The American High Church Tradition (Part Two, 1833-1900)

In 1824, an elderly Bishop traveled throughout Europe and eventually landed in England. There he became acquainted with a young deacon named John Henry Newman. The young Newman was so impressed by this Bishop and of the Church where he served that wrote, “We have the proof that the Church, of which we are is not the mere creation of the State, but has an independent life, with a kind of her own, and fruit after her own kind” (1). The Church he wrote about was the American Church and the Bishop was John Henry Hobart, the notable Bishop of New York. Bishop Hobart stood at the front of a High Church revival in the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States. Bishop Hobart was a truly pastoral bishop and a pioneer in the Church. He confirmed thousands of people and ordained priests and deacons for his growing diocese. He was intrinsically opposed to Episcopalian support for the American Bible Society and instead formed the New York Bible and Common Prayer Book Society as well as the Protestant Episcopal Theological Society to spread Christian knowledge in the context of the Episcopal Church. Bishop Hobart also saw the revival of the surplice which had been nearly abandoned in America in favor of the academic gown. Oak Communion tables and some stone altars came into the chancels of many Episcopal churches. It is important to stress the stark contrast from services in this time period from later 19th century services though. Addison writes,

“The arrangement and the conduct of t he services differed from modern practice more extensively than did the actual text of the Prayer Book… The morning service generally included not only Morning Prayer but also the Litany and the Ante-Communion… The minister wore a long surplice without a cassock and usually without a scarf or stole. For the sermon he put off the surplice and donned a black gown…. At the altar Churchmen today of whatever type would note an unfamiliar bareness. The priest celebrating Holy Communion wore no vestments but the surplice and generally stood at t he north end of the holy table… [T]here were no flowers or candles or cross, at the most a linen cloth; and the elements were ordinary bread and unmixed wine. The Eucharist was seldom administered more than once a month. Though High Churchmen often observed the holy days, weekday services were more likely to of an Evangelical flavor” (117). To read more, click here.

A New Third Way? Reformist Evangelicals and the Evangelical Future

Who is and is not an evangelical? With whom should evangelicals cooperate in Gospel efforts, and who not? What theological expressions are truly evangelical, and which are beyond the pale?

These questions are central to the ongoing crisis of evangelical identity. In 1989, Carl F. H. Henry spoke to the urgency of answering these questions:

The term “evangelical” has taken on conflicting nuances in the twentieth century. Wittingly or unwittingly, evangelical constituencies, no less than their critics, have contributed to this confusion and misunderstanding. Noting could be more timely, therefore, than to define what is primary and what is secondary in personifying an evangelical Christian.

But, just a year after Henry offered those words, Robert Brow called for a complete transformation of evangelical theology – and did so within the pages of Christianity Today, the flagship periodical once edited by both Carl Henry and Kenneth Kantzer. Brow’s manifesto was a clarion call to abandon the Augustinian-Reformation model in favor of a new Arminian and postmodern model. Brow declared that the intellectual context of postmodernity made such an exchange necessary. He argued that doctrines such as the omnipotence, omniscience, and sovereignty of God would have to be radically reinterpreted in light of current thinking. He explicitly rejected doctrines such as the substitutionary atonement, a penal understanding of the cross, forensic justification, and imputed righteousness. With remarkable boldness, he called for the rejection of the traditional doctrine of hell and he denied both a dual destiny after judgment and the exclusivity of the Gospel. As he made these demands, he informed his readers of the inevitability of an evangelical “mega-shift” because, “a whole generation of young people has breathed this air.”

In short order, Brow was joined by Clark Pinnock and a corps of fellow revisionists who called for a thoroughgoing reformulation of evangelical theology from top to bottom. Pinnock would call for the embrace of what he would call the “openness of God” – his own version of a radical reconstruction of theism. Pinnock argued that the traditional evangelical doctrine of God is overly dependent upon Greek philosophy. In the style of Adolf von Harnack, Pinnock attempted what he styled as a radical de-hellenization of Christian doctrine. He explicitly denied the omniscience of God by arguing that God cannot know the future decisions of free human creatures.

With Brow, Pinnock called for the affirmation of “creative love theism” in the place of traditional theological frameworks. This new model of theism would redefine all doctrines in terms of a radical human libertarianism and a denial of any direct mode of divine sovereignty. They replaced the traditional understanding of divine sovereignty with an affirmation of divine “effectiveness” – an “ad hoc sovereignty.” To read more, click here.

Anglican Church of Southern Africa in Grave Spiritual Danger

I once spent a summer holiday camping on the banks of the Zambezi river, a short distance upstream of the Victoria Falls. It is an awe-inspiring sight as thousands of tons of water cascade over the edge of the falls and thunder into the chasm beneath. A few hundred meters upstream the river is deep and placid, its cool waters enticing to the hot traveler looking for a respite from the intense African sun. Yet the unwary bather is warned by a large sign with red lettering; "DO NOT ENTER THE RIVER BEYOND THIS POINT". A deep rumbling sound and a misty spray in the distance are the only signs that betray the proximity of the cataract. At that point anyone foolish enough to enter the water will be borne downstream by powerful undercurrents, to be carried over the edge of the chasm in a sudden surge, plummeting into the abyss and almost certain death on the rocks below.

In a similar fashion it seems there are in the spiritual lives of individuals and even churches, points of no return. There are invisible boundaries that mark the end of God's patience. Beyond these, God gives us up to our own chosen path. Paul refers to whole cultures which are given over by God ("God gave them up..."; Romans 1:24,26,28), and explains that this is evidence of his judgment. One example is the story of Noah building the ark to escape the coming flood. A terse phrase describes the point at which Noah, after entering the ark with the animals, seals the destiny of those outside: "...and the Lord shut him in...". It is the point of no return. While Noah's destiny of salvation is set, a destiny of judgment for those he lived among is also set. Jesus illustrated the same point in the parable of the ten virgins - those who were ready went with the bridegroom into the marriage feast and the door was shut against those who were not ready.

It also seems to be true that as the point of no return approaches it becomes more and more difficult to stop and change course. The scripture has many stories illustrating this truth - an example being the story of Lot's sojourn in Sodom. Lot was a righteous man who stood out from the wickedness of the culture in which he lived. He even endured persecution for his stand. Yet when the time came for him to leave Sodom, he dithered and had to be forcibly taken by the angels who were sent to rescue him. Although he was a righteous person, there was a very real danger that he would be "swept away in the punishment of the city." (Genesis 19:15). We don't know why he hesitated, but it is not difficult to imagine the ties that bound him to life in the city. Perhaps they were economic - his home and his financial investments, perhaps sentimental - he would be leaving much loved friends. Bonds of affection can be dangerous it seems. To read more, click here.

How ironic that the Anglican Church in North America has based its new ordinal in part upon the 1989 South African Ordinal.

Ordinariate Watch: John Hepworth shrugs off US call for resignation

Embattled Anglican Archbishop John Hepworth is facing a fight on multiple fronts after priests in his US churches voted unanimously for his resignation.

The resolution, passed by the Traditional Anglican Communion's Anglican Church of America, called for his resignation on the grounds of the stress caused to him by the public spat over his allegations of sexual abuse by three Catholic priests nearly 50 years ago.

A senior official from the ACA yesterday told The Australian there were major concerns over Archbishop Hepworth's leadership of the TAC and the damage to the church caused by his allegations that the Catholic Church's Adelaide Archdiocese had mishandled his claims. To read more, click here.

Related article: Breakaway archbishop urged to quit

NH town's skepticism grows in Celina Cass case

In the small New Hampshire town where a missing 11-year-old girl's body was found two months ago, time has stoked more than intrigue and uneasiness. Cynicism and suspicion are setting in.

The state attorney general's office this week declared Celina Cass' death a homicide but did not reveal how she was killed. The declaration of homicide came as no surprise to residents.

"I think everybody knew that for weeks," schools Superintendent Robert Mills said Friday. The mood in town is one of "eager anticipation" that someone will be brought to justice so the healing can begin.

But even that hope is fading. To read more, click here.

Related article: Medical examiner: Celina Cass was murdered

I had hoped more details regarding the cause and circumstances of Celina Cass' death would be forthcoming. This information would be helpful to parents, churches, and communities working in concert to develop child safe environments.

Police threaten to arrest cafe owner for showing Bible DVDs

The Daily Mail and Christian Institute report that Police in Lancashire have told the owner of a Christian café to stop displaying Bible texts on a video screen, because it breaches public order laws.

Officers attended the Salt & Light Coffee House on Layton Road, Blackpool, on Monday 19 September, following a complaint about “insulting” and “homophobic” material.

Mr Murray, 31, was left shocked after he was questioned for nearly an hour by the officers, who arrived unannounced at the premises. To read more, click here.

Getting to the Root of the Problem

By Robin G. Jordan

“History can be rewritten. A story depends on who tells it. Rule of the Watch.” Catherine Fisher, The Margrave (Relic Master, Book 4), New York: Dial Books (The Penguin Group), 2011, p. 245.

I just finished reading Catherine Fisher’s Relic Master series. According to the London Independent, Ms. Fisher is “one of today’s best fantasy writers.” I would agree.

The foregoing quote at the very beginning of the sixteenth chapter of the last novel in the series caught my attention. Across North America this Sunday Anglican and Episcopal clergy will be telling the story of the Anglican Church and Anglicanism. What story they will be telling will depend upon who influenced their seminary professors, the authors they read, their mentors, and themselves.

Some may have taken time to really dig into the history of the Anglican Church and to read the benchmark Anglican divines. Others will be presenting a particular school of thought’s version of Anglican Church history and its redefinition of Anglicanism. The latter is frequently apt to be the case. The result is that a large number of Anglicans and Episcopalians in North America have a distorted view of the Anglican Church, its history, and its beliefs.

How many Anglicans and Episcopalians in North America are familiar with the Thirty-Nine Articles interpreted in their plain, natural, and intended sense?

How many Anglicans and Episcopalians in North America have any familiarity with the actual doctrine and liturgical usages of the classical Anglican Prayer Book—The Book of Common Prayer of 1662?

How many North American Anglicans and Episcopalians have read the Homilies, much less studied them?

The Thirty-Nine Articles, the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, and the Homilies are foundational documents of Anglicanism. Yet in the North American Anglican Church they are neglected.

From the pulpit or in the classroom most Anglicans and Episcopalians in North America are likely to hear their clergy dismissing the Thirty-Nine Articles as a relic of the past or as historical background. If the Articles are explained to them, the explanation will not be based upon their interpretation in their plain, natural, and intended sense. Chances are it will be based upon a fanciful, ahistorical approach like John Henry Newman’s. Newman reinterpreted the Articles in a Roman direction.

The 1662 Book of Common Prayer enjoyed a brief resurgence of interest in the earlier part of the decade. The Prayer Book Society might have capitalized upon this interest and produced an American edition of the 1662 Prayer Book. Instead the late Peter Toon insisted the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, which had championed for a number of years, was the American edition of the classical Anglican Prayer Book.

While the two books bear a family resemblance, the doctrine of the 1928 Prayer Book is far removed from that of the 1662 Prayer Book. So are a number of the practices that its rubrics countenances. The 1928 Prayer Book is not the 1662 Prayer Book with the prayers for the Queen and the Royal Family omitted and Prayers for the President of the United States and those in authority substituted in their place.

The Anglican Mission in the America and the Prayer Book Society would cooperate upon the production of two modern English service books. The first book was supposed to contain contemporary language versions of the services of the 1662 Prayer Book. But it was quite evident when the book was released for trial use in the Anglican Mission in America that it failed to live up to this description and reflected the influences of other Prayer Books.

The second book was supposed to contain contemporary language versions of services from the 1662, 1928, and 1962 Canadian Prayer Books and to serve as a “bridge” to these Prayer Books. However, alterations and additions were made to these services that changed their doctrine. Like the first book it showed the influence of other Prayer Books, which was not acknowledged by the book’s editors. It was also poorly edited in places.

The failure of the health of Dr. Toon, who oversaw the project, may account for the poor editing. The book may have been released prematurely for the same reason.

A real opportunity was lost and perhaps even squandered to acquaint North American Anglicans and Episcopalians with the 1662 Prayer Book in an American edition and a contemporary language version. The two could have been bound together.

Because the 1662 Book of Common Prayer is not used in some form in their churches, Anglican and Episcopal clergy in North America are disinclined to explain the doctrine and liturgical usages of the classical Anglican Prayer Book to their congregations. Rather they are more likely to focus on whatever service book is in use—the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, the American Missal, or the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, and in Canada, the 1962 Canadian Book of Common Prayer or the 1985 Book of Alternative Services. All of these service books differ from the 1662 Prayer Book both in the doctrine which they expresses and the practices that they countenance.

The status of 1662 Prayer Book as a classical Anglican formulary, one of three formularies that comprise the long recognized doctrinal standard of Anglicanism is overlooked if not deliberately ignored. Like the Thirty-Nine Articles the 1662 Prayer Book is apt to be treated as a relic of the past or historical background. If its doctrine and liturgical usages receive any explanation at all, the explanation is not likely to reflect the received opinions of the reformed Church of England.

As for the Homilies, I suspect that they receive little attention in Anglican and Episcopal churches in North America except to be misinterpreted to support beliefs and practices that they actually condemn.

For this reason (but not for this reason alone) GAFCON’s call to return to the classical Anglican formularies is falling on deaf ears in North America, not only in the Anglican Church of Canada and the Episcopal Church where it is to be expected but also in the Anglican Church in North America and the Anglican Mission in the Americas where due to their participation in GAFCON a more positive response would be expected. Whatever they represent, the ACNA and the AMiA do not represent a significant movement in the North American Anglican Church toward the recovery of the classical Anglican formularies. Individual clergy and congregations in these two bodies may be committed to such a recovery but the ACNA and the AMiA as a whole are not.

As I written elsewhere, the ACNA constitution and canons and its new ordinal and the AMiA’s role in the introduction of the doctrine, language, norms, and principles from the Roman Catholic Church’s Code of Canon Law into the canons of the Anglican Church of Rwanda are clear evidence that these two bodies are not really supportive of the recovery of the classical formularies across the Anglican Church. The teaching that is going on in the churches of these two bodies is further evidence of this development.

This is why I maintain that there exists in North America a very real need for an Anglican mission to North America. The Anglican Mission in the Americas may have adopted “Anglican Mission” as its name but its commitment to the classical formularies is minimal at best. A strong commitment to the classical formularies is necessary because they express what authentic Anglicanism has historically maintained to be the essence of gospel teaching—salvation by grace alone by faith alone in Christ alone.

Planting new churches is a commendable activity but unless those churches are gospel churches, it is a meaningless one. The purpose of any new church that is planted must be to reach more people with the gospel.

There is also a very real need for an independent Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans that is not ancillary to the Anglican Church in North America. The negligible commitment to the recovery of the classical Anglican formularies and the lack of support for The Jerusalem Declaration in the ACNA make the establishment of such an organization in North America a must if GAFCON is to have a genuine embodiment of what it believes and values in Canada and the United States.

GAFCON was organized to oppose the spread of theological pluralism from the western Anglican provinces to the larger Anglican community. However, as long as the leaders of GAFCON fail to recognize or acknowledge that the ACNA does not fully stand for the tenets of Anglican orthodoxy set out in The Jerusalem Declaration and countenances theological pluralism, they themselves are giving countenance to what GAFCON was organized to oppose. This may not be their intention but it is what is happening.

At the root of the problem is that the classical formularies in the Protestant Episcopal Church in the USA never had the authority that they have had in the provinces and dioceses that form the core of the international Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans and GAFCON. They have never been fully accepted as Anglicanism’s doctrinal standard. In the PECUSA other standards would gain favor.

Both the Anglican Church in North America and the Anglican Mission in the Americas have inherited this legacy. In the ACNA and the AMiA these other standards continue to be favored over the classical formularies.

As the history of the development of the Common Cause Theological Statement, now enshrined in the ACNA’s Fundamental Declarations, shows, the movement of the last decade has been away from the liberalism of the Episcopal Church but not toward the confessionalism of the classical formularies. Indeed the confessional nature of the Anglican Church as an institution is to a large extent denied in the ACNA and the AMiA. It is an anti-confessional view of Anglicanism that is promoted in these two bodies, not the recovery of the classical formularies. It is this anti-confessional stance that sets the ACNA and the AMiA essentially at odds with the international FCA and GAFCON. It may ultimately lead to conflict between the Anglican Church in North America and the Anglican Mission in the Americas and the international Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans and the Global Anglican Future Conference.

ʻFor the More Explanationʼ and ʻFor the More Perfectionʼ: Cranmerʼs Second Prayer Book

Three years ago we were celebrating the 450th anniversary of the First Prayer Book of King Edward VI and of his Archbishop, Thomas Cranmer, which came into use on Whitsunday 1549; and this year, three years later, we are celebrating the 450th anniversary of their Second Prayer Book, which came into use on All Saintsʼ Day 1552. The 1549 Book was in many ways the greater change, for it was the first liturgy in the English language—in every respect an extraordinary achievement—but the 1552 Book was the climax of Cranmerʼs work, for it brought to clear and mature expression the biblical theology which in the 1549 Book was often only implicit. The 1552 Act of Uniformity which introduced the Second Prayer Book expresses Cranmerʼs intentions in the book: it commends the previous book as ʻa very godly order ... agreeable to the word of God and the primitive Churchʼ, but says that it has now been ʻexplained and made fully perfectʼ, ʻas well for the more plain and manifest explanation...as for the more perfectionʼ.

The remarkable speed of events during Edwardʼs short reign of little more than six years might seem to show indecent haste, were it not for the remarkable sluggishness of progress during the long reign of his father Henry VIII, when, because of the hesitations of the king, little more than preparations for reform were possible. These preparations included the very important steps of introducing the Great Bible of Tyndale and Coverdale into every parish church, and making the Church of England independent of theauthority of Rome; but reformed services and homilies could only be privately prepared, not publicly introduced, with the single exception of Cranmerʼs English Litany of 1544, the first edition of the one now in the Prayer Book. To read more, click here.

Amped Up from the Blackout

The hurricane may have knocked us off the grid, but we were far from powerless.

Hurricane Irene blustered her way up the East Coast, downing trees, toppling cars, and leaving seven million people (including our family) in the dark. We were without power for four days. I missed it desperately—my laptop, smartphone, televisions, refrigerator, hair straightener, and garbage disposal. (Yes, I missed my garbage disposal.) But now that I’m back on the grid, I also miss our blackout. Because what I saw happen without power that first post-storm Sunday morning was powerful without one amp of electricity.

Despite the blackout across our community, we decided to move forward with an “informal” worship service. With no lights, soundboards, microphones, or PowerPoint, we moved outside, dragging chairs and an upright piano onto the patio. The worship team scrambled to rearrange a simple set of songs for unplugged music—just guitars, piano, bongos, and voices. Lyrics were printed in black, block letters on a flipchart.

People came, eager to escape their darkened homes. We gathered under the morning sun, welcomed by twittering songbirds (instead of cell phones). The sky was deep blue, the air scrubbed clean from the powerful winds of the hurricane. We sang the songs we knew without a big screen feeding us every word. When a lay leader in the church stood up and said, “I’m going to do this the old fashioned way; I’m going to read from an actual Bible,” people cheered.

And when my pastors shared simple words, verses they had memorized, and words of truth about God’s love, his creation, and his ways of meeting our every need, people listened. There was no children’s program, no drama, no audio support, or announcement slides. But when my typically restrained community sang the final song, they stood together and raised their hands to the blue sky, praising God in a simple expression of worship and gratitude.

Perhaps it was the novelty of the setting, or our brush with God’s power through the wind and the rain, but I couldn’t help noticing the sacredness of the service. Stripped of the normal amenities, we were left with only the Word—and it was more than enough. To read more, click here.

Group Leader Assessment: Building Relationships

How rock-solid are the bonds between your group members?

As small-group leaders, we definitely want to see bonds form between the people in our groups. In fact, we can feel like a proud parent when we see people talking and laughing and enjoying life together. The social aspect of a small group is both good and necessary, but there are still times when it feels like a necessary evil—especially when it comes to evaluation.

We need to be sure solid relationships are in place so that people can open up and share the real messiness in their lives. But usually the only opportunity we have to gauge relationships involves surface-level interactions. So how can we measure if those deeper connections are being made before they become necessary?

To help you evaluate your group's progress in forming rock-solid spiritual friendships, consider these biblical models of friendship and reflect on the questions that follow. To read more, click here.

Archbishop plea fails to silence unhappy clergy

Church of Ireland rectors have broken ranks to reject Archbishop Alan Harper’s appeal for an end to discussion of the church’s first same-sex union involving a minister.

Amid growing impatience in sections of the church which has not yet made clear whether it accepts the controversial civil partnership, three weeks after the News Letter revealed the move, there are emerging warnings that if the church does not act evangelicals may find their own bishops.

In separate statements, the Rev Neville Hughes from the rural parishes of Mullabrack and Kilcluney near Markethill and the Rev Alan McCann of the urban parish of Woodburn in Carrickfergus rejected the primate of all Ireland’s call to halt discussion about the Rev Tom Gordon’s civil partnership.

On Tuesday the archbishop read a statement to the church’s influential standing committee appealing for space to allow the bishops to decide a way forward.

He asked the committee to “curtail” discussion of the partnership, and added: “In many parts of the church, the matter is seen as controversial. In such a situation it is important that great care be taken in anything that may be said.”

However, amid claims from both supporters and opponents of gay Anglican clergy that there has been a lack of leadership on the issue, there is growing evidence that at least some in the church are not prepared to wait for the bishops — who are divided on the issue — to agree a way forward. To read more, click here.

Iran's Watch on Christians Intensifies, Says Open Doors

The Iranian government’s tracking of Christians in Iran has intensified over the last several months, according to Open Doors USA, an organization that provides help to persecuted believers in Jesus worldwide.

Open Doors estimates that there are 350,000 Christians from a Muslim background living in Iran. The country’s current regime lost credibility following the turmoil of the 2009 elections, and in an effort to distract attention from continuing protests, it is increasingly lashing out against Christians, Open Doors USA leaders say.

Michael Wood, an American who works in the Middle East office of Open Doors USA, told The Christian Post that the house church movement in Iran is one of the fastest growing in the world. However, the Iranian government is doing its best to squelch the movement, he said.

“Over the last few months they have made a really strong attempt to undermine what’s going on in the house church movement. They are tearing apart meeting places. If they find out somebody has been involved in a house church group they are arrested or really intimidated,” Wood said. “They are listened to on their cell phones. Houses will be broken into and Bibles and Christian material will be confiscated.

“So, you have a lot of intimidation factors where they are really trying to stifle and minimize the growth of the house church in the country,” he added. To read more, click here.

How can churches do a better job of integrating new members?

Charles Arn responds in our Ask the Experts discussion.

Research tells us that of all the people who drop out of church (due to inactivity), 82 percent leave in the first year! The first 12 months are critical in the life of both the new member and the congregation.

But upon further study, we found that people do not leave at random during their first year. There are two definite "spikes" when an inordinate number of new members stop attending, at month six and at month twelve.

Our curiosity, of course, was aroused. We interviewed 36 people who had stopped attending their church after 6 months; then another 36 who had stopped attending after a year. "What happened?" we wanted to know. "Could you tell us your story?"

We then listened to the recordings of these conversations for common themes … and found some! New members, it turns out, are asking questions. Often they are not even aware of their concerns at that moment. But in these postmortems, the issues became readily apparent. To read more, click here.

Related article: Ways to Assimilate People into Service in Church

Fourth Archbishop of the Province of South East Asia elected

From the Province of South East Asia

We are pleased to inform that in the Extra-ordinary Provincial Synod Meeting and Standing Committee Meeting that was held on 21 - 23 September 2011 at the Palace Hotel, Kota Kinabalu, Bishop Bolly Lapok (Diocese of Kuching) was elected as the 4th Archbishop of the Province of South East Asia.

Please continue to pray for Archbishop Elect Bolly Lapok and the Province. The Installation service will be on 12 February 2012, in Kuching, Sarawak.

Archbishops of South East Asia:

1996 - 2000
Incumbent: Moses Tay
Also the Bishop of Singapore 1982-1999

2000 - 2006
Incumbent: Datuk Yong Ping Chung
Also Bishop of Sabah since 1990.

2006 - 2012
Incumbent: John Chew
Also Bishop of Singapore since 2000.

2011 (Elected) 2012 (Enthronement)
Incumbent: Datuk Bolly Lapok
Also Bishop of Kuching since 2007

Related article: Sarawakian elected Archbishop of S. E. Asia

Prayer Book Development to 1662

It is fitting that on this third centenary of the 1662 Prayer Book we should reconsider its distinctive features in relation to preceding books. It is also appropriate that we should briefly consider possible revision in the light of current needs. The fact that the established book is still the authorized standard of public worship is no small tribute to the enduring quality of this work which consummated the liturgical side of the English Reformation. It raises of itself the question as to the characteristics which have enabled the work to meet the liturgical requirements of successive generations. It also raises the challenge that in any revision undertaken the principles underlying the authorised book should not be lightly abandoned but carefully evaluated and perpetuated.

The 1662 book was the final product of a process of development which belonged essentially to the Reformation period. Luther himself, followed by his own adherents and also by Zwingli in Zurich, set the pattern of providing public worship as well as the Bible in the language of the people, and of revising as well as translating existing services to bring them into conformity with new needs and doctrines. Hence it is not surprising that, once the English Bible was set up and the crisis of the 1539 Act had passed, Cranmer set in hand as his second major task the giving to the English people of revised forms of worship in their own tongue. To read more, click here.

2012 is the 350th anniversary of the classical Anglican Prayer Book--The Book of Common Prayer of 1662. With the Thirty-Nine Articles and the Homilies, the 1662 Prayer Book is a foundational document of Anglicanism.

Is There a Majority of Orthodox Anglican in Latin America?

It has become commonplace to refer to Africa, Asia and Latin America as majority Christian regions, conservative in theological outlook in contrast to the revisionist liberalism of the West.

This claim was also made in an announcement from the Primates of the Global South while on a recent visit to China. While the claim may be accurate with regard to the Christian presence in these regions, especially in view of the growing Protestant community (liberalism in the form of Liberation Theology left its mark on the Roman Catholic Church), it fails to correspond to the facts with reference specifically to Anglicanism.

Various Latin American countries form part of the Ninth internal Province of the Episcopal Church (TEC) of North America, and the Provinces of Mexico, Central America and Brazil have articulated the formation of a Global Centre in contrast to the Global South. These provinces are known for their ideological and financial dependence on TEC, behaving as satellites.

The diminutive and shrinking Province of Brazil (IEAB) has advocated a more radical theology than TEC itself. That leaves the conservative Province of the Southern Cone, part of which - the dissident Diocese of Uruguay - wants out in order to be allied to a more liberal Province, probably that of Brazil. To read more, click here.

ACA Bishops & Clergy Urge TAC Archbishop to Resign

Anglican Church in America (ACA) House of Clergy meeting at Our Lady of the Snows have urged their Archbishop John Hepworth to resign as Primate of the Traditional Anglican Communion saying that recent revelations in Australia make it impossible for him to continue as their leader.

"It is increasingly obvious to us and those for whom we are pastorally responsible that recent developments have made it impossible for you to continue to function effectively as Primate of the Traditional Anglican Communion, and that the responsibilities of that office add immeasurably to the personal stress inevitable in your personal situation."

The ACA is the North American branch of the Traditional Anglican Communion.

"There is an urgent need for focused leadership of the TAC at this critical time in the life of the church. For the good of the church and your family, as well as for your own emotional, physical, and spiritual health, we prayerfully urge you to consider submitting your resignation as Primate forthwith.

"Because we are convinced that resolution of this matter is urgent for all parties concerned, we respectfully request a prompt response, and we await your reply.

"Our prayers are with you and your family at this difficult time." To read more, click here.

Ordinariate Watch: Accusations of sexual abuse bound to have wide ramifications

In 2008, Archbishop John Hepworth, the global primate of the Traditional Anglican Communion, presented the Catholic archdiocese of Adelaide with a ticking time bomb.

He made allegations to its Archbishop, Philip Wilson, and his vicar general, David Cappo, that Ian Dempsey, the former vicar general, had raped him.

Dealing with former vicars general is often difficult for incoming archbishops. They're usually closely identified with the policies and churchmanship of the previous reign. They tend to have old boys' networks to do their bidding and can easily become competing sources of local authority. They're also apt to know where the bodies are buried. To read more, click here.

Related story: Adelaide priest accused of raping Archbishop John Hepworth given right to reply in Senate

A rough decade for American congregations

A new decade-long survey of American congregations shows religious health and vitality are weaker than they were 10 years ago. While the survey showed that many congregations are adopting new technologies and innovative worship, there were steep drops in financial health and attendance at weekly worship services.

The Hartford Institute for Religion Research released the study's findings Saturday in a report titled "A Decade of Change in American Congregations, 2000 – 2010" authored by David A. Roozen....

Roozen writes that a variety of factors led to the decline, but overall, there are fewer Americans in the pews, and "... more than 1 in 4 American congregations had fewer than 50 in worship in 2010, and just under half had fewer than 100. Overall, median weekend worship attendance of your typical congregation dropped from 130 to 108 during the decade, according to the FACT surveys." To read more, click here.

How to be Gospel generous

One of the marks of Christian maturity and Christian fellowship is the great work of the Spirit of God which I call gospel generosity.

Gospel generosity is the willingness to give up people and resources to help other ministries, at cost to yourself and your ministry. To read more, click here.

Global South Primates: 'Anglican Communion no longer has ecclesial or moral authority.'

The Global South Primates have released a Communiqué following their visit to China in September (2011). In the statement (point 13) they say that the Anglican Communion’s Instruments of Unity have become dysfunctional and no longer have the ecclesial and moral authority to hold the Communion together.

Extracts of Communiqué:

11. In our reflections, we found that our Anglican Communion has also undergone a tremendous transformation in recent decades. Today, the majority of Anglicans are found no longer in the west, but in churches in Africa, Asia and Latin America that are firmly committed to our historic faith and order.

12. At the same time, it grieves us deeply to observe many Anglican churches in the west yielding to secular pressure to allow unacceptable practices in the name of human rights and equality. Beginning with the undermining of Scriptural authority and two millennia of church tradition, the erosion of orthodoxy has gone as far as the ordination and consecration of active gay and lesbian clergy and bishops, and the development of liturgies for same-sex marriage. To read more, click here.

Related article: Canterbury's International Agenda in Tatters

The Anglican Church in North America and the Classical Formularies: A Church Gone Adrift

By Robin G. Jordan

As I noted in my previous article, “The Fundamental Declarations of the Anglican Church in North America: The Insights of the Late Peter Toon,” Dr. Toon would draw attention to the defects of what would eventually become the Fundamental Declarations of the Anglican Church in North America when the ACNA was the Common Cause Partnership. Others, including myself, would independently draw attention to these defects.

In the brief period that the proposed constitution and canons of the Anglican Church in North America were made available for public examination and comment, a number of provisions of the two documents would become the focus of debate upon the Internet. This debate would led to a public denial by representatives of the CCP Governance Task Force member that the Fundamental Declarations were biased in favor of the doctrinal positions of any particular school of thought in the Anglican Church. The CCP Governance Task Force would subsequently issue a report of its work, in which it maintained its denial of any doctrinal bias in the Fundamental Declarations.

The Internet debate would also prompt an open letter by AMiA Bishop John Rodgers appealing to evangelicals in the entities forming the Common Cause Partnership to support the adoption and ratification of the two documents. In this letter Bishop Rodgers, while appearing to admit the existence of a doctrinal bias in the Fundamental Declarations, claimed that they could not be changed. He also claimed that if the draft constitution and canons were not adopted and ratified, there would be no new Anglican province in North America. This letter was posted on the Common Cause Partnership website and subsequently the Anglican Church in North America website but would eventually be removed from that website.

During the same time period I would post a series of articles directing attention to major problem areas of the draft constitution and canons. As the meetings of the provisional ACNA Provincial Council and the inaugural ACNA Provisional Assembly drew closer, one or more influential persons in the Common Cause Partnership would pressure the journalist who had been publishing my articles on his website into discontinuing their publication. I also worked with a group of evangelicals in the CCP in drafting a presentation of their concerns to the Governance Task Force and to the leaders of the Common Cause Partner with which they were affiliated.

At the Bedford meeting of the provisional ACNA Provincial Council CANA Bishop Martyn Mimms drew to the attention of the Council the concerns of the evangelicals in CANA regarding the draft constitution and canons. The Anglo-Catholic Council members reacted by claiming that if the language of the Fundamental Declarations were modified, it would cause the fragile alliance between evangelicals and Anglo-Catholics to unravel. In response to this muted threat of an Anglo-Catholic walkout, Bishop Mimms backed down. Bishop Jack Iker would move that the Council should adopt the Fundamental Declarations as they were, except for one change. 1571 should be substituted for 1563 as the date of the Thirty-Nine Articles. This change, while presented as minor, was significant. The 1563 version of the Articles omits Article 29:

The wicked and those who are void of a lively faith, although they do carnally and visibly press with their teeth (as S. Augustine said) the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ, yet in no wise are they partakers of Christ, but rather to their condemnation do eat and drink the sign or sacrament of so great a thing.

The omission of this Article would have eliminated a hurdle to the teaching of an ex opera operato view of the sacrament of the Holy Communion in the Anglican Church in North America. Apparently the Anglo-Catholic Council members were convinced that Article 1.7 of the draft constitution was so worded that changing the version of the Articles would not prove an obstacle to the teaching of this doctrinal view. The provision of the canons authorizing the admission of baptized children to the Holy Communion assumed an ex opera operato view of the sacrament of the Holy Communion as it did not require such children to evidence a vital faith before their admission to the Holy Communion.

Archbishop-elect Robert Duncan would ensure that two documents were ratified by the inaugural Provincial Assembly as is, except for a number of amendments drafted by the Governance Task Force. No amendments were permitted from the floor and debate upon the provisions of the two documents and the proposed amendments was limited. The delegates were given only one day in which to consider their provisions. The delegates were repeatedly urged to quickly finish their deliberations as speakers were waiting to address them. Frequent interruptions were permitted, distracting the delegates’ attention from the work at hand. A number of delegates later reported that they had serious misgivings about the provisions of the two documents and the proposed amendments but that they voted for their ratification out of the fear that if they did not ratify them, there would be no new Anglican province in North America. I have documented elsewhere how the ACNA leaders, particularly Archbishop Duncan, having secured the ratification of the draft constitution and canons, have ignored their provisions, treating them as a mandate to do what they think fit.

As Dr. Toon would observe as early as 2006, the Common Cause Partnership did not need the kind of doctrinal statement that its Leadership Council would adopt to form the basis of a working unity for the theologically-diverse group that comprised the CCP. A slightly edited version of Canon A5 of the Church of England Canons would have sufficed. It would have, as he believed, obtained “the greatest acceptance and the greatest comprehension on the best principles.” It would have helped to establish a new North American province that was biblically faithful and orthodox Anglican and in which there was room for confessional evangelicals as well as Anglo-Catholics and charismatic evangelicals, for those for whom bishops are of bene esse of the church as well as those for whom they are of the esse or plene esse.

It is quite evident that the Fundamental Declarations despite their references to the classical formularies promote a doctrinal standard different from Thirty-Nine Articles, the Book of Common Prayer, and the Ordinal. It is a doctrinal standard that permits beliefs and practices that the classical formularies reject. The new ordinal supports the validity of this observation. It is also a doctrinal standard that requires the acceptance of a theological and ecclesiological position related to the episcopate, which, as Dr. Toon himself observed is Anglo-Catholic, and “excludes most Anglicans worldwide today, and excludes the millions of evangelical Anglicans who have been faithful Anglicans over the generations!” He further observed, “it puts a particular spin on the 1662 Ordinal…and prohibits the comprehensiveness that has always been a part of the genius of the Anglican Way!”

The Anglican Church in North America does not appear to take seriously the New Testament concept of fellowship, which Philippians 2:1-2 and John 1:1-3 tell us are “anchored in a common faith and a common mind.” (Being Faithful: The Shape of Historic Anglicanism Today, 91) While prohibiting genuine Anglican comprehensiveness, the Fundamental Declarations promote unacknowledged theological pluralism. They permit the evasion of the classical formularies as the authoritative doctrinal standard for Anglicans. In the Anglican Church in North America more than one gospel may be preached. It is even possible to preach in one of its subtler forms the gospel of universal redemption heard in the Episcopal Church. In their choice of language the Fundamental Declarations have disabled one of the four major functions of the Thirty-Nine Articles—to safeguard the truth of the gospel.

The Anglican Church in North America relies too heavily on its bishops to protect the church from false teaching. In their adoption of the new ordinal the ACNA bishops have demonstrated that they are not equal to the task. They have allowed into the church beliefs and practices that historic Anglicanism rejects.

In the place of the classical formularies the Anglican Church in North America has substituted whatever is the consensus of opinion of the moment among its bishops. This is what happened in the Episcopal Church. We have seen where that led. In the ACNA it has led to the tacit acceptance of disparate theologies of justification and salvation, and the proclamation of multiple gospels.

There is a very real need for the recovery of the classical formularies in the Anglican Church in North America. There is an equally as real need for the establishment of genuine Anglican comprehensiveness. Without these and other critical elements in place, the recognition of the ACNA as the orthodox Anglican province in Canada and the United States and its admission to the councils of the larger Anglican community is premature at best. If the ACNA continues on its current path, it will, like the Anglican Church of Canada and the Episcopal Church, be treading a path separate from that of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans and the Global Anglican Future Conference. Like the liberal Western churches it will be competing with the FCA and GAFCON to shape the future of the Anglican family of churches.

Contemporary, Innovative Church Services May Help Increase Attendance, Spiritual Vitality

A study of the American church over the last decade reveals that churches that have adopted innovative and contemporary worship services have seen an increase in both attendance and in spiritual vitality, more so than those that have not.

The Hartford Institute for Religion Research released the study, titled “A Decade of Change in American Congregations, 2000-2010,” on Saturday. It was conducted as a part of a series of surveys called the Faith Communities Today (FACT) series with the cooperation of a total of 28,789 randomly-sampled American congregations.

David A. Roozen, the study's author, reported that the surge in contemporary worship that began in the 1990s continued through the first decade of this century, and has produced positive results for many congregations.

More than four out of 10 churches in 2010 either often or always used drums and electric guitars in their worship services. That was a 14 percent increase from the year 2000.

“Indeed, the increase is dramatic, especially for those who carry lingering memories of the church as the 'Rock of Ages,'” Roozen wrote in the report.

A worship service is made more contemporary by using instruments like guitars and drums, which seem to be more fitting for rock ’n’ roll than they are for 18th century hymns, but the survey looked at other church behaviors to determine whether or not the services are considered innovative. To read more click here.

Authorities Refused Treatment to Christian Who Died in Pakistan Prison

A Christian man accused of blasphemy in Pakistan died of tropical fever in prison on Sept. 9, after the prison authorities refused him treatment, The Christian Post has learned Tuesday.

Aslam Masih died reportedly of the dengue virus, an infectious tropical disease.

Jonathan Racho, the Regional Manager for South Asia at the International Christian Concern (ICC), an advocacy group, told The Christian Post that a local human rights organization had appealed to the prison authorities to provide Masih with proper medical treatment, but the authorities refused, quoting security reasons.

“We’ve received the information last week, but we needed to confirm it with our local contact,” Racho told The Christian Post.

“If somebody’s in jail,” he commented on the incident. “The prison authorities have an obligation to provide that person with medical treatment. Otherwise it’s a violation of human rights. This was a preventable death.”

The blasphemy law is one of the most controversial laws in Pakistan, according to Racho. It says that whoever offends Prophet Muhammad will face capital punishment. To read more, click here.

Managing social media (before it manages you)

It's no secret that I'm a fan of social media. I'm convinced it's an incredible tool to expand your reach, advance Gospel causes, sharpen your communication skills, and on top of all that, it's fun.

However, social media also has the potential to consume your time, kill actual relationships with real people and divert your attention from things that matter. So, from the perspective of a pastor, how can we redeem social media? How can we manage it well, so that it doesn't manage us? While this is by no means an exhaustive list, here are four principles that I've thought through recently and have found to be helpful. To read more, click here.

If Our Message Is Worth Sharing, Let's Be OUTSPOKEN

Church communication has changed dramatically in the last decade or so.

Think about it. Ten years ago church communication largely consisted of announcements made from the pulpit on Sunday mornings and a bulletin which was assembled by a church secretary. The idea of a website was still rather foreign to most churches and most church marketing budgets were spent on YellowPages ad.

Times have changed.

In today's world churches are faced with a complexity of different options from online video, email, social media, texting, and everything in-between. Email updates are replacing bulletins and full-time members are now helping churches communicate effectively.

Things are no longer the same.

As believers and those who are engaged in full-time ministry, we have the obligation to communicate the unchanging message of the Gospel in a way that's relevant to our ever-changing world. To read more, click here.

People 'who look like us' nurture new Asian believers

A small group of believers in Asia watches as tears fill a woman's eyes. She stands before them in a tunic and baggy pants -- their own traditional clothing -- and her voice quavers as she speaks.

"You can pastor yourselves without foreigners," the woman tells the group. "You can evangelize."

The government of this country in southern Asia may deport the foreign workers who have helped disciple the believers. They are worried what will happen when they are left alone. To read the entire article and to view the accompaning video, click here.

'Verbal sewer' Facebook harming children: principal

A school principal fed up with cyber-bullying has used his usually sedate newsletter column to send a blunt message to parents.

“GET YOUR KIDS OFF FACEBOOK,” thundered the latest newsletter issued by Lindisfarne Anglican Grammar School, in Tweed Heads.

“THIS VERBAL SEWER IS HARMING YOUR CHILDREN.” To read more, click here.

Related article: Jamey Rodemeyer Suicide: Police Consider Criminal Bullying Charges

The Doctrine of the Sacraments in the Thirty-nine Articles

The Thirty-nine Articles of Religion are a basic statement of Anglican theology. They were first drawn up by Archbishop Cranmer as Forty-two Articles in Edward VI’s reign (1553), and after being suppressed (with the rest of the reforming programme for the church) in Mary’s reign, were revived by act of Convocation in Elizabeth’s reign (1563). A modest revision took place (1563 and 1571), reducing them to Thirty-nine Articles, and in 1571 the English clergy were required, by act of Parliament, to give their assent to them, as a condition of being instituted to a cure of souls. Though forms of subscription have changed over the years, this is still a requirement in the Church of England and in many other Churches of the Anglican Communion, at ordination or institution or both.

The sacraments were one of the main topics of controversy at the Reformation, and it was chiefly for their teaching on the Lord’s Supper that the martyred Anglican bishops (Cranmer, Ridley, Latimer, Hooper and Ferrar) were put to death. We have in Oxford a great stone cross in the surface of the road, marking the spot where Ridley and Latimer, and afterwards Cranmer, were burned to death; and one hundred yards away stands an elegant memorial erected in the nineteenth century, which those who have visited Oxford will have seen, from which the figures of Cranmer, Latimer and Ridley look out northward, westward and eastward across the university city.

Latimer was the great preacher among the Reformers, but Ridley was an able theologian,who led the way for his companions in his reformed eucharistic beliefs; while Cranmer was the great man of learning, slow in reaching conclusions but establishing them with great care, and it is to him that we owe not only very extensive theological writings on the Lord’s Supper, but also most of the brief summary statements on the sacraments which are included in the Thirty-nine Articles. As commentary on these Articles we have not only Cranmer’s own writings, but the Latin text of the Articles, which is of equal authority with the English; the Book of Homilies (of which two homilies in particular are concerned with the sacraments); the sacramental services of Cranmer’s Book of Common Prayer; and the Prayer Book Catechism, of which the part on the sacraments was added by Bishop Overall slightly later, in 1604, though drawing to some extent on the Elizabethan catechism of Alexander Nowell.

The sacraments are the last main doctrinal topic in the Articles, occupying the six articles 25, 27-31 and being touched on in five others (16, 19, 23, 24 and 26). To read more, click here.

Meeting Kids Halfway

Providing fun and sharing the love of Christ

There's a place in our town where kids go after they are removed from their homes by Child Protective Services—it's basically a halfway house until they go into foster care. There's nothing fun there; no toys to play with or anything interesting to do.

So twice a year (summer and Christmas), our small group takes tons of fun stuff to those kids. We bring balls and toys and craft. To read more, click here.

The persecuted church & the distracted church

Defining moments mark every life. Such moments, for good or for bad, can be triggered by a significant event or even a simple spoken word. Often, they give us a new outlook and are life-altering. I had one such moment just a few weeks ago.

As part of a Great Commission effort, I journeyed with a team from my church to Central Asia, where we taught the Word of God in a country that respects religious freedom to a group of persecuted Christians from a nearby Muslim-majority country with no such freedom. In turn, I gained a fresh, albeit sobering, perspective of the perils confronting the church worldwide today. My defining moment -- one that would take shape over the course of that week -- had begun to unfold.

Specifically, my eyes were opened wide to two types of Christians: those who face the fires of affliction for their faith in their hostile homelands and those who enjoy the freedom to worship Christ openly as citizens of the United States. Both face testings. Both are under attack by the evil one. But the points of assault are distinct. One might distinguish the two as the persecuted church and the distracted church. To read more, click here.

Freedom of Religion? Calif. Couple Fined for Hosting Bible Study in Home

A California couple has been fined by the city of San Juan Capistrano for holding Bible studies and religious gatherings in their home, which has some wondering about the future of religious freedom in America.

Chuck and Stephanie Fromm, residents of San Juan Capistrano, home to the oldest church in California, were fined $300 for the religious activities, which the city said violated a municipal code that prohibits "religious, fraternal or non-profit" organizations in residential neighborhoods without a conditional-use permit," the Capistrano Dispatch reported.

Chuck Fromm is publisher of Worship Leader Magazine, a Christian music resource that combines biblical wisdom and best practices for worship, and provides added educational and congregational resources through its associated educational services, according to its website. However, the Fromms insist that their weekly meetings are not affiliated with a church, nor are they seeking to establish a church.

"How dare they tell us we can't have whatever we want in our home," Stephanie Fromm said. "We want to be able to use our home. We’ve paid a lot and invested a lot in our home and backyard … I should be able to be hospitable in my home."

The municipal code is "reactive," which means it is only enforced if someone complains.

Fromm admitted that at least one person had voiced concern about the activities. To read more, click here.

Ordinariate Watch: Adelaide archdiocese, Anglican archbishop continue to swap charges

A heated dispute continues in Australia about the sexual-abuse charges lodged by Anglican Archbishop John Hepworth. To read more, click here.

9 Baby Steps that Lead to Big Commitments

When I think about the commitments I’ve made that led to spiritual growth, often a very small step took me to a place where I could make the next commitment. Here are some baby steps that will help your members make the next commitment toward spiritual maturity. To read more, click here.

The Fundamental Declarations of the Anglican Church in North America: The Insights of the Late Peter Toon

By Robin G. Jordan

In August 2007 the late Peter Toon wrote an essay entitled “Does 1662 rise as 1928 falls?” in which he speculated upon the sudden popularity of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer at that time and the possible outcome of this popularity. Among the reasons that he surmised as accounting for the 1662 Prayer Book’s sudden popularity was that the Common Cause Partnership had no future or meaning without the active support of the Global South Provinces, which had constitutions based upon the historic Anglican formularies and which in a number of cases used the 1662 Prayer Book. The Common Cause Partnership would have an easier walk with the Global South Provinces if the CCP adopted the same formularies as those Provinces.

The Common Cause Partnership, however, had no intention of recovering the authentic Anglican Way, as Dr. Toon would hopefully speculate in his essay. Its adoption of the classic formularies, as the passage of time has revealed, was purely cosmetic. The CCP was seeking to give the appearance of accepting the authority of the classical formularies. The Common Cause Theological Statement was so written that the entities forming the alliance could in actual practice evade their authority. The Theological Statement contained a number of major concessions to the Anglo-Catholic entities in the alliance. It also reflected attitudes toward the classic formularies that the Common Cause Partners as former Episcopalians had brought with them from the Episcopal Church. This became all too evident with the formation of the Anglican Church in North America and the adoption and ratification of its present governing documents and the approval of its new ordinal.

The former Common Cause Partnership would gain what it coveted—the recognition of the leading Global South Provinces. Their primates would endorse the newly formed Anglican Church in North America as “a genuine expression of Anglicanism.” Since that time the leaders of the ACNA have been pushing the limits, not only within that ecclesial body but also outside it, seeking to see how far they can go without causing an outcry from the member churches of the ACNA or the Global South Provinces.

Far from leading a recovery of the authentic Anglican Way in North America, the leaders of the Anglican Church in North America appear to be set on leading the ACNA even further away from historic Anglicanism. The College of Bishops approved an ordinal that authorizes the use of ceremonies and ornaments long associated with doctrines and practices that the classical formularies reject. By its authorization of these ceremonies and ornaments the ordinal sanctions the associated doctrines and practices.

In an earlier July 2006 essay entitled “Proposed Doctrine for the Network: Can it be improved?” Dr. Toon questioned why the Common Cause Partnership could not have used a slightly edited version of Canon A5 of the Church of England Canons as the basis of a working unity for the theological diverse group that formed CCP:

The doctrine of the Church of England is grounded in the holy Scriptures, and in such teachings of the ancient Fathers and Councils of the Church as are agreeable to the said Scriptures. In particular such doctrine is to be found in the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion, the Book of Common Prayer, and the Ordinal. (The Canons of the Church of England, p.8)

He would point out a number of inconsistencies and other problem areas in the proposed Common Cause Theological Statement:

If, following the C of E Canon, [one] carefully reads the Thirty-Nine Articles, one will get a full and clear statement of the authority and sufficiency of the Scriptures for instructing us in the way of salvation and godliness. One will also learn what are the Catholic Creeds and why they are accepted in the Church in relation to the Bible. And the same goes for the two Dominical Sacraments. (See also the Catechism in the BCP)

This obviated the need for clauses 1, 2, and 4 of the proposed statement. Dr. Toon went on to note:

At the same time one will learn that Councils may err and so one will not accept automatically the teaching of “the Seven Ecumenical Councils.” And this is especially important with regard to the seventh, the Second Council of Nicaea, whose teaching on the veneration of icons is effectively rejected by the Articles and specifically by the Book of Homilies to which Article XXXV points. The historic Anglican Way has always affirmed four general councils and stopped at that – leaving to the area of discretion by local churches whether to affirm more.

GAFCON in The Jerusalem Declaration affirms these councils and does not go any further. Dr. Toon further notes:

In this regard the Affirmation of St Louis set forth by Anglo-Catholic Continuers in 1977 went way past any previous official, provincial or Lambeth Conference Anglican statement in relation to the Councils by making 7 councils and their teaching mandatory – a big mistake.

In the final version of its Theological Statement the Common Cause Partnership would back away from its earlier affirmation of the teaching of the seven Ecumenical Councils.

Dr. Toon identified as Anglo-Catholic and exclusionary the doctrinal position of clause 6, which maintained “the godly Historic Episcopate to be necessary for the full being of the Church.”

…if one reads the Articles and the Ordinal together then one will not be able to say on the basis of them (or by direct deduction from the New Testament) that the historic Episcopate is necessary for the full being of the Church. This statement is an Anglo-Catholic doctrine and belongs, I think, to the distinctions between the Episcopate seen as the bene esse (of the well being) or the plene esse (of the fullness of being) or the esse (of the necessary being). Anglicans have held varied doctrines of the relation of the Episcopate to the Church and it is not clear what is being claimed by the English expression, “full being” here. Whatever is claimed it excludes the majority of Anglicans since 1549 who have recognized other Churches (Lutheran, Presbyterian etc) as genuine churches with genuine presbyters, even if lacking the good thing of the Episcopate.

In the final version of its Theological Statement the Common Cause Partnership would alter the language of the clause but as Dr. Toon would point out in a subsequent essay, “The Ordaining and Consecrating of a Bishop – but what is his real identity?” the clause continues to take a doctrinal position that is Anglo-Catholic and exclusionary.

With regards to clause 5, which stated, “we accept the 1549 through the 1662 Book of Common Prayer and its ordinal as the foundation for Anglican worship and the standard for doctrine and discipline,” Dr. Toon made this very important observation:

It is the 1662 edition that is in the Constitutions of the majority of the Anglican Provinces and this Book has been translated into 150 languages or more. (Go to provinces like Uganda and see it used each Sunday and find it written into the Constitution.) No official province of the Anglican Communion authorizes the 1549 or the 1552 or the 1559 or the 1604 editions. A very small continuing group here or there may authorize the 1549.

Further, the 1662 was adapted for use in the Republic of the USA in 1789….

In the final version of its Theological Statement the Common Cause Partnership would also modify the language of this clause. However, the revised clause was no better than the original clause. The Common Cause Partnership would receive the 1662 Prayer Book and its Ordinal as “a standard for Anglican doctrine and discipline,” and, “with the Books which preceded it, as the standard for the Anglican tradition of worship.” The revised clause did not identify what books that preceded the 1662 Prayer Book, and has subsequently been interpreted to include the pre-Reformation Medieval Catholic service books, an interpretation that its vague language does not disallow.

Dr. Toon suggested that the following statement, an adaptation of Canon A5, should be substituted for the proposed Common Cause Theological Statement.

We accept the doctrine of the Anglican Way as it is grounded in the holy Scriptures, and in such teachings of the ancient Fathers and Councils of the Church as are agreeable to the said Scriptures. In particular, we receive such doctrine as is to be found in the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion, the Book of Common Prayer, and the Ordinal (as all three of these are printed in the English edition of 1662, the American edition of 1928 and the Canadian edition of 1962 of The Book of Common Prayer).

He believed that this statement would “obtain the greatest acceptance and the greatest comprehension on the best principles.”

The only problem that I have with this suggestion is that the 1928 American Prayer Book and 1962 Canadian Prayer Book are not quite the gentle revisions of the classical Anglican Prayer Book as Dr. Toon maintained. Only the 1662 English Prayer Book is recognized as a historic Anglican formulary.

The seven clauses of the final version of the Common Cause Theological Statement would be incorporated into the draft constitution of the Anglican Church in North America. With the adoption and ratification of that document they became the Fundamental Declarations of that ecclesial body. They put the ACNA on a path that leads it away from the authentic Anglican Way and from GAFCON and The Jerusalem Declaration.

The history of American Episcopalianism and the more recent history of the Continuing Anglican Movement in North America do not suggest that this path is a temporary detour and the Anglican Church in North America will return to the Anglican Way. On the contrary, they suggest that ACNA will continue on the road that it has taken.

How long the Global South Provinces will tolerate the Anglican Church in North America’s departure from the authentic Anglican Way remains to be seen. The Global South Provinces are distracted by their own problems to give their full attention to the ACNA. They have yet to come to the realization how negligible the support for the positions stated in The Jerusalem Declaration is in a large section of the ACNA. Clergy across the ACNA are teaching their congregations views that conflict with what the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans uphold in The Jerusalem Declaration. The Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, for those who may not be aware, is the provinces, dioceses, churches, and individuals that comprise the participants in the Global Anglican Future Conference, not the American organization that has adopted the same name and is a creature of the ACNA.

Like the Episcopal Church, the Anglican Church in North America has chosen to take its own road. The ACNA in its doctrinal positions is hardly a sterling example of the fourteen tenets of orthodoxy that The Jerusalem Declaration insists underpin Anglican identity. Its Fundamental Declarations differ from The Jerusalem Declaration in substance as well as language and emphasis. Its Constitution and Canons require that its clergy, member dioceses and churches, and ministry partners must unreservedly subscribe to its Fundamental Declarations.

As the late Peter Toon recognized, two can walk together only if they agree (Amos 3:3). The FCA and GAFCON must eventually come to a parting of the way with the ACNA or countenance what the FCA and GAFCON were formed to oppose—theological pluralism. As I observed elsewhere, a chain is as strong as its weakest link and the ACNA gives all appearances of being the weak link of the FCA and GAFCON.