1.
Begin forwarded message:
From: "ANiC Communications" <mjacobson@anglicannetwork.ca>
Date: July 3, 2008 9:47:51 PM EDT (CA)
Subject: ANiC - Message from Bishop Don
Message
from the Moderator
Personal reflections on GAFCON 2008
Feast of
St. Peter and
My dear
Members of our ANiC Family:
Greetings
from
It was from
such conditions that Trudy and I set out on June 15th for
meetings which were to begin in
The
We had no
choice but to leave by road and set out for
The
There were over 30 of us present from
Upon returning home, we frequently are asked what were the high points
of the Conference. Again, there are many different answers to this, but
let me just mention two that I shall never forget.
One took place on “
All 1200 of
us crowded together on these steps, drank in the historical and spiritual
significance, and at the end of our time of prayer joined in singing Fanny
Crobsie’s rousing hymn To God be the Glory, sung with such
fervor that I am sure none of us ever will forget. Here we were, all
sizes and colours, from virtually “every nation under heaven” caught up in the
euphoria of being brothers and sisters in Christ – and giving all the glory to
HIM! There were not many dry cheeks when we finished.
The other
unforgettable moment came towards the end of the Conference when the Jerusalem
Declaration was delivered to the assembly. Each clause received
excited applause as it was read, and when we came to the stirring words in the
concluding paragraph the whole crowd arose from their seats as their sustained
and deafening response reverberated through the large convention hall.
Although we all had come from such different circumstances, we could sense the
direction of the Holy Spirit in what had been written. It was awesome (in
the true sense of that overused word) to be participating in what will be
deemed such an historical moment.
In the next
weeks and months the significance of what was accomplished will be discussed
and rehearsed over and over again. It was and is a new beginning and the
light at the end of our long tunnel is much brighter than it ever has been –
and the tunnel is immeasurably shorter. Above all, for those of us in
North America is the commitment on the part of the GAFCON Primates to help
Common Cause meld into the new orthodox North American Province for which we
have so long been praying and waiting.
While there
is much on which I probably should be commenting in this letter to you, I
decided instead simply to pass on these personal reflections to give you a
glimpse of what GAFCON was like for those of us privileged to experience
it. Above all, I felt time after time that we, in ANiC, are not in this
alone. By standing apart from the Anglican Church of Canada, we have
endeared ourselves a “great cloud of witnesses” who are with us step by step
along the way. It is wonderful to be part of the worldwide Anglican
Communion and know that we are doing our part to keep it faithful to the Rock
from which it was hewn.
Let me
close (for now) with the words of Bishop Ben Kwashi of Jos, Nigeria, who in the
past year came close to being assassinated on at least two occasions. He
said:
“A
faith worth living for is a faith worth dying for. Brothers and Sisters
in the west, please do not attempt to change or water down or secularize that
faith for which some of us will lay down our lives.”
I pray that
you all will have a wonderful summer and that you will come back in September
with renewed vigour to face the challenges that still are in our path.
In the
weeks ahead, we will communicate more fully with all of you the substance and
import of our meetings in
With love
and blessings,
Bishop Don
Harvey
Marilyn Jacobson
Anglican Network in
Office: 1-866-351-2624 ext 4020 OR 604 929-0369
Cell: 604 788-4222
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
2.
Posted by David Virtue on 2008/7/1
Sydney Archbishop Peter Jensen at the final GAFCON session
The
Archbishop of Sydney Dr Peter Jensen has described the Primates Council, which
has emerged from the Global Anglican Future Conference, as a body of integrity
and one which fairly reflects the majority of the world's practising Anglicans.
"The conference proceeded with the spotlight of world media upon it, it
was not done in a corner. Its conclusions cannot be dismissed as the work of
only a few."
"The seven primates are significant leaders within the Anglican communion
and they approach this work with appropriate seriousness and solemnity."
Dr Jensen said.
The Archbishop says the lack of restraint by some revisionist church leaders in
"No good can come from questioning the legitimacy of these men or their
clear commitment to the church's mission. Rather we must commend their
willingness to provide clear leadership and to help bring order to this
chaos."
As to GAFCON's influence in
He described the GAFCON statement as 'a very Anglican document, bringing
Anglican order out of turmoil."
(Photo: Joy Gwaltney - taken at the final GAFCON session.)
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
3.
Anglican
Church League President: Statement on GAFCON
Posted on
Filed under Announcement, News
ACL President, Rev. Dr. Mark Thompson, has released this
Statement about GAFCON:
“Nobody present last week in
Full text –
I have just returned from the GAFCON meeting in
GAFCON has provided us with a way forward that is sober,
serious and faces the realities of global Anglicanism in the twenty-first
century. It has addressed directly the crisis brought about by various
departures from biblical teaching and faithful Christian living in parts of the
Communion and exascerbated by ineffective leadership. It has issued a call to
biblical faithfulness and effective mission in the face of overwhelming need.
One further thing is beyond doubt. Nobody present last week
in
Gospel minded men and women all over the world will rejoice
when they read this conference statement, just as the assembled crowed burst
into spontaneous applause and rejoicing when it was first read to them last
Sunday. Here at last is the leadership we have been praying for. The Primates
who called this conference are passionate and biblically faithful. They are
humble and bold at the same time. And they will not flinch when faced with the
hostility of the revisionists, who continue to prosecute, depose and defame men
and women who will not accept their false gospel.
We have much to thank God for as we reflect on the GAFCON
and its outcome. Of course there will be opposition and it is likely to be
intense. You cannot challenge such entrenched self-interest and it be
otherwise. Yet there is every cause to hope and pray that many, many others
will join with us in getting on with the most important job of all: testifying
to God’s saving mercy in Jesus Christ and living transformed lives in the light
of that good news. To that end I trust the GAFCON documents will be very useful
indeed.
Mark Thompson
ACL President
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
4a.
Post
GAFCON at All Souls: ABp Henry Orombi
From John Richardson, live from the post-GAFCON
meeting at All Souls (batteries permitting) here are my notes on the
first talk, by Archbishop Henry Orombi.
Orthodoxy and Effective
Effective mission can be very costly. HO is a child of the
mission of the Church of England, which came to
People left ancestral worship, shifted from being warring tribes
to loving, shifted from culture of people to following culture of gospel. Look
back in pride to effective mission of your people and their ancestors.
People paid the price for believing the gospel and the church
grew. Over 8 million now in the Anglican Church.
Effective mission came from preaching Word of God and this
shifted people culturally.
In 1935 revival swept through this part of
Worship became meaningful. Singing changed from ‘English’ to
Ugandan. Social life changed. ‘The old has gone, the new has come.’
The honeymoon season ended and testing came. From 1971-1979 Idi
Amin ruled and that was the advent of a dark season. Amin killed many, fed
people to crocodiles, ruined the economy, drained the nation of effective
leadership and destroyed what could be destroyed. But the church remained.
He even killed the Anglican Archbishop to instil fear in the
people. This backfired — Anglicans came back to the church, realizing that the
gospel is expensive. Amin laid a seed of utter commitment.
Then in 1987 to the present there has been civil strife in
northern
This is incarnational. Effective mission involves being with
people in their situation. HO has to follow that through in his own work and
ministry to people.
HIV/AIDS is a problem. The church has responded. Illicit sex is
a key way of transmitting this virus and the church has responded in its
preaching abstinence and faithfulness. Church has preached against adultery and
cohabitation, which is fornication.
People need to hear the truth and only this can liberate us.
Church has cared for people with HIV, with sick, dying and dead.
Effective mission is a necessity of passing the faith we hold
today to the next generation. We have received from the apostolic ministry and
people who brought the faith to us. We have to pass it on.
Young people in
The gospel is like a relay race — we have to pass on the baton,
including to young people. So HO goes to young people’s camps. HO recently
spent a week in young people’s camp to convey to them how important they are.
Do we still have the young people? If we lose young people
today, church is in very dangerous ground, so he is keen to communicate to them.
Eight of his travelling team as they go round diocese are young people. They
are an investment. The urgency of the mission needs to be deposited in their
lives. The next generation needs to be mentored, by example, by teaching.
Do we have anything to pass on to the next generation? If we do,
we must pass it on. How will history judge us with regard to the next
generation.
Ezekiel 33:1-9 — the watchman against the coming sword.
The trumpet call is a matter of urgency. HO was an Anglican from
an early age. Today, he has been a voice in
Watchmen need a clear vision to see the enemy — thus our vision
needs to be clear. The watchman needs a vantage point from which to see —
sometimes we don’t see what is happening. The watchman must make a clear sound
on the trumpet — the sound is not clear in this Communion.
He longs to proclaim in
So may the God of truth come on our planet to transform us from
hopelessness to hope in the cross, to knit our hearts together so that we may
be faithful. We will stand, witness and if need be die for the Word of God.
OOOOO
4b.
http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/2008/07/01/post-gafcon-at-all-souls-abp-greg-venables/
Post-GAFCON
at All Souls: ABp Greg Venables
Summary notes by John Richardson
Greg is here with Sylvia his wife. 3 weeks
ago she was taken in an ambulance for emergency treatment, in an ambulance with
the number plate beginning GOD.
Orthodoxy and Wider Connections
It is a great privilege to be here. It is not really a joy as
the situation facing the Anglican Communion is so difficult. Like Sylvia’s hip,
the Anglican Communion is out of joint, not right, hobbling along, saying ‘Just
a little more and it will be alright.’
The time has come to say ‘No’, we cannot move forward until the
joint is back in place.
This is not about structures, politics or even relationships. It
is about the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, salvation and the eternal
security of many, many, many people. We cannot give it another few months.
People are going into eternity without hearing about Jesus. That would be
wrong, and we cannot keep silent.
GAFCON did not have a pre-arranged agenda or statement.
We met in
We must remember Paul’s words about love — if we do not do this
in love, it is not worth doing. Read Francis Schaeffer’s writings about what
happened in the Presbyterian Church and the lack of love that occurred in that
crisis.
Also, GAFCON is not a breaking away from the Communion —
we are the Anglican Communion. Nor is it a seizing of power within the
Communion. It is the exercise of legitimate authority within and for the sake
of the Anglican Communion, to do what needs to be done, to be a rallying point
where people can come together on the essentials and on the Lord Jesus Christ.
What has been happening already must be brought together into a
structure so that there can be working in unity.
Why now? Why not take longer? An enormous amount of time has
already been taken, going back to before Lambeth 1998. Primates’ and other
meetings followed. Time and again things were said, to no avail. People either
cannot hear or do not want to hear, but something had to be done now, in
the name of the gospel and in the name of people haemorrhaging away from the
Anglican church, especially in
The doubt being cast on the gospel and the person of Jesus is
not the result of modern knowledge, it is the result of what the serpent said
to Eve in
The modern doubt did not begin with modernism and the search for
the historical Jesus. It began when the same tempter came to Jesus in the
wilderness saying, ‘If you are the Son of God.’ Either Jesus is the Son of God
or he is not. If not, Christianity is a sham. CS Lewis: Jesus is mad, bad or
God.
In recent times it is about a shift from a biblical paradigm to
rationalism, not under the authority of God and his word. The shift was from an
open universe, where God can intervene, to a closed universe, where we are
subject to determinism and religion is a subjective event for you.
Also a shift from universe where truth and non-truth are opposed
to one where truth and non-truth can be brought together to find a new truth.
Synthesis is not the way God works.
When the Global South came together they read the word of God
together from Galatians 1, ‘I am astonished you are deserting him …’ This is
not about inclusion but about walking away from the gospel. If you want to
understand this, go to Packer’s Fundamentalism and the Word of God written
fifty years ago: the uninhibited character of American liberalism … God’s
character is one of pure benevolence, sin separates no-one from God, Christ is
man’s saviour only as a perfect teacher and example, not divine, God only in
the sense of God-conscious, no miracles, Christianity differs from other
religions only as the ‘best and highest’, the Bible is not a divine record of
revelation, doctrine is not the God-given word.
It was clear fifty years ago. We have been waiting a long time.
In the Communion process, Lambeth 1998 clear statement was
rejected, ignored and ridiculed. No one said, ‘Let’s talk about this.’ There
was no dialogue! The Primates met around the subject (including Maurice
Sinclair here today). Sinclair and Gomez wrote Mending the Net — it was
not discussed at Kanuga. There have been numerous Primates’ meeting, saying
‘Don’t do it.’ Griswold signed it because it contained the words ‘as a body’.
Within hours
There has been constant stonewalling. The
In the
So, steps have been taken. GV could not sit with brothers and
sisters who wept and said they could not continue their ministry under these
circumstances. Imagine allowing to happen to Jim Packer what was happening to
him — how could you allow this?
We cannot ignore the disintegration of Anglicanism any longer.
But you [in
Your circumstances in the
As John Sentamu said, ‘In
There will be more to say later.
OOOOO
4c.
Post-GAFCON
at All Souls, 4: Interview with Revd Dr Jim Packer
Summary notes by John Richardson and Chris Sugden
JP: A motion was presented to the synod of the diocese of
After 6 years, news came through that the Archbishop of the
Southern Cone was prepared to offer provision for them. Revd David Short called
the whole of JP’s church together, and 97% was for leaving
Michael Ingham declared that ministries of leaving clergy had
been terminated and their property — built by public subscription and
maintained by the congregation — belonged to the Diocese (who had never til
then put a penny into it).
Interviewer: Why couldn’t this be a ‘live and let live’ situation?
JP: The gospel calls us to turn away from certain sins. In 1
Corinthians 6 there is a specific description of male homosexual practice in a
‘vice list’.
The diocese have not allowed any discussion of from any
standpoint but the one they approved. ‘Discussion’ was not really open and the
hope of calling the diocese to repentance was frustrated.
Interviewer: People who moved out of the diocese were described as
schismatic — what about that?
JP: Schism means division, but there are proper and improper
divisions. If the gospel is at stake there must be division. Separation took
place at the Reformation — was that ‘schism’? I would deny this. Unnecessary
separation may properly be called ‘schism’, but in the case of a division like
New Westminster this is a necessary split and only the person who caused the
split can be described as schismatic, ie the bishop who brought in the blessing
of gay unions. I don’t like saying this, but I have to.
Interviewer: What about other churches and clergy who call
themselves orthodox and yet remain in the ACC?
JP: I respect my brothers, when they seek honestly before the Lord
to find what the Holy Spirit would have them do. We were put in a situation
comparable to the Puritan clergy in 1662, being required to renounce the
principle of ever rebelling against the king, therefore retrospectively
condemning Parliament in the Civil War and also requiring episcopal ordination
for those who hadn’t been so ordained in the previous 17 years. Those who came
after were not put on the spot in the same way.
The issue has not come to a head for other dioceses in
Interviewer: How can we now understand the Anglican Communion?
JP: The AC has grown out of the Church of England and its
missionary endeavours, and in the constitution of most Anglican churches there
is some reference to the Church of England and its standards. You define the
Anglican communion in terms of agreement with the constitution and with
deferment to the Archbishop of Canterbury. This has been called into question
because the Archbishop has been ambiguous in relation to the presenting issue:
whether gay behaviour is a mode of holiness or, as the Bible regards it, as
sin.
There is an upheaval when you have a diocese or province with an
heretical leader. The Bishop of New Westminster is an heretical leader. When
you have that the case is entirely altered from what the Anglican constitution
and history envisages. At the time of the Reformation it was taken for granted
that Anglican bishops would be efficient administrators and also spiritual
leaders in the full and basic sense — pioneers in evangelism and pastoral
ministry, in maintaining Christian standards, and in enabling congregations to
stand on their own two feet.
An heretical bishop presents a different situation. Where there
is heretical leadership you cannot, as a matter of principle, rule out
para-dioceses with parallel jurisdictions.
But how can it be stopped? In the churches of the old west, the
method of appointing bishops means you’re going to have Liberal bishops
elected. There will be heresy, so what are you to do? Parallel jurisdiction is
the only alternative. Otherwise the diocese is powerless under a Liberal
bishop. You cannot really reform from within in such a situation.
Interviewer: Isn’t Greg Venables fragmenting the Communion?
JP: No. Those who say he is treat something in Anglicanism —
geographical territorial jurisdiction — as inviolable. GV has breached that
position. There is practical heresy going on. This is spreading in the
West, and the question will be brought back and back and back to Synods. This
is a strategy. So we are not disrupting the Anglican Communion, we are
keeping it together, by ensuring that people in it are kept in fellowship with
a biblically based version of biblical Christianity. You make it possible for
the faithful to stay together.
Without it, those in heretical dioceses would be cut off from
full communion with the orthodox part of the Anglican Communion. Parallel
jurisdiction and realignment is the only way to keep the Anglican Communion
together.
Interviewer: You were criticised when here for staying in a
pluralist denomination. What is different now?
JP: The difference is that in those days the discussions by
heretics were purely notional. You could disclaim the errors of the errorists
and seek to persuade people to turn their back on them. The 39 Articles
remained as the standard of Anglican orthodoxy and one could appeal to the
constitution of the Church with a clear conscience. Guilt by association didn’t
apply. But this is different from what prevailed in
Interviewer: The you were asked what you would say if you had 10
minutes with the ABC. What would you say in 2 minutes to us?
JP: Keep the faith, resist Liberalism, do not act the ostrich,
hiding your head in the sand.
Interviewer: What would be your wisdom about carrying on the GAFCON
process in
JP: At the heart of the Statement is the Jerusalem Declaration. I
would like to see PCCs and, where possible, Diocesan Synod, or even central
bodies, committing themselves to this as their own guiding star. I would like
to see the Primates who were leaders at GAFCON meeting in a public way in
January 2009, casting the Jerusalem Statement into the form of a covenantal
commitment, publicly subscribing to it on the part of their provinces, and also
seeing diocesans subscribe to it. I would like to see it presented to new
bishops appointed in the Church of England to subscribe to it, and I would like
to see it established as a basis for orthodoxy and missionary action.
The goal of the Covenant Process begun in the Windsor Report
would thus be achieved in essence. Anglican provinces who didn’t come along
with this would be in the outer circle of limited communion for not identifying
with Anglican orthodoxy.
This would be a first step in getting Anglicanism back into
proper shape.
Interviewer: Thank you for letting us look into your
‘crystal ball’.
(A standing ovation was given to Dr Packer, who also stood to
acknowledge it.)
OOOOO
http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=8514
READERS' COMMENTS
Posted: 2008/7/1
Home away from home
Re:
"The Bishop of New Westminster is an
heretical leader. "
Booyah, Packer is pulling no punches. Time
to call a spade a spade.
"Those who say he is treat something in
Anglicanism - geographical territorial jurisdiction - as inviolable. GV has
breached that position. "
Bingo. That's the real key to all of this.
First breach the walls. Now, keep the properties.
+ + +
Posted: 2008/7/1
Home away from home
Re:
There was a time in the Anglican Communion
when it didn't matter if your bishop was a heretic. You just wrote him off as a
fool and carried on believing and living your faith out according to the Bible,
the Creeds, and the 39 Articles of Religion. At least you knew that whether or
not your bishop believed in God, he at least was not able to depart from the
"form" of the true religion, and he could be depended upon to behave
himself when the situation demanded it. That was then; this is now. Today it
has become harder for the real Christians to live out their faith in a kind of
bubble, set apart from the heretical mitered fools and mugwamps that rule the
church. Today there is all-out pressure on the folks in the pews, and upon the
clergy to conform to the "new doctrines" and strange gods of
contemporary Anglicanism. Today's "new-Anglican" faith is a dirty
religion, with its unprincipled clergy and bishops. Today I say to Anglicans
everywhere, "Flee the wrath to come!" If the contemporary Anglican
mob want to play at being Unitarian Universalists, let them fill their boots.
BUT NOT ON OUR NICKLES AND DIMES.
Posted: 2008/7/1
Home away from home
Re:
Quote: "JP: Keep the faith, resist
Liberalism, do not act the ostrich, hiding your head in the sand."
ROWAN, did you hear Bishop Packer this
time????
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
4d.
Post-GAFCON
at All Souls: ABp Peter Jensen
GAFCON and
What would you do? What we have spoken about is not theory for
some people. What would I do?
Take the example of David Short in
You may say to yourself, ‘Perhaps I have not read the Bible
properly on human sexuality.’ Or, ‘Perhaps this is not a first order issue of
the gospel, we can still preach Christ as Lord.’ Or you could say, ‘The
evangelical tactic is parish ministry. Why drag my parish into a fight we
cannot win which will sap our money and energy instead of winning people for
the Lord?’
They are all powerful reasons not to march out with David Short
and Jim Packer. Better perhaps to keep our heads down and get on with work in
our parishes. As Packer, Short and others left, you knew they would be
attacked, they would have the culture against them and they would have the
church against them.
They moved out. They have been in contention for five years —
you will have stayed in your parish and got on with ministry, wondering if the
Bible is clear.
First, brothers and sisters, the Bible is clear and the Liberals
know it is clear.
Secondly, this is crucial. Sexual immorality leads you
outside the
Thirdly, if you continue in fellowship you are endorsing the lie
and are complicit in it.
Fourthly, persecution and vilification is part of the gospel.
Why has this become the trigger? Is it because we are obsessed
with sex?
Yes. We are and our community is. We have worshipped sex as an
idol and we take our identity from our sexual natures.
It has become the touchstone because this is the nature of the
world we live in, and this is, in itself, a tremendous symbol which enacts
revisionist theology.
Things may chug along for a number of years, but in the end you
yourself have to make a statement. You become involved. The blessing of
same-sex unions is the enactment of a whole theological system.
In
The Africans look at us and say, ‘You say you have the gospel,
but what is the evidence that you have the gospel?’
If we go this way, the Times, Guardian, BBC, Daily
Mail will be against us. We could choose a different issue. But the choice
is not ours. This is the choice that has been landed on your plate. If
you will not stand on this issue you will never stand. You may have
preferred to do it on the Trinity, but this is what incarnates the theology
that lies behind the action.
We would not have chosen to fight on this ground, but that is
often the way.
This may not be where you are up to yet in
Discerning the times: a revisionist trajectory has been clear
for some time, including on sexuality. In 1998 there was a terrific battle at
the Lambeth Conference. The crucial year, though, is 2003 when the revisionists
put a new fact on the table. The Americans took a risk, but it was a tremendous
strategic blunder which has woken the sleeping giant of evangelicalism and
orthodoxy.
What is the revisionist strategy? It is to buy time.
Thirty years ago we were all clear about chastity before and outside marriage.
If you now declare that teaching, you are treated as a complete idiot. The
revisionists think the Africans are just twenty or thirty years behind us,
thanks to the communications revolution. The people in
The revisionists will concentrate on theological education and
hermeneutics. If they can be influenced here, they will catch up with the rest of
us. The revisionist strategy is to wait for people to catch up.
That strategy will work. Who would have thought we would get to
where we are on divorce and remarriage or on fornication? The strategy will
work unless we act.
So, we must be patient. It has been right to listen, to
negotiate, not to react too suddenly. Love is right also, but five years is a
long time when you are a parish or rector under pressure.
Secondly, pastoring: we have to take care of those Christians
who are caught in dioceses, parishes and churches who are faithful but find
themselves caught in revisionist situations. If we do not care for them, who
will? What is David Short to do? What are we to do for him?
I would rather not be involved in GAFCON. I have a big job to do
at home. But I cannot sit still and watch faithful Anglican Christians suffer
and remain silent [applause].
The second fact on the table, following 2003, is crossing
boundaries. People will do this. It is not always welcome. It should only be
done in emergencies. But we now have to regard the gospel as more sacred than
human boundaries. That is irreversible, and nothing that happens at Lambeth is
going to stop it.
The third element of our strategy is principled action. We need
principled care.
So far, the crossing of the boundaries has been disorganised,
depending on people prepared to do it. It has taken courage from Greg Venables,
who has suffered abuse and rejection. He has acted for the gospel. What GAFCON
represents is that there will be principled care. None of the instruments of
the communion has been able to help David Short and Jim Packer. GAFCON is a
very Anglican answer — a new set of instruments of unity! They were not
‘self-appointed’, they were God-appointed, from looking at the Word of God and
seeing what they needed to do.
They are Primates — very senior leaders of our denomination,
with huge responsibilities in their own churches. They don’t need to do it, but
they are prepared to do it for Western Christians who have lost the plot. Thank
you to the Primates [applause].
GAFCON will help in emergency cases, not trivial cases.
This is also about the preservation of the gospel — and the
Africans and Asians will come under this same pressure through Western
theological education. GAFCON is going to say no to this educational agenda
for the promotion and protection of the gospel globally.
Order will be created out of the confusion that now exists.
The last two weeks have been two of the most extraordinary in my
life. What we are dealing with here is not a split, but a movement possibly as
significant as the Evangelical Revival, or even the Anglo-Catholic movement if
you prefer, and it may bring Evangelicals and Anglo-Catholics together
[applause].
What about
You have to find English solutions to English problems. This is
not a ‘Cargo Cult’ where the Americans are going to bring the solution.
First,
Secondly, incumbents are the most important people in the
church. Incumbents teach the church, you are crucial to the good health of the
churches. Only more recently have we moved from this. Your theological
education has to be first class — top class. I say this to you as an
Archbishop. My job is to preach Christ in every situation in which he finds
himself and to oversee recruitment, training and deployment of clergy. Being a
bishop is an important and difficult job, but the local church is where the
action is. Support your orthodox bishops, but the incumbent is doing the work
of the gospel.
Thirdly, we will not get anywhere without laypeople, and we have
not done enough to teach the about these issues. You are frightened to teach
things that will bring about disunity. If you teach these things there will be
a reaction. Your people are constantly being told the Christian view of sexual
morality is wrong. If you don’t teach them, you will not succeed. Nothing
terrifies more than an educated Protestant lay woman.
Fourthly, we must be theologically well-equipped. Evangelicals
are spread around and can be very lonely. Get the Evangelical fellowships
going. Become aware of the importance of the strength of the network.
Fifthly, evangelism must be the sharp point in fellowship with
one another. English Evangelicalism is terribly divided. We cannot continue our
tribal warfare [applause]. We need to advance, and it is the gospel and
evangelism which will bring us together under godly focussed leadership.
You will find Evangelical brothers and sisters doing things you
wish they wouldn’t before the coming pressure. But before you rush to judge —
and to the website — put yourselves in their shoes. Remember, they are doing it
to serve Christ. Rebuke them if necessary, but stand with them.
Remember, there is a global fellowship. GAFCON exists and is on
your side. This giant doesn’t have to go to
Henry Orombi, Greg Venables, Jim Packer have all spoken about
the situation. It is not for me to tell you what you must do here, apart from
saying you must stand for the gospel and the Bible. We are looking to you. We
need you to be strong and brave and true. We will help you. And together we
will resist the forces of evil and secularism which seek to extinguish the
gospel and are using the Church to do that. Stand firm.
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4e.
http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/2008/07/01/post-gafcon-at-all-souls-panel-discussion/
Post-GAFCON
at All Souls: Panel Discussion
Summary notes by John Richardson
Q: Is it too late to mend the situation?
Greg Venables: It may be possible to mend it, but we must look
to the future?
Q: Do you stand with Forward in Faith and Anglo-Catholicism? Can
Evangelicals and Anglo-Catholics be in one communion?
Peter Jensen: Yes, we have been in one communion. In 2003, one
group in the Communion made a terrific blunder breaking through the boundaries.
This freed up the rest of us. The Communion will never be the same again. We
are one Communion but far looser, and this enables great spiritual movements
like GAFCON to arise. The blunder is being turned to good. The Communion is
going forward and those who can sign off on something like the
Jim Packer: It is important to know who our friends are.
Anglo-Catholics generally believe in Trinity, Scripture, atonement,
resurrection, judgement, prayer, etc. A ‘higher’ view of sacraments and
priesthood seems secondary in the light of those primary correspondences. I can
be friends with Anglo-Catholics. Modern Anglo-Catholicism has a different
agenda from in the past. I can, with qualifications, be friends with
Anglo-Catholics. I have good will towards Forward in Faith. Liberals are
different, denying many of the aforementioned. We have let Liberals get away
with too much with regard to leadership in the past.
Q: Would the panel unequivocally condemn violence against
lesbian and gay people, and how do you handle issues of polygamy in African
culture.
Henry Orombi: Violence against homosexuals is wrong. Jesus did
not condemn tax collectors etc. On polygamy my grandfather had six wives and my
father two. When dying, none of my grandfather’s wives offered him sanctuary.
My father’s two wives, including my mother, were at constant war. I resolved
only to have one wife before I became a Christian. As Church the bottom line is
I would not ordain a polygamist or give one a prominent place in leadership. We
would like to live our lives seeing transformation because of the gospel. We do
encourage converted polygamists to formalise marriage with the first wife,
whilst the other will live with her children without marital relations.
Q: Would all the GAFCON leaders support those who ordain women?
Peter Jensen: We do not ordain women — that is well known. The
ordination of women is a different order of things from the presenting issue.
Scripture never suggests an ordained woman is in danger of losing her salvation.
The continual practice of greed or immorality is clearly a matter of being
inside or outside the
People at GAFCON had different views. The Jerusalem Statement in
paragraph 12 speaks of secondary matters and seeking the mind of Christ on
issues that divide us. It is time to rethink this matter under the word of God,
yet again. We may be wrong, but we need to bring this prayerfully with each
other and to reconsider it. Similarly, we may rethink on divorce and
remarriage.
Q: Would you rather not be at the Lambeth Conference? How will
GAFCON be brought to bear on the Communion?
Greg Venables: We decided to take no one stance on this. I
decided I would go. I have no problems saying I have very little hope for
Lambeth. It is not going to be a place where we can sit people down and see
what we are going to do.
Henry Orombi: At Dromantine we made our recommendations. In
Q: What is the relationship between what has come out of GAFCON
and the proposed Covenant?
Peter Jensen: Most at GAFCON probably felt the Covenant was not
going anywhere. If it would bind people round the gospel it probably wouldn’t
be accepted, if it didn’t it wouldn’t work. I am praying for Lambeth. It may be
the Covenant that emerges will be suitable, but I doubt it. The Windsor Process
was misconceived from the start. It was balanced, but would not say sin was
sin. The Covenant may work, but probably not.
Greg Venables: The Covenant was presented to try to find unity
because we were ignoring the problem. The Covenant does not address the real
problem. People sitting round the same table would say they accepted one thing,
then she [sic] would go back and say she hadn’t accepted it. So you get
people who are devious. It is ignoring the real problem.
Q: How was the GAFCON Statement produced?
Peter Jensen: Not in the way I wanted it. I would have written
the Statement first, and I drafted one. ABp Akinola got word of it and told me
to stop doing, which I didn’t. But he made it quite clear we were to hear the
word of God through the people. A communique group had been appointed. We also
drew in what people wanted to say to the group — which went on for several
days. The group kept hearing what people were saying. By Thursday most was
written. By Friday we had a draft. People then broke into groups. Each province
signed off on the draft and it was acclaimed on Sunday morning. There were many
providences and miracles throughout GAFCON and this was one.
Q: Are we right to understand that at the heart of the Jerusalem
Statement is a redefinition of Anglicanism as confessional? How does this
affect relationships with ABp of Canterbury?
Greg Venables: It is not a redefinition, it is going back to our
roots. Regarding the ABp over to Jim Packer …
Jim Packer: We must accept the authority of Archbishops because
we are Anglicans. The question about the Archbishop of Canterbury was raised in
Peter Jensen: As far as I know, being in communion with the ABp
of Canterbury as such is not part of our constitution.
Q: Rowan Williams said that GAFCON lacks legitimacy, authority
and integrity. Is he right?
Henry Orombi: GAFCON drew in 1,000+ people, bishops and
archbishops. The Primates Council is coming together to challenge the
unorthodox. I am at pains to understand what the Archbishop is saying. Nothing
we did happened in the dark.
Q: Could the panel comment about how people in the CofE may most
helpfully respond to GAFCON and the Jerusalem Declaration?
Peter Jensen: This affects everyone in the
Footnote: You may also sign up as an individual or a church to
the following on www.anglican-mainstream.net
: I/we stand in solidarity with the Jerusalem Declaration and the Statement
on the Global Anglican Future.
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5.
GAFCON:
for Parish Magazines and Newsletters
The article below may be useful for parish magazines and
newsletters.
Is the Church of
For the last week the news media have been full of stories about
a ‘split’ in the Anglican Communion. Interest has focussed especially on the
Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) which took place in
GAFCON was a response to a trend which has been affecting the
Anglican Communion for over fifty years, but which came to a head with the
consecration of a divorced priest in a homosexual relationship as Bishop of New
Hampshire in the
That trend may broadly be described as ‘theological Liberalism’.
Liberal theology has in the past contributed much by way of thoughtful
challenges and ideas. Without strong traditionalist foundations, teaching and
leadership, however, the Church that builds on Liberalism soon finds it is
resting on sand.
Asked in an interview with Time magazine whether belief in Jesus
is “the only way to get to heaven,” the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal
Church in the
Another important feature of the new Liberalism is in the area
of human sexuality, where there is growing acceptance of same-sex
relationships. In
In 1998, the Lambeth Conference of bishops issued a statement
which established the traditional, biblical, view of human sexuality as the
‘Anglican’ position. Since then, however, Anglicans in the
By late last year, it was obvious that as a result many bishops
would be unwilling to come to this year’s Lambeth Conference. At the same time,
in
GAFCON came about partly to resist the spread of this extreme
Liberalism and partly to provide a haven for those who were in danger of
leaving the denomination. GAFCON is not trying to create a split, but to
contain it within the Anglican Communion by re-asserting traditional Anglican
teaching and values. The Jerusalem Statement repeats what is found in our own
Canon Law: “The doctrine of the Church is grounded in the Holy Scriptures and
in such teachings of the ancient Fathers and Councils of the Church as are
agreeable to the said Scriptures. In particular, such doctrine is to be found
in the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion, the Book of Common Prayer and the
Ordinal.”
Quite what GAFCON will mean for us here in
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6.
Church of England crisis: Mass defections
loom as rebel faction appeals to English clergy
· Hundreds may be ready to leave Church of
England
· Traditionalists' conference swamped by 750 delegates
- Riazat Butt, religious affairs correspondent
- The Guardian,
- Article
history
Hundreds
of English clergy appear poised to defect from the Church of England to join a
new conservative movement after a conference led by rebel archbishops was
swamped with delegates in
The 750
delegates attending the meeting in central
According
to the conservative website, Anglican Mainstream, clergy and churchwardens
are asked to "stand in solidarity" with Gafcon by registering their
support online.
The
popularity of the event caught organisers and speakers by surprise, as only
half that number were expected. The attendance level, in addition to the 50
serving English clergy sponsoring the meeting, indicated the disillusion felt
by conservative evangelicals.
Their
interest in Gafcon threatens to further undermine the authority of Rowan
Williams, the archbishop of
During
the day, leading figures from Gafcon urged delegates to support the movement.
They also offered parallel jurisdiction and oversight where clergy believed
their bishops had strayed from biblical teaching.
The
archbishop of Sydney, Peter Jensen, told the assembly: "Gafcon exists and
is on your side. We need mutual support within the Anglican Communion and
across it. This is the moment.
He added
that Gafcon had to take care of Christians caught in dioceses, parishes and
churches who were faithful to orthodox biblical teaching but found themselves
under liberal leadership. "If we do not care for them, who will?" he
asked.
Earlier,
at a press conference, Jensen denied that he and the other archbishops present,
Henry Luke Orombi from
He said
the meeting had been arranged before Gafcon took place, suggesting that
The
event was clearly intended as a rallying point, with theologian Jim Packer
saying there was something "dispensable about the archbishop of
"It
is not of the essence of Anglicanism to be in communion with him when he
becomes part of the doctrinal problem.
"Pray
for the next archbishop and that he may be with us sooner than we might have
thought."
The day
saw a steady stream of Anglicans, in their traditional summer uniform of panama
hats, socks, sandals and shirt sleeves flowing in and out of All Souls' church.
They were only disrupted at lunchtime, when Peter Tatchell and other gay rights
campaigners confronted them with posters bearing slogans such as Anglicans
Repent Your Homophobia.
Neither
Tatchell, nor the archbishop of
Angus
Macley, a rector at St Nicholas,
Others
were attending without the knowledge of their bishop. One vicar, who did not
wish to be named, said: "It's a decision to be faithful to the Bible and
not to follow practices that have been sieved through the opinions of modern
society.
"Gafcon
is setting up an alternative shadow structure. There are options apart from
leaving. I would say that my congregation shares my views. We have reached the
point of no return."
There
are several ways for traditionalists to opt out of liberal leadership, with the
most successful models operating in the
The
Convocation of Anglicans in
Across
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7.
From The
Times
Evangelical Christians sign up to a 'Church within a
Church'
Ruth Gledhill,
Religion Correspondent
Nearly 800
clergy and lay leaders from the Church of England took the first steps
yesterday towards forming a “Church within a Church” to be an evangelical
stronghold against the ordination of gay people.
The clergy
met at All Souls Langham Place, in Central London, a prominent evangelical
church, where they were invited to sign up to the “Jerusalem declaration”
rejecting liberal doctrines. Most are expected to endorse the statement,
forming the British arm of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, a rival
Anglican Communion that was started in
In the
declaration conservative bishops, mainly from
The
Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, hit back at the evangelical rebels
yesterday, warning them that their new structures lacked legitimacy and urging
them to “think very carefully about the risks entailed”.
Outright schism in the Church of England is almost
impossible because of the legal structure of the established Church, which has
the Queen as its Supreme Governor and 26 bishops in the House of Lords. But if
the Church is not formally split, it is certainly divided by the twin issues of
the ordination of homosexuals and women.
Anglo-Catholics,
who yesterday threatened to leave over the issue of women bishops, would be
unable to take their churches or vicarages with them, although they may get
compensation from the Church Commissioners, in the same way that those who left
over the issue of women priests were paid more than a decade ago.
By
contrast evangelicals, protesting against what they regard as abandonment of
the Bible by liberals embra-cing an agenda that includes gay ordination, do not
wish to leave. Their plan is a form of Anglican “putsch”, a reform or takeover
from within.
The two
sides might come together if the Anglo-Catholic traditionalists succeed in
their campaign for an extrageographical province or diocese in
Archbishop
Peter Jensen, of the Sydney Diocese in
The gay
rights campaigner Peter Tatchell and other protesters picketed the meeting with
placards accusing the evangelicals of “crucifying” gays.
David
Talbot, a gay evangelical who used to worship at All Souls, wrote to the rector
chastising him for allowing the meeting.He said: “It is a shame that the
Anglican Church and, on this occasion, All Souls in particular, continues to
deny the God-given reality of homosexuality and His blessing that gay
Christians know in their lives.”
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8.
The petition for English PCCs and
other organizations wishing to express solidarity with GAFCON is now available
online here.
Due to several non-English residents
wishing to sign the petition for individuals, a ‘Global’ petition is now
available here.
NB: HERE
is the petition for Church of England members resident in
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9.
Posted by David Virtue on 2008/7/2
A global online petition to stand
with GAFCON is available to Anglicans throughout the world who wish to stand in
solidarity with their fellow brothers and sisters is available here:
http://www.gopetition.co.uk/petitions/in-solidarity-with-the-gafcon-jerusalem-statement/signatures.html
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10.
Gafcon can save Anglicanism
We are a response to the current authorities'
unwillingness to check the flouting of Bible teachings and can lead it forward
without a split
- Chris
Sugden
- guardian.co.uk,
- Article
history
For five
years, the Episcopal church in US, the Anglican church of Canada, and elements
of the Church of England and church in New Zealand have acted precisely like the student unions of the
1970s and Militant tendency in putting facts on the ground and defying the
authorities to do anything about it. Some bishops and others have been
presenting a different Christian gospel, expressed in disobedience to the
teaching of the Bible, and continue to persecute and harass those who resist
and object.
If the current dispute is merely a matter of different perspectives and
emphases, as the Archbishop of Canterbury suggests, why are the bishops who are
promoting this different gospel driving people out of their churches and
removing licences from priests such as Dr Packer?
Gafcon
became necessary following the persistent failure of the current authorities in
the Anglican Communion to do anything about this deliberate flouting of
Christian teaching and decisions of the whole Anglican Communion and its
leadership.
What
would be an ideal response of the Archbishop of Canterbury? The Gafcon
pilgrimage was about relationships above all else. The pilgrims came to meet
with God, through prayer and worship, through study of his word, and pilgrimage
to recall his mighty acts of redemption in history. They came to meet with each
other in fellowship, Bible discussion, meals, and pilgrimage together. One
presiding bishop of a dispersed Anglican group in
An ideal response of the archbishop would be to focus on relationships: to meet
with the primates' council of Gafcon on neutral territory: not at the Lambeth
conference, which is already a compromised gathering since those who initiated
this crisis, the consecrators of Gene Robinson, will be present, and since the
issues are fundamental questions about the authority of scripture in the
church.
Written responses from afar raising issues of legitimacy and
details of constitution-making have more in common with Yes Minister than godly
dialogue in the
The
primates of the Anglican churches of Nigeria, West Africa, Rwanda, Tanzania,
Kenya, Uganda (six out of 12 African provinces in Africa) and the Southern
Cone, churches of over 40 million members out of 55 million churchgoing
Anglicans worldwide, have decided that there is a way forward within the
Anglican church that can bring order out of chaos and which does not involve a split. As elected leaders of their
churches they are hardly unrepresentative. The whole provincial governance of
The
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11.
From Times
Online
Senior Anglican warns Church
over its 'dark-side'
Ruth Gledhill,
Religion Correspondent
A senior
adviser to the Archbishop of Canterbury has warned Anglicans against making
homosexuality a "shibboleth" that could result in the destruction of
their church.
Canon
Gregory Cameron, the top canon lawyer who helps run the headquarters of the
worldwide Anglican Communion, also criticised the "dark side" of
western Anglicanism which assumes superiority over Anglicans in the developing
world.
In a
lecture about the crisis facing world Anglicanism, Canon Cameron said that
senior clerics in the Western church were in danger of adopting a NATO-style
attitude of "intellectual superiority".
He
criticised the
Urging understanding of the
conservative evangelicalism which led to a rival Fellowship of Confessing
Anglicans being set up in Jerusalem last week, Canon Cameron said: "The
average Anglican is a black woman under the age of 30, who earns two dollars a
day, has a family of at least three children, has lost two close relatives to
AIDs, and who will walk four miles to Church for a three hour service on a
Sunday."
Canon
Cameron, who was Dr Rowan Williams' chaplain when he was a bishop his homeland
of Wales, is Deputy Secretary General of the Anglican and advises not just Dr
Williams but all 38 primates of the worldwide communion.
Although
his name is not widely known outside the church, he is arguably the most
influential clergyman behind the scenes within it.
Canon
Cameron, delivering the Hellins Lecture at the Dean's Library in St Asaph,
He said
the ties of friendship in the Anglican Communion were still strong.
But he
added: "Alongside these ties of friendship - the so-called bonds of
affection which have been described as holding the Anglican Communion together
– there has lurked an unconscious sense of superiority and dependency: a sense
that all the really educated theologians find their homes in Oxbridge, and that
all the really big money comes from the United States.
"It
has been said, with a certain sense of irony, that in the Anglican Communion,
the Africans pray, the Americans pay, and the English write all the
documents."
Canon
Cameron said: "The dark side to the life of the Anglican Communion is that
too often the theological graduates of the seminaries of the NATO alliance do
unconsciously adopt an air of educational superiority, while many American
church leaders do not even seem to notice, even while they often unconsciously
rely upon, the implicit obligations which they place on the recipients of their
largesse."
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CANA Bp. David Bena
writes to his clergy about GAFCON
Dear fellow clergy from
I am emailing all of you to give you
some hope regarding the recent meeting of GAFCON in
1) I prayed for each of you at the Holy
Sites - Holy Sepulcher, Western Wall,
2) The meeting, set last week in
3) There were actually over 1,200
participants, including just over 300 bishops. Interestingly enough, the
bishops from North America included CANA, Uganda, Kenya, Southern Cone, Rwanda,
Reformed Episcopal Church, Anglican Province in America, some bishops of
Continuing Anglican groups from USA and Canada, and sitting bishops of TEC
(Love, McPherson, Beckwith, Ackerman, Iker, Jim Adams, Schofield, Lawrence,
Scriven.) All were excited to be there and supportive of the Document.
4) Speaking of North America, part of
our Statement stated, "WE BELIEVE THE TIME IS RIPE FOR THE FORMATION OF A
PROVINCE IN NORTH AMERICAN FOR THE FEDERATION CURRENTLY KNOWN AS COMMON CAUSE
PARTNERSHIP TO BE RECOGNIZED BY THE PRIMATES' COUNCIL." This is BIG. We
continue to work and pray for the eventuality of this Province. It will be
messy for a while, but all good things tend to start out messy. Let's be in
prayer about it.
5) To dispel some rumors: the Bishop of
Jerusalem was hesitant about us going there, not only because he was pressured
by TEC bishops but because he was not sure how his own clergy would take our
being there. Let me tell you: we did great; we did not divide his diocese one
iota; we were kind to him as he greeted GAFCON leaders at
6) Will the Jerusalem Document make it
to the Lambeth Conference? Absolutely. Several of our participants intend to
get it on the agenda in
7) BOTTOM LINE: We did not vote to
leave the Anglican Communion; we voted to reform, heal and revitalize the
Anglican Communion. GAFCON is not a separatist movement. It is a reform
movement. Whatever the Archbishop of Canterbury and other liberal leaders wish
to do with the future, WE'RE just going to go on and evangelize the world with
classical Anglicanism. I know you are excited about all this.
So now I am home trying to get rid of
jet lag. My prayers are again for you as you move into the summer. TAKE A
BREAK!
Your Brother in Christ
+Dave Bena
(via email
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