Posted on 06/19/2005 8:02:43 AM PDT by sionnsar
"I urge you, therefore--not I, but Jesus Christ's love--use only Christian food. Keep off foreign fare, by which I mean heresy. For those people mingle Jesus Christ with their teachings just to gain your confidence under false pretenses. It is as if they were giving a deadly poison mixed with honey and wine, with the result that the unsuspecting victim gladly accepts it and drinks down death with fatal pleasure." From The Letter of Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch to the Trallians, Chapter 6 -
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
If there are two words that describe what is currently happening in the Anglican Communion at the present moment, it is clarity and chaos.
In Toronto, 800 faithful orthodox Canadian Anglicans met under the banner of "Open Doors" and declared with absolute clarity what they believed and how they should live their lives in holiness. They stated with simplicity and determination that despite what their national church is doing over affirming same-sex blessings, they are going to stay Anglicans precisely because there is only one Faith, one view about how human beings should behave sexually, and that furthermore they are going to stay till they are thrown out.
To that end they launched a newly formed body called Anglican Essentials Canada to show the Canadian Anglican Church they have no intention of "walking apart" from the global Anglican Communion.
Two other organizations were also launched: the Essentials Federation and the Anglican Network in Canada. Both will come under the umbrella of Anglican Essentials Canada.
The federation was formed to recover the foundational principles of Anglicanism in Canada and to work for their reinstatement in the life of the Anglican Church of Canada.
The Network was formed for those desiring Adequate Episcopal Oversight and to build an ecclesial body (a "lifeboat") to be available in the event the Anglican Church of Canada walks apart from the Global Communion.
...
The two Network bishops, the Rt. Rev. Robert Duncan (ECUSA) and the Rt. Rev. Donald Harvey (Canada), both hold little hope that anything will come out of the ACC conference in Nottingham this week. They may be right.
Even as you receive this digest the Anglican Consultative Council meets in Nottingham, and representatives of the Episcopal Church USA and the Anglican Church in Canada are there "to set out the thinking behind the recent actions of their Provinces." I will be there Tuesday when the ECUSA team makes its report, followed by the Canadians.
...
BUT the big news of the week is that the Rt. Rev. Dr. John Sentamu, 56, bishop of Birmingham, will become the new ARCHBISHOP OF YORK. He is a Ugandan who fled Idi Amin and joins the archbishop of Canterbury. Neither of them is English. Sentamu is the second highest prelate in the Anglican Communion. ...
But a VirtueOnline theologian in England cautioned against too much exuberance over Dr. Sentamu's election. Is his appointment a sop to the burgeoning African Anglican Evangelical influence in the Communion and an effort to still angry voices at the West's rollover to pansexuality?
Dr. Sentamu was on channel 4 news, said a source, and he was trying to have his cake (orthodox, so needs repentance) and eat it (loving and accepting -- and we all need to repent). "Now that it's been announced that Sentamu is going to York, it is really critical that we don't get carried away by 'black Ugandan evangelical as archbishop, hooray hooray, hooray' nonsense," the source said. We must assume a hermeneutic of suspicion on this: the only acceptable view is if he has fully, recently and publicly refused to endorse the Gene Robinson consecration for the right reasons (i.e., that it was morally wrong), not for political reasons (it was ecclesiologically damaging, untimely, inappropriate, etc., etc.). Clear answers to precise questions must be the way forward: an equivocation or balanced viewpoint must be read as supportive of the liberalizing agenda. It would be deadly to make a charitable assumption that he's OK unless we hear otherwise; given the way bishops are appointed in the UK, and given his complete lack of a lead on these issues, we must assume he's on the wrong side unless it's proved (with primary and current evidence) otherwise."
...
IN THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH LAST WEEK five major events occurred that portend further and deeper fragmentation.
A "realignment" document put out by a group of liberals in the Diocese of Pittsburgh, purporting to show detailed plans setting up an alternative Anglican jurisdiction by two primates of the Anglican Communion with the support of American conservatives, may well be a fraud.
"This is not a document that anyone here, including Bishop Duncan, had seen before an article appeared in the Guardian written by pro-gay liberal religion writer Stephen Bates, which he wrote from a press release put out by a group calling themselves Progressive Episcopalians, PEP, a liberal organization of priests and laity trying to unseat the Pittsburgh bishop," Peter Frank, diocesan director of communications, told VirtueOnline.
"There are all sorts of documents written that never see the light of day," said Duncan to VirtueOnline. But an interesting tidbit uncovered by Steve Levin of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said that the unsourced and undated four-page document, named "The Organizing Constitution of the Anglican Global Initiative," has been circulating among some executive members of the Episcopal Church since January, after it was brought to the church's New York headquarters following a meeting of African bishops in Nairobi!!
So Griswold knew about it. Did he release it to the PEP people just prior to the Nottingham meeting in order to get sympathy for himself and his pansexual agenda? Clearly the timing of the revelation of this document cannot be downplayed or overlooked. It might also signify real panic by Griswold that he is losing the theological battle in the pansexual culture wars.
...
In the DIOCESE OF CONNECTICUT, Bishop Andrew D. Smith is ratcheting up the pain on the "Connecticut Six" orthodox parishes and has written a letter to his diocese saying that he has been exploring all the options thoroughly. "The options open to me are few. To take canonical and legal action, or not to take action, each choice has broad and deep consequences for all of us, and I assure you every decision will be made with that awareness."
If I were a betting man I would put my money on Smith's coming down on these godly priests. He has the backing of Griswold and a majority of the HOB, and while he touts diversity and inclusivity he is a canonical fundamentalist.
...
A resolution by Albany Via Media members to withdraw Albany from the Anglican Communion Network was soundly defeated.
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams. Update on the CT6.
Many thanks....FYI..I was at the old parish this morning...8am service, the usual 15 or so in attendance..during the "Prayers of the People"..I snuck in a loud "Pray for the six parishes and their ministers in CT who are involved in a bitter struggle with their presiding Bishop"..It felt very good....
Very good.
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