News Analysis
By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
1/2/2008
While liberal Anglicans are united in their opposition to a conference of orthodox Anglicans in the Holy Land this summer, Evangelical Anglicans from across the globe are deeply divided over whether such a conference is historically permissible, ecclesiastically justified or theologically appropriate, dividing as it is, a communion already conflicted over human sexuality and doctrinal denial.
The Rt. Rev. C. FitzSimons Allison, the former bishop of South Carolina, told VOL that plans for the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) are the most encouraging news in years. "The apparently willful reluctance to face the issue of faith as the indispensable ground for Anglican unity is finally broken. The fatal flaw of the Windsor Report was substituting the breaking of "bonds of affection" for the reality of broken bonds of faith. 'Instruments of unity' have their integrity only so far as they represent the Anglican faith."
The evangelical bishop. who holds a doctorate in theology from Oxford University, said that "to object to this much needed opportunity on the grounds of its lacking precedents is fatuous. Necessity must always be allowed to trump precedence. There were no precedents for bishops in the United States after the American Revolution. There were no precedents for Seabury's consecration. Both Archbishops of York and Canterbury opposed Seabury's going to Scotland and the latter objected to Seabury's inclusion in Claggett's consecration (an objection that Bishop White ignored).
There were no English precedents for missionary bishops in the 19th century. The integrity of the present Archbishop of Canterbury's role as an instrument of unity depends on his faithfulness not to the alleged 'bonds of affection' or to the genealogy of his precedents but to his adherence to the Anglican faith. The integrity of Anglicanism cannot hang merely on the thread of appointments by the prime minister of a state that is itself in an accelerating secular departure from its Anglican roots.
"To put individuals or ad hoc groups in the now inevitable position of making theological judgments on their own regarding submission to or acquiescing in what may seem to be unfaithful or apostate leadership is, in the long run, chaos. To have reputable theologians representing much, if not most, of world wide Anglicanism draw up some simple guidelines around the essentials of the Anglican faith (something the Archbishop of Canterbury has declared Lambeth will not do) and present them as a confessional movement within the Anglican Communion (not a departure from it) would be of utmost reassurance and essential to any effective unity in Anglicanism. It could be a creative contribution to the Lambeth Conference giving them something the Conference could use or amend leading to a wider and more enduring unity."
The scholarly bishop concluded with this, "Our historic unity has been founded on the faith expressed in the Prayer Book and official formularies and faithfulness to the vows to guard them. But gradually that foundation has been replaced by who gets invited to Lambeth and by exhortations not to break bonds of affection. I thank God for those leaders who have committed themselves to this endeavor to under gird our Communion with the faith that gave it birth."
The orthodox Primate of Jerusalem and the Middle East, the Most Rev. Dr. Mouneer Anis, whose voice expressed opposition to The Episcopal Church's pansexual agenda in New Orleans earlier this year, opposed the GAFCON meeting arguing "timing and venue" saying that "if we all attend, Lambeth and the Anglican Communion are ours. We can change many things as in 1998. No one will force a specific agenda if we do not accept. Our presence can help those who are not aware of the problems."
He then cited historical precedent saying that St. Athanasius of Alexandria and his Bishop went to Nicaea and fought the good fight against Arius and won. "The creed that we say today was the result of this."
The Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem, Bishop Suheil Dawani, also expressed his concern about GAFCON saying that he had not been consulted about this planned conference.
"I am deeply troubled that this meeting, of which we had no prior knowledge, will import inter-Anglican conflict into our diocese, which seeks to be a place of welcome for all Anglicans.
"It could also have serious consequences for our ongoing ministry of reconciliation in this divided land. Indeed, it could further inflame tensions here. We who minister here know only too well what happens when two sides cease talking to each other.
"I urge the organizers to reconsider this conference urgently."
One of the organizers of GAFCON, the Most Rev. Peter Akinola of Nigeria, argued strenuously for the primacy of the gospel. "Our meeting must not be in reaction to Lambeth. We must set the agenda of the gospel first. We have dissipated so much energy and focused on TEC agenda for four years that we have not adequately discussed these matters of the greatest importance. We began to do so at the Africa Bishops conference at Lagos in 2004. We now wish to meet as a Global Fellowship to build on those discussions."
The Bishop of Rochester, Dr. Michael Nazir-Ali, also weighed in on the crisis warning the Archbishop of Canterbury that he may boycott next year's Lambeth Conference, saying that he had been consulted by telephone about the GAFCON meeting without saying definitely that he would attend either. He said he will make a decision in February.
Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, he said, "My difficulty at the moment is not with a particular person, such as Gene Robinson, but with those who felt it right to approve and officiate at his ordination. Unless they are willing to say that what they did was contrary to the Gospel, and we all of us from time to time need to repent about what we have done wrong, I would find it very difficult to be with them in a council of bishops."
VirtueOnline has been told that N.T. Wright, Bishop of Durham, is in "deep mourning" over the failure of the Windsor bishops to speak up in New Orleans earlier this year, leaving TEC vulnerable to further and deeper criticism for its failure to act.
GAFCON spokesman Canon Chris Sugden would not be drawn out on whether or not Dr Williams would be invited to the rival conference. He said, "Of course, the Archbishop will be preoccupied with the Lambeth Conference, but no decisions have been made yet." A spokeswoman for Lambeth Palace said the Archbishop of Canterbury would not be making any comment on the alternative conference. However, in his Advent letter to bishops, Dr Williams warned that refusal to meet at the conference would be "a refusal of the cross - and so of the resurrection". He said: "It is historically an aspect of the role of the Archbishop of Canterbury to articulate the mind of the Communion, in moments of tension and controversy.
"I do so out of the profound conviction that the existence of our Communion is truly a gift of God to the wholeness of Christ's Church and that all of us will be seriously wounded and diminished if our Communion fractures any further; but also out of the no less profound conviction that our identity as Anglicans is not something without boundaries."
VOL has since learned that the ABC has not been invited and will not be invited as it would defeat the entire purpose of an orthodox gathering of Anglican leaders. It would also send a confused signal to liberals who see GAFCON as an opposition Lambeth in July.
The possibility of an alternative Lambeth clearly has a lot of orthodox Anglicans deeply worried. The Rev. Michael Poon, a priest in the Diocese of Singapore who runs a blog called Global South Anglican (GSA) a website named after the 3rd South Encounter in Oct '05 but not endorsed by Global South primates, said he was saddened and shocked by the Statement on the Conference, and asked on what basis did the Primates of Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Southern Cone, and Tanzania declare themselves as orthodox primates? "What is the basis of orthodoxy?" he cried.
"Historically, the Communion takes Canon A5 "Doctrine of the Church of England" and C15 "On the Preface to the Declaration of Assent" of the Church of England as the basis of its belief. Did the Primates at Nairobi act on their personal capacity or as primates of their respective churches that "represent over 30 million of the 55 million active Anglicans in the world"? It would be helpful if the Primates and bishops are able to have their Statement ratified through due process by their Provincial/National/Diocesan Synods."
Sydney Archbishop Peter Jensen, one of the conveners of GAFCON, defended the Anglican Conference in Israel saying that the aim of the Conference is to discuss the future of mission and relationships within the churches of the Anglican Communion.
"Those who wish to retain biblical standards especially in the area of sexual ethics have spent much time and effort in negotiations on these issues in the last five years. They want to move on together with the gospel of Christ's Lordship, a gospel which challenges us and changes lives."
That is not the language of "mission" as it is defined by Mrs. Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church.
"Since 2003, patient attempts have been made to call the offending North Americans back to biblical standards. Many American Anglicans are now more aware of the distress which their actions have caused others, and regret this impact," said Jensen
"At the same time, however, others have condemned attempts by Global South Bishops to provide ministry for the orthodox Christians who still wish to be Anglican, but cannot continue to do so in the fellowship of the American churches.
"Individuals, parishes and even dioceses have left the original church, becoming associated with other dioceses in other parts of the world, and with new bishops being appointed from overseas to care for the disaffected. Such has been the fall-out that it is now clear that we will never go back to being the Communion which we once were. There has been a permanent change.
"The action of some North Americans severely hurt the witness of these churches. It also hindered the good effect that membership of the Anglican Communion has for those who live in a situation where Christians are in a minority," concluded Jensen.
The Rev. Dr. Peter Toon, President of the Prayer Book Society USA, disagreed sharply saying this, "Many Anglicans understand the frustration felt especially by African Anglican leaders at the way in which the North Americans have been able to tie up the Anglican Family in discussing their issues, while they seem not to have departed from their innovations in sexual relations and morality.
"Many of us agree with them and with Dr. Jensen that the Archbishop of Canterbury made a mistake in inviting to Lambeth 2008 those American bishops who consecrated Gene Robinson, for they are as guilty, if not more so, than Robinson himself. (One suspects that one reason was his invitation was that the money from the U.S.A. is necessary to pay a lot of the massive bills for Lambeth 2008 and not to invite them possibly meant that no money or less money would be available, and thus Lambeth could not occur!-few bishops pay for their board and lodgings!)
"However, in charity, in long suffering, in going the extra mile, and in loving even their enemies, the Bishops of Nigeria, Rwanda, and other provinces could still go to Lambeth-and go to show how that faith works through love, and that truth and unity are not opposed but are two sides of the one divine coin.
"One does not know what three weeks together in ancient Canterbury-as we all pray for them-could achieve under the loving guidance of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit."
Toon concluded with, "To plan a Conference a month before Lambeth 2008, in a place where the local Anglican Bishop was not first consulted, does not seem to be a wise or even courteous action. Why could not a Conference if needed be planned for late 2008 or early 2009 - after Lambeth 2008?"
On hearing the news about the GAFCON gabfest, conservative Episcopal bloggers went wild, reacting like pit bulls caught in a ring with no exit.
Layman Christopher Johnson, who runs a blog called MidWest Conservative Journal and a supporter of GAFCON, said this, "Anglicanism isn't dying. Anglicanism is killing itself."
Another blogger wrote, "[This is] an overdue civil war between liberal apostates and conservative Anglicans. That's fine. A second civil war between conservatives: Institutional Anglicans versus Biblical Anglicans. That hurts. If, as Johnson points out, the Anglican Communion is suicidally killing itself, then it behooves and practically mandates a split. Simple as that. Just Shut Up and DO IT."
Another blogger opined that a boycott of Lambeth (assuming that political machinations to take over Lambeth proceedings are ruled out) to create "a de facto split is necessary. It's the last resort and the last resort had to be used because there really will NOT be any effective discipline for heretical and apostate provinces."
The nastier and more vicious comments came from conservatives at Stand Firm and Titusonenine where bloggers are literally tearing each other apart over the pros and cons of GAFCON.
American Theologian Christopher Seitz of the Anglican Communion Institute blasted GAFCON saying the Global South represents a broad spectrum of Anglican churches that hold onto the historic faith and ecclesiology informed by the historic formularies. "It does not answer to the dictates of the radical evangelical wings within the Communion. It is regrettable that Asia, West Indies, and Middle East are glaring omissions among the 'conveners' of the proposed Conference. Have they been consulted?"
He wrote to the Rev. Matt Kennedy, a blogger at SF, saying, "It would not surprise me in the least if my teaching and scholarly study were unknown to you-why should they be? Calvin would not find this discourse edifying, in large measure because he was both an intellectual of serious renown, and because his pastoral humility would require him to work only at projects with the prospect of building up the faithful."
A former T19 blogger wrote back, "As I read Seitz's remarks I interpret him saying that this GAFCON project is not building up the faithful. As such John Calvin would not deign to touch it. But Kennedy would. And so by extension, Kennedy does not possess pastoral humility in this matter. Unlike John Calvin. Unlike the Great Calvinist Professor Dr. Chris Seitz. Hilarious!"
"I fear that SF and T19 may simply become a kind of social activity of the like-minded with not a lot else to do. Numbered jokes at the old folks home," said another blogger.
Whatever the future holds for the Anglican Communion, and its future is decidedly precarious, GAFCON will meet in the Holy Land in June. Lambeth will meet in July in Canterbury.
Proportionally, the numbers of bishops at GAFCON will be fewer than Lambeth 2008, BUT they will represent 70 percent or more of the entire Anglican Communion! Lambeth may well see more bishops, but they are representing fewer and fewer Anglicans worldwide. There can be little doubt, as Western Anglicanism continues to sink into the sunset with ever diminishing congregations pushing a pansexual agenda, and bowing to the "spirit of the age", that Anglicanism will either be forced to reform itself or slide into ecclesiastical and theological irrelevancy, a victim of its own desire to transgress the moral order, thus bringing about its own destruction.
END
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