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With Lambeth underway, most of the news emanates from this conference. The information on blogs and in the media about Lambeth is overwhelming; however I’ve attempted to distill the most important for your consideration. If you wish more, I have a lengthy list of news stories.
Common Cause announces plan to seek recognition as a Province
The leaders of the Common Cause Partners (of which ANiC is a member) announced on July 24 that they intend to pursue the GAFCon Primates’ Council invitation and request recognition as a North American Province. This is their press release:
We, as the Bishops and elected leaders of the Common Cause Partnership (CCP) are deeply grateful for the Jerusalem Declaration. It describes a hopeful, global Anglican future, rooted in scripture and the authentic Anglican way of faith and practice. We joyfully welcome the words of the GAFCON statement that it is now time ‘for the federation currently known as the Common Cause Partnership to be recognized by the Primates Council.’
The intention of the CCP Executive Committee is to petition the Primates Council for recognition of the CCP as the North American Province of GAFCON on the basis of the Common Cause Partnership Articles, Theological Statement, and Covenant Declaration, and to ask that the CCP Moderator be seated in the Primate’s Council.
We accept the call to build the Common Cause Partnership into a truly unified body of Anglicans. We are committed to that call. Over the past months, we have worked together, increasing the number of partners and authorizing committees and task groups for Mission, Education, Governance, Prayer Book & Liturgy, the Episcopate, and Ecumenical Relations. The Executive Committee is meeting regularly to carry forward the particulars of this call. The CCP Council will meet December 1–3, 2008.
This means that the Common Cause Partners (which includes ANiC) will ask the GAFCon Primates Council to recognize it as a Province – in the same way they recognize other Provinces in the GAFCon movement. This would be very meaningful since GAFCon includes Provinces constituting the majority of the Communion.
See: Religious Intelligence – July 25 08 – Common Cause wants to be Gafcon Province
More from GAFCon
Four Australian GAFCon delegates give video reports: Sylvia, Clair, Tony and John.
Oops… GAFCon appears to be going through some growing pains. A “resource paper” was erroneously released by GAFCON and wrongly labeled as a response to the Covenant causing quite a stir and resulting in Fulcrum’s Dr Andrew Goddard writing a devastating critique. Anglican Mainstream quickly posted an explanation and an apology, while the GAFCon website removed the guilty paper. (GAFCon’s real response to the Covenant remains posted on the website.)
GAFCON’s explanation said, “The briefing paper that was posted on the GAFCON website, on which Dr Andrew Goddard focuses his major critique… has now been removed. It was purely a resource paper provided for the [GAFCon Theological Resource Group] comparing the St Andrews Draft with earlier theological reflection. This reflection was incorrectly identified for which apologies are made for the confusion caused. The response of the GAFCON Theological Resource Group is to the St Andrew’s Draft and the GAFCON Theological Resource group welcomes comments on the substance of their response to office@gafcon.org.” This is George Pitcher’s (nasty) piece in the Telegraph.
The error caused Archbishop Greg Venables some awkwardness. In this Church Times interview , Archbishop Greg admits he didn’t have prior knowledge of the erroneously released paper. But he also explained GAFCon beautifully, saying it is not a “standing apart” but “us standing together in the heart of Anglicanism and saying, here is the heart of the gospel as the Church has believed it for the last 2000 years. Here we want to stand, so that if you resonate with this and care about this, you know you can stand with us.”
The GAFCon documentary on BBC2 July 21 seems not to be accessible online outside the UK, but here’s a report on it. Apparently it was well done and reasonably accurate.
GAFCon petition
Seems some missed the earlier item about the petition in support of GAFCon that is set up online. By adding your name to this petition, you are saying that you support the Jerusalem Declaration and what GAFCon stands for. Please consider signing on. Anglican Mainstream elaborates on three reasons Anglicans should endorse GAFCon: 1) It affirms our identity, 2) if offers accountability and order, and 3) it is a movement, not a meeting.
Now showing…
Rhonda and (Rev) Ray David Glenn, rector at St George’s Lowville, co-hosted 100 Huntley Street, July 29 through 31. On today’s (July 31) program they discussed the Lambeth Conference as well as how Christians can be heard in the abortion debate that is resurfacing. You can watch these well-done programs online.
ANiC has a job opening
The Anglican Network in Canada is looking for the right person for a new position: Program Manager. This position is responsible for helping ANiC Executive Archdeacon (Charlie Masters) guide the organization’s operations, structures and ministries as ANiC grows and evolves. Application deadline: 8 August 2008.
News shorts – Canada
In the Canadian media
Canadian Press – July 19 08 – Anglican bishops to worship … before conference
Guelph Mercury – July 22 08 – Is the Anglican Church an oak or a willow?
Anglican Journal – July 22 08 – Zimbabwe talks provide ‘a little hope’, says bishop
Anglican Journal – July 23 08 – Kenya church worried about student riots and destruction
Canada.com – July 23 08 – Canadian cleric predicts a woman will eventually lead Anglicans
Globe & Mail – July 31 08 – Anglicans likely to sidestep decision on gays
News shorts – USA and North America
Diocese of Pittsburgh video
Leading up to its critical vote on remaining with the Episcopal Church or realigning with the Province of the Southern Cone, the Diocese of Pittsburgh has posted this video narrated by Canadian Dr Edith Humphrey and featuring laity from across the diocese.
Bishop Bill Atwood assumes new role
Bishop Bill Atwood, a long-time friend of Anglican Essentials and ANiC, is assuming a new role – Dean of the Anglican Communion Network’s Mid-Continental Convocation.
In the US media
Christian Science Monitor – July 15 08 – Beyond Episcopal theological split, a property fight
News shorts – International
Lambeth: Staying on top of the news
Trying to stay current on what is going on at Lambeth? A great starting point is our own Anglican Essentials blog. Peter and David are doing a great job of sorting through the torrent of words in media and blogs and posting articles that are news-worthy and informative.
Cherie Wetzel, on Anglican United & Latimer Press, provides excellent daily reports from Lambeth from a ‘conservative’ (read orthodox) perspective. Chris Sugden from Anglican Mainstream is also publishing frequent reports from Lambeth. David Virtue from VirtueOnline and Matt Kennedy and Sarah Hey from Stand Firm are also reporting. In addition, the Anglican Journal has a team of reporters covering the conference and provides frequent reports, as does the Anglican Communion news service. Also, Bishop Howe (Central Florida) is offering informative daily blogs. AnglicanTV <http://www.anglican.tv/> also has video of interviews and news conferences.
Lambeth: Archbishop of Uganda makes his presence felt in absentia
Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi of the Anglican Church of Uganda wrote a powerful statement to the Communion, published in The Times on August 1. In the statement, he says he and the Bishops of Uganda did not attend Lambeth “Because we love the Lord Jesus Christ and because we love the Anglican Communion… For more than ten years we have been speaking and have not been heard. So maybe our absence will speak louder than our words…”
Archbishop Orombi cites numerous “betrayals” and the utter failure of the instruments of communion, saying “…de facto, there is only one [instrument of communion] – the Archbishop of Canterbury… Even the Pope is elected by his peers, but what Anglicans have is a man appointed by a secular government. Over the past five years, we have come to see this as a remnant of British colonialism, and it is not serving us well… It is important that our decision not to attend this Lambeth Conference is not misunderstood as withdrawing from the Anglican Communion. On the contrary, our decision reflects the depth of our concern and the sober realisation that the present structures are not capable of addressing the crisis.”
The Anglican Journal spun this story (without actually seeing the Archbishop’s statement) by painting the Archbishop as homophobic. If you can’t counter powerful criticism honestly, just attack character and without addressing the substance.
Lambeth: Archbishop of Sudan takes a bold stand
The Sudanese bishops attending Lambeth released a statement, signed by their Primate, the Most Rev Dr Daniel Deng Bul, which affirms historic Anglican doctrine and practice regarding human sexuality. Implying the actions of the North American church is arousing persecution and even costing lives in some countries, it says, “Out of love for our brothers and sisters in Christ, we appeal to the Anglican Church in the USA and Canada, to demonstrate real commitment to the requests arising from the Windsor process. In particular:
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To refrain from ordaining practicing homosexuals as bishops or priests |
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To refrain from approving rites of blessing for same-sex relationships |
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To cease court actions with immediate effect; |
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To comply with Resolution 1:10 of the 1998 Lambeth Conference |
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To respect the authority of the Bible” |
In a media briefing following the release of the Church of Sudan statement, this articulate and bold Archbishop, who spoke out despite the fact that the Sudanese church has received a great deal of financial support from the Episcopal Church in the past, said:
“This issue of homosexuality in the Anglican Communion has a very serious effect in my country. We are called ‘infidels’ by the Moslems… They challenge our people to convert to Islam and leave the infidel Anglican Church. When our people refuse, sometimes they are killed. These people are very evil and mutilate and harm our people. I am begging the Communion on this issue so no more of my people will be killed.
“My people have been suffering for 21 years of war. Their only hope is in the Church. It is the center of life of my people. No matter what problem we have, no material goods, no health supplies or medicine; no jobs or income; no availability of food…
“The culture does not change the Bible; the Bible changes the culture. Cultures that do not approve of the Bible are left out of the Church’s life; people who do not believe in the Bible are left out of our churches. The American church is saying that God made a mistake. He made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Adam.
“I have just come from a meeting of the African and Global South bishops who are here. There were almost 200 bishops there. They support the statement my Church made yesterday. That’s 17 provinces.
“The Authority of the Bible is always the same. You cannot pull a line out or add a line to it. That brings you a curse. We are saying no. You are wrong.”
In his blog, Archbishop Mouneer Anis (the Middle East) – who himself took a courageous stand at the (US) Episcopal Church’s House of Bishops meeting last year – said Archbishop Deng’s call for the Episcopal Church to repent and for Gene Robinson to resign for the sake of the Communion “…has shaken the foundation of Lambeth Conference”. Archbishop John Chew (South-east Asia) told the Church Times that he and the entire Global South support the Sudanese statement. He said, “They are not calling for anything new… certain things must be very clear before the next ACC [Anglican Consultative Council] meeting. Whether you like it or not, Canterbury has got to take the lead...”
The bishops of Sudan released a second report, a substantive and heart-wrenching account of the continued conflict in the Sudan.
Archbishop Venables assesses Lambeth
In a Church Times blog, Archbishop Greg says, “We’re still not addressing the basic issue which is whether or not we believe the same things and consider ourselves members of the same Church, and that’s obviously the thing that has caused people to break away from their national churches… Unless we talk about the real reasons why we are divided there’s little hope of putting it back together again.”
Lambeth: The Windsor Continuation Group issues observations
The six member Windsor Continuation Group, established by the Archbishop of Canterbury to help implement some of the Windsor Report recommendation, issued a preliminary report that raised the possibility of a fifth instrument of unity to deal with issues related to the current crisis. The report said, “We commend the suggestion for the setting up of a Faith and Order Commission that could give guidance on the ecclesiological issues raised by our current crisis”, providing “counsel and advise” to provinces or dioceses considering "controversy".
The report also questioned the usefulness of the Anglican Consultative Council saying, “There are questions about whether a body meeting every three years, with a rapidly changing membership, not necessarily located within the central structures of their own provinces, can fulfill adequately the tasks presently given to it.” See Living Church’s report.
The Group’s “observations”, released in three parts, called for moratoria on:
• blessings for same-sex unions
• consecrations of those living in openly gay relationships
• all cross border interventions and inter-provincial claims of jurisdiction.
Further, a proposed Pastoral Forum would provide a temporary “holding tank” for parishes or diocese in theological conflict with their original province – including those currently under the jurisdiction of Primates from other provinces – until they can be reunited with the original province. It would also have punitive power to “diminish the standing” of any that do not comply.
After the release of the first part of the Windsor Continuation Group’s observations, the chairman, the Rt Rev Clive Handford, outlined to the media the deteriorating state of the Communion on a number of fronts. Among other things he noted differences in value systems and in meaning attributed to words; he noted a gap between what was agreed to and actions taken. And he pointed to resolutions and responses from both TEC and the Anglican Church of Canada as demonstrating this gap most markedly. See David Virtue’s report and the Anglican Mainstream report.
Analysts generally seem to see this report as “same old, same old” and highly unlikely to be agreed to or, if agreed to, to be adhered to by provinces currently flaunting the Windsor Process. The recommendations seem to be intended to buy time while the Covenant is taking shape. But the report fails to deal with root causes – the willful rejection of resolutions from the last Lambeth (1998). See this commentary and this one from Forward in Faith.
Michael Ingham doesn’t like the Windsor Continuation Group’s Preliminary Report, saying it is punitive and discriminatory, and entrenches outside interventions with the proposed Pastoral Forum. See also the Diocese of New Westminster’s web report.
A July 30 news conference provides further insight into the Windsor Continuation Group proposals. This article by Andrew Carey sums by the proposals nicely.
Lambeth: The Covenant
Canon Gary L’Hommedieu discusses Lambeth’s “neutering” of the proposed Covenant, fixing it in a “…limbo of unending ‘conversation’”. Other commentators have noted the comparatively small role the Covenant plays in the Lambeth agenda.
Bits and pieces from the Lambeth conference
Andrew Carey writes that the two pressing questions for Lambeth bishops are:
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How can this Lambeth Conference be an Instrument of Unity when so many bishops are missing? |
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What steps must the Anglican Communion take to ensure that the next time they meet these absent bishops are present? |
Marching bishops – Ruth Gledhill reports in the TimesOnline that the Lambeth bishops’ march through London to demand governments make good on Millennium Development Goals to reduce global poverty was followed by a rather opulent luncheon at Lambeth Palace and then tea with the Queen at Buckingham Palace. However, some felt the march demonstrated the Communion at its finest.
Growing unity – Matt Kennedy reports “...that while orthodox bishops were quite divided coming into Lambeth, the most noticeable shift during Lambeth has been in the direction of reconciliation and unity within the orthodox ranks.”
Zacchaeus Fellowship (from Canada) has a booth in the Lambeth Marketplace bearing witness to God’s transforming power of those willing to turn from sexual sin. They have been marginalized by conference organizers but are having a positive impact never-the-less.
Conference draft statement – A 16 member “reflections” group has been selected from among the bishops to write the final statement from the conference. The group is said to have been “…chosen by theological, geographical measures to achieve a balance.” The 18-page statement is in draft form, however Anglican Mainstream has an overview of key points.
Canon Law – A book entitled The Principles of Canon Law Common to the Church of the Anglican Communion was released by Lambeth staff. It apparently attempts to define commonalities across the Communion in Canon Law. See Living Church analysis.
Doing the math: A blogger has concluded that the 600+ bishops at Lambeth represent only about 5-million practicing Anglicans, while 200+ bishops at GAFCon represented about 39-million active Anglicans.
Bishop John Howe (Central Florida) says in his blog that “…positions taken ten years ago have not significantly changed. The great majority of the Bishops here would still agree with Lambeth 1:10, and indeed, the Archbishop of Canterbury was very clear in repeatedly saying, "We are not here to revisit Lambeth 1:10; it is the position of the Communion.”
Bishop Robinson Cavalcanti of Recife Brazil (who is a bishop of the Southern Cone but was not invited to Lambeth) has written Anglicanism: The System in Crisis in which he analyzes systemic problems in the Communion and a colonial structure out of sync with reality.
The Rev Dr Canon Chris Sugden, in a July 24 article in the International Herald Tribune called Why many bishops did not come, succinctly captures the division in the Communion and what is preventing hundreds of bishops from attending the Lambeth Conference.
Bishop Peter Beckwith, orthodox TEC bishop of Springfield, in an impromptu news conference [scroll down to find the video] said, ‘It’s not just that we’re not on the same page; we are not in the same book; we are in different libraries. I am dealing with inter-faith relations within The Episcopal Church.’” Dr Peter Toon elaborates, “…there are two basic sources of authority in The Episcopal Church — (a) the received Holy Scriptures … and (b) the Book of Experience…”
The Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia, one of the Ecumenical representatives to address Lambeth, told the gathered bishops, that they "bear great historical responsibility," as they have to "decide between traditional, Biblical interpretation of Christian morals and the tendency, which takes sin and permissiveness for demonstration of love and tolerance." These decisions, he said, "are extremely important for the entire Christian world as further relations between Christian Churches and Anglican community largely depend on them."
If you like history, the Times Online has traced 140 years of the Lambeth Conferences.
Additional news stories worth a look:
The Anglican Communion Institute – July 21 08 – TEC’s theological agenda and TEC’s strategy for the Lambeth Conference of Bishops
Lapidomeida – July 23 08 – Conscience and logic: ’I can do no other’ - an interview with Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali)
Christianity Today – July 28 08 – No hope of a solution at Lambeth, conservative bishop says - an interview with Bishop Mouneer Anis (Primate of the Middle East)
TimesOnline – July 30 08 – A panel of Anglican bishops share their views… - Includes Bishop Mouneer Anis
BBC – July 15 08 – Anglicans Church around the world – Map noting Anglican Provinces with membership numbers and a description
In the international media (unrelated to Lambeth)
The Canberra Times – Aug 01 08 – It’s PJs at PJ’s as clergy seek to bed down Anglicanism - regarding the Diocese of Sydney’s strategy to evangelize Sydney
European congregation seeks alternative episcopal oversight
The Church Times reports that All Saints Anglican Church Algarve is the first in Europe to receive the oversight of bishops from Africa. The Archbishops of Rwanda and West Africa and the Presiding Bishop of the Church of England in South Africa (which is not recognized as part of the Anglican Communion) are said to have formalized agreement during the GAFCon meetings in Jerusalem.
Soul food
Just for laughs
Copyright Gospel Communications International, Inc (www.reverendfun.com) – Used by permission
Prayer requests
Lambeth conference – Please pray that God will work out His purposes. Pray for those attending who are committed to orthodox Anglicanism and are submitted to the Lordship of Christ. Pray that they would know when to speak, with whom, and what to say. Remember especially our own Primate, Archbishop Greg.
ANiC membership – Please pray for congregations and groups considering membership in ANiC that they would know the mind of Christ.
Sudan – Praise God for the courage of the Archbishop of Sudan in taking a clear stand at Lambeth despite the risk of financial consequences. His province is suffering deeply from political instability and war, including the continuing government-backed attacks on the people of Darfur. Refugees are beginning to be resettled in the south, but in many cases there is inadequate food or infrastructure to support them. Please pray for the Church of Sudan. Pray for adequate international intervention and support. Pray for Christian organizations working in the area. Pray for the situation in Darfur.
Zimbabwe – An agreement has been signed between President Mugabe and the opposition leader, however Bishop Sebastian Bakare (Harare) is not hopeful that this will bring peace to this troubled country. Pray for the Church in Zimbabwe and for liberty, peace and order to be restored.
Get involved – put legs on your prayers!
A recent large-scale poll has found the majority of Canadians oppose Morgentaler’s receiving of the Order of Canada. Here’s what you can do. See also information on abortion in Canada.
And now a word from our sponsor
I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.
The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.
Psalm 121 (ESV)
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