Accommodation is not Guidance
“On Tuesday 11th December the House of Bishops published ‘Pastoral Guidance for use in conjunction with the Affirmation of Baptismal Faith in the context of gender transition.’ Whilst sharing the desire to show pastoral care, the content of the Guidance causes me deep concern and I support the request from the Bishops of the Society of St Wilfrid and St Hilda for the reception of the Guidance to be reviewed. I note too the personal reservations expressed about it by the Chair of the House of Bishops’ Delegation Committee, The Rt Rev’d Julian Henderson, and commend the recent critiques produced by the Church Society and the Church of England Evangelical Council.
The Guidance represents a way of accommodating the request from the General Synod that the House of Bishops consider devising a liturgy for the welcome of transgender people. However, in doing so it has raised many more questions than it answers. These include:
- The appropriateness of this Guidance for the range of circumstances in which transgender issues might be raised with clergy;
- The theological underpinning for the unconditional affirmation of trans people
- The nature of the services within which the Affirmation of Baptismal Faith is to be set
- The pressure that might be felt by clergy to conduct services that would raise issues of conscience for them
- The wider implications of such services (eg where transitioning has been a factor in a family break up or where those who have requested such services subsequently request a marriage service)
- The relationship of this Guidance to the work currently being undertaken in the Living in Love and Faith (LLF) Project.
Accordingly, I would support any move to change the status of this Guidance so that it is seen as a contribution to the LLF Project, rather than a finished product of the House of Bishops.”
– Bishop of Maidstone Rod Thomas has posted this statement on this website.
Earlier: Bishop Andy Lines on the Church of England’s guidance on liturgies to celebrate gender transition.
Evangelical Bishops open letter to Church of England: ‘Do not abandon biblical truth on sexuality’
“Eleven bishops of the Church of England have positioned themselves against opening a debate about the Anglican teaching about identity, sexuality and marriage. …
After tense debates that questioned the traditional biblical perspectives in places like Scotland and the United States, these key evangelical leaders have called to continue to proclaim the Christian “ethic”.
The open letter (download here – the original article had an incorrect link) has been signed by the Bishops of Carlisle, Durham, Ludlow, Birkenhead, Willesden, Peterborough, Plymouth, Blackburn, Maidstone and Lancaster, and by the former Bishop of Shrewsbury.”
– Read the full story from Evangelical Focus.
Archbishop Glenn Davies: Statement on PM’s Q and A comment
Anglican Diocese of Sydney – Media Release 3/9/13
“To sanction same-sex ‘marriage’ is not the teaching of the Anglican Church of Australia nor is it the teaching of the Bible.”
Full statement below:
Statement by the Archbishop of Sydney, Dr Glenn Davies, about comments by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on ABCTV Q and A, Monday Sept 2nd.
“Kevin Rudd was profoundly wrong in his understanding of the Bible. He misquoted the Bible and attributed to the Bible something that Aristotle said (that slavery is a natural condition). The Bible never says that. The Bible sees slavery as the result of fallen and broken relationships in society and it is crystal clear in its condemnation of the slave trade.
I was disappointed by Mr Rudd’s comments last night in the same way that I was disappointed by the position he announced in May despite, as he said, after much reflection. Unfortunately in my view he has not been reflecting on the teaching of Scripture. To sanction same-sex ‘marriage’ is not the teaching of the Anglican Church of Australia nor is it the teaching of the Bible. The Bible views marriage as an institution that God has created. Jesus brings clarity to the nature of marriage by saying that it is an exclusive relationship between a man and a woman, for life. Although there are many kinds of relationships in our society, to describe the relationship between two persons of the same sex as marriage is contrary to the Bible’s teaching.
As a bishop in the Church, I do not tell our people how to vote. They have a responsibility to vote wisely and as Christians they should vote in accordance with their conscience and their understanding of Scripture. Christians realise that no political party will reflect their views in every policy. So they have to make a judgment as to which party best represents their views. I encourage all Christians to think prayerfully and wisely about how to vote on polling day.”
– ends –
(Source – SydneyAnglicans.net. The Prime Minister’s comments may be seen here.)
Related: Shellfish, slavery and same-sex marriage — How not to read the Bible.
Making sense of Scripture’s ‘inconsistency’
“I find it frustrating when I read or hear columnists, pundits, or journalists dismiss Christians as inconsistent because ‘they pick and choose which of the rules in the Bible to obey.’
Most often I hear, ‘Christians ignore lots of Old Testament texts – about not eating raw meat or pork or shellfish, not executing people for breaking the Sabbath, not wearing garments woven with two kinds of material and so on. Then they condemn homosexuality. Aren’t you just picking and choosing what you want to believe from the Bible?’…”
– Tim Keller looks at the relationship of the Old Testament to the New. (h/t Tim Challies.)
John Newton to Richard Johnson
John Newton to Richard Johnson (first Chaplain to New South Wales):
“I have not been disheartened by your apparent want of success. I have been told that skillful gardeners will undertake to sow and raise a salad for dinner in the short time while the meat is roasting. But no gardener can raise oaks with such expedition.
You are sent to New Holland, not to sow salad seeds, but to plant acorns; and your labour will not be lost, though the first appearances may be very small, and the progress very slow. You are, I trust, planting for the next Century.
I have a good hope that your oaks will one day spring up and flourish, and produce other acorns, which, in due time, will take root, and spread among the islands and nations in the Southern Ocean.”
– Craig Schwarze, who is researching Richard Johnson, posted this on his website. There’s another great quote from John Newton here.
(Photo © Marylynn Rouse / The John Newton Project, used with permission.)
South Carolina defiant
At the 219th Convention of the Diocese of South Carolina yesterday, Bishop Mark Lawrence didn’t mince his words:
“It would be insufferable to see this great Diocese of South Carolina come under the sway of the same false gospel that has decked so much of The Episcopal Church with decorative destruction and dreadful decline.
Like those in the Church at Corinth with whom St. Paul was confronted, many within the leadership of The Episcopal Church have grown willful. They will have their way though it is contrary to the received teaching of God’s Holy Word, the trustworthy traditions of the Christian Faith, and the expressed will of the Anglican Communion—that rich multicultural body of almost 80 million Christians around the world, from many tribes, languages, peoples, and nations.…”
– and that was just the warm-up. Worth reading in full.
See also the text of key resolutions approved – including this one –
RESOLVED, That this 219th Convention acknowledges that for more than three centuries this Diocese has represented the Anglican expression of the faith once for all delivered to the saints; and, be it further
RESOLVED, that we declare to all that we understand ourselves to be a gospel diocese, called to proclaim an evangelical faith, embodied in a catholic order, and empowered and transformed through the Holy Spirit; and be it further
RESOLVED, that we promise under God not to swerve in our belief that above all Jesus came into the world to save the lost, that those who do not know Christ need to be brought into a personal and saving relationship with him, and that those who do know Christ need to be taught by the Holy Scriptures faithfully to follow him all the days of their lives to the Glory of God the Father.
(Photo of Bishop Mark Lawrence: Diocese of South Carolina.)
Philippi or Corinth: Where is the Anglican Communion?
As I sit here at the beginning of May, one major question is facing all those who want to uphold the truth of the gospel in the Anglican Communion: should we go to Lambeth? Of course, for most of us that’s an academic question – we don’t have an invitation (although that’s not stopping some).
Nevertheless we have an emotional investment in the issue, for the question of how much we associate with those that we disagree with is (or at least should be) a constant dilemma for those who take the Scripture seriously, especially where there is clear evidence of willful unrepentance in the matter of public sin. …
– David Ould responds to those who “make a case for orthodox attendance at Lambeth by framing the current divisions in the context of Paul’s letter to the Philippians”. Read it at Stand Firm.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…