http://www.religiousintelligence.com/news/?NewsID=2368
[Religious Intelligence] 25 Jul 2008--Cardinal Ivan Dias was not referring to any particular church when he criticized ecclesial communities “suffering from spiritual Alzheimer’s” the Anglican Communion’s top negotiator with the Vatican said yesterday, but was referring to the spiritual torpor prevalent across Western Christianity.
One of the Communion’s senior bishops, the Rt Rev David Beetge, Bishop of the Highveld, (South Africa) and co-chairman of the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission (IARCCUM) told ReligiousIntelligence.com on July 23 that the Cardinal’s address to the bishops at Lambeth “wasn’t directed at any province” of the church.
Cardinal Dias’ point about spiritual feeblemindedness was a critique of those who “live for the present moment,” Bishop Beetge said. His message to the Anglican Communion was that Rome is “not going to leave you. We want you to find a way to hold together at this moment.”
The speech was an important contribution to Anglican Roman Catholic dialogue, Bishop Beetge explained, as it affirmed the Roman Catholic Church’s desire for the Anglican Communion to prosper and for the two to grow together in unity. Anglicans “are part of the Catholic Church,” Bishop Beetge said, and “we must take this into account” when ordering our ecclesial lives. “This is a voice we have to listen to,” he said. Tradition was a central element in the Anglican ethos, he said, for “we are not made apostles for this moment” but for a universal and undivided church of Christ.
Related article:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article4385582.ece
Cardinal Ivan Dias: Anglican Church suffering spiritual Alzheimer's - Times Online
Friday, July 25, 2008
Sudan says stop!
http://www.sydneyanglicans.net/sydneystories/sudan_says_stop/
[sydneyanglicans.net] 25 Jul 2008--The conference is proceeding with so-called ‘Indaba’ groups, which come from a Zulu tradition of talking about issues until they are resolved.
[sydneyanglicans.net] 25 Jul 2008--The conference is proceeding with so-called ‘Indaba’ groups, which come from a Zulu tradition of talking about issues until they are resolved.
There have been various media reports saying participants are unhappy with the process, because not enough time is allowed for discussion and there is no procedure for resolution.
One prominent Liberal, Theo Hobson, writing in the Guardian newspaper called it ‘ just a massive talking-shop’.
But he says there is agreement on the process from the liberal bishops because “they have a deep trust that the communion’s position on sexuality will liberalise, given time. Of course they cannot say this – because it contravenes the existing orthodoxy, and also because it would sound colonial – ‘let’s wait for the developing nations to catch up’.”
He goes on to say “This is why so many evangelicals have boycotted: they knew that this tacit reformist agenda would be present.”
Buddhist Monks Destroy Church in Sri Lanka, Attack Pastor
http://www.christianpost.com/article/20080724/buddhist-monks-destroy-church-in-sri-lanka-attack-pastor.htm
[The Christian Post] 25 Jul 2008--A group of Buddhist monks and a mob of locals destroyed a church in Sri Lanka and attacked the pastor earlier this month, adding to the already escalating anti-Christian violence in the south Asia country.
[The Christian Post] 25 Jul 2008--A group of Buddhist monks and a mob of locals destroyed a church in Sri Lanka and attacked the pastor earlier this month, adding to the already escalating anti-Christian violence in the south Asia country.
Calvary Church in Thalahena, Malabe, northeast of the capital Colombo, was destroyed after a rumor spread that Christians had attacked a local Buddhist temple. A mob of some 500 villagers had descended on Calvary church and surrounded it as Sunday service was about to take place on July 6, persecution watchdog group Release International recently reported.
The 100 church members in attendance were told to leave by the pastor and police, who were called in earlier by the pastor when he noticed that the church’s cross was damaged.
"Fearing violence, the pastor and the police sent away the congregation. Soon after the mob – including the monks – entered the church and completely destroyed everything within, leaving only the walls standing,” said the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka (NCEASL), a partner of Release International.
"The mob then turned on the pastor and five workers, beating them with clubs and rods. A police officer who attempted to shield the pastor also received blows."
According to the NCEASL, the pastor and his father were both injured and were taken to the hospital.
Muslims Adopt Megachurch Multi-Site Model for Mosques
http://www.christianpost.com/article/20080724/muslims-adopt-megachurch-multi-site-model-for-mosques.htm
[The Christian Post] 25 Jul 2008--Mosques are multiplying across the country and their inspiration may come as a bit of a surprise – Christian megachurches.
[The Christian Post] 25 Jul 2008--Mosques are multiplying across the country and their inspiration may come as a bit of a surprise – Christian megachurches.
Similar to many megachurches, new mosques are popping up as extension campuses to a main mosque with the stated goal of making it more convenient for Muslims in an area to worship. These extended mosque sites are sometimes referred to as “mosque chains” and tend to be adopted by more progressive Muslim congregations.
"Because of how streamlined we are, you can get off the highway from anywhere and find a mosque that is well-maintained, well-structured and that will always be open," said Abeer Abdulla, media specialist for the nine mosques owned by the Islamic Society of Central Florida in Orlando, according to Religion News Service.
Besides serving as a place of worship, the campuses sometimes double up as a Muslim community center. Some sites feature gymnasiums, adult education classes, psychological counseling, sewing lessons, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts programs.
One such mosque is operated by the All-Dulles Area Muslim Society in the greater Washington, D.C.-area. It has a main mosque in Sterling, Va., and seven branch locations that offer a range of social activities for the annual membership cost of $30.
Batman and Lambeth?
http://blog.beliefnet.com/pontifications/2008/07/batman-and-lambeth.html
[Pontifications] 25 Jul 2008--And Batman? "On the subject of Batman's religious affiliation, there is some disagreement among fans as well as among writers about whether the character is a mostly lapsed Catholic or a mostly lapsed Episcopalian. There is universal agreement that the character is not an active churchgoer in any faith." An extended essay and page here, with images. (Given the state of affairs in both churches, I think either answer would be correct.)
[Pontifications] 25 Jul 2008--And Batman? "On the subject of Batman's religious affiliation, there is some disagreement among fans as well as among writers about whether the character is a mostly lapsed Catholic or a mostly lapsed Episcopalian. There is universal agreement that the character is not an active churchgoer in any faith." An extended essay and page here, with images. (Given the state of affairs in both churches, I think either answer would be correct.)
So what would Bruce Wayne, er, Batman, make of the doings at Lambeth, where the Vatican's ranking rep at the meeting, Cardinal Ivan Dias, this week diagnosed the Anglican Communion with Alzheimer's and/or Parkinson's diseases? Nice.
Episcopal Bishop says Cancel Episcopal Convention-for UN goals
http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=8703
[VirtueOnline] 25 Jul 2008--A leading orthodox bishop of The Episcopal Church has proposed canceling the 2009 Episcopal Church General Convention in order to fund the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Following the Thursday march on London by over 600 Anglican bishops and their spouses in support of the MDGs, the Rt. Rev. Keith Ackerman, Bishop of Quincy, said that "there should be no General Convention this year, and all the money for the convention should be sent to fund the goals."
Ackerman furthermore called for The Episcopal Church to "cancel all meetings that require face to face and conduct nothing but video conferencing." He said that the American wing of the Anglican Communion should "donate its money to churches that would be positively affected."
Though leaders of The Episcopal Church have stated their commitment to the MDGs and made their biggest stand yet in London on Thursday, Ackerman has doubts that The Episcopal Church has yet made a true commitment.
[VirtueOnline] 25 Jul 2008--A leading orthodox bishop of The Episcopal Church has proposed canceling the 2009 Episcopal Church General Convention in order to fund the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Following the Thursday march on London by over 600 Anglican bishops and their spouses in support of the MDGs, the Rt. Rev. Keith Ackerman, Bishop of Quincy, said that "there should be no General Convention this year, and all the money for the convention should be sent to fund the goals."
Ackerman furthermore called for The Episcopal Church to "cancel all meetings that require face to face and conduct nothing but video conferencing." He said that the American wing of the Anglican Communion should "donate its money to churches that would be positively affected."
Though leaders of The Episcopal Church have stated their commitment to the MDGs and made their biggest stand yet in London on Thursday, Ackerman has doubts that The Episcopal Church has yet made a true commitment.
Archbishop of apostasy
http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=70488
[World Net Daily] 25 Jul 2008--No doubt I was not the only one left with his mouth gaping open when I read that the archbishop of Canterbury, the head of the worldwide Anglican Church, proclaimed, "Christian doctrine is offense to Muslims."
[World Net Daily] 25 Jul 2008--No doubt I was not the only one left with his mouth gaping open when I read that the archbishop of Canterbury, the head of the worldwide Anglican Church, proclaimed, "Christian doctrine is offense to Muslims."
It's hard to know where to begin to assess such a statement, when one considers the source. Officially, the archbishop of Canterbury is the chief bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury, the Holy See that churches must be in communion with in order to be a part of the Anglican Communion.
So, this is not the proclamation of the Grand Poobah of the Fraternal Order of Water Buffalo, or the rantings of a self-appointed leader of some lunatic fringe cult.
The archbishop of Canterbury is the spiritual head of one of the oldest mainstream Christian denominations of the Reformation and as such, a defender of the faith.
Except, evidently, where it offends Muslims.
Archbishop of Canterbury Seeks Lambeth Compliant Partners from Global South
http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=8708
[VirtueOnline] 25 Jul 2008--A rival Global South movement is being set up here in Canterbury in an attempt to divide and conquer the Global South movement by encouraging a Lambeth compliant "Communion Partners" movement in an effort to isolate mainstream evangelical and Anglo-Catholics who number 40 million of the 55 million church-going Anglicans throughout the world.
Between 150 and 200 bishops from 17 provinces of the Anglican Communion met last Tuesday at the Kent University campus, with a number of North Americans who included Common Cause Moderator Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh.
Among the speakers were bishops Michael Scott-Joynt (Winchester), Tom Wright (Durham) and Bob Duncan (Pittsburgh) moderation of Common Cause Partnerships. The Rt. Rev. Ian Ernest chair of CAPA spoke and Presiding Bishop Mouneer Anis addressed the gathering and spoke of the 2009 Global South Conference. They are to meet again, thought this is not certain, a source told VOL.
Senior members of the Global South Primates who were not there included Archbishops Peter Akinola, (Nigeria), Emmanuel Kolini (Rwanda), Benjamin Nzimbi (Kenya) and Henry Luke Orombi (Uganda), majority representatives of the Global South.
The design of this Lambeth Global South group of primates and bishops, which comes with the full support of Dr. Williams, is to blunt the Global South group of Primates that met in Jerusalem recently which includes Archbishops Peter Akinola, Peter Jensen, Gregory Venables, Emmanuel Kolini, Benjamin Nzimbi and Henry Luke Orombi and Valentine Mokiwa (Tanzania).
The list of 17 provinces includes Hong Kong, South Korea, North India, West Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Southeast Asia, Myanmar (Burma) Papua New Guinea, Jerusalem/ Middle- East, South India, Burundi, the Southern Cone, West Indies, Central Africa and the Philippines.
Together they represent approximately 6 million Anglicans. Deeply involved in this group is said to be Archbishop John Chew of Singapore, Secretary of the Global South Group and Bishop Mouneer of Egypt who is treasurer whose chairman is Archbishop Peter Akinola. Ironically the Assistant Bishop of Singapore, the Rt. Rev. Rennis Ponniah is not present at Lambeth.
The Rt. Rev. Albert Vun, Bishop of Sabah is also not present at Lambeth, although he was present at GAFCON and the ANiC ordinations in Vancouver Archbishop John Chew did not attend GAFCON. John Chew is a member of the group who produced the St Andrews Draft Covenant which has been critiqued by the Theological Resource Group of GAFCON. Archbishop Chew as Bishop of Singapore has the resources to make this happen.
[VirtueOnline] 25 Jul 2008--A rival Global South movement is being set up here in Canterbury in an attempt to divide and conquer the Global South movement by encouraging a Lambeth compliant "Communion Partners" movement in an effort to isolate mainstream evangelical and Anglo-Catholics who number 40 million of the 55 million church-going Anglicans throughout the world.
Between 150 and 200 bishops from 17 provinces of the Anglican Communion met last Tuesday at the Kent University campus, with a number of North Americans who included Common Cause Moderator Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh.
Among the speakers were bishops Michael Scott-Joynt (Winchester), Tom Wright (Durham) and Bob Duncan (Pittsburgh) moderation of Common Cause Partnerships. The Rt. Rev. Ian Ernest chair of CAPA spoke and Presiding Bishop Mouneer Anis addressed the gathering and spoke of the 2009 Global South Conference. They are to meet again, thought this is not certain, a source told VOL.
Senior members of the Global South Primates who were not there included Archbishops Peter Akinola, (Nigeria), Emmanuel Kolini (Rwanda), Benjamin Nzimbi (Kenya) and Henry Luke Orombi (Uganda), majority representatives of the Global South.
The design of this Lambeth Global South group of primates and bishops, which comes with the full support of Dr. Williams, is to blunt the Global South group of Primates that met in Jerusalem recently which includes Archbishops Peter Akinola, Peter Jensen, Gregory Venables, Emmanuel Kolini, Benjamin Nzimbi and Henry Luke Orombi and Valentine Mokiwa (Tanzania).
The list of 17 provinces includes Hong Kong, South Korea, North India, West Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Southeast Asia, Myanmar (Burma) Papua New Guinea, Jerusalem/ Middle- East, South India, Burundi, the Southern Cone, West Indies, Central Africa and the Philippines.
Together they represent approximately 6 million Anglicans. Deeply involved in this group is said to be Archbishop John Chew of Singapore, Secretary of the Global South Group and Bishop Mouneer of Egypt who is treasurer whose chairman is Archbishop Peter Akinola. Ironically the Assistant Bishop of Singapore, the Rt. Rev. Rennis Ponniah is not present at Lambeth.
The Rt. Rev. Albert Vun, Bishop of Sabah is also not present at Lambeth, although he was present at GAFCON and the ANiC ordinations in Vancouver Archbishop John Chew did not attend GAFCON. John Chew is a member of the group who produced the St Andrews Draft Covenant which has been critiqued by the Theological Resource Group of GAFCON. Archbishop Chew as Bishop of Singapore has the resources to make this happen.
Parrots wreak havoc on church steeple
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2458965/Parrots-wreak-havoc-on-church-steeple.html
Telegraph] 25 Jul 2008--A plague of parakeets have caused thousands of pounds worth of damage to a church - after pecking away at the wooden spire.
Telegraph] 25 Jul 2008--A plague of parakeets have caused thousands of pounds worth of damage to a church - after pecking away at the wooden spire.
Congregation members revealed this week that the brightly-coloured vandals had started nesting in the 150-year-old spire of St John the Evangelist, Shirley, which has been blighted by hundreds of beak-sized holes.
Church spokesman Bernard Maguire, 67, said: "They showed up last winter, and have been pecking away ever since.
Perhaps God is using the parakeets to tell us something.
Southwark Clergyman writes to Bishop of Colombo about his sermon
http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/2008/07/25/southwark-clergyman-writes-to-bishop-of-colombo-about-his-sermon/#more-4433
[Anglican Mainstream] 25 Jul 2008--Semitic society in particular, is not accepting of such attractionhowever, as an expression of our sexuality. The fact that there arecomparatively few references to such attraction in Old and NewTestaments only underlines what is clearly known about the childrenof Abraham, underlined by the Mosaic law. Jews and Arabs insist thatthe foundation stone of stable society is, that children should grow upwithin the love of the parents who conceived them. Young males mustbe encouraged towards monogamous heterosexual expression, for the sakeof the nurture of following generations, without which human societyquickly disintegrates. Of course there are good examples of adultsbringing up children not their own biologically, proved I hope in myown family let alone the Holy Family. But wherever society departsfrom this norm, it will collapse.
So I make the humble, and yet prophetic? request, that you encourageyour Province to return to the Book of Common Prayer order of thereasons for marriage, firstly, for the procreation and nurture ofchildren - within the fear of God… For too long, Anglicans havedemoted this clear Biblical understanding, for the spurious reasonthat we should not be encouraging irresponsible population growth, whenthe BCP marriage ordinance simply links procreation with nurture.
[Anglican Mainstream] 25 Jul 2008--Semitic society in particular, is not accepting of such attractionhowever, as an expression of our sexuality. The fact that there arecomparatively few references to such attraction in Old and NewTestaments only underlines what is clearly known about the childrenof Abraham, underlined by the Mosaic law. Jews and Arabs insist thatthe foundation stone of stable society is, that children should grow upwithin the love of the parents who conceived them. Young males mustbe encouraged towards monogamous heterosexual expression, for the sakeof the nurture of following generations, without which human societyquickly disintegrates. Of course there are good examples of adultsbringing up children not their own biologically, proved I hope in myown family let alone the Holy Family. But wherever society departsfrom this norm, it will collapse.
So I make the humble, and yet prophetic? request, that you encourageyour Province to return to the Book of Common Prayer order of thereasons for marriage, firstly, for the procreation and nurture ofchildren - within the fear of God… For too long, Anglicans havedemoted this clear Biblical understanding, for the spurious reasonthat we should not be encouraging irresponsible population growth, whenthe BCP marriage ordinance simply links procreation with nurture.
Why your Parochial Church Council should endorse the GAFCON Jerusalem Declaration
http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/2008/07/25/why-your-parochial-church-council-should-endorse-the-gafcon-jerusalem-declaration/
[Anglican Mainstream] 25 Jul 2008--GAFCON is a call to vision and action based firmly on the ‘faith once delivered to the saints’ and revealed in Scripture, to reform the church and transform persons, communities and societies through the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
What might GAFCON and the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans mean for your Church?
[Anglican Mainstream] 25 Jul 2008--GAFCON is a call to vision and action based firmly on the ‘faith once delivered to the saints’ and revealed in Scripture, to reform the church and transform persons, communities and societies through the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
What might GAFCON and the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans mean for your Church?
Lambeth diary: Rival strategies unveiled
http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/2008/07/25/lambeth-diary-rival-strategies-unveiled/
[Anglican Mainstream] 25 Jul 2008--The bishops of The Episcopal Church have come to the Lambeth Conference well- briefed on how to present their arguments cogently and persuasively in the indaba groups. Dr Philip Turner, former Dean of the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale, has written analysis of this for the Anglican Communion Institute, of which he is VP. The full briefing document is here .
Common Cause Partnership, Bishop Bob Duncan’s group, is petitioning Gafcon for province status, giving Gafcon virtual ecclesial authority. And I understand that when the next report of the Windsor Continuation Group is published next week, it will contain a ‘bombshell’ that will be pleasing to the conservative evangelial side but not so perhaps to the liberals.
There is also news from the Anglican Mainstream fringe meeting at the conference last night. Conservative evangelical bishops, who we were asked not to name, were told: ‘In indaba group after indaba group, find out how many people support resolution 1.10. [The one ten years ago that enforced a traditional, Biblical stance on gay sex.] I am putting my hand up in my indaba group, I invite my brothers and sisters to do the same when they get the opportunity.’ So it appears, you can take indaba out of Africa, but you can’t take good old democratic infighting out of the West. It’s business as usual at Lambeth, and one way or another, these 650 bishops are determined to have a vote and make it count.
According to Dr Turner, the TEC memo is ‘manifestly also a method designed to keep a large group of people “on message” so that TEC’s bishops will remain on the same page. It is manifest also that the memo signals a hardened position on the part of TEC’s Episcopal leadership that runs counter to the spirit the Archbishop of Canterbury has asked to guide the bishops in their deliberations—a spirit of mutual subjection in Christ that is open to correction.’
[Anglican Mainstream] 25 Jul 2008--The bishops of The Episcopal Church have come to the Lambeth Conference well- briefed on how to present their arguments cogently and persuasively in the indaba groups. Dr Philip Turner, former Dean of the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale, has written analysis of this for the Anglican Communion Institute, of which he is VP. The full briefing document is here .
Common Cause Partnership, Bishop Bob Duncan’s group, is petitioning Gafcon for province status, giving Gafcon virtual ecclesial authority. And I understand that when the next report of the Windsor Continuation Group is published next week, it will contain a ‘bombshell’ that will be pleasing to the conservative evangelial side but not so perhaps to the liberals.
There is also news from the Anglican Mainstream fringe meeting at the conference last night. Conservative evangelical bishops, who we were asked not to name, were told: ‘In indaba group after indaba group, find out how many people support resolution 1.10. [The one ten years ago that enforced a traditional, Biblical stance on gay sex.] I am putting my hand up in my indaba group, I invite my brothers and sisters to do the same when they get the opportunity.’ So it appears, you can take indaba out of Africa, but you can’t take good old democratic infighting out of the West. It’s business as usual at Lambeth, and one way or another, these 650 bishops are determined to have a vote and make it count.
According to Dr Turner, the TEC memo is ‘manifestly also a method designed to keep a large group of people “on message” so that TEC’s bishops will remain on the same page. It is manifest also that the memo signals a hardened position on the part of TEC’s Episcopal leadership that runs counter to the spirit the Archbishop of Canterbury has asked to guide the bishops in their deliberations—a spirit of mutual subjection in Christ that is open to correction.’
Anglican version of the 'inquisition' proposed to avoid future schism
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article4396934.ece
[Times Online] 25 Jul 2008--An Anglican version of the Roman Catholic church's "inquisition" is proposed today in a document seen by The Times.
Bishops are urging the setting up of an Anglican Faith and Order Commission to give "guidance" on controversial issues such as same-sex blessings and gay ordinations.
The commission was put forward as a proposal this week to the 650 bishops attending the Lambeth Conference as a way of preserving the future unity of the Anglican Communion. Insiders compared it with the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the body formerly headed by the present Pope as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and previously known as the Holy Office or Inquisition.
[Times Online] 25 Jul 2008--An Anglican version of the Roman Catholic church's "inquisition" is proposed today in a document seen by The Times.
Bishops are urging the setting up of an Anglican Faith and Order Commission to give "guidance" on controversial issues such as same-sex blessings and gay ordinations.
The commission was put forward as a proposal this week to the 650 bishops attending the Lambeth Conference as a way of preserving the future unity of the Anglican Communion. Insiders compared it with the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the body formerly headed by the present Pope as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and previously known as the Holy Office or Inquisition.
Dreading Lambeth’s Outcome, and for Good Reason
http://www.standfirminfaith.com/index.php/site/article/14710/
[Stand Firm] 25 Jul 2008--I see no sign that the bishops and the conference have any desire to face the biggest elephant in their midst. I’m not referring to issues of homosexuality, and authority directly, but to the glaringly obvious fact that a quarter of the bishops in the Anglican Communion are actually missing.
[Stand Firm] 25 Jul 2008--I see no sign that the bishops and the conference have any desire to face the biggest elephant in their midst. I’m not referring to issues of homosexuality, and authority directly, but to the glaringly obvious fact that a quarter of the bishops in the Anglican Communion are actually missing.
A Church Times Editorial, “Wheat and tares in Canterbury” and Kendall Harmon’s response
http://www.kendallharmon.net/t19/index.php/t19/article/14726/
[TitusOneNine] 25 Jul 2008--This editorial falls far short--as is alas becoming all too common with this publication--of seeing a way for Lambeth 2008 to make any kind of meaningful contribution toward enabling the current huge mess in the Anglican Communion to become any better. True, it is a matter of working together, and I have long been insisting it will involve sacrifice on all sides.
However, any meaningful step in a constructive direction must include the North American church's cessation of the practice which is precisely at issue in debate. Christians have heretofore considered what Anglicans are currently debating as impermissible and immoral. We cannot have a debate about whether to do something which the American church in particular with ever increasing speed is continuing to do. The way in which the American church has gone about this has been a fiasco for those advocating for this change . The global debate by TEC's actions has been set back many more years than most dare to understand.
[TitusOneNine] 25 Jul 2008--This editorial falls far short--as is alas becoming all too common with this publication--of seeing a way for Lambeth 2008 to make any kind of meaningful contribution toward enabling the current huge mess in the Anglican Communion to become any better. True, it is a matter of working together, and I have long been insisting it will involve sacrifice on all sides.
However, any meaningful step in a constructive direction must include the North American church's cessation of the practice which is precisely at issue in debate. Christians have heretofore considered what Anglicans are currently debating as impermissible and immoral. We cannot have a debate about whether to do something which the American church in particular with ever increasing speed is continuing to do. The way in which the American church has gone about this has been a fiasco for those advocating for this change . The global debate by TEC's actions has been set back many more years than most dare to understand.
Bishop accuses church of manipulating summit over 'tolerance guide' to gay clergy
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/25/anglicanism.religion
[Guardian] 25 Jul 2008--A US bishop yesterday accused his own church of manipulating the Lambeth summit by providing its 125 representatives with briefing notes explaining how to promote liberal attitudes towards gay clergy.
The US Episcopal church has the largest presence at Lambeth, a once-a-decade gathering of the world's Anglican bishops in Canterbury, and has provided each prelate with a "messaging strategy" that tells them how to present a cogent, persuasive argument in favour of diversity and tolerance in their discussions with other bishops.
Liberals form the majority voice in the US church and are eager to liberalise attitudes towards sexuality, given the divisive furore that has ensued following the 2003 consecration of Gene Robinson, an openly gay man, as Bishop of New Hampshire.
The document handed out to the Episcopal church's Lambeth contingent encourages bishops to promote the idea of diversity by using examples from the Bible and scripture.
Related document:
http://timescolumns.typepad.com/gledhill/files/lambeth_talking_points.pdf
Lambeth Talking Points - Times Online
[Guardian] 25 Jul 2008--A US bishop yesterday accused his own church of manipulating the Lambeth summit by providing its 125 representatives with briefing notes explaining how to promote liberal attitudes towards gay clergy.
The US Episcopal church has the largest presence at Lambeth, a once-a-decade gathering of the world's Anglican bishops in Canterbury, and has provided each prelate with a "messaging strategy" that tells them how to present a cogent, persuasive argument in favour of diversity and tolerance in their discussions with other bishops.
Liberals form the majority voice in the US church and are eager to liberalise attitudes towards sexuality, given the divisive furore that has ensued following the 2003 consecration of Gene Robinson, an openly gay man, as Bishop of New Hampshire.
The document handed out to the Episcopal church's Lambeth contingent encourages bishops to promote the idea of diversity by using examples from the Bible and scripture.
Related document:
http://timescolumns.typepad.com/gledhill/files/lambeth_talking_points.pdf
Lambeth Talking Points - Times Online
J.I. Packer on Homosexuality
http://theresurgence.org/gospel_culture_and_church
[Resurgence] 25 Jul 2008--Perhaps my favorite time in Orlando was spent in a small group with Dr. J. I. Packer. It is hard to overestimate Packer’s impact on evangelical Christianity. The graciousness he afforded me to sit on a couch and ask him questions for more than an hour was humbling and helpful. He is very clear minded at age eighty-two and he remains incredibly conversant, insightful, and witty. Impressively, his words are impeccably precise.
As we sat on the couch together, he explained that Anglicanism is patterned after the ancient Roman governmental system so that a bishop has jurisdiction over a geographic area. However, this long-established ecclesiological pattern has been breached because Anglicanism is suffering from “heretical bishops.” By “heretical bishops,” Packer was referring to those bishops who sanction homosexual activity. He explained that the “heretical bishops” won support for their position following much lobbying. This sadly required Bible-believing Anglican churches to come under the authority of other orthodox bishops outside of their geographic area rather than remain under “heretical bishops.”
[Resurgence] 25 Jul 2008--Perhaps my favorite time in Orlando was spent in a small group with Dr. J. I. Packer. It is hard to overestimate Packer’s impact on evangelical Christianity. The graciousness he afforded me to sit on a couch and ask him questions for more than an hour was humbling and helpful. He is very clear minded at age eighty-two and he remains incredibly conversant, insightful, and witty. Impressively, his words are impeccably precise.
As we sat on the couch together, he explained that Anglicanism is patterned after the ancient Roman governmental system so that a bishop has jurisdiction over a geographic area. However, this long-established ecclesiological pattern has been breached because Anglicanism is suffering from “heretical bishops.” By “heretical bishops,” Packer was referring to those bishops who sanction homosexual activity. He explained that the “heretical bishops” won support for their position following much lobbying. This sadly required Bible-believing Anglican churches to come under the authority of other orthodox bishops outside of their geographic area rather than remain under “heretical bishops.”
The Anglican Church's shifting center
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/24/opinion/edbreyer.php
[The International Herald Tribune] 25 Jul 2008--What can the bishops present at Lambeth do to heal the wounds within the Anglican communion while still honoring the biblical principle that all human beings are made in the image of God? One idea would be for church leaders to resolve now to hold the next Lambeth Conference - the one that meets in 2018 - in a city in the Southern Hemisphere.
For one thing, the vast majority of Anglicans live in Africa. Philip Jenkins and others have written about the "typical" modern Christian being a young woman of color living in the global south. "If we want to visualize a typical contemporary Christian, we should think of a woman living in a village in Nigeria or in a Brazilian favela," he writes in "The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity."
[The International Herald Tribune] 25 Jul 2008--What can the bishops present at Lambeth do to heal the wounds within the Anglican communion while still honoring the biblical principle that all human beings are made in the image of God? One idea would be for church leaders to resolve now to hold the next Lambeth Conference - the one that meets in 2018 - in a city in the Southern Hemisphere.
For one thing, the vast majority of Anglicans live in Africa. Philip Jenkins and others have written about the "typical" modern Christian being a young woman of color living in the global south. "If we want to visualize a typical contemporary Christian, we should think of a woman living in a village in Nigeria or in a Brazilian favela," he writes in "The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity."
Hearings, Indabas, & “Staying on Message”: A Conversation with Bishop Iker
http://www.standfirminfaith.com/index.php/site/article/14720/
[Stand Firem] 25 Jul 2008--Bishop Iker was kind enough to meet with me for a few minutes to discuss the Bishop's daily schedule, his indaba group, the part of the conference he deems the most central and important, as well as two key meetings among allies and friends.
[Stand Firem] 25 Jul 2008--Bishop Iker was kind enough to meet with me for a few minutes to discuss the Bishop's daily schedule, his indaba group, the part of the conference he deems the most central and important, as well as two key meetings among allies and friends.
Lambeth Diary: Anglican 'Holy Office'
http://timescolumns.typepad.com/gledhill/
[Times Online] 25 Jul 2008--The second observations document of the Windsor Continuation Group has just dropped. It gives more detail of the Principles of Canon Law Project, which we wrote about earlier and which is being talked of by primates as the 'Fifth Instrument of Communion'. I am told it will not be so much a Catholic-style 'Code of Canon Law' as a 'blueprint' of Canon Law. However, comparisons with the Roman Church will become even more inevitable because of another plan, to set up a new Faith and Order Commission.
This sounds extraordinarily like the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The WCG observations document says it will 'give guidance on the ecclesiological issues raised by our current crisis.' The CDF was of course formerly the Holy Office, or the Inquisition.
Related document:
http://www.standfirminfaith.com/index.php/site/article/14718/
COMPLETE TEXT of Windsor Continuation Group Preliminary Observations Part 2 (important) - Stand Firm
[Times Online] 25 Jul 2008--The second observations document of the Windsor Continuation Group has just dropped. It gives more detail of the Principles of Canon Law Project, which we wrote about earlier and which is being talked of by primates as the 'Fifth Instrument of Communion'. I am told it will not be so much a Catholic-style 'Code of Canon Law' as a 'blueprint' of Canon Law. However, comparisons with the Roman Church will become even more inevitable because of another plan, to set up a new Faith and Order Commission.
This sounds extraordinarily like the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The WCG observations document says it will 'give guidance on the ecclesiological issues raised by our current crisis.' The CDF was of course formerly the Holy Office, or the Inquisition.
Related document:
http://www.standfirminfaith.com/index.php/site/article/14718/
COMPLETE TEXT of Windsor Continuation Group Preliminary Observations Part 2 (important) - Stand Firm
Why many bishops did not come
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/24/opinion/edsugden.php
[The International Herald Tribune] 25 Jul 2008--In his opening sermon at the Lambeth Conference, the bishop of Colombo, the Right Reverend Duleep de Chickera, insisted that the Anglican tradition was to welcome everybody. It is, he said, "an inclusive communion, where there is space equally for everyone and anyone, regardless of color, gender, ability, sexual orientation. Unity in diversity is a cherished Anglican tradition."
Given this shared tradition, why did some 230 of the Communion's more than 800 bishops choose not to come? Because they hold that - above anything else - the unifying, formal commitment of the Anglican Church is to Scripture and its teaching, and that those who are endorsing blessing same-sex relationships and consecrating active gay men as bishops are innovators who are setting the teaching of the Bible aside. For these 230 bishops this is a matter of conscience - obedience to the Bible and the continuous teaching of the Church.
[The International Herald Tribune] 25 Jul 2008--In his opening sermon at the Lambeth Conference, the bishop of Colombo, the Right Reverend Duleep de Chickera, insisted that the Anglican tradition was to welcome everybody. It is, he said, "an inclusive communion, where there is space equally for everyone and anyone, regardless of color, gender, ability, sexual orientation. Unity in diversity is a cherished Anglican tradition."
Given this shared tradition, why did some 230 of the Communion's more than 800 bishops choose not to come? Because they hold that - above anything else - the unifying, formal commitment of the Anglican Church is to Scripture and its teaching, and that those who are endorsing blessing same-sex relationships and consecrating active gay men as bishops are innovators who are setting the teaching of the Bible aside. For these 230 bishops this is a matter of conscience - obedience to the Bible and the continuous teaching of the Church.
Statement of the Sudenese Bishops to the Lambeth Conference on the Situation in Sudan
http://www.aco.org/acns/news.cfm/2008/7/23/ACNS4460
[Anglican Communion News Service] 25 Jul 2008--We, the Sudanese Bishops gathering at the Lambeth Conference, would like on behalf of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan (ECS) and the whole Sudanese people, to acknowledge and appreciate your prayers and support during the 21 years of war in Southern Sudan and in reaching the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement / Army (SPLM/A) on 9th January 2005. The CPA provides the basis for a just and sustainable peace in the Sudan. We give thanks to God for the agreement and express our support for all efforts to ensure its full and timely implementation.
After 21 years of war, in which more than 2 million people lost their lives and more than 4 million people have become refugees or internally displaced, we are greatly encouraged at thenew future offered by the CPA. However, we remain deeply concerned that the conflict in Darfur, in Western Sudan, continues unabated, and at the localized conflict in several places which threatens stability and the sustainability of peace. We therefore wish to share with you thefollowing concerns....
[Anglican Communion News Service] 25 Jul 2008--We, the Sudanese Bishops gathering at the Lambeth Conference, would like on behalf of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan (ECS) and the whole Sudanese people, to acknowledge and appreciate your prayers and support during the 21 years of war in Southern Sudan and in reaching the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement / Army (SPLM/A) on 9th January 2005. The CPA provides the basis for a just and sustainable peace in the Sudan. We give thanks to God for the agreement and express our support for all efforts to ensure its full and timely implementation.
After 21 years of war, in which more than 2 million people lost their lives and more than 4 million people have become refugees or internally displaced, we are greatly encouraged at thenew future offered by the CPA. However, we remain deeply concerned that the conflict in Darfur, in Western Sudan, continues unabated, and at the localized conflict in several places which threatens stability and the sustainability of peace. We therefore wish to share with you thefollowing concerns....
Common Cause Partnership Welcomes Jerusalem Declaration
http://www.globalsouthanglican.org/index.php/comments/common_cause_partnership_welcomes_jerusalem_declaration/
[Global South Anglican] 25 Jul 2008--The Common Cause Partnership leaders issued a statement today welcoming the Jerusalem Declaration and the statement on the Global Anglican Future and pledging to move forward with the work of Anglican unity in North America.
“We, as the Bishops and elected leaders of the Common Cause Partnership are deeply grateful for the Jerusalem Declaration. It describes a hopeful, global Anglican future, rooted in scripture and the authentic Anglican way of faith and practice. We joyfully welcome the words of the GAFCON statement that it is now time ‘for the federation currently known as the Common Cause Partnership to be recognized by the Primates Council.’
“The intention of the Executive Committee is to petition the Primates Council for recognition as the North American Province of GAFCON on the basis of the Common Cause Partnership Articles, Theological Statement, and Covenant Declaration, and to ask that their Moderator be seated in the Primate’s Council.
“We accept the call to build the Common Cause Partnership into a truly unified body of Anglicans. We are committed to that call. Over the past months, we have worked together, increasing the number of partners and authorizing committees and task groups for Mission, Education, Governance, Prayer Book & Liturgy, the Episcopate, and Ecumenical Relations. The Executive Committee is meeting regularly to carry forward the particulars of this call. The CCP Council will meet December 1-3, 2008.”
[Global South Anglican] 25 Jul 2008--The Common Cause Partnership leaders issued a statement today welcoming the Jerusalem Declaration and the statement on the Global Anglican Future and pledging to move forward with the work of Anglican unity in North America.
“We, as the Bishops and elected leaders of the Common Cause Partnership are deeply grateful for the Jerusalem Declaration. It describes a hopeful, global Anglican future, rooted in scripture and the authentic Anglican way of faith and practice. We joyfully welcome the words of the GAFCON statement that it is now time ‘for the federation currently known as the Common Cause Partnership to be recognized by the Primates Council.’
“The intention of the Executive Committee is to petition the Primates Council for recognition as the North American Province of GAFCON on the basis of the Common Cause Partnership Articles, Theological Statement, and Covenant Declaration, and to ask that their Moderator be seated in the Primate’s Council.
“We accept the call to build the Common Cause Partnership into a truly unified body of Anglicans. We are committed to that call. Over the past months, we have worked together, increasing the number of partners and authorizing committees and task groups for Mission, Education, Governance, Prayer Book & Liturgy, the Episcopate, and Ecumenical Relations. The Executive Committee is meeting regularly to carry forward the particulars of this call. The CCP Council will meet December 1-3, 2008.”
Thursday, July 24, 2008
How much church is enough?
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/city/collin/opinion/stories/north_graham_20edi_.83550a68.html
[The Dallas Morning News] 24 Jul 2008--“No, there’s no time to have fun as a family. We have to go to church.”
“Sorry, can’t talk right now. I am busy listening to Christian music on my Christian iPod while I use my Christian phonebook to find a Christian plumber to fix the leak in my Christian sink.”
“You think I want to sit here and bask in the awe of God’s presence? No way; I have choir practice in 15 minutes.”
Have you ever heard statements like these? Have you ever said them? Sometimes Christians forget they live in the real world. This may sound strange coming from a Christian, especially one whose chosen occupation is centered on helping non-Christians become Christians. Yet, each of us has met a Christ-follower (or buildings full of them) too busy with church stuff to pay attention to the needs of the world around them.
The highest calling of Christians, as given by Jesus Christ, is to “go and tell.” Some churches in our society still boldly preach “go and tell,” yet actually live out “come and hear.” Somehow they get sidetracked by laziness or busy schedules or fear of change or unwillingness to open up to strangers or simply spiritual apathy.
[The Dallas Morning News] 24 Jul 2008--“No, there’s no time to have fun as a family. We have to go to church.”
“Sorry, can’t talk right now. I am busy listening to Christian music on my Christian iPod while I use my Christian phonebook to find a Christian plumber to fix the leak in my Christian sink.”
“You think I want to sit here and bask in the awe of God’s presence? No way; I have choir practice in 15 minutes.”
Have you ever heard statements like these? Have you ever said them? Sometimes Christians forget they live in the real world. This may sound strange coming from a Christian, especially one whose chosen occupation is centered on helping non-Christians become Christians. Yet, each of us has met a Christ-follower (or buildings full of them) too busy with church stuff to pay attention to the needs of the world around them.
The highest calling of Christians, as given by Jesus Christ, is to “go and tell.” Some churches in our society still boldly preach “go and tell,” yet actually live out “come and hear.” Somehow they get sidetracked by laziness or busy schedules or fear of change or unwillingness to open up to strangers or simply spiritual apathy.
Grieved Presbyterians Seek Way Forward
http://www.christianpost.com/article/20080723/grieved-presbyterians-seek-way-forward.htm
[The Christian Post] 24 Jul 2008--Presbyterians grieved by the pro-gay actions of the highest governing body of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) plan to converge next month to look for a way forward.
The Assembly's actions "have caused a crisis of conscience within the denomination," said Renee Guth, executive director of the New Wineskins Association of Churches, a network of some 200 conservative Presbyterian churches discontent with the PC(USA).
The Assembly on June 27 approved an "authoritative interpretation" of the church constitution, allowing non-celibate gay and lesbian candidates for ordination to conscientiously object the current standard which requires fidelity in marriage between a man and a woman and chastity in singleness. The governing body also voted to delete the fidelity and chastity requirement – a vote that will go to the denomination's 173 presbyteries for approval – and approved changes to a document of the Reformed Christian faith that would delete "homosexual perversion" from a list of condemned behaviors.
Days after the biennial Assembly meeting, the PC(USA)'s top leaders sent a letter to all of its 11,000 congregations acknowledging the anxiety the Assembly created for some and the "storms" that are to come. The leaders urged congregations to stay together and not "act or react immediately" to the decisions.
But some have already begun acting.
[The Christian Post] 24 Jul 2008--Presbyterians grieved by the pro-gay actions of the highest governing body of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) plan to converge next month to look for a way forward.
The Assembly's actions "have caused a crisis of conscience within the denomination," said Renee Guth, executive director of the New Wineskins Association of Churches, a network of some 200 conservative Presbyterian churches discontent with the PC(USA).
The Assembly on June 27 approved an "authoritative interpretation" of the church constitution, allowing non-celibate gay and lesbian candidates for ordination to conscientiously object the current standard which requires fidelity in marriage between a man and a woman and chastity in singleness. The governing body also voted to delete the fidelity and chastity requirement – a vote that will go to the denomination's 173 presbyteries for approval – and approved changes to a document of the Reformed Christian faith that would delete "homosexual perversion" from a list of condemned behaviors.
Days after the biennial Assembly meeting, the PC(USA)'s top leaders sent a letter to all of its 11,000 congregations acknowledging the anxiety the Assembly created for some and the "storms" that are to come. The leaders urged congregations to stay together and not "act or react immediately" to the decisions.
But some have already begun acting.
Akinola: Lambeth Conference attendance 'is immaterial'
http://www.religiousintelligence.com/news/?NewsID=2361
[Religious Intelligence] 24 Jul 2008--One Rwandan bishop and five Kenyan bishops have broken ranks, defying their House of Bishops to attend the 2008 Lambeth Conference. However, no Nigerian or Uganda bishop has defied his church’s decision not to attend the every-10-year conference due to the presence of the American bishops.
“We’re sorry they are not here,” Archbishop Rowan Williams said, of the approximately 250 bishops from the four African provinces, Sydney and other evangelical dioceses who are absent.Initial claims that a Nigerian bishop had bucked his Church have proven false.
However, Archbishop Peter Akinola told ReligiousIntelligence.com the whole issue of who was or was not at Lambeth was immaterial. “At this point it is a non-issue for us. After Lambeth, any Nigerian who may have chosen to flout our provincial and collective decision will have to answer to the general synod. It as simple as that."
Access by the media to the gathering of bishops is sharply restricted, and the bishops themselves have scant knowledge of what is taking place. Unlike past conferences, there is no daily newspaper and what information that can be gleaned from official channels is available only to those bishops with laptops.
[Religious Intelligence] 24 Jul 2008--One Rwandan bishop and five Kenyan bishops have broken ranks, defying their House of Bishops to attend the 2008 Lambeth Conference. However, no Nigerian or Uganda bishop has defied his church’s decision not to attend the every-10-year conference due to the presence of the American bishops.
“We’re sorry they are not here,” Archbishop Rowan Williams said, of the approximately 250 bishops from the four African provinces, Sydney and other evangelical dioceses who are absent.Initial claims that a Nigerian bishop had bucked his Church have proven false.
However, Archbishop Peter Akinola told ReligiousIntelligence.com the whole issue of who was or was not at Lambeth was immaterial. “At this point it is a non-issue for us. After Lambeth, any Nigerian who may have chosen to flout our provincial and collective decision will have to answer to the general synod. It as simple as that."
Access by the media to the gathering of bishops is sharply restricted, and the bishops themselves have scant knowledge of what is taking place. Unlike past conferences, there is no daily newspaper and what information that can be gleaned from official channels is available only to those bishops with laptops.
Don't misjudge Episcopal Church split
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080724/OPINION04/807240361/1072
[Detroit Free Press] 24 Jul 2008--The Free Press should be ashamed of its July 21 front-page article "Churches at Crossroads." To write that "worshippers at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Livonia patiently put up with their diocese as it adopted a series of liberal changes that clashed with biblical tradition" is to blatantly take sides in an internal church controversy that the Free Press lacks the credentials to pass judgment on.
If anything, it was the rest of us in the Diocese of Michigan who "patiently put up with" the leadership at St. Andrew's as they scorned repeated efforts at reconciliation and dialogue.
It is misleading and harmful for the Free Press to imply that there is no room for conservative believers in the Episcopal Church. The Rev. C. Allen Kannapell is a sincere priest, and the people of St. Andrew's have every right to leave the Episcopal Church, but their motive for doing so is to avoid being contaminated by the presence of other sincere Christians with whom they disagree. To me, such behavior is not compatible with the teachings of Christ or with Anglican tradition.
The Free Press should strive for balanced coverage, not editorialize on the front page concerning matters of church doctrine and interpretation. Shame on you.
[Detroit Free Press] 24 Jul 2008--The Free Press should be ashamed of its July 21 front-page article "Churches at Crossroads." To write that "worshippers at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Livonia patiently put up with their diocese as it adopted a series of liberal changes that clashed with biblical tradition" is to blatantly take sides in an internal church controversy that the Free Press lacks the credentials to pass judgment on.
If anything, it was the rest of us in the Diocese of Michigan who "patiently put up with" the leadership at St. Andrew's as they scorned repeated efforts at reconciliation and dialogue.
It is misleading and harmful for the Free Press to imply that there is no room for conservative believers in the Episcopal Church. The Rev. C. Allen Kannapell is a sincere priest, and the people of St. Andrew's have every right to leave the Episcopal Church, but their motive for doing so is to avoid being contaminated by the presence of other sincere Christians with whom they disagree. To me, such behavior is not compatible with the teachings of Christ or with Anglican tradition.
The Free Press should strive for balanced coverage, not editorialize on the front page concerning matters of church doctrine and interpretation. Shame on you.
Lambeth Conference’s legitimacy ‘called into question’
http://www.religiousintelligence.co.uk/news/?NewsID=2366
[Religious Intelligence] 24 Jul 2008--The legitimacy of the Lambeth Conference has been called into question, admitted the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, but he deflected blame towards those who were not there.
While 670 bishops have gathered for the conference, hundreds have rejected the authority of Canterbury and those most virulently opposed to gay bishops will be missing from the key debates.
Dr Williams said: “There is a question about the legitimacy, so to speak, of what emerges from this. It’s a point I put as strongly as I can to the people who are not here in fact; that if they want their voice incorporated in this, this is the way to do it.”
One of the three English Bishops boycotting the conference, the Bishop of Willesden, the Rt Rev Pete Broadbent, said: “If Rowan wants to put that point to me, he should ask me himself.
“It’s not a question of who’s there and who’s not. It’s a question of does anybody feel that what Lambeth does is a definitive statement of what the Anglican Communion believes, because thus far it’s not been the case that people have held to agreements made.”
Bishop Broadbent also rejected the suggestion that by not being there, he could not have his voice incorporated: “I don’t think anyone’s ruled themselves out of the right to comment on the Conference’s conclusions. The bigger question is will Lambeth produce any definitive solutions to the problems of the Anglican Communion, and even if they do, will the Churches in North America take any notice?”
[Religious Intelligence] 24 Jul 2008--The legitimacy of the Lambeth Conference has been called into question, admitted the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, but he deflected blame towards those who were not there.
While 670 bishops have gathered for the conference, hundreds have rejected the authority of Canterbury and those most virulently opposed to gay bishops will be missing from the key debates.
Dr Williams said: “There is a question about the legitimacy, so to speak, of what emerges from this. It’s a point I put as strongly as I can to the people who are not here in fact; that if they want their voice incorporated in this, this is the way to do it.”
One of the three English Bishops boycotting the conference, the Bishop of Willesden, the Rt Rev Pete Broadbent, said: “If Rowan wants to put that point to me, he should ask me himself.
“It’s not a question of who’s there and who’s not. It’s a question of does anybody feel that what Lambeth does is a definitive statement of what the Anglican Communion believes, because thus far it’s not been the case that people have held to agreements made.”
Bishop Broadbent also rejected the suggestion that by not being there, he could not have his voice incorporated: “I don’t think anyone’s ruled themselves out of the right to comment on the Conference’s conclusions. The bigger question is will Lambeth produce any definitive solutions to the problems of the Anglican Communion, and even if they do, will the Churches in North America take any notice?”
At nation's churches, guys are few in the pews
http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2008-07-23-males-church_N.htm
[USA Today] 24 Jul 2008--Churches nationwide are fretting and sweating to reel men into their sanctuaries on Sundays.
Women outnumber men in attendance in every major Christian denomination, and they are 20% to 25% more likely to attend worship at least weekly.
Although every soul matters, many pastors say they need to power up on reaching men if the next generation of believers, the children, will find the way to faith. So hundreds of churches are going for a "guy church" vibe, programming for a stereotypical man's man.
"I hear about it everywhere I go," says Brandon O'Brien, who detailed the evolution of the chest-thumping evangelism trend this spring in Christianity Today.
[USA Today] 24 Jul 2008--Churches nationwide are fretting and sweating to reel men into their sanctuaries on Sundays.
Women outnumber men in attendance in every major Christian denomination, and they are 20% to 25% more likely to attend worship at least weekly.
Although every soul matters, many pastors say they need to power up on reaching men if the next generation of believers, the children, will find the way to faith. So hundreds of churches are going for a "guy church" vibe, programming for a stereotypical man's man.
"I hear about it everywhere I go," says Brandon O'Brien, who detailed the evolution of the chest-thumping evangelism trend this spring in Christianity Today.
Sudanese Bishop Explains Release of Letters
http://www.livingchurch.org/news/news-updates/2008/7/23/sudanese-bishop-explains-release-of-letters
[The Living Church] 24 Jul 2008--Members of the House of Bishops of The Church of the Sudan knew that The Episcopal Church would attempt to make the exclusion of Bishop V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire an issue at the Lambeth Conference, and so they prepared the two letters released yesterday before they departed for the England.
“This was our unanimous position that we agreed to,” said the Rt. Rev. Benjamin Mangar Mamur, Bishop of Yirol. As to the timing of their release, he said the Sudanese bishops left that decision to their primate, Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul.
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams acknowledged receiving the letters before they were released, but they came as a surprise to a number of other African bishops. Bishop Mangar said the letters, especially the one on human sexuality, were not meant to be hurtful. Instead they were intended as a plea to come back to the fold from one group of Christians to another.
Bishop Mangar said he has not yet received an invitation to the wine and cheese party on Saturday night organized by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori.
“If other Christians, including the Presiding Bishop of America, want us as Christian brothers to come and explain why our position is like that, or if Archbishop Daniel asks me to come, I will go,” he said. However, if Bishop Robinson attends, Bishop Mangar said he would be unwilling to be present, even if his primate asks him to go.
[The Living Church] 24 Jul 2008--Members of the House of Bishops of The Church of the Sudan knew that The Episcopal Church would attempt to make the exclusion of Bishop V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire an issue at the Lambeth Conference, and so they prepared the two letters released yesterday before they departed for the England.
“This was our unanimous position that we agreed to,” said the Rt. Rev. Benjamin Mangar Mamur, Bishop of Yirol. As to the timing of their release, he said the Sudanese bishops left that decision to their primate, Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul.
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams acknowledged receiving the letters before they were released, but they came as a surprise to a number of other African bishops. Bishop Mangar said the letters, especially the one on human sexuality, were not meant to be hurtful. Instead they were intended as a plea to come back to the fold from one group of Christians to another.
Bishop Mangar said he has not yet received an invitation to the wine and cheese party on Saturday night organized by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori.
“If other Christians, including the Presiding Bishop of America, want us as Christian brothers to come and explain why our position is like that, or if Archbishop Daniel asks me to come, I will go,” he said. However, if Bishop Robinson attends, Bishop Mangar said he would be unwilling to be present, even if his primate asks him to go.
Conscience and logic: ‘I can do no other’
http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/2008/07/24/conscience-and-logic-i-can-do-no-other/#more-4414
[Anglican Mainstream] 24 Jul 2008--The Bishop of Rochester, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, one of just two bishops in the Church of England to boycott the Lambeth Conference entirely, insisted today that he is being true to biblical authority.
Explaining a decision that he admits has been painful for a man who sought refuge in Britain from persecution, and who has been at the heart of the two previous convocations at Canterbury – first as Coordinator in 1988 and then as a Member of the Steering Committee in 1998 - he said it was a matter of ‘conscience and logic’.
He said that ‘persistent false teaching’ and ‘persistent sexual immorality without repentance’ had both led to his decision
[Anglican Mainstream] 24 Jul 2008--The Bishop of Rochester, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, one of just two bishops in the Church of England to boycott the Lambeth Conference entirely, insisted today that he is being true to biblical authority.
Explaining a decision that he admits has been painful for a man who sought refuge in Britain from persecution, and who has been at the heart of the two previous convocations at Canterbury – first as Coordinator in 1988 and then as a Member of the Steering Committee in 1998 - he said it was a matter of ‘conscience and logic’.
He said that ‘persistent false teaching’ and ‘persistent sexual immorality without repentance’ had both led to his decision
Lambeth: David's Diary - From My Ear to Yours (2)
http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=8696
[VirtueOnline] 24 Jul 2008--Once upon a time an Inclusive church used to be a comprehensive church, containing within its bosom various strands of orthodoxy. Today orthodoxy has all but evaporated and been replaced by assorted liberal theologies and orthodox persons with their theology no longer wanted at the table. It's now called inclusivity. But evangelicals will have the last laugh. The Episcopal Church is dying. That's a FACT. Nothing can stop it. It will go from 700,000 to 500,000 within a decade as the geriatric generation head for columbariums. The Anglican Church in Nigeria, now 25 million will probably be 30 million within the next five years, which means it will be bigger than ALL the rest of the Anglican Communion put together.
The Queer Eucharist held on the green of St. Stephen's parish went off without a hitch and without much theology either. About 200 worshipers, including many of the American bishops who attended the earlier Eucharist at the cathedral, held a service before a roughly carpentered wooden cross, and then lingered over a picnic. Bishop Robinson, surrounded by well -wishers, declined to give interviews, apparently keen to let only his presence speak. In a radio interview with the BBC last week, he said he had not come to England to disrupt the Lambeth Conference, but rather to make the case for gay men and lesbians in the clergy in as civil a manner as possible. And pigs fly.
[VirtueOnline] 24 Jul 2008--Once upon a time an Inclusive church used to be a comprehensive church, containing within its bosom various strands of orthodoxy. Today orthodoxy has all but evaporated and been replaced by assorted liberal theologies and orthodox persons with their theology no longer wanted at the table. It's now called inclusivity. But evangelicals will have the last laugh. The Episcopal Church is dying. That's a FACT. Nothing can stop it. It will go from 700,000 to 500,000 within a decade as the geriatric generation head for columbariums. The Anglican Church in Nigeria, now 25 million will probably be 30 million within the next five years, which means it will be bigger than ALL the rest of the Anglican Communion put together.
The Queer Eucharist held on the green of St. Stephen's parish went off without a hitch and without much theology either. About 200 worshipers, including many of the American bishops who attended the earlier Eucharist at the cathedral, held a service before a roughly carpentered wooden cross, and then lingered over a picnic. Bishop Robinson, surrounded by well -wishers, declined to give interviews, apparently keen to let only his presence speak. In a radio interview with the BBC last week, he said he had not come to England to disrupt the Lambeth Conference, but rather to make the case for gay men and lesbians in the clergy in as civil a manner as possible. And pigs fly.
“An Open Door, Pittsburgh Laity Discuss Realignment”
http://parishtoolbox.org/index.php/tbx/entry/88
[Parish Toolbox] 24 Jul 2008--A ten minute video produced by Jim Forney, a parishioner at St. Stephen’s in Sewickley and narrated by Dr. Edith Humphrey of Church of the Ascension in Oakland, features laity from parishes of the diocese of Pittsburgh discussing their support for realigning the diocese to another province of the Anglican Communion.
[Parish Toolbox] 24 Jul 2008--A ten minute video produced by Jim Forney, a parishioner at St. Stephen’s in Sewickley and narrated by Dr. Edith Humphrey of Church of the Ascension in Oakland, features laity from parishes of the diocese of Pittsburgh discussing their support for realigning the diocese to another province of the Anglican Communion.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Episcopal Church under fire for parolee priest
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/18/BAOR11OVUF.DTL
[San Francisco Chronicle] 23 Jul 2008--James Tramel went from convicted murderer to priest while in prison, a transformation that the Episcopal Church used to successfully lobby for his parole and celebrate him before politicians and the press.
[San Francisco Chronicle] 23 Jul 2008--James Tramel went from convicted murderer to priest while in prison, a transformation that the Episcopal Church used to successfully lobby for his parole and celebrate him before politicians and the press.
But the church is now grappling with the sexual abuse of a parishioner under his care. Tramel has been suspended for sexual misconduct, temporarily stripped of his priestly authority and left searching for a new job.
The San Francisco-based Episcopal Diocese of California now faces questions of whether, in its haste to proclaim Tramel's story, it redeemed and promoted him too quickly.
Unified Divisions
http://www.sydneyanglicans.net/mission/resources/unified_divisions/
[sydneyanglicans.net] 23 Jul 2008--Peter Hughes, the Sydney area director for the Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students (AFES), has provided a short, interesting look at Church History from a Protestant point of view. He covers a lot of territory in about 20 minutes, and manages to explain things simply and without running down the individual denominations he talks about. He begins by asking why there are so many denominations, given that our Lord Jesus prayed in the prayer recorded in John 17 that his church might be united.
His summary at the end of his talk is worth reporting here, because in it he makes a number of challenging points. He tells us that true believers are already united by their faith in Christ. All Christians should “find other followers of Jesus and help them, no matter who they are, what they call themselves, or where they come from.” He tells us we should not think we can find a perfect church, or be satisfied if we think our particular denomination is the closest to the Bible. “Each church needs to be assessed, not on its denominational affiliation, but on what it teaches and what it does.” We should not be concerned that there are many denominations, because “throughout history God has continued to work through his people: sometimes drawing them together; sometimes dividing them up and sending them out into the world.”
[sydneyanglicans.net] 23 Jul 2008--Peter Hughes, the Sydney area director for the Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students (AFES), has provided a short, interesting look at Church History from a Protestant point of view. He covers a lot of territory in about 20 minutes, and manages to explain things simply and without running down the individual denominations he talks about. He begins by asking why there are so many denominations, given that our Lord Jesus prayed in the prayer recorded in John 17 that his church might be united.
His summary at the end of his talk is worth reporting here, because in it he makes a number of challenging points. He tells us that true believers are already united by their faith in Christ. All Christians should “find other followers of Jesus and help them, no matter who they are, what they call themselves, or where they come from.” He tells us we should not think we can find a perfect church, or be satisfied if we think our particular denomination is the closest to the Bible. “Each church needs to be assessed, not on its denominational affiliation, but on what it teaches and what it does.” We should not be concerned that there are many denominations, because “throughout history God has continued to work through his people: sometimes drawing them together; sometimes dividing them up and sending them out into the world.”
Midsize Mission Renews Europe's Declining Churches
http://www.christianpost.com/article/20080722/midsize-mission-renews-europe-s-declining-churches.htm
[The Christian Post] 23 Jul 2008--Churches across Europe are reporting that setting up midsize missional groups alongside their worship services is proving to be an effective strategy to not only revitalize struggling congregations, but also to help attract new people in a post-Christian society.
[The Christian Post] 23 Jul 2008--Churches across Europe are reporting that setting up midsize missional groups alongside their worship services is proving to be an effective strategy to not only revitalize struggling congregations, but also to help attract new people in a post-Christian society.
Midsize groups range in number from 15 to 70 members and do anything from handing out flowers to women on Mother’s Day, meeting in cafes with non-Christians to explore the practices of the faith, to serving in a discipleship program.
The majority of Mid Size Communities (MSCs) include worship, fellowship and mission, but the primary purpose can differ from being a church’s main vehicle for mission, a combination of pastoral and missional, or serving as the basic unit of the church.
In the paper “Mid Sized Mission – The Use of Mid Sized Groups as a Vital Strategic Component of Church,” Joanne Appleton describes MSCs as having the potential to be “building blocks to a city-wide church planting movements as a networked expression of church.”
Missional MSCs, which works with mainly non-believers, want to grow, Appleton explains. But by their very definition they are midsize, so as they get bigger they have to reproduce other midsize groups thus sparking a church planting movement within the existing church structure.
St. Andrew’s church in Chorleywood, United Kingdom, for instance, increased its actively participating members from around 400 to 1,500 in less than five years since planting MSCs alongside its services and small groups.
Five years ago, the church was confronting declining attendance and less than 12 percent of the congregation was in small groups, recalls Andrew Williams, associate vicar at St. Andrews.
Now, 72 percent of the church members belong to one of 32 midsize missional communities serving their neighborhood by working with the deaf, elderly and homeless.
Williams believes MSCs “release the potential of ordinary believers to get involved in the outward dimension of church life,” according to Appleton.
Study: Non-Evangelical Christians Less Driven by Faith
http://www.christianpost.com/article/20080722/study-non-evangelical-christians-less-driven-by-faith.htm
[The Christian Posy] 23 Jul 2008--Most Christians, notional and evangelical alike, desire a personal relationship with God, a new study showed. But evangelicals were the only Christian segment that desired much more in their faith life.
[The Christian Posy] 23 Jul 2008--Most Christians, notional and evangelical alike, desire a personal relationship with God, a new study showed. But evangelicals were the only Christian segment that desired much more in their faith life.
At least 90 percent of Evangelicals, who make up 8 percent of the population, according to The Barna Group, said they wanted a clear purpose for living, one marriage partner for life, good physical health, to live with a high degree of integrity, and to be deeply committed to the Christian faith along with having a personal relationship with God. They were the only group among the dozen Christian segments surveyed by the research group among which at least 90 percent listed as many as six of the 19 future-life possibilities as being "very desirable."
"Evangelicals are intensely driven by their faith: their life is substantially influenced by their beliefs and their lifestyle choices and aspirations reflect the centrality of their spirituality," said George Barna, who directed the study.
Most evangelicals, 84 percent, also said that being personally active in a church was "very desirable" and 75 percent said they desired a life in which they make a difference in the world.
The only thing "very desirable" to at least 90 percent of born-again Christians who are not evangelical in their theological views was a personal relationship with God - listed by 94 percent. Still, 87 percent of born-again Christians said they desire a clear purpose for their life, 86 percent said they desire being deeply committed to the Christian faith, and 68 percent said they want to be personally active in a church.
"Non-evangelical born again adults consider faith to be important but it is not the defining aspect of their existence; it is influential but not the determining factor," said George Barna, who directed the study.
The Anglican communion has never been stranger
ttp://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jul/23/anglicanism.religion
[Guardian Unlimited] 23 Jul 2008--So why aren't the liberals itchier? This is the big question. Is it because they are too weak to form a protest lobby? No: the answer is more complex. The reason is that the liberals have a deep trust that the communion's position on sexuality will liberalise, given time. Of course they cannot say this – because it contravenes the existing orthodoxy, and also because it would sound colonial – "let's wait for the developing nations to catch up". In other words, they follow their leader's example: bite your tongue and wait for the Holy Spirit to enlighten the communion.
[Guardian Unlimited] 23 Jul 2008--So why aren't the liberals itchier? This is the big question. Is it because they are too weak to form a protest lobby? No: the answer is more complex. The reason is that the liberals have a deep trust that the communion's position on sexuality will liberalise, given time. Of course they cannot say this – because it contravenes the existing orthodoxy, and also because it would sound colonial – "let's wait for the developing nations to catch up". In other words, they follow their leader's example: bite your tongue and wait for the Holy Spirit to enlighten the communion.
This approach dominates the tone and structure of this conference. At Sunday's eucharist, the preacher was the Right Rev Duleep de Chickera, the Bishop of Colombo. He insisted that the church must make space "for everyone and anyone, regardless of colour, gender, ability, sexual orientation. Unity in diversity is a cherished Anglican tradition – a spirituality if you like." And the following night the bishops were addressed by an American theologian called Brian McLaren, who was careful not to say too clearly that he was a liberal on the gay issue.
This is the "unofficial official" line of the conference: reform must come, but slowly-slowly, so that the cause of global evangelism is not harmed, and Anglican unity not further broken. In theory of course, the conference has no "line" at all – bishops will listen to each other, and then a "reflection" statement will be produced that affirms the existing orthodoxy. This is why so many evangelicals have boycotted: they knew that this tacit reformist agenda would be present.
A revealing liberal view of the 2008 Lambeth Conference.
Canadian cleric predicts a woman will eventually lead Anglicans
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=4311917f-024b-4638-80cf-1ff51b0dec39
[Canada.com] 23 Jul 2008--Canada's leading female Anglican cleric has courted controversy at a major church conference in Britain by predicting the eventual rise of a woman as Archbishop of Canterbury.
[Canada.com] 23 Jul 2008--Canada's leading female Anglican cleric has courted controversy at a major church conference in Britain by predicting the eventual rise of a woman as Archbishop of Canterbury.
"The signposts are pointing in one direction," former Edmonton bishop Victoria Matthews told Reuters on Tuesday during a global gathering of Anglican bishops at the once-a-decade Lambeth Conference. "I would be very surprised if it wasn't accepted worldwide."
Matthews, whose recent selection as the Bishop of Christchurch, New Zealand, sparked an uproar among conservative Anglicans in that country, also shot back at Vatican officials who have complained the Church of England's July 8 decision to begin appointing female bishops poses "a further obstacle for reconciliation" between Catholics and Anglicans.
"With the greatest respect, the Vatican has to understand the Anglican communion is not synonymous with the Church of England," Matthews said in the interview. "The Anglican communion has had women in the episcopate for about 20 years. They really need to do their homework and realize that the communion is 38 provinces and not one with satellites. That is a pretty significant error."
Church of Ireland Bishop warns of sense of uncertainty among Anglicans
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2008/0723/1216740956864.html
[Irish Times] There is "a palpable sense of uncertainty about where it is all going" and "a lack of trust under the surface", the Church of Ireland Bishop of Down and Dromore Right Rev Harold Miller said about the Lambeth Conference yesterday. He also warned that "if there is not a proper place for debate, then that will be exceptionally dangerous for the Anglican Communion".
[Irish Times] There is "a palpable sense of uncertainty about where it is all going" and "a lack of trust under the surface", the Church of Ireland Bishop of Down and Dromore Right Rev Harold Miller said about the Lambeth Conference yesterday. He also warned that "if there is not a proper place for debate, then that will be exceptionally dangerous for the Anglican Communion".
Acknowledging there had been just two days of the indaba discussions format, whereby the 670 bishops attending have been meeting in groups of 40, he said he felt one-line summations at the end of the discussions tended towards the bland. There was also uncertainty about being involved in something that would not involve the passing of a resolution, he said.
He welcomed as "brave" and "courageous" a statement from the Sudanese bishops yesterday that rejected homosexual practice as "contrary to biblical teaching and can accept no place for it within ECS (the Episcopal Church of Sudan)".
They also called on the Anglican Church in the US and Canada to refrain from ordaining practising homosexuals as priests or bishops, from approving rites of blessing for same-sex relationships, to cease court actions with immediate effect, to comply with past Lambeth Conference resolutions, and "to respect the authority of the Bible".
Bishop Miller said that "in all African churches there is a fear that friendship with western provinces of the Anglican Communion could be seen as agreement [ with what they believe]. The Sudanese, very gentlemanly, felt, I imagine, they should make their position clear so there would be no misunderstanding. It was a courageous thing for them to do, as they could lose funding and are very poor."
Bishops invited to give tribal politics a go at the Lambeth Conference
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article4381000.ece
[Times Online] 23 Jul 2008--It is the African way. Tribal leaders settle their differences by sitting around a campfire for hours, and sometimes days, in a ritual exchange of ideas, following a process handed down by their forefathers.
But will it work in Kent? Yesterday the Archbishop of Canterbury invited hundreds of feuding bishops to an Anglicised version of the indaba, to talk not about stolen cattle and territorial disputes but about sexuality.
The early signs were not good. “If indaba is such a great idea, why is Africa such a mess?” one bishop is supposed to have said, although he denied it yesterday.
Bishop Tilewa Johnson, from Gambia, said that his own villages used indaba, but called it bantaba, which means “under the big tree”.
“The fact that an attempt has been made to use the process is a good one. But of course it clashes with the culture here of everybody keeping an eye on the clock,” he said. “Indaba has no time limit. We keep going until a solution is found. Indaba takes place under a huge, shady tree where villagers assemble to talk about things. The aggrieved and the perpetrators must both be there to respond.”
Allison Lawrence, wife of the Bishop of South Carolina, Mark Lawrence, said: “They have taken a Zulu word and used it for an American concept. The African concept when you do an indaba is you talk, talk, talk until you agree. In these indaba groups, they talk a little and then someone changes the subject if they don’t like it. The Americans are feeling railroaded and manipulated. Even the Africans are saying, ‘This is not indaba’.”
Bishops emerging from yesterday’s sessions described being divided into groups of about 40. As if there were not already enough divisions among Anglicans, they were divided up further into groups of four or five and given papers on subjects that the conference is addressing: mission, millennium goals, poverty – the list is long. They talked and a rapporteur took notes, to be passed up to the next level. No one quite knew who or where that was.
Moreover, none of the bishops asked by The Times had yet been given a chance to discuss the one thing that they are all desperate to address: how can the Anglican Communion survive the consecration of Gene Robinson, the openly gay Bishop of New Hampshire.
Related article:
http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=8689
LAMBETH: ABC responds to queries concerning effectiveness of the "Indaba Groups" - VirtueOnline
[Times Online] 23 Jul 2008--It is the African way. Tribal leaders settle their differences by sitting around a campfire for hours, and sometimes days, in a ritual exchange of ideas, following a process handed down by their forefathers.
But will it work in Kent? Yesterday the Archbishop of Canterbury invited hundreds of feuding bishops to an Anglicised version of the indaba, to talk not about stolen cattle and territorial disputes but about sexuality.
The early signs were not good. “If indaba is such a great idea, why is Africa such a mess?” one bishop is supposed to have said, although he denied it yesterday.
Bishop Tilewa Johnson, from Gambia, said that his own villages used indaba, but called it bantaba, which means “under the big tree”.
“The fact that an attempt has been made to use the process is a good one. But of course it clashes with the culture here of everybody keeping an eye on the clock,” he said. “Indaba has no time limit. We keep going until a solution is found. Indaba takes place under a huge, shady tree where villagers assemble to talk about things. The aggrieved and the perpetrators must both be there to respond.”
Allison Lawrence, wife of the Bishop of South Carolina, Mark Lawrence, said: “They have taken a Zulu word and used it for an American concept. The African concept when you do an indaba is you talk, talk, talk until you agree. In these indaba groups, they talk a little and then someone changes the subject if they don’t like it. The Americans are feeling railroaded and manipulated. Even the Africans are saying, ‘This is not indaba’.”
Bishops emerging from yesterday’s sessions described being divided into groups of about 40. As if there were not already enough divisions among Anglicans, they were divided up further into groups of four or five and given papers on subjects that the conference is addressing: mission, millennium goals, poverty – the list is long. They talked and a rapporteur took notes, to be passed up to the next level. No one quite knew who or where that was.
Moreover, none of the bishops asked by The Times had yet been given a chance to discuss the one thing that they are all desperate to address: how can the Anglican Communion survive the consecration of Gene Robinson, the openly gay Bishop of New Hampshire.
Related article:
http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=8689
LAMBETH: ABC responds to queries concerning effectiveness of the "Indaba Groups" - VirtueOnline
Lambeth Report #7 Wednesday morning, June 23, 2008
http://www.anglicansunited.com/2008/07/lambeth_report_7_wednesday_mor.html
[Anglicans United] 23 Jul 2008--I heard several different people report from the American provincial meeting held on Monday afternoon, that our bishops are finding it difficult to encounter so many disagreeable attitudes towards them. In short, they are wondering why they are disliked (some said ‘hated’) so strongly by so many bishops from other provinces.
And folks, they “don’t get it.” They see their actions as fully in line with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Bp. John Chane, who is getting a great deal of face time here, was in the today’s Lambeth Daily video report as a featured bishop on The Bishop and Social Justice, which is today’s theme. He said into the camera that he and all of the other bishops of the United States believe in Jesus. I have never heard him make any kind of statement of that nature before. I acknowledge that he didn't say what they believe Jesus to be: Incarnate Son of the Living God, or just one of multiple ways? He followed that with Jesus is the American’s model for social justice, which is not a new statement for this group.
Their efforts to tell the others that there is nothing wrong with the American church and that we are not in turmoil and/or crisis is falling on deaf ears. So far, three bishops have approached me, asked if I was an American and asked me about what is really going on in our church. Several reporters from other countries have done the same.
Yesterday at the ad hoc press conference with Archbishop Deng Bul of the Sudan, the Episcopal News Service correspondent here asked if he had spoken with Gene Robinson. When he replied “No”, she asked if he would like to.
That’s when the archbishop replied, “We will not talk to Gene Robinson or listen to him or his testimony. He has to confess, receive forgiveness and leave. Then we will talk. You cannot bring the listening to gay people to our Communion. People who do not believe in the Bible are left out of our churches, not invited in to tell us why they don’t believe.”
[Anglicans United] 23 Jul 2008--I heard several different people report from the American provincial meeting held on Monday afternoon, that our bishops are finding it difficult to encounter so many disagreeable attitudes towards them. In short, they are wondering why they are disliked (some said ‘hated’) so strongly by so many bishops from other provinces.
And folks, they “don’t get it.” They see their actions as fully in line with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Bp. John Chane, who is getting a great deal of face time here, was in the today’s Lambeth Daily video report as a featured bishop on The Bishop and Social Justice, which is today’s theme. He said into the camera that he and all of the other bishops of the United States believe in Jesus. I have never heard him make any kind of statement of that nature before. I acknowledge that he didn't say what they believe Jesus to be: Incarnate Son of the Living God, or just one of multiple ways? He followed that with Jesus is the American’s model for social justice, which is not a new statement for this group.
Their efforts to tell the others that there is nothing wrong with the American church and that we are not in turmoil and/or crisis is falling on deaf ears. So far, three bishops have approached me, asked if I was an American and asked me about what is really going on in our church. Several reporters from other countries have done the same.
Yesterday at the ad hoc press conference with Archbishop Deng Bul of the Sudan, the Episcopal News Service correspondent here asked if he had spoken with Gene Robinson. When he replied “No”, she asked if he would like to.
That’s when the archbishop replied, “We will not talk to Gene Robinson or listen to him or his testimony. He has to confess, receive forgiveness and leave. Then we will talk. You cannot bring the listening to gay people to our Communion. People who do not believe in the Bible are left out of our churches, not invited in to tell us why they don’t believe.”
Today at Lambeth Tuesday July 22
http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/2008/07/23/today-at-lambeth-tuesday-july-22/
[Anglican Mainstream] 23 Jul 2008--This is clearly Archbishop Rowan Williams conference. Do the math. He gave an opening welcome. He has led a three day retreat in which he gave five addresses. He presided at the opening Eucharist at which he chose the preacher. He gave a presidential address. He has chaired both plenaries that have happened this week.
There can be no complaints about lack of leadership. This is his conference.
There was a gathering on Tuesday afternoon of 150 – 200 orthodox bishops at which among others Bishop Michael Scott-Joynt of Winchester, Bishop Tom Wright of Durham, and Bishop Bob Duncan of Pittsburgh spoke. It should not be forgotten that on September 20 the House of Bishops of TEC will be voting on whether to depose him. It must feel odd for him and his wife Nara to be on campus for three weeks with those seeking to remove him.
The press are beginning to take matters into their own hands. Told that they could not have an interview in the press schedule with the Archbishop of Sudan, they went ahead and organised their own press conference in which everyone got to ask the questions they wanted to.
The Sudanese statement has taken the conference by surprise: first the TEC rushed a spokesperson into the press room after the Archbishop had spoken. After all TEC bishops were with the Sudanese bishops at Salisbury for the pre-Lambeth conference. Second, the Archbishop was asked directly by one man (not on the press corps) if a particular American bishop on campus had written the statement for them. He was given a flat no. The Archbishop does have an earned Ph.D by the way. Third the Archbishop of the Sudan was very direct: Gene Robinson should resign and his consecrators should confess their wrongdoing to the conference. That for him is the way to save the Anglican Communion.
The Windsor Continuation Group has produced its first set of observations and is due to bring another set on “Where should we be?” on Wednesday. On Monday they will present “How do we get from here to there?” The final Indaba on Saturday August 2nd will focus on this issue, and written summaries of the responses from the Indaba will be given to the WCG who will meet in late 2008. They will report to the Archbishop of Canterbury as planning takes place for the Anglican Consultative Council meeting in Jamaica in 2009. Who are missing from this scenario? The Primates’ Meeting.
[Anglican Mainstream] 23 Jul 2008--This is clearly Archbishop Rowan Williams conference. Do the math. He gave an opening welcome. He has led a three day retreat in which he gave five addresses. He presided at the opening Eucharist at which he chose the preacher. He gave a presidential address. He has chaired both plenaries that have happened this week.
There can be no complaints about lack of leadership. This is his conference.
There was a gathering on Tuesday afternoon of 150 – 200 orthodox bishops at which among others Bishop Michael Scott-Joynt of Winchester, Bishop Tom Wright of Durham, and Bishop Bob Duncan of Pittsburgh spoke. It should not be forgotten that on September 20 the House of Bishops of TEC will be voting on whether to depose him. It must feel odd for him and his wife Nara to be on campus for three weeks with those seeking to remove him.
The press are beginning to take matters into their own hands. Told that they could not have an interview in the press schedule with the Archbishop of Sudan, they went ahead and organised their own press conference in which everyone got to ask the questions they wanted to.
The Sudanese statement has taken the conference by surprise: first the TEC rushed a spokesperson into the press room after the Archbishop had spoken. After all TEC bishops were with the Sudanese bishops at Salisbury for the pre-Lambeth conference. Second, the Archbishop was asked directly by one man (not on the press corps) if a particular American bishop on campus had written the statement for them. He was given a flat no. The Archbishop does have an earned Ph.D by the way. Third the Archbishop of the Sudan was very direct: Gene Robinson should resign and his consecrators should confess their wrongdoing to the conference. That for him is the way to save the Anglican Communion.
The Windsor Continuation Group has produced its first set of observations and is due to bring another set on “Where should we be?” on Wednesday. On Monday they will present “How do we get from here to there?” The final Indaba on Saturday August 2nd will focus on this issue, and written summaries of the responses from the Indaba will be given to the WCG who will meet in late 2008. They will report to the Archbishop of Canterbury as planning takes place for the Anglican Consultative Council meeting in Jamaica in 2009. Who are missing from this scenario? The Primates’ Meeting.
GAFCON response to the St Andrew’s Covenant: correction and apology
http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/2008/07/23/gafcon-response-to-the-st-andrews-covenant-correction-and-apology/
[Anglican Mainstream] 23 Jul 2008--The Global Anglican Future Conference Theological Resource Group (TRG) has published a response to the St Andrew’s Covenant. www.gafcon.org/index.php This has the authority of that group and is the substantive response from GAFCON.
There are two major concerns about the proposed covenant. First, what will it contain? Will it have sufficient commitment to the doctrinal and ethical commitments of the traditional Anglican formularies? Will it have sufficient material on the process of maintaining unity on essentials?
Secondly, the current St Andrew’s draft focuses the action away from the Primates to the Anglican Consultative Council. In every case except the Church of England, the Primates are the elected heads of their churches. The Lambeth Conferences of 1988 and 1998 asked for enhanced responsibility to be given to the Primates on matters of contention. The St Andrew’s draft reverses this direction and gives responsibility to the ACC for approval of the final text of the covenant and as arbiter of inclusion in the Communion.
Thirdly, it should be noted that even though the Lambeth Conference is an instrument of communion, it has no decision-making role in finalizing the covenant. Rather it is the ACC that will be the final arbiter of what the covenant will contain.
Further, no bishop here has the authority to accept the covenant on behalf of anyone else: such decisions belong to the provinces, their synods and house of bishops.
Related document:
http://www.gafcon.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=85&Itemid=31
Response of GAFCON to the St Andrew's Draft Text - GAFCON
[Anglican Mainstream] 23 Jul 2008--The Global Anglican Future Conference Theological Resource Group (TRG) has published a response to the St Andrew’s Covenant. www.gafcon.org/index.php This has the authority of that group and is the substantive response from GAFCON.
There are two major concerns about the proposed covenant. First, what will it contain? Will it have sufficient commitment to the doctrinal and ethical commitments of the traditional Anglican formularies? Will it have sufficient material on the process of maintaining unity on essentials?
Secondly, the current St Andrew’s draft focuses the action away from the Primates to the Anglican Consultative Council. In every case except the Church of England, the Primates are the elected heads of their churches. The Lambeth Conferences of 1988 and 1998 asked for enhanced responsibility to be given to the Primates on matters of contention. The St Andrew’s draft reverses this direction and gives responsibility to the ACC for approval of the final text of the covenant and as arbiter of inclusion in the Communion.
Thirdly, it should be noted that even though the Lambeth Conference is an instrument of communion, it has no decision-making role in finalizing the covenant. Rather it is the ACC that will be the final arbiter of what the covenant will contain.
Further, no bishop here has the authority to accept the covenant on behalf of anyone else: such decisions belong to the provinces, their synods and house of bishops.
Related document:
http://www.gafcon.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=85&Itemid=31
Response of GAFCON to the St Andrew's Draft Text - GAFCON
Lambeth Diary: 'Gene must resign, US church must go'
http://timescolumns.typepad.com/gledhill/2008/07/lambeth-diary-c.html
[Times Online] 23 Jul 2008--As I write this the Archbishop of Sudan Dr Daniel Deng is sitting behind me in the press room, calling for Gene Robinson to resign. 'God is not making a mistake creating Adam and Eve, he said. 'He would have created two Adams if he wanted.' Our news report on this is now online. Dr Deng had just come from a meeting of the 150-plus Global South bishops at the Lambeth Conference, representing 17 provinces. And this has just come in from Bishop of Fort Worth Jack Iker: 'Those Bishops who stand in solidarity with Gene Robinson should withdraw themselves from further participation in the Lambeth Conference. Having failed in several attempts to include Gene in the Conference, his supporters should themselves feel a sense of rejection from the Conference itself. Integrity and honesty would dictate that they should stand with Gene - excluded from full participation in the Lambeth Conference. Is this all talk, or is it backed up by action?'
[Times Online] 23 Jul 2008--As I write this the Archbishop of Sudan Dr Daniel Deng is sitting behind me in the press room, calling for Gene Robinson to resign. 'God is not making a mistake creating Adam and Eve, he said. 'He would have created two Adams if he wanted.' Our news report on this is now online. Dr Deng had just come from a meeting of the 150-plus Global South bishops at the Lambeth Conference, representing 17 provinces. And this has just come in from Bishop of Fort Worth Jack Iker: 'Those Bishops who stand in solidarity with Gene Robinson should withdraw themselves from further participation in the Lambeth Conference. Having failed in several attempts to include Gene in the Conference, his supporters should themselves feel a sense of rejection from the Conference itself. Integrity and honesty would dictate that they should stand with Gene - excluded from full participation in the Lambeth Conference. Is this all talk, or is it backed up by action?'
Lambeth Diary: Into the 'Miry Pit' of Chaos
http://timescolumns.typepad.com/gledhill/2008/07/lambeth-diary.html
[Times Online] 23 Jul 2008--It's about a hundred degrees and getting hotter in the Big Top at Lambeth but the £1 million black hole in the budget at the Lambeth Conference means they can't afford air conditioning. Expect fainting bishops to be ferried out by ambulances any moment now, if they don't start shooting each other first. The press conference this morning was a farce. Communications officers who are generally being extremely helpful declined to comment on who is here for reasons of 'security' but declined to say what the 'security' issues were. Apparently there are some Nigerian bishops at the conference but we are not allowed to know who they are. Even the totally harmless and innocuous Church Press here are being denied access to the evening Eucharists. As for me, I was told yesterday that it was worth applying to attend the afternoon indaba groups. Today there is one called 'Never say No to Media', led by Rev Dr Joshva Raha, tutor at the Centre for Mission Studies at Queen's, Birmingham. I applied and they said no.
The conference is falling apart and it is only day two of official business. The Sudanese bishops, who were, astonishingly, stationed as Salisbury with the US Presiding Bishop and her team before the conference, have almost derailed the whole thing by virtually calling for Gene Robinson's resignation. One of their two statements today is here.
[Times Online] 23 Jul 2008--It's about a hundred degrees and getting hotter in the Big Top at Lambeth but the £1 million black hole in the budget at the Lambeth Conference means they can't afford air conditioning. Expect fainting bishops to be ferried out by ambulances any moment now, if they don't start shooting each other first. The press conference this morning was a farce. Communications officers who are generally being extremely helpful declined to comment on who is here for reasons of 'security' but declined to say what the 'security' issues were. Apparently there are some Nigerian bishops at the conference but we are not allowed to know who they are. Even the totally harmless and innocuous Church Press here are being denied access to the evening Eucharists. As for me, I was told yesterday that it was worth applying to attend the afternoon indaba groups. Today there is one called 'Never say No to Media', led by Rev Dr Joshva Raha, tutor at the Centre for Mission Studies at Queen's, Birmingham. I applied and they said no.
The conference is falling apart and it is only day two of official business. The Sudanese bishops, who were, astonishingly, stationed as Salisbury with the US Presiding Bishop and her team before the conference, have almost derailed the whole thing by virtually calling for Gene Robinson's resignation. One of their two statements today is here.
Sudanese Primate: ‘Communion Norms Violated’
http://www.livingchurch.org/news/news-updates/2008/7/22/sudanese-primate-communion-norms-violated
[The Living Church] 23 Jul 2008--The Episcopal Church of the Sudan broke ranks with bishops from other provinces at the Lambeth Conference today by issuing two statements. One statement concerned the humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of the African country and the other statement repeated the Sudanese church’s position on human sexuality.
Rumors of such a letter from the Sudanese bishops started before the Lambeth Conference began on July 16. The two letters materialized Tuesday morning in the media room. Later in the day, Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul, Primate of the Church of the Sudan, came to the media room, called for The Episcopal Church in the United States to find a way for Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire to resign, and responded to questions from reporters.
All but one of Sudan’s 29 bishops are attending the conference, said Archbishop Deng, who added that the only bishop not present is very ill. Archbishop Deng said he had just come from a meeting of more than 150 Global South bishops present at the conference, and that those bishops had endorsed both of the Sudanese statements.
“The norms of the Anglican Communion have been violated,” he said. “The question is not whether [Bishop Robinson] comes to this conference or not. The question is what happens to unity.
“We have not seen the way out in the indaba groups and the main issue has not been touched yet,” he said. “Over 300 bishops have stayed away because of Gene Robinson.”
Unlike bishops from many of the other Global South provinces, Archbishop Deng said the Sudanese bishops had decided to attend the conference and to make their concerns known from within the meeting.
“I’m not talking to individual bishops [within The Episcopal Church] with whom we have relations,” he said. “What we are pressing is for the institution to find a way to let him resign.”
[The Living Church] 23 Jul 2008--The Episcopal Church of the Sudan broke ranks with bishops from other provinces at the Lambeth Conference today by issuing two statements. One statement concerned the humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of the African country and the other statement repeated the Sudanese church’s position on human sexuality.
Rumors of such a letter from the Sudanese bishops started before the Lambeth Conference began on July 16. The two letters materialized Tuesday morning in the media room. Later in the day, Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul, Primate of the Church of the Sudan, came to the media room, called for The Episcopal Church in the United States to find a way for Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire to resign, and responded to questions from reporters.
All but one of Sudan’s 29 bishops are attending the conference, said Archbishop Deng, who added that the only bishop not present is very ill. Archbishop Deng said he had just come from a meeting of more than 150 Global South bishops present at the conference, and that those bishops had endorsed both of the Sudanese statements.
“The norms of the Anglican Communion have been violated,” he said. “The question is not whether [Bishop Robinson] comes to this conference or not. The question is what happens to unity.
“We have not seen the way out in the indaba groups and the main issue has not been touched yet,” he said. “Over 300 bishops have stayed away because of Gene Robinson.”
Unlike bishops from many of the other Global South provinces, Archbishop Deng said the Sudanese bishops had decided to attend the conference and to make their concerns known from within the meeting.
“I’m not talking to individual bishops [within The Episcopal Church] with whom we have relations,” he said. “What we are pressing is for the institution to find a way to let him resign.”
Windsor Continuation Group - Preliminary Observations
http://www.globalsouthanglican.org/index.php/comments/windsor_continuation_group_preliminary_observations/
[Global South Anglican] 23 Jul 2008--This document is NOT a report by the Windsor Continuation Group. It constitutes their preliminary observations on the life of the Communion and of the current state of responses to the recommendations of the Windsor Report, and offering some suggestions about the way forward. These observations are offered to the Lambeth Conference for conversation and testing.
[Global South Anglican] 23 Jul 2008--This document is NOT a report by the Windsor Continuation Group. It constitutes their preliminary observations on the life of the Communion and of the current state of responses to the recommendations of the Windsor Report, and offering some suggestions about the way forward. These observations are offered to the Lambeth Conference for conversation and testing.
Sudanese Anglicans demand gay bishop Gene Robinson resigns
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article4380143.ece
[Times Online] 23 Jul 2008--The openly gay bishop of New Hampshire must resign if the Anglican church is to be saved from schism, a senior Archbishop said today.
The Archbishop of Sudan, Dr Daniel Deng, who has the backing of more than 150 bishops and archbishops from 17 provinces in the Global South, said that if Bishop Gene Robinson was to be true to his Christian faith he had no alternative but to step down.
And he called on the 60 bishops who consecrated him, many of whom are at the ten-yearly Lambeth Conference in Canterbury, Kent, to confess, repent and beg for forgiveness for taking the Church to the point of schism.
"God is not making a mistake creating Adam and Eve," he said. "He would have created two Adams if he wanted."
Dr Deng's statement attacking The Episcopal Church of the US was followed immediately by a leading traditionalist US bishop who called on all bishops in sympathy with Bishop Robinson to leave Canterbury.
The Right Rev Jack Iker, Bishop of Forth Worth, said: "Those Bishops who stand in solidarity with Gene Robinson should withdraw themselves from further participation in the Lambeth Conference. Having failed in several attempts to include Gene in the Conference, his supporters should themselves feel a sense of rejection from the Conference itself.
"Integrity and honesty would dictate that they should stand with Gene — excluded from full participation in the Lambeth Conference. Is this all talk, or is it backed up by action?"
The statements from Dr Deng and Bishop Iker show that the Archbishop of Canterbury's attempt to unite his warring bishops by sequestering them in a three-day retreat at Canterbury have failed.
[Times Online] 23 Jul 2008--The openly gay bishop of New Hampshire must resign if the Anglican church is to be saved from schism, a senior Archbishop said today.
The Archbishop of Sudan, Dr Daniel Deng, who has the backing of more than 150 bishops and archbishops from 17 provinces in the Global South, said that if Bishop Gene Robinson was to be true to his Christian faith he had no alternative but to step down.
And he called on the 60 bishops who consecrated him, many of whom are at the ten-yearly Lambeth Conference in Canterbury, Kent, to confess, repent and beg for forgiveness for taking the Church to the point of schism.
"God is not making a mistake creating Adam and Eve," he said. "He would have created two Adams if he wanted."
Dr Deng's statement attacking The Episcopal Church of the US was followed immediately by a leading traditionalist US bishop who called on all bishops in sympathy with Bishop Robinson to leave Canterbury.
The Right Rev Jack Iker, Bishop of Forth Worth, said: "Those Bishops who stand in solidarity with Gene Robinson should withdraw themselves from further participation in the Lambeth Conference. Having failed in several attempts to include Gene in the Conference, his supporters should themselves feel a sense of rejection from the Conference itself.
"Integrity and honesty would dictate that they should stand with Gene — excluded from full participation in the Lambeth Conference. Is this all talk, or is it backed up by action?"
The statements from Dr Deng and Bishop Iker show that the Archbishop of Canterbury's attempt to unite his warring bishops by sequestering them in a three-day retreat at Canterbury have failed.
Lambeth rocked as Archbishop calls on Robinson to resign
http://www.religiousintelligence.com/news/?NewsID=2349
[Religious Intelligence] 23 Jul 2008--
The Bishop of New Hampshire must resign in order to save the Anglican Communion from chaos, the Archbishop of Juba and Primate of the Sudan, said today. “If [Gene Robinson] were a real Christian he would resign,” Archbishop Daniel Deng said on July 22.
In a statement released on the second day of the Lambeth Conference, the Sudanese church called upon the American church to “respect the authority of the Bible,” refrain from ordaining gay priests or bishops, halt gay blessings, and “cease court actions” against traditionalists “with immediate effect.” The American Church’s experiments with gay blessings and bishops had led to the deaths of Sudanese Christians, Dr Daniel Deng said in an impromptu press conference in the Lambeth Conference media room.
Because of the actions of the American church, “we are called infidels in the Islamic world when they hear of the same-sex blessings,” he said. “It will give [Islamist militants] reason to kill” Sudanese Christians he said. Dr Deng’s statement, backed by over 150 bishops from 17 Global South provinces presents a significant blow to Dr. Rowan Williams’ hopes of averting a crisis at the 14th Lambeth Conference. The American church has been on its best behavior at Lambeth, seeking to mollify criticism from the wider Communion and preserve its place in the Church.
However, the Sudanese Archbishop, Dr Daniel Deng said there was “already a breakdown of the Anglican Communion.” To prevent its wholesale collapse, “Gene Robinson should resign.”
[Religious Intelligence] 23 Jul 2008--
The Bishop of New Hampshire must resign in order to save the Anglican Communion from chaos, the Archbishop of Juba and Primate of the Sudan, said today. “If [Gene Robinson] were a real Christian he would resign,” Archbishop Daniel Deng said on July 22.
In a statement released on the second day of the Lambeth Conference, the Sudanese church called upon the American church to “respect the authority of the Bible,” refrain from ordaining gay priests or bishops, halt gay blessings, and “cease court actions” against traditionalists “with immediate effect.” The American Church’s experiments with gay blessings and bishops had led to the deaths of Sudanese Christians, Dr Daniel Deng said in an impromptu press conference in the Lambeth Conference media room.
Because of the actions of the American church, “we are called infidels in the Islamic world when they hear of the same-sex blessings,” he said. “It will give [Islamist militants] reason to kill” Sudanese Christians he said. Dr Deng’s statement, backed by over 150 bishops from 17 Global South provinces presents a significant blow to Dr. Rowan Williams’ hopes of averting a crisis at the 14th Lambeth Conference. The American church has been on its best behavior at Lambeth, seeking to mollify criticism from the wider Communion and preserve its place in the Church.
However, the Sudanese Archbishop, Dr Daniel Deng said there was “already a breakdown of the Anglican Communion.” To prevent its wholesale collapse, “Gene Robinson should resign.”
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
9th Order of Canada to be Returned over Award to Abortionist
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jul/08072106.html
[LifeSiteNews.com] 22 Jul 2008--The siblings of the late Alphonse Gerwing and the Alphonse Charity Foundation have unanimously agreed to return the Order of Canada medal he was awarded in 1989. The decision was made to add their voices in protest of the awarding of the Order of Canada to abortionist Henry Morgentaler.
[LifeSiteNews.com] 22 Jul 2008--The siblings of the late Alphonse Gerwing and the Alphonse Charity Foundation have unanimously agreed to return the Order of Canada medal he was awarded in 1989. The decision was made to add their voices in protest of the awarding of the Order of Canada to abortionist Henry Morgentaler.
Mr. Gerwing, a life-long teacher and musician who passed away in November, 2007, was awarded the Order of Canada for helping many underprivileged youth get a post-secondary education. He also produced many musicals, including Gilbert and Sullivan and The Sound of Music - work that helped fund his efforts to improve the lives of vulnerable street children in northeast Brazil. Gerwing was a distinguished author and social activist who worked to put an end to violence, poverty, and social injustice in all its forms, including abortion.
In a press release today, the Gerwing family said it "concurs with the Directors General of Madonna House who, in returning the medal given to Catherine Doherty stated, 'the awarding of the Order of Canada to Dr. Morgentaler compels us to protest in the most forceful, peaceful way available to us. Not only do we find his medical practice the dark side of the medical profession but his inclusion in the awards diminishes them. And an award that was meant to be a sign of unity is bringing division. Something is not right.'"
Including the three anonymous Order of Canada recipients who have informed LifeSiteNews.com that they are returning their awards anonymously, the return of Gerwing's medal brings the total of those who have done so to nine.
The Do's and Don'ts of Adding a Service
http://www.christianitytoday.com/outreach/articles/dosanddontsofaddingaservice.html
[Christianity Today] 22 Jul 2008--The statistics are clear: new services equal new growth. If you begin a new worship service, chances are approximately 80 percent that within the next year your total attendance, total giving, and total number of visitors will increase.
[Christianity Today] 22 Jul 2008--The statistics are clear: new services equal new growth. If you begin a new worship service, chances are approximately 80 percent that within the next year your total attendance, total giving, and total number of visitors will increase.
Plenty of hazards, however, lurk along the way. Knowing the location of these traps could well spell the difference between success and failure.
Jesus - The Perfect Sacrifice
http://www.sydneyanglicans.net/indepth/articles/jesus_the_perfect_sacrifice/
[sydneyanglicans.net] 22 Jul 2008--Jesus had endured the suffering for sin to the uttermost. He had learned what it meant to be obedient to his Father in a sinful world. He had been made perfect or complete as the sacrifice for our sins.
[sydneyanglicans.net] 22 Jul 2008--Jesus had endured the suffering for sin to the uttermost. He had learned what it meant to be obedient to his Father in a sinful world. He had been made perfect or complete as the sacrifice for our sins.
As he died and the curtain in the temple was ripped in two, the way to heaven was opened up. For the sin of the whole world was paid for, in that one death.
This was the “one full perfect and sufficient sacrifice oblation and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world”.
It was never repeated - for it could never be repeated. It was never repeated - for it never needed repeating.
Jesus sacrificial death was sufficient for all sin for all time.
Archbishop confirms church's anti-gay sex stance
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article4377966.ece
[Times Online] 22 Jul 2008-- The Archbishop of Canterbury has continued his quest for Anglican unity with a strong statement against living in sin and gay sex.
He was speaking as the Church of England's Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement distributed copies at the Lambeth Conference of his 1989 essay The Body's Grace at the conference, in which he adopted a liberal stance towards homosexual love, arguing that the Bible did not necessarily legislate only for "reproductive sex".
[Times Online] 22 Jul 2008-- The Archbishop of Canterbury has continued his quest for Anglican unity with a strong statement against living in sin and gay sex.
He was speaking as the Church of England's Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement distributed copies at the Lambeth Conference of his 1989 essay The Body's Grace at the conference, in which he adopted a liberal stance towards homosexual love, arguing that the Bible did not necessarily legislate only for "reproductive sex".
The Archbishop's move from a liberal to conservative stance will be reinforced tomorrow when bishops are given the "observations document" of an internal church group set up to resolve the crisis.
The Windsor Continuation Group was formed at the start of this year to take forward the proposals of an earlier report, which called on the US church to roll back its liberal agenda. The report also urged conservative provinces of Africa and Asia to desist from boundary crossing.
A source said the follow-up document, which will be finished and published in full at the end of the year, contained a "sober realism" about the crisis threatening to split the Anglican Church.
The new document is expected to be equally critical of conservative primates who are "poaching" evangelical congregations from the US church by illicitly consecrating of bishops to serve them.
Liberals in The Episcopal Church, which prompted the crisis with the consecration of Bishop Gene Robinson in 2003, are determined to engineer a backtracking on its commitment not to consecrate any more gay bishops when the next General Convention meets in the summer of 2009.
But tomorrow’s document will spell out in clear terms the disastrous consequences should The Episcopal Church take that direction.
Anglican Agonies
http://patriotpost.us/opinion/entry.asp?entry_id=44712
[The Patriot Post] 22 Jul 2008--History's humongous wheel turns and turns and turns again. Over time, mud and sludge accumulate on even the sprucest institutions. Take the 500-year-old Anglican family of churches, Christianity's third-largest, after Rome and Eastern Orthodoxy.
With Anglicanism's biggest family event under way -- the every-10-years gathering of bishops and archbishops in England -- what the world sees, accurately or not, is a family in moral and spiritual disarray.
Anglicans -- whose main American franchise is the two-century-old Episcopal Church -- seem unable to agree on anything. Especially on religion -- an odd state of affairs for a religious enterprise. The steady, stately commitments that Anglicans formerly took for granted in the Christian message cut little ice today. Observers see the communion as likely to split -- to the extent it hasn't split already, “liberals” on one side, “conservatives” on the other.
Political labels of this sort have obvious limitations in a religious context. Would the bodily resurrection of Christ be a “conservative” doctrine? A liberal one? What about the atonement? What does Ronald Reagan have to do with all this anyway?!
For all that, Anglicanism's public troubles proceed from the takeover of Western Anglicanism by theological activists whose purpose is the remolding of Christianity into something less like the old-time religion than like the platform on which Barack Obama will run for president.
Whereas orthodox Christianity insists on the salvational role of the second person of the trinity -- more popularly called Jesus -- activist orthodoxy calls for supporting climate change and advancing women's rights. And for establishing homosexuality as a sexual “preference” equivalent to heterosexuality.
It was the Episcopal Church's consecration of a gay man, V. Gene Robinson, as bishop of New Hampshire that, for many Anglicans, here and abroad, finally ignited the gasoline on the brush pile. American conservatives blasted the consecration; foreign heads of overseas Anglican churches promised to support their brothers’ stand for God-given, as they saw it, moral norms. Great ugliness ensued: ungenerous words spoken on all sides; declarations of independence from the church; lawsuits levied by the church against rebels seeking to take their churches with them; the Gospel made a token of strife and mutual accusation.
[The Patriot Post] 22 Jul 2008--History's humongous wheel turns and turns and turns again. Over time, mud and sludge accumulate on even the sprucest institutions. Take the 500-year-old Anglican family of churches, Christianity's third-largest, after Rome and Eastern Orthodoxy.
With Anglicanism's biggest family event under way -- the every-10-years gathering of bishops and archbishops in England -- what the world sees, accurately or not, is a family in moral and spiritual disarray.
Anglicans -- whose main American franchise is the two-century-old Episcopal Church -- seem unable to agree on anything. Especially on religion -- an odd state of affairs for a religious enterprise. The steady, stately commitments that Anglicans formerly took for granted in the Christian message cut little ice today. Observers see the communion as likely to split -- to the extent it hasn't split already, “liberals” on one side, “conservatives” on the other.
Political labels of this sort have obvious limitations in a religious context. Would the bodily resurrection of Christ be a “conservative” doctrine? A liberal one? What about the atonement? What does Ronald Reagan have to do with all this anyway?!
For all that, Anglicanism's public troubles proceed from the takeover of Western Anglicanism by theological activists whose purpose is the remolding of Christianity into something less like the old-time religion than like the platform on which Barack Obama will run for president.
Whereas orthodox Christianity insists on the salvational role of the second person of the trinity -- more popularly called Jesus -- activist orthodoxy calls for supporting climate change and advancing women's rights. And for establishing homosexuality as a sexual “preference” equivalent to heterosexuality.
It was the Episcopal Church's consecration of a gay man, V. Gene Robinson, as bishop of New Hampshire that, for many Anglicans, here and abroad, finally ignited the gasoline on the brush pile. American conservatives blasted the consecration; foreign heads of overseas Anglican churches promised to support their brothers’ stand for God-given, as they saw it, moral norms. Great ugliness ensued: ungenerous words spoken on all sides; declarations of independence from the church; lawsuits levied by the church against rebels seeking to take their churches with them; the Gospel made a token of strife and mutual accusation.
Time for a Prophetic Voice In the Anglican Struggle
http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=28672
[Catholic Online] 22 Jul 2008--Earlier in the week, Dr. Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury stated that the Anglican Church is facing “one of the most severe challenges” in its history. He went on to say that the church’s most immediate need is for "transformed relationships" that will not break apart over interpretations of the Bible, particularly regarding homosexuality.
As Dr. James W. Tonkowich, from the Institute of Religion and Democracy, pointed out, “Dr. Williams' stated goal of a Communion that will not break apart over interpretations of the Bible is laudable, but this crisis is not about conflicting interpretations, it is about longstanding church tradition and the authority of the Bible itself.”
This rhetoric all sounds so wonderful. We need to just love each other and accept each other, we can have unity in diversity. And remember, we can’t let our mere interpretations, frail as they are, stand in the way of unity.
Anglican have always been wonderful with words. Their liturgies are some of the most beautiful prose in the English language. Their turn of a phrase can melt cold stone. As a friend of mine, who was an Episcopal priest, once said, “Anglicans have raised the term ‘dialog’ to an art form and made it an end in itself rather than the means to an end.”
I have heard a lot about unity at Lambeth so far, but what about Truth. Throughout Scripture unity is celebrated but truth is mandated.
There are essential issues that must be addressed by the Anglican Church, perhaps beginning with, “who is Jesus Christ?” These core areas, which the Church calls our “kerygma,” must be re-visited and re-affirmed.
[Catholic Online] 22 Jul 2008--Earlier in the week, Dr. Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury stated that the Anglican Church is facing “one of the most severe challenges” in its history. He went on to say that the church’s most immediate need is for "transformed relationships" that will not break apart over interpretations of the Bible, particularly regarding homosexuality.
As Dr. James W. Tonkowich, from the Institute of Religion and Democracy, pointed out, “Dr. Williams' stated goal of a Communion that will not break apart over interpretations of the Bible is laudable, but this crisis is not about conflicting interpretations, it is about longstanding church tradition and the authority of the Bible itself.”
This rhetoric all sounds so wonderful. We need to just love each other and accept each other, we can have unity in diversity. And remember, we can’t let our mere interpretations, frail as they are, stand in the way of unity.
Anglican have always been wonderful with words. Their liturgies are some of the most beautiful prose in the English language. Their turn of a phrase can melt cold stone. As a friend of mine, who was an Episcopal priest, once said, “Anglicans have raised the term ‘dialog’ to an art form and made it an end in itself rather than the means to an end.”
I have heard a lot about unity at Lambeth so far, but what about Truth. Throughout Scripture unity is celebrated but truth is mandated.
There are essential issues that must be addressed by the Anglican Church, perhaps beginning with, “who is Jesus Christ?” These core areas, which the Church calls our “kerygma,” must be re-visited and re-affirmed.
Greg Venables had not seen or agreed the GAFCON Covenant response
http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/blog_post.asp?id=60572
[Church Times] 22 Jul 2008--He was diplomatic about it, but it was clearly vexing to the Archbishop of the Southern Cone, Greg Venables, that he had neither seen nor agreed the published response to the St Andrew’s draft Covenant , issued by GAFCON on Friday in his name and those of the Primates of Nigeria, West Africa, Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda. None of the other six is present at the conference.
[Church Times] 22 Jul 2008--He was diplomatic about it, but it was clearly vexing to the Archbishop of the Southern Cone, Greg Venables, that he had neither seen nor agreed the published response to the St Andrew’s draft Covenant , issued by GAFCON on Friday in his name and those of the Primates of Nigeria, West Africa, Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda. None of the other six is present at the conference.
In a dismissive response, the Primates describe the Covenant as “seriously limited and severely flawed”; a “defective” document, unworkable and “with no prospect of success”. It fails to address the issues, the Primates say; it contains “no biblical theology”; has “faulty anthropology”; has “absent eschatology” in not referring to sin, judgement or the “coming wrath”; has “no language of obedience” and is “an isolated and vacuous appeal to unity.” It also “fails to recognise the disproportionate influence of the Archbishop of Canterbury.”
“If the conservative orthodox group within the Communion is going to come out of this very difficult situation in a way that honours God, it’s going to have to be consulting together, agreed not just on what we believe but prepared to be tolerant and considerate and loving on secondary issues and also committed to talking together and doing things together,” said Bishop Venables.
“If we speak, it’s because we have had dialogue and we have agreed on what we’re saying. The GAFCON statement as it came out of Jerusalem [The Jerusalem Statement and Declaration] was fully agreed on and worked out together – but obviously other things haven’t been followed through in the same consultative, collegial way, which is a great pity.”
He described his personal response to the Covenant as “two-sided — I haven’t got a great deal of hope because I think there are important sectors of the Communion that simply don’t want to work towards a covenant — they believe in autonomy. And one would say, if we haven’t been able to agree on what we’ve done so far, starting with the scripture and the creeds and the things we’ve done in more recent days as Anglicans, I don’t have much hope.
“But I think we’ve got to work at something we can talk about, something that puts us around the table and something that enables us at least at the very minimum to agree to disagree – or maybe find out that there are things we have in common which could be more hopeful. God could well use something like the Covenant if we humble ourselves, and move towards the dialogue we are going to have to have.”
Bishop Howe Writes His Clergy
http://www.standfirminfaith.com/index.php/site/article/14568/
[Stand Firm] 22 Jul 2008--But the process was asinine. First of all, why combine five Bible Study groups, if you are then going to sub-divide them into four groups? Secondly, what is the point of this discussion of a document we are seeing for the first time? It seemed more appropriate to a junior high Confirmation Class than to a world-wide gathering of Anglican Bishops. And thirdly, why in the world were we having these conversations in the same room at the same time? (At a cost of approximately $8 million just for the Bishops' part of the Conference!)
Well, things may improve. I remind myself of the Archbishop's comment that, "A failure in leadership is a failure to hope in Christ."
An hour long gathering of the American Bishops in mid-afternoon was equally disappointing. Presiding Bishop Schori called us together "just to check in with each other and share any concerns." Fully two-thirds of our time was spent discussing Gene Robinson's sadness - and the injustice! - over his not being allowed to be part even of this meeting of "his own House."
(Conference organizers responded to objections that: "This is NOT a meeting of the House of Bishops; it is a gathering of American Bishops at a meeting of the Lambeth Conference, and only those invited to the Conference can be part of the gathering.")
There was talk of possibly organizing another meeting of the American Bishops offsite somewhere so Gene can be part of it.
Please pray that Bishop Howe's Lambeth experiences will bring him to his senses.
[Stand Firm] 22 Jul 2008--But the process was asinine. First of all, why combine five Bible Study groups, if you are then going to sub-divide them into four groups? Secondly, what is the point of this discussion of a document we are seeing for the first time? It seemed more appropriate to a junior high Confirmation Class than to a world-wide gathering of Anglican Bishops. And thirdly, why in the world were we having these conversations in the same room at the same time? (At a cost of approximately $8 million just for the Bishops' part of the Conference!)
Well, things may improve. I remind myself of the Archbishop's comment that, "A failure in leadership is a failure to hope in Christ."
An hour long gathering of the American Bishops in mid-afternoon was equally disappointing. Presiding Bishop Schori called us together "just to check in with each other and share any concerns." Fully two-thirds of our time was spent discussing Gene Robinson's sadness - and the injustice! - over his not being allowed to be part even of this meeting of "his own House."
(Conference organizers responded to objections that: "This is NOT a meeting of the House of Bishops; it is a gathering of American Bishops at a meeting of the Lambeth Conference, and only those invited to the Conference can be part of the gathering.")
There was talk of possibly organizing another meeting of the American Bishops offsite somewhere so Gene can be part of it.
Please pray that Bishop Howe's Lambeth experiences will bring him to his senses.
More Media Manipulation, This Time by Misrepresenting the Facts
http://www.standfirminfaith.com/index.php/site/article/14551/
[Stand Firm] 22 Jul 2008--When words like these fly from the keyboards of op-ed writers, they often find their way into the mouths of revisionists, often parishioners, priests, and diocesan poobahs you'll find yourself debating. Your mind needs to be attuned to all the word choices, the loaded characterizations, and misrepresentations of the facts that can be crammed into one paragraph like this.
[Stand Firm] 22 Jul 2008--When words like these fly from the keyboards of op-ed writers, they often find their way into the mouths of revisionists, often parishioners, priests, and diocesan poobahs you'll find yourself debating. Your mind needs to be attuned to all the word choices, the loaded characterizations, and misrepresentations of the facts that can be crammed into one paragraph like this.
Live: ABC meets the press
http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/lambeth_conference/live_abc_meets_the_press.html
[Episcopal Cafe] 22 Jul 2008--Williams addressed my concern obliquely in response to a question about sexual morality. He said he viewed as immoral “any relationship which is outside of a public covenant of mutual support and love in the presence of God.” There seemed to be room in that formulation for gay marriage, even after Williams offered further nuance: “I don’t believe that sex outside of marriage is as God purposes it.” But then Williams added that as far as same-sex marriage was concerned, he stood behind previous Lambeth Conference resolutions on the issue “as archbishop.” I took him to mean that he was speaking as an office holder, rather than an individual.
[Episcopal Cafe] 22 Jul 2008--Williams addressed my concern obliquely in response to a question about sexual morality. He said he viewed as immoral “any relationship which is outside of a public covenant of mutual support and love in the presence of God.” There seemed to be room in that formulation for gay marriage, even after Williams offered further nuance: “I don’t believe that sex outside of marriage is as God purposes it.” But then Williams added that as far as same-sex marriage was concerned, he stood behind previous Lambeth Conference resolutions on the issue “as archbishop.” I took him to mean that he was speaking as an office holder, rather than an individual.
Williams also gave a detailed explanation of his reasoning for inviting bishops who participated in Robinson’s consecration, but not Robinson himself. He mentioned that some consecrators had retired, and that others (I can only think of one off the top of my head) said they regretted their participation, before getting to the heart of his answer. The Episcopal Church’s House of Bishops “corporately” had “requested forgiveness,” he said. He had put that response to the Communion, and the Joint Standing Committee of the Primates Meeting and the Anglican Consultative Council and “more than 50 percent” of the provinces had said that it was “probably all right.”
TEC's Theological Agenda and TEC's Strategy for the Lambeth Conference of Bishops
http://anglicancommunioninstitute.com/content/view/155/1/
[The Anglican Communion Institute] 22 Jul 2008--Shortly before the opening of the Lambeth Conference (now in progress) the Rt. Rev. Clayton Matthews of the office of TEC’s Presiding Bishops circulated a memo to all TEC bishops planning to attend. The memo is entitled “Lambeth Talking Points” and is intended to guide and shape the comments of TEC’s bishops in their discussions with other bishops from other parts of the Anglican Communion. The memo is revealing for several reasons. (1) It is an obvious attempt to give uniform shape and content to the contribution TEC’s bishops have to make; (2) it reveals what TEC’s leadership intends the outcome of the conference to be; and (3) displays what the theology is that lies behind the uniform position TEC’s leadership hopes to establish as that of the Communion as a whole.
It is revealing that the introduction to the memo states that a method of communication is being proposed that “will provide the media with no more “than they want or can use.” It is manifestly also a method designed to keep a large group of people “on message” so that TEC’s bishops will remain on the same page. It is manifest also that the memo signals a hardened position on the part of TEC’s Episcopal leadership that runs counter to the spirit the Archbishop of Canterbury has asked to guide the bishops in their deliberations—a spirit of mutual subjection in Christ that is open to correction.
From the outset it is important to note that the central purpose of the memo (to keep TEC’s bishops on message) runs in a completely contrary direction to that of its central theological message--one that, as will become clear, amounts not to a call to unity but to a celebration of diversity. The controlling idea of the memo is that the American bishops ought to arrive at Lambeth with a single “core message” that does not in fact reflect on their own part the diversity they call for in others.
[The Anglican Communion Institute] 22 Jul 2008--Shortly before the opening of the Lambeth Conference (now in progress) the Rt. Rev. Clayton Matthews of the office of TEC’s Presiding Bishops circulated a memo to all TEC bishops planning to attend. The memo is entitled “Lambeth Talking Points” and is intended to guide and shape the comments of TEC’s bishops in their discussions with other bishops from other parts of the Anglican Communion. The memo is revealing for several reasons. (1) It is an obvious attempt to give uniform shape and content to the contribution TEC’s bishops have to make; (2) it reveals what TEC’s leadership intends the outcome of the conference to be; and (3) displays what the theology is that lies behind the uniform position TEC’s leadership hopes to establish as that of the Communion as a whole.
It is revealing that the introduction to the memo states that a method of communication is being proposed that “will provide the media with no more “than they want or can use.” It is manifestly also a method designed to keep a large group of people “on message” so that TEC’s bishops will remain on the same page. It is manifest also that the memo signals a hardened position on the part of TEC’s Episcopal leadership that runs counter to the spirit the Archbishop of Canterbury has asked to guide the bishops in their deliberations—a spirit of mutual subjection in Christ that is open to correction.
From the outset it is important to note that the central purpose of the memo (to keep TEC’s bishops on message) runs in a completely contrary direction to that of its central theological message--one that, as will become clear, amounts not to a call to unity but to a celebration of diversity. The controlling idea of the memo is that the American bishops ought to arrive at Lambeth with a single “core message” that does not in fact reflect on their own part the diversity they call for in others.
Church needs a miracle to survive, says Archbishop
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/2444256/Church-needs-a-miracle-to-survive,-says-Archbishop.html
[Telegraph] 22 Jul 2008--Archbishop Gregory Venables, the Primate of the Southern Cone, said he doubted whether the traditionalist and liberal wings of the 80 million-strong church could even achieve a “peaceful separation”.
He is one of the few church leaders to attend both the breakaway Gafcon summit in Jerusalem last month, at which a new church within a church was launched for orthodox Anglicans who believe the Bible teaches that homosexuality is wrong, and the ongoing Lambeth Conference in Canterbury.
A quarter of the worldwide Anglican Communion’s 880 bishops are boycotting the once-a-decade Lambeth gathering in protest at liberal American and Canadian churches which tolerate gay clergy and bless same-sex unions
[Telegraph] 22 Jul 2008--Archbishop Gregory Venables, the Primate of the Southern Cone, said he doubted whether the traditionalist and liberal wings of the 80 million-strong church could even achieve a “peaceful separation”.
He is one of the few church leaders to attend both the breakaway Gafcon summit in Jerusalem last month, at which a new church within a church was launched for orthodox Anglicans who believe the Bible teaches that homosexuality is wrong, and the ongoing Lambeth Conference in Canterbury.
A quarter of the worldwide Anglican Communion’s 880 bishops are boycotting the once-a-decade Lambeth gathering in protest at liberal American and Canadian churches which tolerate gay clergy and bless same-sex unions
GAFCON & The Anglican Covenant
http://anglicancommunioninstitute.com/content/view/156/1/
[The Anglican Communion Institute] 22 Jul 2008--The first and irrefutable conclusion that must be drawn from these two documents is the shocking inadequacy of GAFCON’s theological resource group and wider leadership. To have produced a briefing paper claiming to summarise the changes between the Nassau and St Andrew’s draft covenants but actually comparing the St Andrew’s draft to a quite different document unrelated to the covenant (and which many of the GAFCON team were involved in writing) is an astonishing error. That nobody in the group (or among the GAFCON leadership which released it) realised that the claimed removals from the Nassau draft were therefore all fraudulent suggests an inexcusable level of ignorance about the covenant process on the part of all those involved in writing and then disseminating this briefing paper to the wider Communion. The authorship is unclear but either we have a very small number of people writing what claims to be a representative document commended by seven Primates or we have a large group which failed to spot this basic and serious flaw. I am not sure which of these options is I would prefer to be reality. Unfortunately this all gives the strong impression that the conclusion – “the new document is severely flawed and should be repudiated” – was already decided upon on other grounds.
The second conclusion is that the other response of the same team is therefore seriously discredited, especially if it was put together on the basis of the briefing paper or by people who had seen the briefing paper and not realised its basic error.
[The Anglican Communion Institute] 22 Jul 2008--The first and irrefutable conclusion that must be drawn from these two documents is the shocking inadequacy of GAFCON’s theological resource group and wider leadership. To have produced a briefing paper claiming to summarise the changes between the Nassau and St Andrew’s draft covenants but actually comparing the St Andrew’s draft to a quite different document unrelated to the covenant (and which many of the GAFCON team were involved in writing) is an astonishing error. That nobody in the group (or among the GAFCON leadership which released it) realised that the claimed removals from the Nassau draft were therefore all fraudulent suggests an inexcusable level of ignorance about the covenant process on the part of all those involved in writing and then disseminating this briefing paper to the wider Communion. The authorship is unclear but either we have a very small number of people writing what claims to be a representative document commended by seven Primates or we have a large group which failed to spot this basic and serious flaw. I am not sure which of these options is I would prefer to be reality. Unfortunately this all gives the strong impression that the conclusion – “the new document is severely flawed and should be repudiated” – was already decided upon on other grounds.
The second conclusion is that the other response of the same team is therefore seriously discredited, especially if it was put together on the basis of the briefing paper or by people who had seen the briefing paper and not realised its basic error.
Media barred from most Lambeth events
http://www.anglicanjournal.com/100/article/-79aca3a1d0/
[TitusOneNine] 22 Jul 2008--Frustration is rising among members of the media here who have been barred from attending a majority of events at the 2008 Lambeth Conference, including the daily eucharist, and who have not been furnished a list of bishops who are present or absent for unspecified “security reasons.”
“All I can say is that all provinces are represented except Uganda,” said Archdeacon Paul Feheley, principal secretary to Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, who is acting as a conference spokesperson. “There were nearly 750 bishops at the 1998 Lambeth. This year, 670 are registered at this point.”
In a press conference, Mr. Feheley said it was not possible to release the names of the bishops present for “security reasons.” He would not elaborate.
[TitusOneNine] 22 Jul 2008--Frustration is rising among members of the media here who have been barred from attending a majority of events at the 2008 Lambeth Conference, including the daily eucharist, and who have not been furnished a list of bishops who are present or absent for unspecified “security reasons.”
“All I can say is that all provinces are represented except Uganda,” said Archdeacon Paul Feheley, principal secretary to Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, who is acting as a conference spokesperson. “There were nearly 750 bishops at the 1998 Lambeth. This year, 670 are registered at this point.”
In a press conference, Mr. Feheley said it was not possible to release the names of the bishops present for “security reasons.” He would not elaborate.
Lambeth: bishops divided over opening Eucharist
http://www.religiousintelligence.com/news/?NewsID=2342
[Religious Intelligence] 22 Jul 2008--The opening Eucharist service of the 2008 Lambeth Conference exemplified everything that is wrong with the Communion and the Conference, with substance given a second place to ceremony, one Global South primate told ReligiousIntelligence.com.
While much was said about transforming the world through social action, nothing was said about personal transformation and renewal of life, the archbishop said following the July 20 ceremony.
The tensions have led to three primates and an undisclosed number of bishops declining to receive the sacraments during the opening Eucharist, highlighting the tensions lurking beneath the surface of the every ten year gathering of the bishops of the Anglican Communion.
The Archbishop of Canterbury has turned his considerable intellectual talents and charm upon the gathered bishops at Lambeth, hoping to keep the Communion alive while it sorts out its divisions of doctrine and discord. He has warned bishops not to expect an end to the Anglican wars from this 14th Lambeth Conference, and over a three-day retreat repeatedly sounded the theme of unity.
Dr Williams remains optimistic. “No one appears to have told the bishops here” the Anglican Communion is over, he said on July 21.
However, Archbishop Gregory Venables warned it would take a “miracle” to hold the Communion together. “Humanely speaking there is little hope for even a peaceful separation” between the liberal and evangelical wings of the 80-million member communion of churches, he said.
[Religious Intelligence] 22 Jul 2008--The opening Eucharist service of the 2008 Lambeth Conference exemplified everything that is wrong with the Communion and the Conference, with substance given a second place to ceremony, one Global South primate told ReligiousIntelligence.com.
While much was said about transforming the world through social action, nothing was said about personal transformation and renewal of life, the archbishop said following the July 20 ceremony.
The tensions have led to three primates and an undisclosed number of bishops declining to receive the sacraments during the opening Eucharist, highlighting the tensions lurking beneath the surface of the every ten year gathering of the bishops of the Anglican Communion.
The Archbishop of Canterbury has turned his considerable intellectual talents and charm upon the gathered bishops at Lambeth, hoping to keep the Communion alive while it sorts out its divisions of doctrine and discord. He has warned bishops not to expect an end to the Anglican wars from this 14th Lambeth Conference, and over a three-day retreat repeatedly sounded the theme of unity.
Dr Williams remains optimistic. “No one appears to have told the bishops here” the Anglican Communion is over, he said on July 21.
However, Archbishop Gregory Venables warned it would take a “miracle” to hold the Communion together. “Humanely speaking there is little hope for even a peaceful separation” between the liberal and evangelical wings of the 80-million member communion of churches, he said.
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