Posted on 06/20/2008 4:45:35 AM PDT by tcg
A month before the Lambeth Conference, the leaders of the "conservative", or traditionally Christian wing of the Anglican Church have declared that the Worldwide Anglican Communion no longer exists.
The declaration comes in a 94-page book, titled "The Way, the Truth and the Life," from the church leaders meeting at the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) in Jordan.
The Daily Telegraph newspaper reports that in the book, Archbishop Peter Akinola, the Primate of Nigeria, states, "There is no longer any hope, therefore, for a unified Communion".
The book was prepared by GAFCON Theological Resource Team and provides the theological and historical foundation for the movement of orthodox Anglicans that is meeting in Jerusalem June 22 - 29.
"We have made enormous efforts since 1997 in seeking to avoid this crisis, but without success. Now we confront a moment of decision. If we fail to act, we risk leading millions of people away from the faith revealed in the Holy Scriptures and also, even more seriously, we face the real possibility of denying our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ," Akinola writes.
(Excerpt) Read more at catholic.org ...
Sadly, it is now seen as a GAY religious sect. Pathetic. Gene Robinson etal will have some explaining to do.
Anglican ping
I’m an Episcopalian, and both my church and its Diocese are very conservative, so there will be no actively gay priests or bishops here in my lifetime. I place blame for the deliberate and determined destruction of the American Episcopal Church on the so-called “leaders” and do not understand the reason for it.
Gaffe-Con? They didn’t really call it Gaffe-Con, did they? It IS kinda hard to be optimitic in something called Gaffe-Con.
Only by those living in the regions where the smaller national churches exist(ed), North America, Britain, New Zealand, Mexico -- two or three million out of the 77 million of the (former) wwAC, now reduced to only 74 million or so (and growing).
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams.
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Speak the truth in love. Eph 4:15
I don't believe that at any point (until maybe recently -- I left 25 years ago when I saw how rotten it had become) there was an intent to destroy it, as such. Back when I left, there was a deliberate effort to get the church to sign on to the liberal agendas of the time, things such as "unilateral disarmament," womens' ordination, etc.
But the liberal appetite could never be filled, so every step taken made it that much the easier to take the subsequent step, moving it ever closer to the secular liberal ideal.
Guess again. We thought that, too.
If your bishop dies or retires, things will change in a hurry. Our old bishop Frank Allen was a pretty decent fellow, but he retired, and his replacement is a toad and a tool of 815.
Problem is that 815 has gained control of the seminaries, and the bishops under its sway refuse to ordain orthodox candidates, give them a license to preach, or even admit them to seminary. Nobody from Nashotah House or Trinity has been ordained in a long time, except by a very few conservative bishops. And those bishops are being weeded out by 815.
If you lose your rector, you will have a hard time finding an orthodox replacement.
“Sadly, it is now seen as a GAY religious sect. Pathetic. Gene Robinson etal will have some explaining to do.”
It’s the gay church of choice here. One church near the entertainment district even has gay pickup parties (”get togethers”) on Friday nights. It’s known as the spot to go to find someone for the weekend.
In this priest’s opinion - the whole homosexual “thing” in TEC is a symptom of a much larger and insidious issue: a direct and intentional drive towards a “Sacramental Humanism”. Both the homosexual movement and TEC are simply using each other to further a “self” centered agenda.
Our bishop is brand new, having replaced one who just retired, and he is as conservative if not more so than the old one, so I’m confident he will continue until I am gone.
Our rector in fact did recently retire, and we’re searching for a replacement now. I’m confident that the rector we select will meet our requirements in terms of adherence to Scripture. But if not, then I’ll leave and become a Roman Catholic; I know they’ve had their issues with homosexual priests, but at least the practice isn’t condoned by the Pope.
Robinson will do no such explaining, nor will he ever feel he should. People like this do not care what has happened to the Episcopal Church. They are glad - very glad - that the traditionalists are either leaving or have already left. They see all of this as a reason to “celebrate.” They celebrate their diversity, they celebrate their sexuality, and “marriages,” and they also celebrate what they see as a victory over repressive and reactionary forces. My family and I left for Rome several years ago, and have never looked back. Best decision we ever made.
Don’t forget what paved the way for “sacramental humanism” (I’ve never heard it put that way) : An arrogant abandonment of holy Scripture firstly and tradition secondarily as authoritative.
Pike of 40 years ago, and Spong of 20, with many others along the way up to today—were allowed to remain bishops, even when they were proven apostate.
Our relatively conservative, "high" church hired a rector from another state who pretended to be orthodox to get the job. Turned out he not only was a screaming liberal and good buddies with 815, he also had been in legal trouble in the past. He got into trouble again here and got fired, but only after he drove a good portion of the people away by his high handed admin style and support of 'bishop' Vicki Gene.
Problem is, the former congregation will not want to say anything because (1) they're glad to get rid of him and (2) they're afraid of a defamation lawsuit.
I looked carefully into the predatory priest issue before we became Catholic. It is almost entirely in the past at this point, and moreover the problem was largely in otherwise disobedient and heterodox dioceses. Our archdiocese here is very orthodox and conservative.
“Sacramental Humanism” - should I copyright that? ;)
Might I ask what your Church and Diocese are planning to do? Would you be joining the Africans? I, personally, in my humble opinion as a non-Episcopalian, think that seems like a good idea
True — God bless you traditional Anglicans. Keep the faith!
Genie is intentionally destroying the Anglican Church. What are his motives??
As it stands at the moment, we’re going by the book. The Diocese will remain with the ECUSA, and we’re now conducting a search aided by the Diocese. I’m on the Vestry (but not on the Search Committee) and I’m watching the process as closely as possible.
I mentioned to a fellow Vestry member (who’s also a member of the Search Committee) what some have posted on this thread re the systematic elimination of orthodox candidates and he didn’t believe it, so I plan to be even more watchful as well as talk to other searchers.
Owing to what some on this thread have inferred, I think I will “nudge” toward the selection from those candidates not from either coast (East or left), but the general area that we’re in. As I said in an earlier post, if the unthinkable happens, we (Mrs. Marauder and I) are gone.
The same motives as the entire cadre of Bolsheviks in this country: The destruction of America's institutions and moral foundations to pave the way for the establishment of a socialist USA. That's been their goal since the days of Karl Marx. They've taken over most other institutions, including education, mass media (note how they can't abide the existence of conservative talk radio or even one neutral cable news channel), entertainment, and much of the Judicial Branch of government. We should've anticipated that churches would be next.
Thank you, Cronos, we shall.
Took an opportunity Sunday to attend services (Orthros and the Divine Liturgy) at a Greek Orthodox church close by my hotel, there being no Anglican church nearby and the TEC cathedral offered only the wretched Rite II (plus the photo of the woman rector with the woman bishop was warning enough), at an hour that was bad for my schedule anyway.
Not easy since I don't know Greek (half the service was in Greek, the rest in English) and the form and order of service was quite different from Anglican, but... I could identify portions and progressions in the service, and the Creed was close to verbatim given that they're hardly likely to use Cranmerian English.
I have never before felt so much at home in a non-Anglican church service.
“Took an opportunity Sunday to attend services (Orthros and the Divine Liturgy) at a Greek Orthodox church close by my hotel, there being no Anglican church nearby....”
Holy Trinity?
“I have never before felt so much at home in a non-Anglican church service.”
I am happy to hear that and not at all surprised! :)
I think that’s really good. It is difficult for Anglicans to become Catholics, but, if your Church gets too ravaged by the Robinsons, you would be more than welcome in any of the Apostolic Churches
But I will note that a number of Episcopalians have gone to Rome without overmuch difficulty. Fewer have gone to the Orthodox churches, but that may have something to do with the relative size of the R.C. church in the U.S. as opposed to the Orthodox. Plus the Catholics always have banner out, whereas the Orthodox wait for you to walk in the door. (And maybe sometimes wait for even more than that.)
Sion, as someone from the inside, would you be able to tell us why more Anglican parishes or dioceses aren’t breaking away and joining with the Africans?
Sion, as someone from the inside, would you be able to tell us why more Anglican parishes or dioceses aren’t breaking away and joining with the Africans? And, what do you think started this downhill journey? What can we Catholics do to prevent anything like this from happening to our Church?
“Plus the Catholics always have banner out, whereas the Orthodox wait for you to walk in the door. (And maybe sometimes wait for even more than that.)”
Hey.....we’re busy making the cafe and the baklava! You know our motto, “Come for the food, stay for the religion!”
On a serious note, it really seems that Christianity is being attacked on two fronts — in the WEst and in the ME.
“On a serious note, it really seems that Christianity is being attacked on two fronts — in the WEst and in the ME.”
Its worse than that. It is being attacked in the ME by forces which have been encouraged financially and militarily by the West. The war in Iraq has written finis to the history of Christianity there and the American government simply looks the other way and supports the imposition of Sharia law. The same is becoming true in the Holy Land. Christians in Lebanon have no future. The nearest to safe place for Christians in the ME is probably Syria. In the West, it is being attacked socially and in the Balkans, once again militarily but with the Mohammedan attackers financed, protected and militarily backed by the West. That so many Western Christians stand by and cheer governments who pursue this policy speaks volumes about the nature of especially Western Protestant Christianity.
Oh boy... a tall order, and not a good one when one is a wee bit overtired from travel. Nevertheless..
One point I need to make up front: In the U.S. the term "Anglican" does not mean the same thing as "Episcopal," and using them incorrectly only creates confusion over and above the existing confusing over the term Anglican."
Once upon a time in the U.S., "Anglican" referred to "Church of England (CofE) or her offspring national churches" (including the Episcopal church, named such after the Revolution because the former colonies weren't too keen on England at the time). The Episcopal church (whether it calls itself PECUSA, ECUSA or TEC) could be called "Anglican in form"but it has never to my knowledge branded itself an Anglican church.
None of that mattered until the break-aways of the 1970s. Searching for a name to express their identity, they chose the name used by CofE and others elsewhere --"Anglican"-- it perfectly captured the sense of their identity while distancing themselves from the Episcopal church.
A name sometimes used by insiders (Episcopal/Anglican) for these breakaway churches is "Continuing Anglican," which makes clear the distinction between these churches (which with one exception retain the tradition of national boundaries), and CofE and her "offspring" national churches which are simply "Anglican."
Calling Episcopal churches "Anglican" is thus somewhat akin to naming "Empire" forces as "Rebel Alliance."
And I have been a "continuing" Anglican (former Episcopalian) for over 25 years now.
So...
1. ...why more Anglican parishes or dioceses aren’t breaking away and joining with the Africans? Three reasons: the vast majority of those willing and able to leave have already left, some of those remaining look for a "good" outcome, and a few may be playing ostrich.
Understand, the bleeding over the leftward shift of (P)ECUSA/TEC started in the late 70s, comprised both of parish and individual departures.
The parish departures prompted a new canon (possibly not legally ratified) that church properties belonged to the diocese, not the churches that built them themselves, and this did pretty much halt parish departures until recently -- though there have been cases of parishes simply abandoning their property.
But I think it was the individual departures that gutted the Episcopal church of those who would otherwise have stood against the apostasy. (I can hardly blame the departees; the deck was already stacked against them, and I joined them when I moved to an area already lost to the Empire.)
There was no unified resistance in the Episcopal church; you fought on your own, or you walked. And many of those who might have fought remained silent, hoping it would blow over.
2. What started the downhill journey? Some Roman Catholic FReepers pin it on Henry VIII, though rebuttal has been posted here from time to time, and does not explain why it's a minority going downhill while the majority, um, soldiers on.
But even in Episcopal/Anglican circles the "when" is debated. Some say it began with the acceptance of contraception (and some say that was an indicator of the church beginning to buy into a secular master). Others pin it at the church's inability to deal with an apostate bishop (Pike). Others pin it at two concurrent events: the significant removal of "sin" from the liturgy (1979 Book of Common Prayer) and the deceitful "test run" of ordained women. Yet others pin it at more recent events, but to me these arguments all deny what is clearly a slippery slope. Wherever it became such.
3. What can we Catholics do to prevent anything like this from happening to our Church? I'm not strong on how the Roman Catholic church operates, but conferring with my wife who knows more than I do, there seems to be two courses of action.
One is volunteer and work at laity positions within your church (the invasion of these by the Left was a significant part of the downfall of the Episcopal church, from my observations), and make your displeasure known to the hierarchy when things go awry.
Another is to strongly encourage faithful conservative young men to enter the ministry (a strategy that will take decades).
You have an excellent start with Pope Benedict 16th. But it's only a start, just holding your enemy at bay. Y'all need to get active and start taking back the territory taken from you by the libs. It's hard work, admitted, but your only choices are to drive them out (or convert them), or capitulate now or later.
Let the Episcopal church, and some others, be a warning.
(IMHO)
Well, I guess you have us Anglicans thoroughly trumped there. Nobody ever went to England for the food.
I beg to differ — some of my fav meals are fish n chips, steak and kidney pie, shepherd’s pie, bangers and mash and toad in a hole. English nosh ain’t half bad!
Some of those aren’t bad, I agree. But not like Greek food (which I like about as much as I do Persian *\;-).
“Some of those aren’t bad, I agree. But not like Greek food (which I like about as much as I do Persian *\;-).”
Ah, now tonight we had grilled shrimp with olive oil, garlic and lemon, fasulakia, spanikopita a nice “village” salad and a simple light white wine on the porch by the pond, preceded by grace in Greek.
Bangers and mash are good, C, but really........
Along with the comfortable 62F temperatures that discourages mosquitoes (I've seen 3 so far this summer).
“I’m an Episcopalian, and both my church and its Diocese are very conservative,”
But your tithes go to support those so-called “leaders” and pay for their New York offices and their trips to the bath houses.
“Guess I’ll have to make do with ribs, sweetcorn, wine....”
Real shame that! Offer it up as a penance, S!
“does a nice inexpensive Shiraz go with ribs?”
The name sounds vaguely Mohammedan. I’d stay away from it. Now, a nice Nemean Red, Lion’s Blood perhaps, would do just fine.
As parishioners we are allowed to specify that the normal portion of our individual tithes in fact do not go to the ECUSA. We of course selected that option on our pledge card.
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