Of Interest to my Fellow Anglicans

New Anglican Province in America

Read More......

American Church Causes Great Peril for African Anglicans

The Anglican Church just had its gathering which occurs every 10 years. Some of you who keep up with these things may have read that for the first time in history, a substantial number of bishops boycotted the meeting. Most notably absent or registering protests, were the bishops from Africa who represent the largest segment of the denomination, dwarfing the American division of Anglicanism, the Episcopal Church.

In order for people to realize that these boycotts and protests were serious, I am quoting from one of the reports. 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.

Face to face with Islam in Africa, the African bishops had tried to warn the American church that their actions could have grave consequences in Africa, which is exactly what has happened.

Read More......

Important Anglican Conference

Archbishop+Jensen
A Global Anglican Future Conference is planned for June 2008. The aim of the Conference is to discuss the future of mission and relationships within the churches of Anglican Communion. The Conference will be chaired by Archbishop Peter Jensen. In a message to his people, he explains why the meeting is necessary. As some of you who read this blog have probably guessed, I am among those former Episcopal priests who found it necessary to realign myself with the main body of the church. One of the statements that Archbishop Jensen made in his communication really weighs heavy on me:

“The American actions. . . . impacted churches all around the world. In particular the churches of the Global South had to own the name ‘Anglican’ while living in societies where the actions of the Americans was condemned by all, especially Muslims. The action of some North Americans severely hurt the witness of these churches. It also hindered the good effect that membership of the Anglican Communion has for those who live in a situation where Christians are in a minority.”

Read More......

Leaving the Sinking Ship

For those puzzled over the meltdown of the Episcopal Church, I ran across this quote: “The Church must be taken back from the shallow ephemeral wedding of Church to current culture and morality measured by social acceptability. Or as G.K. Chesterton would say, “Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions.”

Read More......

How the Episcopal Church Tore Itself Apart

The Episcopal Church in America has split. Following is an op-ed piece I ran across which goes straight to the heart of the cause of the split. Some of you may not even care one way or another, but for those of us who went through the split, it has been painful. The op-ed piece: “This is what it comes down to: Conservatives vs. liberals, constructionists vs. activists. You want to know how this argument is going to end? Look at the personalities of those involved in the decision-making, look at how they apply their personal overarching views and you, too, can play prognosticator.

That’s how it works when you are trying to discern how the U.S. Supreme Court, which began its 2007-08 term last week, will rule on the myriad cases before it. Will the conservative constructionists, who believe that the Founding Fathers actually were pretty clear in their intent and that that intent hasn’t changed over the years, form the majority?

Or will the liberal activists, who believe the Founding Fathers always meant for the Constitution to be interpreted in the context of the current times, be the deciding factor in cases this year?

Take away the discussion about the Supreme Court, insert the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion, and you could be having the same discussion.

The Anglican Communion, of which the Episcopal Church is the American branch, is divided in the same way between conservative constructionists and liberal activists. The former believe that the Scriptures are plainly written, can be plainly interpreted and that the meaning has not changed over time.

The latter believe the Scriptures are to be understood both in the context in which they were written and the context in which the believers now live, and that their meaning does change with the times. The former believe that culture cannot and should not influence interpretation. The latter believe that culture always influences interpretation.”

Read More......