Last year at the Melbourne Synod, I moved a modest motion to recognise the newly formed Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) as authentic Anglicans, and to extend the hand of fellowship to them, expressing our desire for them to become part of the Communion once again.
(ACNA is the new grouping of Anglicans formed, who hold the historic Anglican faith, rather than the novel new faith espoused by the leaders of The Episcopal Church, and the Anglican Church of Canada)
Sadly the Melbourne Synod declined (by the narrowest of margins) to take this step. It was argued by more than one person on the Synod floor, that this was "premature" given that ACNA is so new. I am amazed by this, because the motion simply asked the Synod to recognise other faithful Anglican believers, and extend the hand of fellowship to them. How could Christian fellowship be "premature"? Still this was the mind of those gathered.
How encouraging to read today that the Church of England showed itself big hearted enough to to do exactly this. You can read more about this here. Maybe the Melbourne Synod will one day have the same generosity of heart!
Showing posts with label Anglican Church. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Anglican Church. Show all posts
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
One piece of good news
Amidst all the mess in the Episcopal Church, I read one piece of great news this week. The Diocese of Northern Michigan had elected a new bishop who holds both Buddhist and Christian Ordination. He denies many of the basic doctrines of the Christian Church, but had still been elected as their next Bishop.
The good news is, that it appears that when the nomination was brought to the General Assembly he was unable to achieve the votes he needed, and so the election is now declared null and void and they have to start again. Praise God for this protection of His church. Read more here.
For a really interesting comment on the International Anglican scene, and especially on the recent communique from the Archbishop of Canterbury, try this article by Charles Raven.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Anglican World
It is a big week for Anglicans, not that we'd really know it way down here at the ends of the earth. But this week the Anglican Consultative Council meets in Jamaica to consider the Anglican Covenant Document. The ACC is one of the "instruments of communion" that hold our loose association of churches together. They are the ones who set the "rules of engagement".
The proposed Covenant is the method by which the Archbishop of Canterbury hopes to save the communion. It sets out what we as Anglicans commit to, to hold us together.
The challenge will be to get a covenant that really holds us to biblical orthodoxy and that has the ability to exclude from the fellowship those who have chosen to tread a different path away from historic creedal Anglican Christianity. The fear is that it will be so weak that it will drive out the orthodox among us.
Of course, this is a matter very close to the heart of those of us who have joined the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans around the world. The question of whether the communion is heading towards or away from orthodoxy is key. There is good coverage of the events at the ACC meeting here if you are interested.
The proposed Covenant is the method by which the Archbishop of Canterbury hopes to save the communion. It sets out what we as Anglicans commit to, to hold us together.
The challenge will be to get a covenant that really holds us to biblical orthodoxy and that has the ability to exclude from the fellowship those who have chosen to tread a different path away from historic creedal Anglican Christianity. The fear is that it will be so weak that it will drive out the orthodox among us.
Of course, this is a matter very close to the heart of those of us who have joined the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans around the world. The question of whether the communion is heading towards or away from orthodoxy is key. There is good coverage of the events at the ACC meeting here if you are interested.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Anglican Communion
I am heading interstate this week to speak at an EFAC meeting in Brisbane, among other things. I am speaking at EFAC on the state of the Anglican Communion, especially in the light of GAFCON. So this week I have been immersed once again in the international Anglican scene.
Sad developments in North America continue to astound me. The election of a bishop in Northern Michigan is who holds Buddhist ordination and follows both Buddhism and Christianity, being the most recent in a long line of abandonment of the Bible's authority.
It is quite clear to me now that there are distinctly two strands in the Anglican Communion. One which is orthodox, biblical and adheres to the historical bases of our denomination - the bible, creeds, book of common prayer, 39 articles, ordinal. And the other which is syncretistic, post-modern, and wracked by the heresies of the first centuries. We are just going to walk further and further apart.
There seem to also be two ways to deal with this situation. The path of the official denominational leaders is to continue to listen and talk and find our common ground. The other is to state our common ground in doctrine and find out whether we are are one or two.
And all of this raises the interesting question of unity, and where it is found. Are we unified because we are Anglican, or are we unified because of what we believe. I am proud to stand in a tradition of the Anglican church which confesses a particular faith, and to find unity with others who profess that faith as well. Historically in this time, it is well encapsulated in the Jerusalem Declaration to which I gladly give my assent. We live in interesting times.
Sad developments in North America continue to astound me. The election of a bishop in Northern Michigan is who holds Buddhist ordination and follows both Buddhism and Christianity, being the most recent in a long line of abandonment of the Bible's authority.
It is quite clear to me now that there are distinctly two strands in the Anglican Communion. One which is orthodox, biblical and adheres to the historical bases of our denomination - the bible, creeds, book of common prayer, 39 articles, ordinal. And the other which is syncretistic, post-modern, and wracked by the heresies of the first centuries. We are just going to walk further and further apart.
There seem to also be two ways to deal with this situation. The path of the official denominational leaders is to continue to listen and talk and find our common ground. The other is to state our common ground in doctrine and find out whether we are are one or two.
And all of this raises the interesting question of unity, and where it is found. Are we unified because we are Anglican, or are we unified because of what we believe. I am proud to stand in a tradition of the Anglican church which confesses a particular faith, and to find unity with others who profess that faith as well. Historically in this time, it is well encapsulated in the Jerusalem Declaration to which I gladly give my assent. We live in interesting times.
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