Okay, here is the latest from the prohibitionist side. I’m sure we are going to have some very good debates during classes come fall term, just a month and a half away. Tomorrow, Sunday, I will be speaking on this topic at the 9:00 am service at my field placement parish – Church of the Ascension on 5th Ave. I particularly like what Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane of South Africa said, referring to member primates acting like the Archbishop of Canterbury. Since they do not consider the A.B.C. to be doing his job – condemning homosexuals – then they will take it upon themselves to act in his sted. Since they do not consider the A.B.C. to be doing his job, they then will do his job for him and determine who is in and who is out of the Communion. (Technically this is not possible. They may determine that they will no longer be in communion with provinces or dioceses that accommodate homosexuals, but it is only the See of Canterbury who can determine who is part of the official Anglican Communion. After leaving, they may say they are the true Anglicans, but by their leaving they have proven that they are in fact not because they have violated one of the major tenants of the Anglican ethos, and if the See of Canterbury does not recognize their province, then they are in fact out.) Even while I was part of the Evangelical\/Fundamentalist\/Pentecostal side of the Church, I recognized that many within this group of people like to do such things. They will take upon themselves the role of God and determine who is in and who is out of the Church, the Body of Christ, those who have been reconciled to God (or in their vernacular, saved). The self-proclaimed conservatives in the American province continually try to usurp authority and property. It has always been the same going back centuries.
\nI am sympathetic to some of their claims, such as a drift away from biblical authority and reliance and relativism, but in the same way, they charge the liberals of going to far, so they also go too far. Maybe it will be better to just get it all over with so they can leave and we all can get on with the more important things, except that our witness as Anglicans – to be able to stay together in union despite our very different ways of looking at our Christian lives and theology – will be once again be shot. Anyway, here is the article:
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\nJuly 24, 2003
\n2003-167
\nGroup \u00e5\u008f\u00a2repared to respond' if General Convention affirms
\nRobinson, blessing rite
\nby Jan Nunley
\n(ENS) A group of 62 Anglicans and Episcopalians, including some
\nprimates and bishops of the Anglican Communion, held a press
\nconference July 23 to announce that they are \"prepared to
\nrespond\" if the Episcopal Church's General Convention either
\nconfirms the election of the Rev. Gene Robinson as Bishop of New
\nHampshire or directs the Standing Commission on Liturgy and
\nMusic to prepare blessing rites for couples living in committed
\nrelationships outside marriage. The convention begins July 30 in
\nMinneapolis, Minnesota.
\nThe group gathered in secret at Truro Episcopal Church in
\nFairfax, Virginia, for two days to craft their statement. \"The
\nproposed actions by General Convention\u00ef\u00bf\u00bdwould shatter the
\nchurch,\" the statement said. \"The American bishops at this
\nmeeting have prayed, planned and are prepared to respond as
\nfaithful members of the Anglican Communion. Should these events
\noccur, the majority of the Primates anticipate convening an
\nextraordinary meeting at which they too will respond to the
\nactions of General Convention.\"
\nElement of surprise
\nBut under questioning by reporters, the group refused to divulge
\nany specific plans. \"Action will happen,\" said Archbishop Peter
\nAkinola of the Church of Nigeria. Another spokesman for the
\ngroup, the Rev. Kendall Harmon, canon theologian for the Diocese
\nof South Carolina, explained, \"We are trying to preserve an
\nelement of surprise. That is part of the strategy here.\"
\nAsked if it will make a difference if, say, Robinson were
\nconfirmed but the liturgy resolution failed, Akinola said, \"No.
\nEither one will cause a split. They are inextricably linked.\"
\nPlea for mutual accountability
\nOn the same day the statement was released, Archbishop of
\nCanterbury Rowan Williams sent a letter to Anglican primates
\nasking them to maintain \"mutual accountability,\" not just on
\nmatters of sexuality but on issues such as lay presidency at the
\nEucharist and \"alternative episcopal oversight\" for dissenting
\nparishes.
\n\"We do not have a central executive authority in our Communion;
\nthis means we are quite vulnerable in times of deep
\ndisagreement, and need more than ever to pay attention to one
\nanother,\" Williams wrote. \"\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd This is not to recommend a refusal
\nto face circumstances or to avoid conflict at all costs. It is
\nto acknowledge that who we are as Christians is connected to the
\nworldwide fellowship to which we belong. Within a living
\nCommunion, we should never find ourselves in the position of
\nsaying, or seeming to say, to each other, \u00e6\u017d\u00aaI have no need of
\nyou' (I Cor. 12.21).\"
\nClaiming a majority
\nThe statement claimed that the signers represent \"a majority of
\nthe world's 75 million Anglicans.\" Exact numbers are hard to
\ncome by, but according to the Anglican Communion Secretariat's
\nfigures, the seven primates listed represent a little more than
\n20 million members out of 76,650,449 worldwide -- 26 percent of
\nthe total.
\nWhen asked how many primates agreed with the group, Akinola
\nresponded, \"Most primates are here in spirit. We know the mind
\nof a good number of primates.\" He would only confirm being in
\ncontact with \"6 or 7\" of the primates.
\nMost of the names on the list are familiar as conservative
\nactivists in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion.
\nMany have signed previous statements declaring their discontent
\nwith moves towards the full inclusion of homosexuals in the
\nEpiscopal Church, and are members or officers of advocacy groups
\nsuch as the American Anglican Council, Forward in Faith\/North
\nAmerica, and the Institute for Religion and Democracy.
\nTen of the 15 American bishops are \"bishops with jurisdiction,\"
\neligible to vote on Robinson's consecration. Their dioceses
\nrepresent 185,766 communicants, some 9% of the American church.
\nThe clergy listed represent congregations with a combined
\naverage attendance of approximately 10,500 members.
\nA stream of statements
\nThe Truro statement follows an \"Open Letter to the Concerned
\nPrimates of the Anglican Communion,\" issued July 15 by 24
\nEpiscopal Church bishops, who declared themselves to be in a
\nstate of \"impaired communion,\" or broken relationship, with the
\nCanadian Diocese of New Westminster, which has authorized
\nliturgies for blessing same-sex partnerships. They also
\ncommitted to commit to \"common responses\" to what they described
\nas \"the deteriorating situation within the Episcopal Church\"
\nover homosexuality.
\nIn early June, fourteen of the 38 Anglican primates charged that
\n\"by deliberately and intentionally abandoning the established
\nAnglican consensus, [the bishop of New Westminster] placed
\nhimself and his diocese in an automatic state of impaired
\ncommunion with the majority within the Anglican Communion.\"
\nPresiding Bishop Frank Griswold wrote to the primates July 22,
\nasking for their understanding of the difference in context
\nbetween their provinces and the American church over the
\nunderstanding of human sexuality. \"Over these last five years I
\nhave continually reminded our church that we are part of a
\nlarger reality called the Anglican Communion, and that what we
\ndo locally has ramifications both positive and negative in other
\nparts of the world,\" Griswold said. \"At the same time I am
\nmindful that each of us has to interpret the gospel in our own
\ncontext and within the particular reality of our own Province;
\nthere is no such thing as a neutral reading of Scripture. While
\nwe all accept the authority of Scripture, we interpret various
\npassages in different ways.\"
\nAt least one African primate has already come out publicly
\nagainst the Truro statement. \"I believe that it is wrong and
\ncontrary to our Anglican Tradition and understanding of Canon
\nLaw to presume to interfere in the affairs of another Province,\"
\nsaid Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane of South Africa. \"Such
\nactions are a major threat to the fabric of our Communion. Let
\nus respect the integrity of each Province.
\n\"It would be profoundly inappropriate for any Province or any
\ngroup of Provinces to presume to take on a role which properly
\nbelongs to the See of Canterbury, and with the whole Communion
\nacting with the See of Canterbury.\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Okay, here is the latest from the prohibitionist side. I’m sure we are going to have some very good debates during classes come fall term, just a month and a half away. Tomorrow, Sunday, I will be speaking on this … Continue reading