First Ottawa church breaks from diocese
Posted on February 16, 2008
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One Anglican congregation has broken away from the Ottawa diocese over same-sex unions, and another votes Saturday on whether to follow suit.
This week, Rev. Alex Lewanowicz, minister for Bearbrook, Navan and Vars, gave up his minister’s licence with the Anglican Church of Canada and agreed to serve here under a South American archbishop instead. “For integrity’s sake, I’ll put my money where my mouth is,’ he said Friday. …
Report from the Ottawa Citizen. (Photo: Anglican Network in Canada.)
Update: see also “Five Anglican parishes set to separate from Church”.
GAFCON Response to Evangelical English Bishops
Posted on February 16, 2008
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Five GAFCON Bishops have responded to a letter which was signed by 20 English bishops and released in late January –
To Bishop David James and colleagues
Brethren
We have received your letter encouraging us to attend the Lambeth Conference with you.
We trust that we are united in faithful obedience to the Scriptures and also to the Anglican Formularies. We understand your desire to continue to support the efforts of the Archbishop of Canterbury. As GAFCON Bishops and primates, we share with you a commitment to the communion and its future. We ask you to understand that we have reached a different conclusion and request you to understand our decision. Read more
Canada vote encouraging, says bishop
Posted on February 16, 2008
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Retired Sydney bishop Ken Short says the strength of the vote to break with the Anglican Church in Canada by the Vancouver congregation led by his son, the Rev David Short, will encourage other congregations considering a similar move. …
Russell Powell reports for SydneyAnglicans.net
Press coverage of St. John’s Shaughnessy
Posted on February 16, 2008
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Canadian news agencies are reporting on the vote of St. John’s Shaughnessy to join the Province of the Southern Cone –
Anglican Church Loses Largest Congregation
“Rev. Short said his parish asked to be put under the jurisdiction of a Canadian bishop who shared its orthodox views, but they were offered a compromise that was not satisfactory. … Read more
Bishop Harvey welcomes St John’s
Posted on February 15, 2008
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“St John’s has shown true leadership both now and over the past difficult years. I look forward to ministering with them and moving forward together in mission and in full communion with the tens of millions of orthodox Anglicans worldwide who have been so supportive of us.”
Press release from the Anglican Network in Canada.
Biblical thinking about the crisis
Posted on February 15, 2008
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This week’s vote by the congregation of St. John’s Shaughnessy in Vancouver has come after a long period of reflection on the Scriptures. This 2004 paper by St. John’s Rector, and Moore College graduate, David Short, gives some background –
“For Anglicans, in a denomination that now sanctions same sex unions, this now means changes in the shape of our relationships so they might help rather than hinder the mission of Christ. …”
See also David’s paper, “Are we Stronger than He?”, published in ACL News in 2005. 360kb PDF file.
For another report on yesterday’s vote, see Anglican Journal, published by the Anglican Church of Canada.
Commissary of the Diocese of New Westminster, Dean Peter Elliott, thinks the move is “unnecessary”, however read the articles above.
St. John’s Shaughnessy has voted to join Southern Cone
Posted on February 14, 2008
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Members of what is described as the largest congregation in the Anglican Church of Canada voted strongly Wednesday to split with Vancouver-area Bishop Michael Ingham over his support for same-sex blessings.
“It means that the community speaks with one mind,” said St. John’s Shaughnessy Anglican Church spokeswoman Lesley Bentley, after a preliminary count showed that out of 495 ballots cast, only 11 opposed the split and nine abstained. …
The vote means the church, which has more than 700 members, will break with Ingham and join with the conservative Anglican bishops of the Diocese of the Southern Cone, which includes Argentina and Paraguay. …
Report from The Vancouver Sun.
ABC Religion Report on the Archbishop of Canterbury’s comments
Posted on February 14, 2008
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From ABC Radio National’s The Religion Report on 13th February 2008:
“The Archbishop of Canterbury’s suggestion that some form of sharia law is inevitable in Britain has provoked public outrage – The Times has labelled him a traitor and there have been calls for his resignation. Now Rowan Williams says he has been misunderstood – he never intended to suggest there should be parallel legal jurisdictions. We speak to the author of Londonistan, Melanie Phillips, about why Britain’s elites seem so strangely reluctant to defend the idea of a common culture.”
Transcript and audio from the ABC website.
Uganda not going to Lambeth either
Posted on February 14, 2008
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Church of the Province of Uganda
Statement by the Provincial Assembly Standing Committee on Lambeth Conference 2008
1. The Lambeth Conference is a gathering that brings together the Bishops of the Anglican Communion from all 38 Provinces of the Communion at the invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The conference is usually held every ten years. It provides Bishops with an opportunity for “worship, study, and conversation,” discussing and making resolutions that affect the Anglican Communion. Read more
St. John’s Shaughnessy to vote today on breaking with church
Posted on February 13, 2008
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“The fate of what is described as the largest congregation in the Anglican Church of Canada hangs in the balance tonight.
Members of St. John’s Shaughnessy Anglican Church, a neo-Gothic landmark in the heart of the city’s wealthiest neighbourhood, are gathering for an expected vote on breaking with Vancouver-area Bishop Michael Ingham over same-sex blessings … Read more
Statement from the Archbishop of Sydney on the Government’s apology to the Stolen Generations
Posted on February 13, 2008
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The Archbishop of Sydney, Dr. Peter Jensen, welcomes the government’s apology.
Dr Jensen says, “As Christians, we know that repentance and forgiveness liberates people to serve one another.”
“I hope the apology will help to reconcile indigenous and non-indigenous Australians and that it will make a real difference in the lives of those affected.”
– Media release from Sydney Diocese.
UK Anglican Bishop Fined £47,345 and Sent for ‘Re-Education’
Posted on February 13, 2008
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The Anglican bishop of Hereford has been ordered by a court to undergo “equal opportunities training” and pay a fine of £47,345.00… for refusing to hire an active homosexual for a position of trust with young people. The ruling also stated that Hereford diocese staff “involved in recruitment should receive equal opportunities training”.
Story from Life Site. (Photo: Diocese of Hereford.)
General Synod updates from Church Society
Posted on February 12, 2008
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For those interested, the Church Society is posting updates on the progress of the Church of England General Synod at Evangelicals.org.
An Unfortunate Draft
Posted on February 12, 2008
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“The fundamental weakness of the Covenant, as many have pointed out, has been the decision not to push for an agreement on theological foundations as either a part of the Covenant document itself or as a necessary corollary to it. As it stands the Covenant is simply a way of relating. It is a structure founded on a process that exists for the sake of the structure. …”
Matt Kennedy at Stand Firm suggests that the draft Anglican Covenant can only legitimise heresy.
Thinking theologically about the UK debate
Posted on February 12, 2008
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“But there is a second reason why Rowan Williams was theologically wrong, and that is that the Christian approach to Muslims should surely be neither to bring them further under the laws of Islam, nor to offer them the scraps from the table of modern secularism, but to offer them the gospel.”
John Richardson gets to the heart of the issue on
The Ugley Vicar.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…