Posted on 08/08/2003 4:51:55 AM PDT by kattracks
LONDON (AP) — The archbishop of Canterbury said Friday he would summon leaders of the world's Anglican churches to consider the impact of the confirmation of a gay bishop in the United States.
Archbishop Rowan Williams said the meeting was planned for London in October, and invitations would be sent this week.
"I am clear that the anxieties caused by recent developments have reached the point where we will need to sit down and discuss their consequences," Williams said.
The U.S. church this week confirmed the election of the Rev. V. Gene Robinson, a gay clergyman, as bishop of New Hampshire.
The move provoked outrage in parts of the Anglican communion, particularly in the doctrinally conservative African churches.
"I hope that in our deliberations we will find that there are ways forward in this situation which can preserve our respect for one another and for the bonds that unite us," Williams said in a statement issued by his office.
"I hope we can use the time between now and then to reflect, to pray, to consult and to take counsel," the archbishop added
I wouldn't be holding my breath, unless, of course, Satan deems it to be of some advantage to himself. That is, after all, who is the author of the gospel of perversion and its domination of our public, political and now, spiritual life nationally, and even internationally. I won't be in church on Sunday.
It's quite simple really.....so that the transition of America to the new Sodom will be complete. The Gospel is the only thing standing in the way of the rise of socialist totalitarianism on every front. Satan is about making God the enemy. He is having a pretty easy time of it in the secular world due to his devoted army of enablers, the liberals/socialists/democRATs, but he is having to work a little harder to make God the enemy of the church.
You can be assured he has gained a lot of ground with this decision though. There are a lot of weak-minded people who depend on the church to tell them what to believe instead of seeking God in the scriptures for thenselves. Many of them will be lulled into believing that God must think it's okay if the church says so. There are others who will leave the church altogether, not just the Episcopal, but any church, because, like children, their faith is not yet strong enough to cope with an inconsistency of this magnitude. There will be a schism in the church itself, so there will be few "real" Christians left to call the church to repentance. And there will many "evangelized" into the church in its "new" form, who, being naive and not trained in the scriptures, will begin their "Christian" life on false premises.
Robinson himself said he refuses to accept the burden of responsibility for any split in the church which results from his confirmation as bishop. I suspect though, that not only will God hold him, as well as the facilitating church leaders, responsible for a split in the church, but for these others resulting issues as well.
"He said to His disciples, "It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to him through whom they come! (Luke 17:1)
To be honest, I think they believe it's their last hurdle.
"I hope that in our deliberations we will find that there are ways forward in this situation which can preserve our respect for one another and for the bonds that unite us," Williams said
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers:
for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness?
and what communion hath light with darkness?
II Corinthians 6:14
"Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world." (1 John 4:4)
Right.
Anything but crack open a Bible, read, reflect, and obey.
That would be cheating.
The queers are going after the principal bastion against their immoral lifestyle. And in the process, they are going after the real estate and wealth associated with these targets.
Queers are focused on the here and now, not on eternity. They love a hedonistic lifestyle and need to acquire wealth in order to afford it. They also need to destroy all who do not agree with them. In that way, they are like liberals.
My research has revealed that there are at least 5 major Episcopal breakaway groups out there -- Reformed Episcopal, Anglican in America, the Rwanda diocese, etc. etc. Forward in Faith, pointed out on this thread, has as its N.American secretary the rector of the most conservative congregation in Atlanta (Our Saviour/Virginia-Highlands) . . . and I was not previously aware of this group's existence.
We need to have a clearinghouse thread where all shocked and horrified Episcopalians can go to get some direction for the weeks and months ahead. There are too many little splinter groups that have left in the past (and more will no doubt be leaving as of this Sunday!) for a single person to keep track of them all.
If we could just get everything organized and have a place to share knowledge about this crisis, we wouldn't have to stop wailing and gnashing our teeth, but at least we would have something constructive to DO.
How do we go about this, y'all?
I believe you are right. There was a time when I was living in Colorado and Bishop William Frey, a spirit-filled man of God, was our bishop, that I held out hope for our resistance of the abomination of homosexuality becoming prevalent in our church. I saw homosexuals called to repentance and saw the outright rejection of those who sought the priesthood, or even the deaconate, at least if they wished to find support in the local parishes. Like you, I saw the growing trend, and while for a time I held out hope, I knew it was really not a matter of "if" but "when." I said back then that if/when that time came I could no longer in clear conscience associate myself with the church that has always nurtured my spiritual life, but it makes the reality no less painful. In a way, it is like being disowned or betrayed by a parent. This is a time when brothers and sisters who find ourselves in the same boat need to find strength in each other.
That is my feeling as well. This isn't going to go away with a shift in the news cycle.
I'm pretty inept when it comes to web stuff. Do you know how to set it up? I'm a good researcher and I have a lot of contacts in the Episcopal community.
If we can't get this straightened out within the church to preserve a single body of the faithful who oppose this decision, I'm afraid the Episcopal church in America is doomed. We'll be bleeding in two directions - to the evangelicals and to Rome. Dissipating to 8 or 10 little splinter groups will be the death of the church.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.