Anlgican Schism.

Recently, the threat of schism in the Anglican Communion over the ordination of homosexual priests has not been prominent in the the news. Both sides seem to have been marking time. However, as the Daily Telegraph's religion correspondent write in today's edition, things are likely to come to a head later this month, when the Archbishop of Canterbury meets with orthodox bishops to discuss the next step.

The orthodox website, VirtueOnline, sees a split as inevitable and forecasts that it will come at the meeting of Anglican Primates in Tanzania, next February, when orthodox US Episcopalian dioceses will be given their own bishops.

Tags: Anglican, Schism

Schism looming

The battle lines between liberal and conservative (orthodox) Anglicans over homosexual priests are being further delineated as Orthodox bishops from Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia meet in Rwanda, where they are expected to agree a common statement on the issue

Beilefnet reports that,

Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola said the proposed statement, or covenant, is being drafted at this week's gathering of 25 bishops mainly from Africa, Asia and Latin America. The meeting in Kigali ends Friday.
"We have provisions in the covenant that very clearly state what it means to be an Anglican. The dos and don'ts of an Anglican," said Akinola, the chairman of Global South grouping, which represents more than two-thirds of the Anglican Communion's members

The obvious question is why should a small minority of the Anglican communion be able to arbitrarily substitute "human rights" concepts for biblical authority and impose their views on the majority.

Reuters also has a report.

Tags: Schism

Canterbury Inaction

As the Archbishop of Canterbury fiddles the Episcopal church burns.

The Boston Globe reports that,

In a letter to leaders of the world's Anglican churches released yesterday, Archbishop Rowan Williams also said there would be no quick response to plans by seven dioceses of the US Episcopal Church to seek leadership outside that church because of their opposition to the appointment of gay clergy.

Actually, it is now eight dioceses. The Peoria Star Journal reports that the Diocese of Quincy, Illinois

...joins seven other U.S. dioceses... that have asked for alternative oversight since the Episcopal Church's triennial convention in June failed to declare a moratorium on election of noncelibate homosexual bishops. The moratorium had been requested by Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and other Anglican primates.

The Fraying Anglican Communion

Since its establishment in the mid 16th century the Anglican Church has encompassed a very wide spectrum of views, ranging from Calvinistic puritanism to papist Anglo-Catholicism. At times, the debates between the factions have been extremely vigorous, even bitter. Yet, despite the tensions, the Anglican communion held together through a common adherence to the Thirty Nine Articles of Religion.

The basic principle underpinning the 39 Articles, which allowed the warring factions to co-exist, was that, as set out in Articles VI and XXXIV, Anglican beliefs, rites and ceremonies should be consistent with scripture.

Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the Faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation.... (Article VI)

It is not necessary that Traditions and Ceremonies be in all places one, and utterly like; for at all times they have been divers, and may be changed according to the diversities of countries, times, and men's manners, so that nothing be ordained against God's Word... (Article XXXIV)

In modern parlance, do your own thing so long as it is not contrary to scripture.

Then, increasingly from the 1960s, along came the liberals (for want of a better term) who rather than accept the hitherto universal Anglican principle of diversity within the bounds of scriptural authority, arrogantly demand that everybody do the liberal thing, whether or not it has scriptural authority. Thus we came to the current controversy over homosexual priests.

There is no doubt that the concept of homosexual priests has no scriptural authority. Indeed, as far as I can see, the liberals have never sought to make their case in other than secular terms, specifically, the language of human rights. Many individual Anglicans find this rejection of scriptural authority unequivocally unacceptable and so are being forced by their consciences to consider leaving the Anglican communion. In fact, the undermining of the basic principle uniting the Anglican Communion - scriptural authority - is threatening schism.

At present, the flow of churches away from the Anglican Communion is a trickle, most notably the Church of Nigeria and a relatively few, but increasing, number of parishes in the American Espicopal Church. However, the flow is threatening to become a flood, with African churches taking a lead. It is beginning to look like orthodox Christians within Episcopalian Church will be left with little choice but to follow their consciences down a similar course.

Gene Robinson

Gene Robinson, the bishop with faulty chromosome, has been criticising the Orthodox Episcopalians for being extremists at the Anglicans' recent General Convention. He's upset by the moratorium on the consecration of homosexual priests. Still no sign of theological justification for his arguments.

He would be on stronger ground criticising the Orthodox Episcopalians if he called them unprincipled over the election of Bishop Schori. Did they really, as David Virtue wirtes, vote:

....for her to show up how morally and theologically bankrupt the Episcopal Church had become, and wanted to make that point in clear unequivocal terms to Rowan Williams and the Global South bishops.

Seems like a disreputable way to choose a bishop.

Sadly, it seems to be more and more the case that, as Virtue says, "The Episcopal Church is finished, it is dying and no one can now rescue it". If thatis true, the question becomes, what will replace it?

A tale of two bishops.

"Viriginia bishops hit impasse" says the Washington Times. Bishop Lee seems none too happy that one of his priests, Martyn Minns is also a bishop for the Anglican Church in Nigeria.

Bishop Lee issued a statement saying it is canonically impossible for Bishop Minns to be a bishop for the Anglican Diocese of Nigeria while being a priest under the authority of the Diocese of Virginia.

At least Bishop Lee and the newly consecrated Bishop Minns are still talking.

Elsewhere, VirtueOnline reports that in New York, the Episcopal diocese has lost a round in the legal battles over property with St Andrew's vestry , New York. To be continued no doubt.

Canterbury Responses

Dr Williams is "spineless" according to gay humanists, whatever they might be.

As usual, the arguments are essentially political, being phrased in terms of (human) rights. Not a trace of a theological argument. The Rev. Giles Goddard, chairman of the liberal Inclusive Church, came closest to it, when he said of the Archbishop's remarks,

The implication is that there is no justification in scripture for the welcome of lesbian and gay people.

Goddard's clear implication is that there is such a scriptural justification for homosexual clergy. If there is, it is well hidden. Perhaps I've been looking at the wrong scriptures.

Meanwhile, the Russians are seeking to restore ties with orthodox Episcopal dioceses.

Preparing for schism.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has been talking about his forthcoming meeting with the American orthodox Episcopalians. It's clear which side he is on.

The American Church has “pushed the boundaries” in terms of decision-making, stated the spiritual head of the worldwide Anglican Communion in an interview with a Dutch newspaper.
“It has made a decision that is not the decision of the wider body of Christ,” Archbishop Rowan Williams told Nederlands Dagblad.

His arguments do not seem to amount to much more than: not everyone interprets the bible in the same way, the debate must not be dominated by a radical agenda and everyone should be getting along. The subtext appears to be that the orthodox party will have to find a way to tolerate homosexual priests so that all the problems will disappear.

The problems are unlikely to vanish, however, because this is not a policy debate where compromises can be attained through careful wording of documents; it is a theological debate over issues of conscience.

On one thing the Archbishop is correct. A schism will lead to many legal battles especially over property.

Meanwhile, the Russians are coming.

Liberal Christianity

Charlotte Allen has some interesting observations on "liberal Christianity", especially its doctrinal eccentricities.

It is not entirely coincidental that at about the same time that Episcopalians, at their general convention in Columbus, Ohio, were thumbing their noses at a directive from the worldwide Anglican Communion that they "repent" of confirming the openly gay Bishop V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire three years ago, the Presbyterian Church USA, at its general assembly in Birmingham, Ala., was turning itself into the laughingstock of the blogosphere by tacitly approving alternative designations for the supposedly sexist Christian Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Among the suggested names were "Mother, Child and Womb" and "Rock, Redeemer and Friend." Moved by the spirit of the Presbyterian revisionists, Beliefnet blogger Rod Dreher held a "Name That Trinity" contest. Entries included "Rock, Scissors and Paper" and "Larry, Curly and Moe."

Given such nonsense from the liberal Christians, is it any wonder that congregations are voting with their feet:

.... many of the [orthodox] parishes and dioceses... that want to pull out of the Episcopal Church USA are growing instead of shrinking, have live people in the pews who pay for the upkeep of their churches and don't have to rely on [endowments from] dead rich people. The 21-year-old Christ Church Episcopal in Plano, Texas, for example, is one of the largest Episcopal churches in the country. Its 2,200 worshipers on any given Sunday are about equal to the number of active Episcopalians in ["Bishop"]Jefferts Schori's entire Nevada diocese.

Schori is the female "bishop" whose, whose appointment has stoked the fires of schism and whose inaugural sermon owed more to radical feminism than thoeolgy.