Leading for Unity: An Evangelical Articulation of the Unity of the Church in Preparation for Diocesan Clergy Day

http://trinitypastor.wordpress.com/2009/08/12/leading-for-unity-an-evangelical-expression-of-the-unity-of-the-church/#comment-796

[Awakening Grace] 12 Aug 2009--Over the past few months, because of various events (Gafcon, ACNA, GenCon 09’) the issue of the unity of the church viewed through the lens of an Anglican context has come up with increasing regularity. In the conversations we have had with fellow priests and even in statements from men and women serving at a very high level of leadership in the diocese we have noted two things. The first thing we would note is that while the individuals themselves are, for the most part trained theologians and men and women of great theological depth and Biblical faithfulness they have failed to publicly reflect with any great depth on the situations we are now presented with. The second thing we have noticed about the discussion of the unity of the church in an Anglican context is that the evangelical understanding of the unity of the church is poorly represented amongst the highest levels of leadership in the Diocese of S.C.

Our desire in presenting this is to facilitate a discussion on some very difficult matters. We also wish to form the discussion along certain lines that we do not believe have played a significant enough role in the corporate discernment of the Diocese. We wish to form this discussion first and foremost not in terms of any one theological tradition, but rather we wish to center this discussion within the confines of the Biblical witness of the church in the New Testament. We understand that our theological tradition will no doubt inform our reading of the New Testament, nevertheless we seek first and foremost to honor God by submitting to his Word as best as we are able before entering into any discussion based on Anglican tradition. This leads to our next point. We wish to demonstrate the understanding of Christian unity in early Anglicanism as it applied to the multiple expressions of Christian churches in England during the period of the Reformation. As it will be seen, we do not present an understanding of Christian unity in early Anglicanism that is at odds with the Biblical witness, but rather one that fits quite comfortably within it.

It is our honest intention to honor Christ by humbly submitting this reflection. We wish to contribute to the current discernment that up until now has only been done by a select few. The format of this paper will be an overview of both parts followed by an extended discussion on both Christian unity in the N.T. as well as how it was understood in early Anglicanism