GAFCon 5
JERUSALEM: Secular
Media Response to GAFCON Ranges from Ridiculous to Shameful
Posted by David Virtue on 2008/6/23 23:30:00 (1282
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JERUSALEM:
Secular Media Response to GAFCON Ranges from Ridiculous to Shameful
News Analysis
By David W. Virtue in Jerusalem
www.virtueonline.org
6/22/2008
Secular media covering the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) are
seriously distorting both the content and message of the 1200 mostly Global
South Anglican leaders, which includes 300 bishops from 38 countries, gathered
here in Jerusalem.
Stories range from two London "Telegraph" stories saying that the
GAFCON conference is a "shambles" to a follow up editorial, by eight
of their writers, that said that GAFCON leaders have effectively declared the
end of the worldwide Anglican Communion by saying that they could no longer be
associated with liberals who tolerate actively homosexual clergy.
Not true, said GAFCON leaders. Archbishops Peter Jensen (Sydney) and Peter
Akinola (Nigeria) said that GAFCON is not a rival communion. Jensen said he had
been in touch with the Archbishop of Canterbury to assure him of his prayers
for Lambeth and for a successful outcome. In turn, the Archbishop has assured
him of his prayers for a successful outcome for this conference, as well.
"The Telegraph" simply got it wrong and worse, never retracted their
accusations and allegations.
The pre-GAFCON consultation leaders have called for a renewal of Anglicanism
and have disavowed accusations of schism. They reaffirmed the historic faith
saying it is the actions of North American liberals that have caused the rift
in the Communion. Archbishop Peter Jensen stated that the consecration of a
homosexual bishop in The Episcopal Church has made the situation "irreversible"
in the Anglican Communion.
"The Telegraph" writers' response to GAFCON reflects a deeply held
Western patriarchy and an overt racism towards Global South bishops and
archbishops. Most of them have been trained in the West and are bringing the gospel
to their people, a gospel that most British clergy are too ashamed and bullied
by post-modernity to publicly address.
Britain is sick morally and spiritually. It is in a vast state of
ecclesiastical decline, helped along by the xenophobia of newspapers like the
Telegraph, all of which is doing enormous damage to historic Christianity.
Secondly, both "The Guardian" writer Riazatt Butt and (sadly) Ruth
Gledhill of the "London Times" made stories out of one single
question on homosexuality at a press conference. The subject has not even been
talked about, much less discussed or debated, nor has it been part of any
private discussion or plenary session at the conference.
In her blog, Gledhill had a headline which screamed "The Banned" and
said that eight men and women, including Colorado Bishop Robert O'Neill,
Nigerian gay activist Davis MacIyalla, Rev Colin Coward, Louie Crew, Susan
Russell, Scott Gunn and Deborah and Robert Edmunds, have been denied entry to
GAFCON, should they try to show up.
This is grossly inaccurate. This conference, like nearly every conference ever
held, is by invitation only, unless you want to attend a Billy Graham crusade.
Would the LGBT pansexual Episcopal organization possibly invite an orthodox
journalist to listen in on their plans? Of course not.
O'Neill cannot get into this conference because he does not sign on to the
faith these 1200 Anglicans believe. He has a different gospel - a gospel
propounded by Mrs. Katharine Jefferts Schori, which has nothing to do with historic
Christianity. Why would he want to come? He would be embarrassed out of his
mind after the first plenary session and leave.
Bishop O'Neill is in Jerusalem to hold the hand of the Bishop of Jerusalem,
Suheil Dawani and to whisper in his ear about who pays his bills as well as to
serve as the "eyes and ears" of the US church's Presiding Bishop. He
has not elected to gate crash the conference and if he turned up he would be
politely told he was not on the list and should leave.
Jim Naughton, the PR flak for the Diocese of Washington, comments on
"Thinking Anglicans" that this Anglican meeting is banning entry of
the bishop's chaplain in the bishop's own diocese. Rubbish. I just checked and
he has not even appeared at the Renaissance Hotel where the conference is being
held.
"Should these or any other activists attempt to breach the security around
the conference at the Renaissance Hotel in west Jerusalem, the 1,100 delegates
have been instructed to start singing the hymn: 'All hail the power of Jesus'
name.' In reality though security is extremely tight. Ex-military men from
This is a gross overstatement. Security in
"Guardian" writer Riazat Butt in her blog said the GAFCON leaders
exhibit "an unheavenly silence on homophobia." She said clerics at
the GAFCON have been slow to condemn violence against gay people. "It's
incredible, and unchristian," she said.
That is not what this conference is about. Here is what happened. One whiny
LGBT reporter, a Mr. Iain Baxter, from the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement,
raised the issue of an isolated lesbian being attacked in
Because he did not get the answer Baxter wanted (or was trying to extract from
Orombi), Ms. Butt intervened and forced the issue by repeatedly asking where
the GAFCON leaders stood on violence towards gays.
At that point, Sydney Archbishop Peter Jensen jumped in and said Christians are
opposed to violence not only towards gays, but to any minority group. One would
have thought that this would have satisfied her. Apparently it did not.
She said there were "acute differences of opinion between the bishops,
especially, and most worryingly, on the subject of raping and torturing
homosexuals." That is simply not true. Jensen answered the question fully
and completely.
Homosexuality is illegal in
The questioning here had one objective, to embarrass the GAFCON leaders on a
subject they had not addressed at the conference and to write stories that
would make them look homophobic. This is dishonest journalism at its highest.
Even the "Independent" magazine noted that GAFCON was a pressing
reminder of the one issue that Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams would
like to ignore, but simply cannot: homosexuality and the Church. The
"Communion" is faced with a real likelihood of schism over the
Church's liberal stance on homosexuality, which tolerates gay clergy as long as
they are not practicing.
Perhaps, but schism is not on the agenda and this is not the central issue here
in
Even the BBC religious affairs correspondent focused on homosexuality, which he
said was the cause of the widening rift in the communion, especially the
ordination of a homosexual bishop. In fact, the conference has not addressed
this in any plenary session. When the "crisis" is talked about it in
the Communion, it is mainly in regard to the rejection of the authority of
Scripture, growing secularist attitudes towards sexuality in the North American
Church and the abandonment of the gospel and its embarrassing call to
repentance and amendment of life.
"They are also drawing up what amounts to a blueprint for an alternative
Anglican Communion," said the BBC. That too, is not true. There is no
blueprint. Jensen and his fellow primates have repeatedly called for the
renewing of the church and that they have no intention of leaving the Anglican
Communion, even though they disagree very deeply with Rowan Williams, the
Archbishop of Canterbury, on sexuality and other issues like Sharia Law being
introduced into British Common Law.
This focus, by these writers, is biased and plays into the hands of a
continuing and false homophobia aimed at orthodox Anglicans by a minority of
pansexualists who are demanding acceptance of their behavior.
These stories only discredit the gospel affirming stories that are pouring out
of here - of testimonies of changed lives, of Christian conversion, of the
enormous growth of the church in the Global South, the high education standards
and demands of African bishops and the call for faith and repentance, a call
that homosexuals have no intention of heeding and which might cause them to be
excluded from the very kingdom to which they yearn to belong.
END
READER'S COMMENT
Posted: 2008/6/24
Home away from home
Re:
So far, it's not as bad as I expected.
It's positive that the press have covered Gafcon at
all.
The emphasis on homosexuality seems mischievous, yet it
may end up doing more harm to the liberals than good - they always do best by
working quietly behind the scenes; they rely on the apathy of the great
majority of Christians. Whereas when this sort of thing is brought into the
public eye, pew-sitters start to wonder if there may be a serious
problem.
The important thing for us to do is pray that the Lord
blesses and guides the leaders at Gafcon,and that He confounds the devil's
plans, whatever they may be.
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1b.
http://timescolumns.typepad.com/gledhill/2008/06/gafcon-the-bann.html#more
Gafcon:
'The Banned'
The
eight men and women pictured here are on the official list of those to be
denied entry to Gafcon should they try to show up. 'Not allowed in' it says at
the top of the page, given to security officials at the conference. 'The Gafcon
8' as they have been christened, they are Colorado Bishop Robert O'Neill, Nigerian gay activist Davis MacIyalla being embraced by the Church
of England's Rev Colin Coward, Louie
Crew, Susan Russell, Scott Gunn and Deborah
and Robert Edmunds. Bishop O'Neill is staying with Jerusalem
primate, Bishop Suheil Dawani, who never wanted the conference here in the
first place. Father Edmunds is Bishop Suheil's new chaplain, meaning, as Jim Naughton comments on Thinking Anglicans,
that an Anglican meeting is banning entry of the bishop's chaplain in the
bishop's own diocese.
Should
these or any other activists attempt to breach the security around the
conference at the Renaissance Hotel in west Jerusalem the 1,100 delegates have
been instructed to start singing the hymn: 'All hail the power of Jesus' name.'
In reality though security is extremely tight. Ex-military men from Israel are
guarding all the doors, with two assigned purely to guard the Archbishop of
Nigeria, Dr Peter Akinola, for the entire week.
Update: A
Facebook group, I want to be banned by Gafcon too! has been
started by Episcopalians and Anglicans upset to have been left off the list of
the banned and within minutes it has acquired more than 50 members and is still
growing. As of Tuesday morning it has 229 members. There's a chance I'll be the
first one to be on my way to achieving its objective, as I've now been attacked by David Virtue for my
reporting on this issue.
The Episcopal Cafe has some interesting comment on all
this and more. I think it was this site that came up with Gafcon 8 name for the
group, but can't find precise reference. And Susan Russell has an interesting analysis on
her blog, asking Who Would Jesus Ban? Susan has accepted my friendship request
on Facebook, so in a strange kind of way, Gafcon is bringing certain people
together in unexpected ways. Funny how God works sometimes.
Technorati
Tags: Anglican
Communion, Church of England, Gafcon
POSTED BY RUTH GLEDHILL ON JUNE 23, 2008 AT 12:04 PM IN ANGLICAN COMMUNION, GAY DEBATE | PERMALINK
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1c.
MATT KENNEDY
Why, you might ask, do
revisionists spill so much ink over what they seek to portray as an
ineffectual, badly planned, narrow, schismatic conference that will have no
impact and mean nothing in the end. Why not simply ignore it and go about your
business? Fear. At least that is what it looks and smells like. Leftist
bloggers and columnists reacting to GAFCON are corporately doing their best
impression of a large quivering mass of fear. I am not sure what, exactly, they
are afraid of (they've largely won things after-all) but when all your opponent
can do is spew scorn, bitterness, and condescension, you know you've got them.
Tuesday, June 24
• 
70
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2.
|
Primate of West
Africa Addresses GAFCON Conference |
|
Archbishop Justice Akrofi, primate of the Anglican Church of
West Africa, began a series of daily scriptural expositions at the Global
Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) on Tuesday, June 24. "We turn to the Bible every day at GAFCON because we
wish to hear the word of God saying what God wishes to speak to us,"
said the Rev. David Short as he introduced the series. Archbishop Akrofi spoke on God's covenant with Abraham in
Genesis 12, saying that the covenant with those that trust in the Living God
should be a cause for confidence in the midst of the Anglican Communion's
present conflict. "Faithfulness and obedience to the will of God are
the needed ingredients in the final analysis, God's cause will prevail." However, like Abraham, Christians face temptation and
sometimes fail to meet the standards of their relationship with God,
Archbishop Akrofi said. "What is our motivation for the stance we take
in this crisis, faithfulness in God's Word alone or to make a name for
ourselves? Human motives are always mixed. Let our motives be
pure." Archbishop Akrofi encouraged GAFCON pilgrims to trust God with
the task of setting the future direction of the movement. "Let us dare
to move on and start the imagining of the end product, let us resist the
temptation to play God's secretaries." On Wednesday, Rev Short, rector of St John's, Shaughnessy
(the largest Anglican church in Canada), will do an exposition on the
Presence of God, based on Exodus 24 in the Bible. On Thursday, an exposition
from 2 Samuel 1-17, on The King of God, will be done by the Rev. Vaughan
Roberts (United Kingdom). Friday's exposition, on the Son of God, based on
Luke 24, will be done by Bishop Michael Fape of Nigeria. The expositions will
be crowned on Sunday with The Throne of God, from Revelation 21, to be done
by Archbishop Yong Ping Chung (South East Asia) |
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3.
http://www.gafcon.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=65&Itemid=29
|
Atwood - Anglicanism
faces many challenges |
|
Bishop Bill Atwood of Kenya emphasised in a press briefing
Tuesday that there are many chore issues that have been a point of
contention. Responding to a query from the international media about whether
it is conscionable that "one narrow point should tear the church,"
Atwood said: "The starkness of disagreement is not narrow. The
identity of Jesus, the place of salvation, scripture application, and how to
apply changes, are some of the issues which we have to look at to maintain
the Christian way." Bishop Bill Atwood is one of the leaders of the workshop on
Gospel and Culture at GAFCON. He said that in examining the essentials of the Gospel against
the expression of the Gospel, GAFCON is looking to discern the principles of
how to go forward, mindful to see that culture does not overwhelm the message
of the Gospel. "There could be new voluntary associations emerging, with
shared purpose and vision, which will look for new mechanisms of expression.
Previous associations do not have to be terminated, but the new ones would
have purpose and vision," he said in response to whether there would be
a break-away from the Anglican church. "It is not possible to tell how
things will turn out at the end of the week. We have a number of workshops in
which different people are making an input. We'll put it all together to help
show us the future." He pointed out that in the early years of the church, gospel
and culture were intertwined, while in the post-modern world, relativism was
taking over. The Rev. Cesar Guzman, of Chile, said that Theological
Education is the church's lifeline. Pointing out that a three-person
committee consisting of himself, a Chilean, a Kenyan, and a Briton were
working on Theological Education. "Training is emphasising the Gospel
(holy scripture) and Jesus as central," he said. David Short, rector of St. John's, Shaughnessy, the biggest
Anglican church in Canada, said that his church takes in young people with a
passion for God and trains them. "But seminary has limitations. How do the graduates
minister? This cannot be learned at seminary, but outside, so we deal with
character issues and theological mindset. What is key is that we also preach
the Gospel as received. The churches that teach the true Gospel can grow (in
numbers), but those that are losing numbers are the ones that are
compromising. We have no guarantee that teaching the Gospel would necessarily
grow the church, but we know that that is right." |
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4a.
http://www.gafcon.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=66&Itemid=29
|
Bishop Michael
Nazir-Ali on authentic Anglicanism |
|
Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, of the diocese of Rochester in the
United Kingdom, told Global Anglican Future Conference pilgrims Tuesday that
“the future of the Anglican Communion is to be found in its authentic nature,
not in recent innovations or explanations.” That nature, he said, is submitted to the authority of
scripture, confessing, and governed by councils with the ability and
authority to lead the church and teach the Christian faith. No church, said Bishop Nazir-Ali, can have any other basis of
authority than scripture. “The Bible is the norm by which we appreciate what
is authentically apostolic. That is the reason for the Bible being the
ultimate and final authority for us in our faith and our lives and this is
the reason why Anglicans have taken our study of the Bible so seriously.” Authentic Anglicanism is also a confessing church, said bishop
Nazir-Ali. From the very beginning, being Anglican has meant confessing the
faith that Christians have held always, everywhere and by all. “We have to be
clear that we are a confessing church. Some people have the mistaken idea
that Anglicans can believe anything, or that Anglicans can believe nothing. I
don’t know which one is more serious,” said Bishop Nazir-Ali. In a news conference that followed his lecture, Bishop
Nazir-Ali, who has been a student of Islam for 30 years, clarified his
comment related to the Christian’s right to witness to all, including to
Muslims. “Just as Muslims have a right to invite others to join Islam
[referred to as Da’wa], Christians have a right to invite others to Jesus,”
he said. He added that he supported Christians serving Muslims in such
practical ways as in schools and hospitals. Church councils with the authority to teach and to make
decisions are necessary for authentic Anglicanism. “We need to be a conciliar
church. In the last few years I have been frustrated by decision after
decision after decision that has not stuck. We cannot have this for a healthy
church,” said Bishop Nazir-Ali. In the past, the Anglican Communion’s instruments of unity
have been enough to maintain the communion’s identity. However, those days
are over. “In the crisis that is facing us at this time we have found them
not to be enough. Because in the end they were based on English good manners.
In our world we have found that English good manners are not enough.” Bishop Nazir-Ali also spoke of Anglicanism’s “translatability”
and the need for a increased emphasis on mission to those who have not yet
heard the Gospel. Sadly, just as the need for Christian witness is greatest,
there is a reluctance to speak about faith in Jesus, even among Christians.
“Let us pray we are able to recover the Christian nerve in the west and to
make sure the gospel is not lost,” said Bishop Nazir-Ali. Bishop Nazir-Ali completed his address with words of
encouragement for GAFCON pilgrims. “If you are anything gathered here
together, you are the beginnings, the miraculous beginnings, we may say, of
an ecclesial movement for the sake of the Gospel and for the sake of Christ’s
church.” When asked about his attendance at Lambeth in the news
conference, Bishop Nazir-Ali said that his not going to Lambeth later this
year is a matter of conscience for him. “My difficulty in attending has to do
with being in Eucharistic fellowship with and teaching the common faith
alongside those who have ordained a person to be bishop whose style is
contrary to the unanimous teaching of the Bible and of the Church down the
ages.” Though he added that if the impediment were removed, he would gladly
attend. |
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4b.
June 24, 2008
Nazir-Ali: there must be
development in terms of doctrine
The Bishop of Rochester, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali,
has just delivered a strong address to Gafcon where he managed to shift the
focus of the conference from defensiveness one of a positive and combative
engagement with 'militant secularism'. He was surprisingly moderate in talking
about how doctrine should develop in terms of the local culture. Gafcon, he
said, was a miracle. 'And if you are anything gathered here together, you are
the beginnings, the miraculous beginnings we can even say, of an ecclesial
movement for the sake of the Gospel and for the renewal of Christ's church.' He
did not speak from a text. Gafcon say the transcript will be available shortly
but meanwhile, here are some extracts from my own recording.
He said: 'The future of the Anglican Communion lies in its
authentic nature, not recently invented innovations and explanations but what
actually belongs to the Church as we have always known it.'
He spoke of the Church of the Household, as described in the
New Testament and the worldwide Church of God. But what did this have to do
with Anglicanism?
'At the Anglican Reformation, the Church was expressed in
two main ways,' he said. There was the Church which had the resonsibility for
everyone in the community. 'Then there was the idea of the national church. At
that time Western Europe was coming to a sense of people in nation states so it
was natural that the life of the Church should be expressed in that way, as a
national Church.'
The Church of the Household survived in the family. The
decline of the Church could be traced from the time that it ceased to be passed
on in the family. 'It is the parents. Don't blame anyone else.'
He said: 'The universal idea of the Church as being a
universal reality certainly suffered at the Reformation. We have to be frank
about this and admit it. But it survived I believe in three main ways. Firstly
in the appeal to Scripture, that is to say that every church to derive its
authenticity needs to appeal to Scripture as the final authority. Secondly it
survived in the universal appeal to antiquity, that the Church of England was
not doing anything new but was simply continuing with the ancient church of the
Fathers and the councils. Thirdly it survived in the hope of a general council
that might gather together to settle differences among Christians.'
He continued: 'We are faced in a changing situation
where people want to be church with people who are like them. We find this in
Africa with people wanting to be church in the context of their own tribes. We
find it in Asia and now we find it with the affinity model churches, the
network churches for instance, or the virtual churches in the North. That will
no doubt spread to the South as well.
'I used to be quite hostile to people wanting to be church
with others who were like them because it could encourage class-based churches,
it could encourage people from one religious background who want to become
Christian to stick with one another. But having looked at the church of the
household and the idea that it is possible for people who are like one another
to be church has led me to modify my views a little and I now feel it is
permissible for people to be church in this sort of way, networked in terms of
their leisure or their profession or where they live or whatever else you can
think of, their expertise in IT for instance.
'But there is one condition and that is that it is not the
only way of being church. If you want to be church with those who are like you,
you also have to be church with those who are unlike you. You have to maintain
that tension which is found in the New Testament.
'The emergence under God of the Anglican Communion as a
fellowship of churches has raised again for us, and now in a very sharp way,
the question of universality: how do we make the universal church an effective
fellowship of believers and of churches. Historically the various instruments
have developed to do this, the Lambeth Confernce, the office of the Archbishop
of Canterbury, the Primates' Meeting and the Anglican Consultative Council.
'But in the crisis that is facing us now big time we have
found these not to be enough because in the end they were based on English good
manners and we have found that in our world, English good manners are simply
not enough. So we have to find another way, while of cours respecting the need
for good manners.'
Secondly, he said, communication and culture. He referred to
the world's greatest expert on culture and the gospel, Professor Lamin Sanneh,
professor of mission and world Christianith at Yale and a Muslim convert, who
is at Gafcon. He praised his work in Bible translation, and discussed how
translation related to the nature of Christianity. 'The good news of Jesus
Christ is intrinsically translatable from one culture to another.' Even the
fact that the NT was first written in Greek and not in Aramaic or Hebrew is
itself a fact of translation. 'It was not for another hundred years or so that
the NT was translated back into Syriac or Aramaic.'
He continued: 'This is on contrast therefore compared with
another worldwide religion like Islam. Now Islam is also universal of
course.You find it in many different parts of the world. But wherever you go
and whatever the local manifestations there is a certain Arabicness about the
Koran, about the prayer, about the call to prayer, which cannot be translated.
But the Gospel can be and has been throughout the ages.
'Pope Benedict in his very important address at Regensberg
which of course drew attention because of what he had said about the
relationships between Christians and Muslims, also in this lecture he addressed
the question of the relationship between gospel and culture, perhaps the more
important aspect of the lecture. In this lecture, Pope Benedict tells us that
there was a providential encounter between the Gospel and Hellenistic culture
which provided the church with a vocabulary to engage with the Hellenistic
world. And he refers to the vision that St Paul received of people calling him
to Macedonia of the vocation to Europe therefore as one aspect of this
providential encounter.'
It was important to ask what lessons Anglicans could learn
from these encounters.
'When we consider the Anglican situation, the translation of
the Bible by William Tyndale into English is a landmark not only in the story
of the English church but of the English nation and of the English language. It
is impossible to think of a Shakespeare or a Donne without a Tyndale. And the
translation the rendering into the vernacular of the liturgy of the BCP of
worship in a language understood by the people is all part of this process of
translation. This is wealth that we cannot easily give up. Translatability
belongs to the very nature of Anglicanism. In the preface of the BCP and the
Articles of Religion, every church has a responsibility to render the good news
in terms of its culture.
'There is of course a downside to this and that is that it
is possible for the gospel to become so identified with a particular culture
and become captive to it. And Anglicanism has been exposed to this danger of
capitulation to culture from the very beginning. And wherever we are in
whatever culture we find ourselves we must be aware of this danger of captivity
and inculturation. The other thing to note is that while foundational documents
may speak of relating the gospel to culture, in fact we have often failed to do
so and so Anglican Christian churches have not been able to look African or
Asian or South American in the way that they should.'
That brought him to the question of constancy and change.
What is it, he asked, in this situation of flux that must remain constant?
'It is to my mind the passing on and the receiving and the
passing on again of the Apostolic teaching. That is how the church lives, that
is how the church derives its strength, that is how the church grows. Of course
in every culture, in every age, people notice things in that Apostolic teaching
which others have not noticed, or which we have forgotten or neglected and so
that aspect of the Apostolic teaching can be recovered... It is also true that
the Church is faced with new knowledge and how do we relate this unchanging
Apostolic teaching to new knowledge. We now know far more about the human
embryo than people did even 50 years ago or even 30 years ago. And so we must
have a healthy view of relating this Apostolic teaching to change. There must
be the possibility of development in terms of our doctrine.
'However, what I would want to say is that this development
has to be principled. As John Henry Newman pointed out in his thinking on this
issue, any development of this kind must have a conservative action on the
past. It must conserve the vigour of the gospel. It must represent continuity
of principle. It must provide a basis for change that is not simply laxity and
giving in. When any question arises as to whether something is an authentic
expression of the Apostolic teaching or not, then we have to test it against
the Bible. Because the Bible is the norm by which we appreciate what is
authentically apostolic. That is the reason for the Bible being the ultimate
the final authority for us in our faith and life and this is of course the
reason why Anglicans have taken the study of the Bible so very seriously. You
study something because you regard it as important, not because you regard it
as unimportant.
'In the study, again, there are a number of aspects to it.
The first is the study of what lies behind the text. Why was a particular text
put together? What were the purposes of those who were writing it? What were
the oral traditions that lay behind it? We are all used to studying the Bible
in that way. What is behind the text, what is in the text? A careful study of
the grammar of the literary value of the books of the Bible. And then of course
what is in front of the text, how we relate the Bible to our circumstances, our
culture, our context, our situation. This process of inculturation must go on
of course. But there are two important things to be said about it. First of all
there are limits to this process. It can't just take place anyhow.And the
limits have to do first of all with the nature of the Gospel itself. Whatever
the process of inculturation does or does not do, it cannot compromise how God
has revealed his purposes to us, how Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, what
he has done, who he is, all of that cannot be obscured by the process of
inculturation.
'Secondly the process should not in any way impair the
fellowship that there is between Christians so my inculturation where I am
cannot be impaired because you fail to recognise the authentic gospel in my
church, and vica versa. We can talk about inculturation in terms of rendering
the mind of Christ or the mind of Scriptures in terms of a particular culture
or people, to make something intelligible for people, inspiring for them, so
they can live their lives by it.
'And so we come to the question of how fellowship is
maintained, how it is enhanced and not impaired, and to the question of
communion and conflict. Unity is a very precious thing indeed. What a good and
joyful thing it is when brothers and sisters live together in unit. And we must
seek to maintain that unity and that peace which builds unity. And there must
be unity in diversity. We are not all the same, we are not all the same, we are
not all the same. We are all different.'
He told the story of Selby Taylor, the great Archbishop of
CapeTown, who was a single man and extremely shy. 'He was asked to address the
Mothers' Union. So when he got up to speak he wanted to put the Mothers' Union
at ease and also himself. He said, Ladies I would like you to know that
underneath this cassock, you and I are exactly the same.' But it is not like
that, is it. We are all different and this unity is a unity in diversity. But
it has to be, and this is something that is a matter for discussion, it has to
be legitimate diversity, not just any kind of diversity.'
After discussing catholic diversity, he asked how the local
church was to relate other local churches while remaining catholic. He referred
to Huntingdon, the 'principled' Episcopalian as he called him, who developed
the Lambeth Quadrilateral: 'that is to say there were at least four things that
were necessary for us to recognise the church in one another. The supreme
authority of the scriptures, the catholic creeds, the sacraments instituted by
Christ himself and the historic ministry of the church. And that quadrilateral
has been hugely important in Anglican discussion with other Christians.'
Apart from being significant ecumenically, it was also good
shorthand for Anglican identity. 'But again the quadrilateral has not proved
enough in our circumstances... so what else do we need to do to make sure we
continue to live in communion and do not perpetuate conflict that is
unnecessary in the Church. I believe there are some things that do need
attention. The first is that we have to be clear that we are a confessing
church. Some people have the mistaken idea that Anglicans can believe anything.
Or sometimes even that Anglicans believe nothing. I don't know which is more
serious. We have to be clear that we are a confessing church articulating the
gospel in terms of our own tradition.
'Secondly to be a confessing church effectively we need to
be a conciliar church. We need to have councils at every level including the
worldwide that are authoritative, that can make decisions that stick. In the
last few years I've been frustrated by decision after decision after decision
that has not stuck. And we cannot have this for the future for a healthy
church.' This prompted applause from the delegates.
Thirdly, the councils needed to be consistorial, and
exercise the authority of a teaching office. The faith 'has to be articulated
clearly for the sake of people's spiritual health and for the sake of mission.'
He noted that successive Lambeth conferences have said the
Anglican Communion is willing to disappear in the cause of greater unity. 'We
should affirm that. If it is necessary for the Anglican Communion to die so the
gospel can live, well so be it.'
Finally, he talked about mission and the 'great commission'.
'A journalist rang me up the other day. He said, Bishop, do you believe in
witnessing to people of other faiths. I said yes of course I do. He said, does
that include Muslims. I said of course it does. The headline the next day was,
Bishop wants to convert Muslims. Well fair enough, that's not the only thing I
want to do with Muslims, I have an obligation.' (Afterwards he clarified in a
press conference that here he was referring merely to interfaith dialogue and
the like.)
'I have an obligation to witness to all that God has done in
Jesus Christ for me, for you, for the world, even for Muslims. Praise the Lord.
And I am not apologetic about it. But the great commission has to be carried
out to the world in every context and perhaps the greatest challenge that we
have is of a militant secularism which is creating a double jeopardy for
western cultures, that the West is losing the Christian discourse at the very
time when it needs it most. Well let us pray that we are able to recover the
Christian nerve in the West and to make sure that the Gospel is not lost so
that all that is of value of positive value in western culture, which largely
depends on its Judeo Christian heritage, that that will serve as a way of
enhancing and as a way of prospering cultures in the West to renewing them once
again.'
He finally, at the end, got to the point of his address, and
really the whole point of Gafcon.
'But this commission has to take place within movements of
renewal. What we need to beware of is over-institutionalising the Church.
Because it is that which has led to the present crisis. People who are in love
with the institutions and structures of the Church rather than the Lord
himself. [murmurs of 'yes' from the delegates.] There have been great moments
in Christian history when there have been movements of renewal. The monastic movement,
when the Church had become lax and corrupt and rich, the monks went out into
the deserts of Egypt and of Syria and Mesopotamia to purify and renew the
Church. And what a great renewal that was. Pope Benedict said at Regensberg
that important things in Christian history had happened in Europe except, he
said, for some important developments in the East. Well one of those was
monasticism, which Athanasius when he came to exile in the West brought with
him.'
He also spoke of the great missionary societies, including
the Church Missionary Society, of which he was once General Secretary.
Administrative incompetence then from Lambeth did not prevent the great work.
'Today also we seek such movements of renewal for the sake of mission. And if
you are anything gathered here together, you are the beginnings, the miraculous
beginnings we can even say, of an ecclesial movement for the sake of the Gospel
and for the renewal of Christ's church. That is my prayer for you. I think that
should be your prayer for yourself.'
Technorati
Tags: Anglican
Communion, Bishop
of Rochester, Gafcon
POSTED BY RUTH GLEDHILL ON JUNE 24, 2008 AT
07:31 PM IN ANGLICAN COMMUNION, ISLAM, SECULARISM | PERMALINK
OOOOO
4c.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article4204203.ece
From Times
Online
June 24, 2008
Anglican Church schism recedes over gay issue with African
leaders
Ruth Gledhill,
Religion Correspondent in Jerusalem
The Church of England's leading conservative bishop told
Anglicans meeting in Jerusalem tonight that the greatest challenge facing the
Church is not homosexuality but "militant secularism".
The Bishop
of Rochester, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, warned that the West was losing its
religion at the very time it needed it most.
Issuing a
rallying cry for the West to recover its "Christian nerve", Dr
Nazir-Ali challenged the conservative wing of worldwide Anglicanism to rise to
the challenge of bringing a renewal of Christianity to modern society.
Making no apology for having stated
in the past that he wanted to convert Muslims, he joked: "That's not all I
want to do with Muslims." The Pakistani-born bishop was speaking to
1,100 bishops, clergy and laity at the Global Anglican Future Conference in Jerusalem,
set up to discuss how to move forward in the wake of the wider Anglican
church's progressive attitudes on Scripture, and in particular homosexuality.
Many of
the 300 Anglican bishops in Jerusalem, including the diocese of Sydney and the
province of Nigeria, are boycotting next month's Lambeth Conference in protest
at the liberal agenda.
But the
prospect of schism has receded as African leaders at the meeting stepped back
from the brink and declared they are not seeking to start a new church.
Dr Nazir-Ali
said he did not wish to apologise for his proselytising agenda, even where
Muslims were the target. "I have an obligation to witness to all that God
has done," he said.
He
continued: "Perhaps the greatest challenge we have is that of a militant
secularism which is creating a double jeopardy for western cultures. The West
is losing a Christian discourse at the very time it needs it most. Let us pray
we are able to recover our Christian nerve in the West and to make sure the
Gospel is not lost."
Earlier,
Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi, primate of Kenya and leader of that country's four
million Anglicans, and the Ugandan primate Archbishop Henry Orombi confirmed
there will be no split.
Archbishop
Nzimbi's comments are especially significant because he is heading the
committee that will draw up the final communique to be issued on Sunday night.
It also confirms that, as disclosed by The Times on Monday, the agenda is now
reform from within rather than starting a breakaway conservative Anglican
church.
The emerging
figure that is crucial in the softening of the line on schism is the Archbishop
of Sydney, Dr Peter Jensen, who has become the key player on the Anglican
conservative wing, shifting the emphasis from the US and African conservatives
to Australia.
In a
recent interview in the Sydney Morning Herald, Dr Jensen said it would be
legally impossible to engineer schism. The Episcopal Church of the US has
already launched a number of legal actions against breakaway parishes and
bishops. Dr Jensen said: "I'm part of a constitution, which is virtually
unchangeable,
of the Australian church. I wouldn't want to. I love the church. It would be
bad for Christianity, bad for the gospel." He continued: "I think
there is going to be an evolution in the Anglican Communion. It has occurred.
And what the Future Conference is going to work out is how to live best within
that evolution. That's its business."
Archbishop
Orombi said: "What we are meeting for here is not to plan to walk away. We
are meeting to renew our commitment, to renew our faith, to get a sense of
direction of what we can be as Anglicans. We do not want to start a new
Church."
The recent statements by Jensen,
Orombi and Nzimbi are very encouraging. This is a time for continuing dialogue
and community building for the furtherance of the Gospel of Jesus.
Nazir-Ali's observations about the need for strong Christian discourse in the
face of militant secularism are right on.
Rev. Steve Bailey,
Coquitlam, BC, Canada
"Significantly, the Pittsburgh
Bishop Bob Duncan, who heads the US conservative grouping Common Cause, is not
in Israel although he is named as one of the Global Anglican Future Conference
(Gafcon) leadership team in the programme."
He gave one of the opening speeches - has he left the conference?
Ann, Lander, United
States
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
5.
JERUSALEM: GAFCON
Leaders Take Tentative Steps Forward to a New Future
Posted by David Virtue on 2008/6/24 11:10:00 (977
reads)
JERUSALEM:
GAFCON Leaders Take Tentative Steps Forward to a New Future
By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
6/24/2008
Leaders at the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) are spending their
days in private closed sessions, trying to discern the principles by which they
can navigate into the future.
Bishop Bill Atwood, a US-based Kenyan bishop, told a press conference that
agreed upon principles will lead to a new awareness of voluntary association
which will, in turn, lead to a shared purpose and vision, and ultimately to
shared structural mechanisms.
He stopped short of declaring a new Anglican entity or that GAFCON would be a
rival or alternative Anglican Communion. "Structural life proceeds out of
the realities of relationships. There is no constitution in the wings that
people can line up...it has to grow out of relationships," he said.
"Our authority is to the Holy Scriptures and the historic way in which the
church has received and interpreted scripture."
Asked when there would be a "concrete structure", Atwood said there
was no timeline.
"The commitments we have to each other are to a high level of commitment.
We need to discern who is collaborating with us, and who is not. A 'high level
of commitment' means to have an expressed commitment among provinces and how
they pursue mission and honor each other. If someone wants to introduce change,
that would be unacceptable, he said.
Questioned on the Anglican Covenant being drawn up by the Anglican Communion
that is still being talked about, Atwood said we must discern the principles by
which we navigate. "We will not accept the lowest common denominator which
everyone can agree upon to sign off on."
"We must navigate by what these things are that gather us together. We do
not want to engage with those who can trip us and hurt ourselves."
Atwood said he was concerned about the prosperity gospel being pushed in Africa
and said it showed a superficiality of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus
Christ.
Asked if GAFCON was the loyal orthodox opposition in the Anglican Communion,
Atwood said that GAFCON really was the Anglican majority and not a tiny remnant
trying to recover the castle. "It is many faithful people and the reality
is that the vast majority Anglicans around the world would agree with that. If
they disagreed they would be the loyal opposition.
"When we live out of what is real power, we must speak the truth in
love." Atwood said the starkness of disagreement is not narrow. "In
the world of ideas, you can find vigorous examples of many Anglican leaders who
disagree with various lines in the creeds. There is not one single issue. It is
about Anglican identity. There are many core issues."
The Rev. Dr. Cesar Guzman, an Anglican theologian from Chile, said that new
emerging theological institutions must have the gospel at the center and be
prepared to spread the gospel.
"We do not want theological institutions that are self-serving. We want
theological institutions to go out and spread the gospel. Many First World
theological institutions have gone out the window. At its heart, theological
education is the gospel, the uniqueness of Jesus Christ and the right order of
relationships.
"We must ask what is a truly Christian way for Anglicans and we want
theology to explain that it must be truly Christian. It will take the shape of
Anglicanism and then it must be according to local culture. But it must be
gospel driven with Jesus Christ and Holy Scripture at the center."
The Rev. David Short, rector of the largest Anglican Church in Canada, said the
church has moved away from the message of the gospel and as a result its
numbers have dramatically decreased and ordinands to the ministry have also
decreased. "The Church has lost 18,000 congregants and seen a 28% decrease
in ministers. The Anglican Church desperately needs ministers formed by the
gospel who can be used by God to bring godly, biblical reformation and renewal
to churches. Those churches that are growing in Canada are those which preach
the gospel and those that receive gospel innovations are closing and
dying."
END
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
6.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NzZmYTFjY2JhOWY1ZTA4MTllZWE5OTExNWI5Yzg1ZmI=
June 24,
2008 4:00 AM
Remaking Anglicanism
In Jerusalem, conservatives
stage an ecclesiastical coup.
By Travis Kavulla
|
Jerusalem — The future of the Anglican
Communion, the third largest Christian church in the world, has been in
serious doubt since the 2003 election of Gene Robinson, an openly gay cleric,
to be bishop of New Hampshire. |
|
Immediately
in advance of the gathering, conservative church leaders issued a pamphlet
entitled “The Way, the Truth, and the Life.” In it, they assert that on
issues of sexuality the collective decisions by primates, as the leaders of
the 38 Anglican provinces are known, have been “ignored” and conservatives
“derided” and “demonized” by the U.S. Episcopal Church. “There is no longer
any hope, therefore, for a unified communion,” the document proclaims. |
|
|
READERS COMMENT
|
Posted: 2008/6/24
13:46 Updated: 2008/6/24 13:46 |
|
|
Just popping in |
|
|
Re: Remaking Anglicanism
In Jerusalem, conservatives stag... The Holy Bible is the Living
Word of God. This belief is present in both the liberal/revisionist (lr) and
conservative/orthodox (co) groups of Anglicans, however with very different
interpretations. For the lr it means that as times, people and societies change,
than so to may our interpretation of Scripture. For the co it means that the
Holy Bible is meant to be relevant to all people of all times and all places,
as part of our daily lives. Herein lays the great divide between lr and co
groups. The lr is putting people ahead of Scripture and saying that God
should change to better suit us. The co is putting Scripture ahead of people
and saying that people should change to better suit God. The homosexual questions are
merely the symptom of this discord. The understanding of the differences in
the approach taken by the two groups serves very well to better comprehend
why there is such a rift that the Communion is on the verge of schism. The lr claim that they are
inclusive by accepting people as they are, whether they be homosexual seeking
to be married, women seeking to be priests, divorcees seeking to be
re-married, etc. The lr go on to accuse the co of being non-inclusive (and
sometimes even intolerant) because the co continue to identify these things
as being against the Will of God (which is the very definition of sin). The co claim to be open to all
people as they follow the example of Jesus Christ who did not refuse anyone
who was willing to give up their sinful ways. The challenge facing the co is
that it is very difficult to tell a sinner that they are sinning (just as it
is difficult to tell an alcoholic that they have a drinking problem) without
coming across as being judgmental and critical. What makes this challenge
even more difficult is the co people must acknowledge their own sins. So how
does anyone do this without appearing to be a hypocrite? Ironically, hypocrisy is the
fatal flaw for the lr group. For just as they claim to be Christians, they
paint themselves into a corner. Christians, by definition proclaim Jesus
Christ to be the Divine Son of God (as part of the Holy Trinity of Father Son
and Holy Ghost) and thus is God. In Matthew 19:4-6, Jesus states that because
God made them male and female, a man shall be united to his wife and the two
shall become one. This clearly indicates, straight from Jesus Christ (and
therefore straight from God) that marriage is a Holy Union of one man and one
woman. How can anyone, be they lr or co, claim to be Christian and at the
same time ignore this passage? This is just one example of the hypocrisy that
the lr are afflicted with, and it is this hypocrisy that will be the ultimate
demise of the lr group. For as a person grows and becomes more knowledgeable
in the Faith, the person sees the inconsistency of the lr approach, and
becomes disenfranchised. In this way the lr group wanes and declines. Alternatively, this same person
matures in the Faith and in an adult like manner gains the ability to accept
their own shortcomings. The inherent consistency of the co group serves as a
supportive foundation upon which to further their own spiritual strength. In
this way the co group flourishes and increases. Evidence of this is in the fact
that the lr parts of the Anglican Communion are in rapid decline, while at
the same time the co parts are in rapid growth. Whether the two groups remain
together, or separate, the eventual outcome will be the same. Although the lr
group currently has the historical places of power, and the greatest amount
of earthly wealth, its influence within the Anglican Communion is already
diminishing, and it has already begun to sell off its capital assets in order
to finance its current operating expenditures. The co group is already
realizing its increasing importance and has established a more permanent
source of resources (that go far beyond money, buildings and land).
Eventually the lr group will shrink to the point of no longer being relevant,
while the co group will grow to the point of being in complete control. |
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
7a.
http://gafconphotoblog.blogspot.com/2008/06/bishops-gathered-in-garden-of.html
TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 2008
One of the things that has been inspiring about the Conference
is the presence of so many bishops who are not invited to Lambeth. For
instance, Bishop Ray Sutton (REC) and Bishop Paul Hewett (Diocese of the Holy
Cross) pictured here with many bishops from Africa in the Garden of Gethsemane.
It is clear that GAFCON does not represent "institutional
Anglicanism." It represents a global movement among Anglicans. That's what
is most exciting.
OOOOO
7b.
Seven TEC Diocesan Bishops at GAFCON (eight if you include Jordan)
and wise words from Fr. Martins
Tuesday, June 24, 2008 • 2:51 pm
GAFCON Diocesan Bishops in the Episcopal Church
Adams
Ackerman
Beckwith
Iker
Lawrence
Love
MacPherson
(Bishop Duncan was in Jordan but was unable to be in Jerusalem)
Primates:
Nigeria
Uganda
Kenya
Central Africa
Southern Cone
Rwanda
Those who would suggest that six out of thirty eight is
insignificant, let these words from Fr. Dan Martins burn in:
OOOOO
7c.
Making
Do With GAFCON By Father Dan Martins
The Global Anglican Future Conference is underway in Jerusalem.
There is already so much being written about it that I hesitate to add my own
drop to the bucket. It is already a controversial event, not for what it has
actually done--there hasn't been time for it to actually do anything
yet--but for what it is widely perceived, accurately or inaccurately, to
represent--namely, the first stage in the formal schism of Anglicanism,
resulting in a non-Canterburian Anglican-like ecclesial entity that will include
the vast majority of those Christians who presently call themselves Anglicans.
That is a scary proposition.
The leftist Episcopalian establishment is spinning, and
dismissing, the event as a gathering of a bunch of cranky and power-drunk
misogynist homophobes. Their media outlets and client bloggers waste no
opportunity to highlight any dissension within conservative ranks, and are
constantly announcing the imminent final collapse of the Rebel Alliance.
Other Anglican conservatives, along with some moderate friends,
have also been critical of GAFCON--again, not for what it has actually done,
but because it has seemed to be a strategically inept move from the moment of
conception, and weaned on a diet deficient in patient charity. I number myself
in this company of critics. I wish GAFCON weren't happening, and that they were
all going to Lambeth to raise hell. As an Anglo-Catholic, I am more than a
little squeamish about their emphasis on the 39 Articles and the 1662 Prayer
Book. GAFCON seems pretty much by and for Evangelicals. Not that there's
anything wrong with that; Anglo- Catholics are used to be merely tolerated.
It's just that we don't particularly relish the prospect.
So ... guess what? I don't always get what I want! GAFCON is happening.
The question then becomes, How can those of us who are not its fans make the
best of undeniable reality? How can we "make do" with GAFCON?
First, we can stop demonizing. We're not talking about a cabal of
crooks and liars here. It's neither the Mafia nor the AFL-CIO nor Chicago City
Hall, and still less the government of Zimbabwe. The participants of GAFCON are
entitled to a presumption of good faith. They deserve to be taken at their word
with respect to their motives and intentions. They are not bad people.
Second, we can listen to them. We can listen carefully. We can
avoid attributing to them what they were merely expected to say or do, or what
they were rumored to say or do, or what others have predicted they would say or
do. Instead, we can respond to them on the basis of what they actually say and
do. We can do so in a generous manner, one that gives them the benefit of the
doubt, and presumes honest intentions. That doesn't mean we will agree with the
course they take. I probably will not. But we can behave ourselves in the
process.
Third, we can avoid trivializing GAFCON. It is of immense
significance. Even if only a handful of the 38 Anglican provinces are
represented there, the fact that the handful includes Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya,
and Rwanda means that we're talking about the pastoral and synodical leadership
of easily more than half of the world's Anglicans. Easily. This is not a blip.
It's not a hiccup. It's an earthquake.
Fourth, whether we approve of GAFCON or not, we can be honest
about our complicity in the chain of events that led to it. If a rival
Anglican-like communion comes into being--a tragedy of unspeakable proportions,
I would say--no one who presently identifies as an Anglican will be innocent of
the sin of schism. The Global South and their northern allies may be the ones
who pull the trigger, but the Episcopal Church cocked the gun in General
Convention 2003 and removed the safety with the House of Bishops' and Executive
Council's response to the February 2007 Primates Communique. There's plenty of
blame to go around.
Finally, we can pray hopefully. The leaders of GAFCON see it as a
sign of God's providential provision and the sovereign freedom of the Holy
Spirit to reform and renew the Church. I and others see it as a sign of
failure, and perhaps prideful arrogance. We are all probably right in some ways
and wrong in more. Every time it looks to me like the answer has got to be
either A or B, it turns out to be Q. I am willing to be pleasantly surprised by
GAFCON. I am even more willing to be pleasantly surprised by God. We serve a
God who redeems. Starting with our mistakes.
POSTED BY DAN MARTINS AT 11:36 PM 
ABOUT ME
DAN MARTINS
WARSAW, INDIANA, UNITED STATES
Daniel Hayden Martins, aka Dan (to my friends), Father Dan (to my
parishioners), Danny Boy (to some of my Brazilian relatives), Big Guy (to my
kids and their friends), and probably some other aliases I'm not aware of. I'm
an Anglican priest, a Baby Boomer who was born in Brazil, raised in the Chicago
suburbs (at the end of a runway at O'Hare), and has lived in southern
California, Oregon, Wisconsin, and Louisiana. Married 36 years to Brenda,
father of three fabulous grown children, and now (since August 2007) rector of
St Anne's Episcopal Church, after serving St John's in Stockton, CA for
thirteen years.
COMMENTS:
http://www.standfirminfaith.com/index.php/site/article/13665/
robroy said...
Father Dan
certainly has a clue! His call to quit demonizing should be heeded by all the
orthodox. "More than half" versus "three fourths".
Whatever.
The leaders of GAFCon are being gracious with those who disagree with them
(Akinola, when asked whether Rowan Williams was an apostate, stated "No,
he is a brother but that I disagree with some of the decisions he has
made.")
Like it or not, there is a real possibility that emerging GAFCon Communion
within the current Anglican Federation is the future. I would like
Anglo-catholic voice to be heard in these forums and I believe that the
organizers would be gracious and listen respectfully. Public resignations like
Ephraim+'s from the ACN or +Mouneer Anis' from GAFCon don't further the
anglo-catholic cause.
Posted by LBStringer on 06-24-2008 at 03:21 PM
For those
who like numbers, here are some of the best estimates (from 2004) on
memebership of these provinces, from here:
Kenya
3,500,000
Nigeria 17,500,000
Rwanda 1,000,000
Southern Cone 22,490
Uganda 8,000,000
West Africa 1,000,000
i.e. 31
million members and change, about 15 times the size of TEC.
Posted by Karen B. on 06-24-2008 at 03:30 PM
But see, this is why the progressives work so hard to keep
referring to the Archbishops or their provinces instead of their members -
because the contrast would be obvious - a small handful of people here are
trying to dictate to millions elsewhere. Which is why they keep trying to
inflate their numbers in TEC, why they keep diocese propped up, why they delay
closing down marginalized parishes. Anything to prevent someone seeing and
calling them on the obvious. A small well-monied minority is trying to ram
their politics and their issues down the throats of the majority. Kind of like
my son when he was very young dragging on my arm to take him to what he
desired, constantly begging, nagging and trying to find any reason at all for
me to acquiese to his demands.
Posted by masternav on 06-24-2008 at 04:03 PM
Turning
from the primates attending GAFCon to the TEC sitting bishops, I think it’s
interesting that many of these 7 diocesans are clearly from the catholic
wing. That is, +Iker, +Ackerman, +Beckwith, and +Love are emphatically
Anglo-Catholic (leaving aside the issue of their stance on WO), perhaps
+MacPherson and +Adams somewhat less so. Of the GAFCon attenders, only
+Lawrence of SC is emphatically low church.
I bring
this up as an encouragement to the more catholic readers of SF who might be
worried that GAFCon represents an overwhelmingly evangelical type of Anglicanism.
The 25 leaders on the Theological Resource Team that put together the long
resource paper for this event, “The Way, the Truth, and the Life,” may be
overwhelmingly from the evangelical wing (or should I say the evangelical
CENTER?), but I don’t perceive their document as anti-catholic.
I think
this kind of cooperation bodes well for our future. The Lord is drawing
all orthodox Anglicans together. The ACN and CCP vision of a “biblical,
missionary, UNITED Anglicanism” is increasingly taking on more and more
substance. May this happy trend continue!
.............
David
Handy+
OOOOO
7d.
http://www.churchsociety.org/issues_new/communion/iss_communion_howbig.asp
|
How
big is the Anglican Communion? Various figures are
quoted for the size of the Anglican Communion. These vary from the 70 million
in the literature produced by the Anglican Communion Office to the 78 million
stated by Archbishop Eames at the press conference to launch the Windsor
Report. The Church of England
yearbook 2004 gives a figure of 77 million. However, this includes 26 million
members of the Church of England which the estimate for the number of
baptised Anglicans. One might do a similar
analysis for ECUSA where a figure of 2.4 million is given but actual week by
week attendance perhaps a third of this even before the recent divisions. Taking
account of the inflated figure for England the more realistic figure for the
Communion is at most 54 million. What is astonishing is that over 41.5
million of these are members of the African provinces. It appears therefore
that three-quarters of active Anglicans live in Africa. When the Lambeth
gathering of Anglican Bishops took place in 1998 they passed resolution 1.10
on human sexuality. Of those voting over 85% voted for the resolution. When
abstentions are taken into account this represented not much more than
two-thirds of the Bishops who supported the motion. This has been taken by
some to suggest that the Communion is fairly divided on the issue. But these
figures need to be put into context. There were around 750
Bishops eligible to attend Lambeth 1998. Something over 300 (over 40%) of
these Bishops were from the British Isles, the USA and Canada which between
them account for at best 10% of the active membership of the Communion. In
contrast there were only about 225 African Bishops. Put another way, if the
Africans had sent proportionately as many Bishops to Lambeth 1998 as the
Americans there would have been well over 2,000 African Bishops present. Further
information and articles about the Anglican Communion |
|
Membership figures Sources : Church of
England Yearbook 2004
|
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
8.
JERUSALEM:Evangelical
Sociologist Says Christianity Must Engage with Secular Age
Posted by David Virtue on 2008/6/24 9:10:00 (577 reads)
JERUSALEM:
Evangelical Sociologist Says Christianity Must Engage Seriously with Secular
Age
The Episcopal Church has gone from sola scriptura to sola cultura
By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
6/23/2008
World renowned evangelical scholar and author of 25 books, says evangelical
Christians must engage secularity with integrity, credibility and civility and
blasted The American Episcopal Church saying its leaders have denied the
fundamentals of the faith, making them worse than the Borgias, who, at their
moral worst, did not deny the faith.
"We are seeing an assault of the deepest and saddest kind coming from
within the Church today. Soren Kierkegaard called them 'kissing Judases'",
said Dr. Os Guinness while addressing 1,200 pilgrims who are in Jerusalem to
reaffirm the historic faith.
Guinness, America's leading evangelical sociologist, said there is a need to
stand firm in faith in this secular age, as we see the advance of the modern
global era, and cited eight challenges for Christians.
"We need to face up to the grand cultural challenges of our age. The
essence of the modern world is choice and change. There are many watersheds.
Some are claimed every five minutes. It is not all hype. Globalization touches
all human beings; there has been a huge shift from the Industrial Age to the
Information Age. Globalization is about speed and the scale and scope of our
modern communications. We live in a world that is accelerating at the speed of
life and faith is profoundly affected by it. In Christ, we dare not turn
away."
Guinness said the second great issue is transformation. "We are shifting
from single to multiple modernities. "We live in a polycentric
world." Guinness said another aspect of transformation is the rise of the
Global South (GAFCON), yet another example of the grand transformation taking
place in our generation."
Guinness said we need to be prepared for wars of the spirit. "Nietzsche
saw it. He said there would be wars of the spirit. He saw the myth of
secularization. Religion is as furiously alive as ever."
Guinness said the Public Square is torn by strife with religious extremism on
the one hand and exclusive secularism on the other, with each demonizing the
other. "There is the same warring spirit from both revisionists and
extreme fundamentalists. The secularized world says the unseen world is unreal.
It is not true." Guinness cited conservative sociologist Peter Berger who
said, "we live in a world without windows."
"We must never underestimate the profound anti-Christian assumptions of
secularity which is relegating religion to the world of the private. Public
life is portrayed as a neutral arena of self- interest and proceduralism. Faith
is being squeezed to the sidelines."
Guinness said secularization is a process. "We must stand against the
lethal distortions of religion in the modern world. Modernity is a one- word
summary of this extraordinary world thrown up by the industrial revolution.
Modernity has brought us many blessings with privileges of health and more, but
Modernity makes discipleship harder. Modern people are conversion prone.
Evangelism is easy but discipleship is hard."
The sociologist added that the integration of faith is the challenge to the
fragmentation of faith. "People are living fragmented lives. They don't
live that way from day to day. We have shifted from authority to preference.
What people believe and how they behave is now two different things."
Guinness cited U.S. Roman Catholic politicians who said they are personally
opposed to abortion, but vote for it because of women's rights and pressure from
society.
Blasting evangelicals, Guinness said that never has behavior on the ground
become so permissive. "There is no difference between Christians and
non-Christians in the statistics we are seeing."
"We have moved from exclusives about absolutes to syncretism. There is a
cafeteria of faiths in the marketplace, along with the spirit of
consumerism."
Guinness said we must recognize the oddities of communication in the age of
communication. "We have greater inattention. Never have our technologies
been cheaper and more democratically widespread. Everybody is speaking. No one
is listening. Western culture is suffering from attention deficit disorder.
Modern technologies won't cut it. The modern world suffers from an inflation of
ideas. Sources with less and less are becoming invaluable." Guinness
condemned ghost writing.
"Another oddity is inertia. Modern technologies need, now more than ever,
the Word and power of the Holy Spirit. We must make sure our people have the
needed tools for faithful teaching and living."
Guinness said that as a result of post modernism, Christians have become
uncritical. He cited an African proverb that says, "All westerners have
watches, but westerners do not have time."
Consumerism is having a tremendous impact on us all. "We need to take our
stance in the modern world with care. The pressures of the modern is forcing us
into extremes. We are in the world but not if it. Every religion has a form of
fundamentalism. It has become a modern reaction to the modern world. Jesus told
us to love our enemies. Fundamentalism demonizes our enemies. Many evangelicals
are compromising with the world. The tendency is to be in the world and of the
world and surrender to it.
"The Episcopal Church has surrendered to the spirit of the age. It has
lost its authority. It has gone from sola scriptura to sola cultura. When you
lose continuity with the past, you lose your brothers and sisters. We should be
the last to lose our Christian identity as those who are called to follow
Christ. Such persons are 'kissing Judases.'"
Guinness said the Global South should not be complacent. "The last to be
infected by modernity are those furthest behind. You are better off, but only
if you use the time lag to make your people prepared. Modernity will be everywhere,
it will adapt in its own way. You will be there before you know it. Africa and
Asia will both have their own brands of modernity."
A panel of speakers said there is an urgent need to re-evangelize the West,
which many fear faces extinction. "The Anglican position has the best way
to re-evangelize it," said one Nigerian Archbishop.
END
READER'S
COMMENT
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Posted: 2008/6/24 18:56 Updated: 2008/6/24 18:56 |
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Home away from home |
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Re: JERUSALEM:Evangelical
Sociologist Says Christianity M... I think there was no need to
blast fundamentalism, but on the other hand, let's give credit where it's due
with regard to Os Guinness. He has a keenly rational mind that is capable of
cutting to the core of the secularist heresy and expose its weaknesses. We
have to be open-minded to the point where we understand the various shades of
secularism, so that we can understand when we're sinking into it ourselves,
especially in the form of what Guinness in this piece calls
"fragmentation." If our lives keep fragmenting to the point where
the Kingdom only prevails over certain parts of it, we will lose the battle
against aggressive secularism. |
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CANADA
9.
It's not about the sex, Anglican bishop tells flock
Doug Ward , Canwest News Service
Published: Monday,
June 23, 2008
VANCOUVER - The leader
of the Anglican Church of Canada has come to Vancouver to tell his divided
flock to get their minds off sex - especially as practised by gays and
lesbians.
It's Not All About Sex
is the title of the speech Primate Fred Hiltz will give Tuesday night at Christ
Church Cathedral in downtown Vancouver.
"We laughed when
we came up with that title, but it's true," Hiltz said Monday. "The
church is about much more than sex, here and elsewhere. But some Anglicans are
obsessed about sex."
Anglican Primate Fred Hiltz says its
unfortunate some Christians are "preoccupied" with sexual acts
between homosexuals.
Nathan Denette/National Post
Elected
last year as Canada's senior Anglican, Hiltz was referring to his
denomination's decade-long battle over the blessing of same-sex relationships,
an issue that threatens to rupture the church in Canada and around the world.
Even though the United
Church of Canada has been blessing homosexual relationships since 1990, the
rites have caused a furor among the 70 million-member worldwide Anglican
communion, which includes African and Asian leaders who are vociferously
opposed.
Since Vancouver-area
Bishop Michael Ingham formally sanctioned same-sex rites in 2002 and an openly
gay Anglican bishop was elected in the U.S., Hiltz is disturbed some
conservative Anglicans are threatening to break up the global communion over
homosexuality.
The subject will be
front and centre when the world's Anglican bishops meet this July in England
for the once-a-decade Lambeth Conference. Some Anglican primates in the Third
World, where the church is growing rapidly, have warned they will not attend.
Since the start of the
year, 10 parishes have voted to leave the Anglican Church of Canada over
same-sex blessings.
In an interview Hiltz,
54, wore a dark jacket over his purple clerical shirt, with no clerical collar.
He acknowledged that the sexuality debate is "here to stay" because
humans are "sexual beings."
But it's unfortunate,
Hiltz said, some Christians are "preoccupied" with sexual acts
between homosexuals - and "falsely equate homosexuality with
promiscuity."
The small number of Canadian
Anglican congregations that provide same-sex blessings, he emphasized, offer
them only to homosexuals ready to commit to long-term monogamous relationships.
Instead of being known
as the denomination that is facing a possible schism over homosexuality, Hiltz
wants his church to be recognized for actively trying to "make a
difference in the world" by dealing with crises involving global poverty,
HIV-AIDS, aboriginal healing, homelessness and climate change.
The Anglican Church
would gain more "credibility" debating homosexuality, he added, if it
broadened the sexuality discussion and devoted more energy to combatting sexual
abuse, sexual exploitation by people in positions of power, and global sex
slavery.
Asked to name the
things for which he is most proud of the Anglican Church of Canada, Hiltz, who
is also the bishop for Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, cited his
denomination's efforts to address the wrongs perpetuated on aboriginals through
federally funded, church-run residential schools.
After Anglican primate
Michael Peers apologized in 1993 for Anglicans running some of the schools,
Hiltz said his denominations has put millions of dollars into aboriginal
healing funds and pressed the federal government to both launch its Truth and
Reconciliation Commission and offer this month's national apology.
In addition, Hiltz
said he is pleased with the efforts of the Primate's World Relief and
Development Fund, which in the past 49 years has donated more than $88 million
to global disaster relief and community development, largely in the Third
World.
© Canwest
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