Posted on 11/29/2003 7:05:06 PM PST by ahadams2
Sandy Millar on the New Hampshire Consecration
On All Saints Day we remember the courage of such people in standing for God in an extremely hostile world, which leads me to the issue of Canon Gene Robinson, the newly consecrated Bishop of New Hampshire.
Please note that I’m not speaking for HTB or for Alpha - but I would like to set down some background. I am not seeking to convert those who do not agree, but to strengthen the resolve of those who instinctively feel that what is happening is wrong. I’m not attacking anybody because we’re not fighting flesh and blood, but a new demonic ideology that is attacking the very fabric of the church.
When I started in the Anglican church, the consecration as Bishop of a practicing homosexual who had divorced his wife and left his two children was unthinkable. Now the unthinkable has crept up on our brothers and sisters in the Episcopal Church in America – those who believe orthodox Christian doctrine.
The overwhelming majority of Anglicans across the Communion stands opposed to changes in the Church’s traditional teaching and practice. The African section of the Anglican Communion has been amongst the most vocal in speaking clearly against the convention in the United States. They need encouragement and support.
They point out the ECUSA represents about 2.3m Anglicans in the whole world. In Uganda there are more than eight million Anglicans; Kenya, Tanzania, and South India each have between three and four million and Nigeria has 17 million Anglicans – and yet their protests have been mildly patronized, ridden roughshod over and ignored.
When Archbishop Malango of Central Africa protested, he was accused of meddling in the affairs of the United States. He replied, ‘If I look at my neighbor’s house and I see that it’s on fire, I go and I say to him, "Your house is on fire." ‘And if he says to me, "I like my house to be on fire", what do I do? Well, I go and rescue the children first of all, and then I put out the fire before it spreads to my house as well." And that, of course, is what is beginning to happen.
Some say that it’s not loving to speak like this. But it is loving. The Africans speak from a sense of community. They are passionate about evangelization and show a deep concern for the precious lives that are at stake – the children, young people and people outside the church – over whom this battle is raging. The newly-elected Archbishop of Uganda, Henry Orombi, is a friend of ours here and has preached here many times. It’s a great honor for us as a church that he has invited me to preach at his enthronement as Archbishop of Uganda in Kampala in January 2004.
In a sense, the Church in Uganda was founded on their Martyrs’ Day, June 3rd 1886, when 26 young Christians were wrapped in banana leaves and steamed and burned to death – their bones burnt to cinders. Their crime? They refused the homosexual overtures of the king, replying that they were not able to conform to his wishes because they followed Jesus Christ and their new-found faith protected them from such practices. As they were being martyred, they sang praises to God.
Rather like Stephen, I dare say, they saw the Son of Man seated at the right hand of God, and looked forward to being taken up to be with those who had gone before – saints who preferred to die rather than be compromised. So as we look in gratitude to God for all the saints, prophets and martyrs who have gone before us, we need to respond to the Spirit of God with a new courage. I am not telling any of you what to do, but in thanking God we remember the saints who have gone before. We join with them in rededicating our lives to carry on their fight – the fight for the faith that was handed down to us and must be handed down by us, intact.
In other words, it’s now our turn.
--The Rev. Sandy Millar is Vicar of Holy Trinity, Brompton, from which which the Alpha ministry has spread around the globe.
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