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Pray for General Synod in Winnipeg, June 19-25
Please pray fervently for General Synod, for delegates, for decisions, and for our Network and Federation representatives. Above all we want God’s will to be done.
Network’s objectives at General Synod will be to:
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Push for clarity so Canadian Anglicans can understand exactly where the church is going. After so many years of straddling the fence, many Canadian Anglicans are growing weary and disillusioned and many are simply walking away. It is time for the Anglican Church of Canada (ACC) to choose between the liberal, revisionist agenda of some bishops in the Anglican Church of Canada and the traditional, biblically-faithful position of the majority of the global Communion. The Network is committed to remaining in communion with the biblically-faithful majority. We need to know if the ACC is abandoning us and “walking apart” from the global Anglican Communion or if the ACC will clarify its position and restore full fellowship with the Communion as the Primates have asked. |
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Support, encourage and educate biblically-faithful delegates. |
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Raise awareness among Canadian Anglicans of the Network and its purposes. |
If you or any other delegates to General Synod would like to arrange a time to meet for prayer, discernment or discussion, please contact Cheryl Chang, Network Executive Director at cchang@anglicannetwork.ca. Cheryl will be at General Synod, along with Bishop Don and other members of the Network executive. We would really appreciate hearing from you.
The Network plans for post-General Synod
Immediately following General Synod, Network executive will meet to pray, plan and prepare for the months ahead. We are planning an event for this fall (after September 30) that will allow us to share our thinking with Network members and potential members, and invite discussion. Depending upon the decisions made at General Synod, we may need to take decisive steps and will be looking to you for discernment and support. Our goal is now and has always been to remain firmly rooted in the mainstream of historic Anglican teaching and within the embrace of the biblically-faithful global Anglican Communion. It is also our firm desire to maintain the highest degree of communion possible with our Canadian brothers and sisters who also cherish our rich and historic Anglican tradition, doctrine and fellowship.
A meeting tentatively planned for July 13 & 14 for Network members has been cancelled to allow more flexibility to respond to the decisions of General Synod and the responses of the global Communion, and to develop a considered approach.
Letters to General Synod delegates
Theologians – A group of 33 theologians have written delegates saying “We are disturbed by the proposed motions coming out of the Council of General Synod’s March meeting. We believe that these motions do not reflect the implications of the St Michael Report, and that even to treat them as legitimate options is to neglect the kind of discussion the Report encourages and our Church deserves.”
Read the full letter.
Zacchaeus Fellowship – Speaking on behalf of those who have struggled with same sex attractions yet choose to live chastely in submission to biblically faithful Anglican teaching, Zacchaeus Fellowship has written delegates warning of the danger of confusing inclusivity with cultural conformity. They say, “…we need to be proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ and his transforming power in people’s lives. The church should focus on what God accomplishes through the person of Christ and not let secular law dictate church discipline… By conforming to the world, the church risks becoming truly irrelevant in our world, because then it would be no different from the world and would have nothing to offer those who are seeking.”
See: www.zacchaeus.ca
Diocese of BC Clergy – On June 1, over 51 per cent of the members of the Diocese of BC’s synod voted in support of the blessing of same-sex unions by General Synod. In response, a group of 28 serving and retired Diocese of BC clergy have written the Metropolitan of the Province of BC and Yukon, the bishop of the Diocese and BC delegates to General Synod saying that:
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blessing same sex unions will further damage relations in the Communion |
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allowing “local options” reduces God’s Word “to mere suggestion” |
Read the entire letter.
Article on same-sex blessings
Mark Larratt-Smith has written a timely, challenging and substantive article on same sex blessings. Discussing the issue from the standpoints of the sovereignty of God and the reality of sin, he says that “The main issue is not really about same-sex relationships at all. It is about the acceptance or denial of the reality of sin. If human beings can redefine sin at their option, they have no need for the Christian God.” And he concludes that “the implications of changing the Church’s traditional views about same-sex relationships strikes at the heart of the Christian faith because it substitutes our own tame god for the reality of the self-revealing Lord God Almighty and because it denies the reality of sin.”
See more.
Common Cause Council of Bishops set for September 25–28
Bishop Donald Harvey, Moderator of the Network will join other Common Cause bishops at an inaugural Common Cause Council of Bishops in Pittsburgh, PA, September 25-28. Also attending are bishops from: the Anglican Communion Network, the Anglican Mission in the Americas, the Anglican Coalition in Canada, the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, the Anglican Network in Canada, the Anglican Province of America, Forward in Faith North America and the Reformed Episcopal Church.
Bishop Bob Duncan, who is calling the meeting, described the purpose as:
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to take the Common Cause Partnership to the next level of development in mission together; |
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to showcase ministry initiatives of any of the partners that might be shared with all the partners (e.g., The Anglican Relief and Development Fund); |
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to share understandings of the purpose and role of bishops such that some common guidelines for the making of bishops relative to numbers of communicants and congregations might be developed; |
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to consider whether a permanent Common Cause College of Bishops might be created, in order that ever greater levels of communication, cooperation and collaboration can be built; |
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to initiate discussion of the creation of an “Anglican Union” among the partners, moving forward the vision of the Primates of the Global South for a new “ecclesiastical structure of the Anglican Communion in the USA.” |
See: www.acn-us.org
Canon Bill Atwood to be a bishop of the Church of Kenya
The Living Church reports that the Primate of Kenya, the Most Rev. Benjamin Nzimbi, plans to consecrate the Rev. Canon Bill Atwood on August 30th in Nairobi as a suffragan bishop to oversee the 25 U.S.-based congregations of the Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK). This consecration is said to be “part of a broader and coordinated plan with other provinces” to form a “North American Anglican Coalition” to “provide a safe haven for those who maintain historic Anglican faith…” Jonathan Petre, Telegraph religion correspondent says this “coalition of conservative Anglican leaders is preparing to create a parallel Church for conservatives in America in defiance of the Archbishop of Canterbury, provoking the biggest split in Anglican history…”
As the Rt. Rev. Jack Leo Iker, Bishop of Fort Worth says, “The rejection of the Dar es Salaam proposed pastoral scheme by the TEC House of Bishops will lead to further extraordinary efforts such as this to extend episcopal care to faithful Anglicans who believe they have no alternative but to separate from the church they have loved and served for so many years.” For his full comment, see: www.fwepiscopal.org
Canon Atwood has been a great friend and supporter of the Network and the ACINW. He has been instrumental in helping us establish links with a number of global south Primates as well as being a great advocate for Canadians at international gatherings. He is an avid evangelist and a godly servant with a heart for biblically faithful Anglicans in Canada. He has spoken at many of our gatherings, and with his missionary zeal and great wit, he has taught us valuable lessons. Also, through Ekklesia, he has helped to coordinate cooperation and collaboration of global south Provinces, as well as promote and fund projects to benefit many people in the Global South. In recent years, he has assisted many former ECUSA congregations with obtaining alternative episcopal oversight through overseas Primates, including the Anglican Church of Kenya, rather than see them leaving Anglicanism altogether. We feel that the Province of Kenya has selected a godly servant leader as a bishop for their missionary work in North America and we wish him our blessing and prayers at this new stage of his ministry.
See: www.livingchurch.org
www.telegraph.co.uk
See select media coverage of the issues facing the ACC
canada.com/ottawacitizen/news
canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city
www.canada.com/vancouversun
www.thestar.com/living/article
www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news
TEC Executive Council rejects Primates’ pastoral plan
The Executive Council of the Episcopal Church confirmed yesterday their House of Bishops’ earlier rejection of the pastoral scheme for conservative congregations in the US proposed by the Primates in the Dar es Salaam Communiqué.
See: www.livingchurch.org; www.kendallharmon.net
More Lambeth invitations to come?
The Living Church reports that Canon James Rosenthal, communications director for the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC), has said the Archbishop of Canterbury will send more Lambeth invitations. Most invitations were sent May 22 and, at that time, the Rev. Canon Kenneth Kearon, secretary general of the ACC, stated the Rt. Rev. Martyn Minns, Bishop of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, and other bishops like him, would not be invited because of the precedent set by Archbishop George Carey in 2000 following Bishop Murphy’s consecration in Singapore. However, Archbishop Carey immediately responded saying “everything has changed in the Anglican Communion as a result of the consecration of Gene Robinson” in 2003 nullifying any precedent.
See: www.livingchurch.org
Time interviews the Archbishop of Canterbury
In Time magazine’s recent interview with Dr Williams, he is quoted as saying:
On the crisis in the Anglican Church – “I don't think schism is inevitable…. (The Communion) feels very vulnerable and very fragile, perhaps more so than it's been for a very long time…. I'm hopeful. Not optimistic.”
On his previously published views on sexuality – “It's impossible to get from Scripture anything straightforwardly positive about same-sex relationships…. I'm not recanting…. I'm now in a position where I'm bound to say the teaching of the Church is this, the consensus is this…. It's not for me to exploit my position to push a change.”
For the full interview, see: www.time.com and for an accompanying article see: www.time.com/time
Please help us cover our General Synod expenses
The additional costs associated with having a strong Network presence at General Synod are beyond our current resources. If God places this need on your heart, please consider a donation to help the Network with this urgent need.
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