Anglican fudge
John Richardson writes about one fudge after another in the Church of England –
“Let us go back, for a moment, to the decision to ordain women into the priesthood of the Church of England, taken in 1992 — or rather, let us go back to the ‘indecision’ … the Church itself spoke about the introduction of women priests as being a ‘process of reception’. That is to say, it was not prepared to commit itself to saying that this was exactly right — rather the approach would be ‘suck it and see’.”
– Read his full post at The Ugley Vicar.
Rowan’s Roman Bluff
“For a man hardly renowned for his robustness, the recent speech given in Rome by the Archbishop of Canterbury was remarkably robust. Of course, it was given partly in response to the announcement from Rome on October 20th of effectively a ‘safe haven’ for Anglicans disenchanted by the policies of the Church over which Rowan Williams presides…”
– John Richardson also writes about the Archbishop of Canterbury’s address in Rome — at The Ugley Vicar.
Where now, after October 20th?
“As long ago as 1971, Dr Martin Lloyd-Jones wrote a book titled, What is an Evangelical? John Stott addressed the same issue in 1977, as did Mark Thompson as recently as 1995 in a book titled Saving the Heart? subtitled, What is an evangelical?
However, in recent years the evangelical identity has become even more diffuse, even within Anglicanism…”
– John Richardson gave this address at Forward in Faith’s Manchester branch last weekend. (It was on October 20th that the Vatican made its offer to Anglo-Catholics.)
Richard Bewes: 50 years ago and now
John Richardson has posted this thoughtful article by Richard Bewes on contending for the faith – then and now.
“Do you know, life was altogether more simple when I was ordained! The evangelical intake in September 1959 numbered about seven percent of the total.
Who were we? What were we? Nothing, in the minds of the wider church. It was Backs to the Wall for us despised evangelicals…
It was really in 1962 – with Honest to God – that true battle began.”
Richard Bewes was Rector of All Souls, Langham Place until late 2004 and has also served as Chairman of the Church of England Evangelical Council. (Photo: RichardBewes.com.)
A House Divided?
“Rowan Williams’ proposal for a ‘two-track’ Anglican Communion is a theological disaster. Beyond this, it is almost certainly unworkable.
The reason for this is simple — both sides in this controversy see the question of homosexuality as both unavoidable and fundamental. Both sides see the question as far too important to remain unsettled. Neither side can accept the permanent disagreement of the other. …”
– Albert Mohler writes at his blog.
See also, “Are we about to go to war?” by Peter Ould and some comments by John Richardson. (Photo: ACNS.)
After B033, can English Evangelicals unite?
“It is a sad fact that throughout a period when Traditionalist Anglicans should have been united, they have been bitterly at loggerheads, sometimes over policies, but often, one suspects, over personalities. …”
– John Richardson writes about the English reaction to the TEC vote this week – at the Ugley Vicar.
The Chicago Consultation: read it and weep
“One of the things I’ve been reading recently is the Study Guide prepared for The Episcopal Church by the Chicago Consultation, titled Christian Holiness and Human Sexuality. …
… the document must presumably be regarded as the ‘best of’ arguments for changing the Church’s traditional teaching and practice on same-sex relationships.”
– John Richardson writes at The Ugley Vicar.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…