As every good Scout knows, he should always be prepared

Commentary by Robin G. Jordan

Early in December the Chicago Consultation, an international group of liberal Anglicans, met at Seabury-Western Theological Seminary near Chicago "to build international coalitions and develop a strategy for the full inclusion of gay and lesbian Christians in the life of the church." In reporting on the three-day meeting Episcopal Life noted "the members also began to develop strategies to advance the cause of full inclusion at the Lambeth Conference in 2008, and at the Episcopal Church's General Convention in Anaheim, California, in 2009." Episcopal Life further noted that "the consultation includes two Primates of the Anglican Communion...; 12 bishops from the Episcopal Church, including 10 diocesan bishops or bishops-elect; four members of the Church's Executive Council; numerous General Convention deputies, and representatives of groups such as Integrity USA, Claiming the Blessing and Inclusive Church."

In his statement on the Global Anglican Future Conference Archbishop of Sydney Peter Jensen draws to the attention of Biblically Anglican Christians around the world that "We live in a new world. Some American Anglicans are as committed to their new sexual ethics as to the gospel itself, and they intend to act as missionaries for this faith, wishing to persuade the rest of us. The problems posed by the American church are not going to remain in North America." The Chicago Consultation is clear evidence of the truth of Archbishop Jensen's claim.

When the Chicago Consultation met to make plans and set priorities in advance of the 2008 Lambeth Confrence, we heard nothing from Peter Toon. However, as soon as the Global Anglican Future Conference was announced, with the aim of bringing together Biblical Anglican Christians for urgent consultation, Dr. Toon went on the offensive. Look at his response to Archbishop Jensen's statement.

Instead of preparing for the 2008 Lambeth Conference as those committed to bringing about the normalization of homosexuality in all the churches of the Anglican Communion are doing, Dr. Toon would have Biblical Anglican Christians meet sometime after the 2008 Lambeth Conference or even in 2009. Has he been paying attention to the announcements of gay and lesbian advocacy groups of their plans to pressure the assembled bishops and to influence the outcome of the 2008 Lambeth Conference on the issue of human sexuality ?

As Archbishop Jensen points out, the global South primates have show a great deal of patience in their attempts to call The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada back to biblical standards. Anyone who has been following the events of the last few years as closely as I have, is well-aware of the reluctance that they have shown to cross boundaries and to provide epicopal care to orthodox Christians desiring to remain Anglican but unable to do so in the context of these two churches. Their actions have hardly been precipitous. Only when The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada refused to abandon their present course and failed to make adequate provision for the disaffected did the global South primates intervene and then in response to specific cries for help. It soon be apparent that local bishops were needed to care for the growing numbers of Biblical Anglican Christians fleeing the two churches.

According to Dr. Toon, however, the global South primates should have left these North American Anglicans to the tender mercies of the radicals in The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada and waited "until the matters could be thrashed out at Lambeth 08." Dr. Toon seems more concerned with turf than he does the plight of of orthodox Christians in both churches.

The past two winters I have surveyed Episcopal churches in western Kentucky. In none of the churches in the region can it be said that the apostolic faith truly taught and maintained. I heard proclaimed from one pulpit that that Mary's Song of Praise: The Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55) is a prophesy of social and economic revolution. Another preacher assured her congregation that the message of John's gospel is that everyone is saved. She then proceeded to use a series of false arguments to prove her claim. At a third church I was invited to join a forum studying the writings and sermons of the Presiding Bishop, who in accordance with historic and orthodox Anglican standards is a heretic! Is Seattle where Dr. Toon lives such a center of Anglican orthodoxy that he is sheltered from these developments in The Episcopal Church?

I for one do not share Dr. Toon's optimism that if all the bishops attend the 2008 Lambeth Conference and "engage in godly conversation and prayer," the fracture of the Anglican Communion will be averted, and healing may begin. The Communion is already fractured. The events of the past three years have only exposed how deep and how wide the fractures are.

The 1998 Lambeth Conference reaffirmed the biblical and orthodox Christian position on marriage and human sexuality as the position of the Anglican Communion. But what has happened since then?

As Archbishop Jensen points out, the nature of the Anglican Communion has altered. We are faced with a Communion in disarray over fundamental issues of the gospel and biblical authority. Biblical Anglican Christians need to consult with each other and to plan for the future. Lambeth 2008 may be a pivotal turning point for the future of Biblical Anglicanism.