Posted on 06/02/2005 1:00:03 PM PDT by sionnsar
Ah, the Church of England on Civil Partnerships:
“A Church of England spokesman said this week: “The Church of England’s position on same-sex relationships has not changed and is not about to change in the light of the Civil Partnerships Act, that comes into effect in December. It is set out in the General Synod motion of 1987 and the House of Bishops’ statement, Issues in Human Sexuality.
“The Church’s approach to civil partnerships will reflect the fact that they will not be marriages, nor based on the presumption of sexual relations between the two people making the legal agreement.
“A working party of the House of Bishops has been drafting a Pastoral Statement in response to the Act. This was discussed at the House of Bishops meetings in January and May. The House has agreed its broad approach and the statement is being amended to take account of those discussions. It will be published in the course of the summer.”
The richest of all Anglican fudge. It can be found here.
As I am often want to say, don’t pee down my back and tell me it’s raining. “Don’t ask, don’t tell, sign a civil contract, shack up, jointly handle your finances…”
I’m still waiting to see how the evangelicals react in England to the Civil Partnerships business, and this ACC meeting. But should I even care? The Evangelicals kept Jeffrey John from taking the mitre, but why is there not so much as a whimper from them now? There’s been nothing from Anglican Mainstream UK, nothing from the AAC for that matter, other than “this has happened", and even David Virtue, while dutifully reporting the news, hasn’t said much either.
Rumor has it at David Virtue’s place that Bishop Bruno and 19 other bishops, 10 liberal and 10 conservative, are going to plan ECUSA’s divorce. This from the Bishop who sued three of his parishes. Perhaps he has seen how much lawyers cost, and realized that litigation is not a good way to resolve this dispute.
The Panel of Reference is going to be absolutely useless. We should have known that it would be.
We are going to have to save ourselves - either by leaving the church, or fighting for it. Our only help will come from God. While I hate to prejudge the meeting in Nottingham, I think the liberals have won the “Anglican” Communion, as they’ve likely won the key battleground, the C of E. I don’t think ECUSA is salvagable, at this point, but we shall see after Nottingham whether there will be a place for the orthodox in ECUSA to turn - whether the Anglican Communion will even be there for us.
To quote one of my favorite bands, it’s the end of the world as we know it.
As the Christians in the Global South have said, I don’t need Canterbury to get to Jesus. I certainly don’t need ECUSA either. I don’t need my Diocese, as much as I love it and as much as the people of the Diocese have shown me Jesus Christ. I don’t need my parish, St. James, as much as I love it, and although I was baptized there, confirmed there, baptized my children there, served on the vestry there and in a variety of other capacities. I can and could abandon all these things, and still be connected with Jesus; still be connected with the Body of Christ. That is the only solace I have right now.
Am I saying that everyone should leave ECUSA now? No, not yet. We need to keep everything together until GC2006. That will be the defining moment. All will be made clear. GC2006 will likely confirm a non-celibate homosexual bishop for the Diocese of California and normalize same sex blessings, despite pleas of repentance, compromise, and reconciliation from me and others. There won’t be an elephant in the living room anymore. There won’t be living room anymore either.
The Saints, their watch are keeping, their cry goes up, “how long?” End of June, 2005? For me, it is June 2006. I will go to GC2006, as I stood for election to be a deputy. Perhaps I’ll see a change for the better, or a divorce, but after that, I’ll know what I need to do, and I can tell God I hung in there, as long as I could.
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams.
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