THE MCJ

I consider this occuring as a high-probability event. In fact, GAFCON may also turn out to be a muddled affair with a form of words document too. I hope this turns out not to be the case, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if GAFCON painted with indistinct veiled lines instead of clear, dark, bold-face lines.

My personal take is that you need strong, clear, simple unambiguous statements and actions to escape the black hole of ecumenical heresy and apostasy in order to reach towards the Light and to also be the Light in a broken, fallen world.

NOW is the time for each Christ following individual and each leader to act. There is a great theological divide between TEC and orthodoxy. Read Wm. Witt's comments on SFIF re Kasper's question.

My personal take is that you need strong, clear, simple unambiguous statements and actions to escape the black hole of ecumenical heresy and apostasy in order to reach towards the Light and to also be the Light in a broken, fallen world.

Right on! Where's Puddleglum to stamp out the drugged fire when you need him? Maybe Bishop Duncan is planning to contribute his eyebrows to the cause. I'm sure singed hair is as bracing as burnt Marsh-wiggle :-) He and Bishop Iker are the right ones to bear witness to the truth.

Well, I just read some comments on SFIF on the Cardinal Kasper thread and they seem to confirm my 2nd paragraph above.

(1) "We had the privilege and honor of lunch with ++Venables on Sunday. He has no intention of leaving the Anglican Communion or of alienating the same. It is his intent to offer Christian refuge to fellow Christians; something that TEC has abandoned. His offering us a place to put Christ first, and then be able to have open study and discussion of secondary issues is like an iceberg in the desert. We are blessed with the strength and love of this outreaching hand from the Southern Cone."

Brother Leroy on 5-7 at 9:11pm

(2) "What I believe the GS has said is that they intend to remain fully a part of the Anglican Communion, but will seek to redefine it. I don’t think that equates with them “leaving” the Anglican Communion."

James W. on 5-7 at 10:11pm

they have quite a network.. http://www.stthomasmedina.org/Sermons/2007-08/sermon20080504.pdf

Right now,that prospect seems absurd, but things may look very different in 10 or 20 or 100 years. While the CofE looks pretty bad right now, it has a more viable orthodox wing than TEC. We don't know who will succeed Rowan Williams, but it looks as if the next ABC will be picked by the church, rather than by politicians.

You see, the very worst thing that could have happened to dear Rowan would be if there was a formal split in the Anglican Communion during his tenure as ABC. But that won't happen. Oh sure, it's quite embarrassing that this Lambeth won't be well attended, but so what, that can be rationalized as pouting fundamentalist Anglican bishops who can't and won't play nicely with others.

If I was the ABC I'd laugh my head off silly with hysterically happy giddiness if all the GS/GAFCON primates wanted was a marital separation. Oh I'd still make the same serious noises of grave concern in public about all that's going on with the usual solemnity, but at home I'd do the endzone touchdown dancing jig. For I maintained my theological convictions as an affirming Anglo-Catholic, the Manchester Report will start to take effect, I still get the TEc bankroll, it looks like I'm doing something with the commissioning of the ultimate can-kicking farce called the Anglican Draft Covenant which will extend far past my tenure as ABC, and all the provinces are still in relationship with the See of Canterbury. Oh Happy Day!

I'd chuckle quite happily at the memory of running to attend TEc's New Orleans HOB meeting when they requested to meet with me. And when my fellow archbishops requested an all-primates meeting post 9/30/07 to adjudicate compliance as expected and stipulated per the Dar Es Salaam Communique, I flatly refused them. I dissed those agitators who tried to force my hand. And all they want is a "marital separation"? Hallelujah! Have fun in GAFCON and let's trade letters. Want to walk out at Lambeth? Go ahead. You're still in relationship with Canterbury.

GLBT ordinations will still go on. GLBT blessings will still go on. Border crossings will still go on. Lawsuits and depositions will still go on. But so what! I, the ABC, still technically have an intact Anglican Communion! It didn't formally split during my tenure! Give it to the next guy to handle these bunch of unruly children who can't play nicely in the Elizabethan Settlement sandbox.

Katherine, I never said that was the goal. My comment above was perverse applause to the ABC for having played both revisionist TEc and the GS Bishops so well.

"The goal, however, is to have some sort of renewed Anglican body emerge from the ashes."

A "Marital Separation" is a terrific way to achieve the goal of a renewed Anglican body emerging from the ashes. A "marital separation" of undeterminate length is just the right prescription of hope for parishes like this one:

Upper South Carolina: St. Christopher’s, Spartanburg Splits, Rector & Vestry Majority Resign and More From The All Is Well™ File In The Diocese Of Upper South Carolina

InNewark: "Cutting oneself off forever from the ancient See where our church was founded is another matter entirely -- a very dangerous step for a church that claims to uphold Tradition."

Oh absolutely. Therefore, a "marital separation" is entirely what's needed. ++Venables and the other GS bishops completely understand the need to maintain a formal connection to the See of Canterbury in order to uphold precious Anglican Tradition.

There is so much hope offered by a "marital separation" of indeterminate length. All Anglicans should just continue waiting, hoping, and praying; remembering that the all important thing is to worship together. Meanwhile ....

The institutionalists -- no matter how "conservative" they claim to be -- who remain wedded to Canturbury aren't going to do anything.

Remember, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION. There are just a bunch of national churches with a historic connection who have no central authority, no common discipline, no shared standards of doctrine, no mutual accountability, NOTHING. "The Anglican Communion" as currently constituted is meaningless as anything other than an informal fellowship of independent churches which have a shared background. And which have increasingly less in common in what they teach, believe and practice. It is neither Anglican nor a Communion.

Thus those institutionalists who continue to compromise the faith just to remain wedded to Canturbury are selling their birthright for a mess of pottage -- they are compromising the faith and getting, in return, NOTHING. Well, nothing except tea with the Queen every 10 years.

Genuine Anglican Christianity continues to be practiced in some of those national jurisdictions. In others -- like PEcUSA -- it has been abandoned. But genuine Anglican Christianity in America still exists... and exists where it has for 30 years. Just not in PEcUSA.

The question confronting those -- like CJ -- who have come to recognize and abohor PEcUSA's apostasy (from not just Anglicanism but from Christianity itself) is NOT whether or not they wish to stay in PEcUSA to remain Anglican -- it is, rather, whether or not they want to leave PEcUSA in order to RETURN to Anglicanism.

pax,
LP

 
The Continuation of Anglicanism

We affirm that the Church of our fathers, sustained by the most Holy Trinity, lives yet, and that we, being moved by the Holy Spirit to walk only in that way, are determined to continue in the Catholic Faith, Apostolic Order, Orthodox Worship and Evangelical Witness of the traditional Anglican Church, doing all things necessary for the continuance of the same. We are upheld and strengthened in this determination by the knowledge that many provinces and dioceses of the Anglican Communion have continued steadfast in the same Faith, Order, Worship and Witness, and that they continue to confine ordination to the priesthood and the episcopate to males. We rejoice in these facts and we affirm our solidarity with these provinces and dioceses.

The Dissolution of Anglican and Episcopal Church Structure

We affirm that the Anglican Church of Canada and the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, by their unlawful attempts to alter Faith, Order and Morality have departed from Christ's One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

The Need to Continue Order in the Church

We affirm that all former ecclesiastical governments, being fundamentally impaired by the schismatic acts of lawless Councils, are of no effect among us, and that we must now reorder such godly discipline as may strengthen us in the continuation of our common life and witness.

The Invalidity of Schismatic Authority

We affirm that the claim of any such schismatic person or body to act against any Church member, clerical or lay, for his witness to the whole Faith is with no authority of Christ's true Church, and any such inhibition, deposition or discipline is without effect and is absolutely null and void.

The Need for Principles and a Constitution

We affirm that fundamental principles (doctrinal, moral, and constitutional) are necessary for the present, and that a Constitution (redressing the defects and abuses of our former governments) should be adopted, whereby the Church may be soundly continued.

The Continuation of Communion with Canterbury

We affirm our continued relations of communion with the See of Canterbury and all faithful parts of the Anglican Communion.

WHEREFORE, with a firm trust in Divine Providence, and before Almighty God and all the company of heaven, we solemnly affirm, covenant and declare that we, lawful and faithful members of the Anglican and Episcopal Churches, shall now and hereafter continue and be the unified continuing Anglican Church in North America, in true and valid succession thereto.

 
FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES

In order to carry out these declarations, we set forth these fundamental Principles for our continued life and witness.

PREFACE

In the firm conviction that "we shall be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ," and that "there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved," and acknowledging our duty to proclaim Christ's saving Truth to all peoples, nations and tongues, we declare our intention to hold fast the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Faith of God.

We acknowledge that rule of faith laid down by St. Vincent of Lerins: "Let us hold that which has been believed everywhere, always and by all, for that is truly and properly Catholic."

I. PRINCIPLES OF DOCTRINE

The Nature of the Church

We gather as people called by God to be faithful and obedient to Him. As the Royal Priestly People of God, the Church is called to be, in fact, the manifestation of Christ in and to the world. True religion is revealed to man by God. We cannot decide what is truth, but rather (in obedience) ought to receive, accept, cherish, defend and teach what God has given us. The Church is created by God, and is beyond the ultimate control of man.

The Church is the Body of Christ at work in the world. She is the society of the baptized called out from the world: In it, but not of it. As Christ's faithful Bride, she is different from the world and must not be influenced by it.

The Essentials of Truth and Order

We repudiate all deviation of departure from the Faith, in whole or in part, and bear witness to these essential principles of evangelical Truth and apostolic Order:

Holy Scriptures

The Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the authentic record of God's revelation of Himself, His saving activity, and moral demands - a revelation valid for all men and all time.

The Creeds

The Nicene Creed as the authoritative summary of the chief articles of the Christian Faith, together with the "Apostles' Creed, and that known as the Creed of St. Athanasius to be "thoroughly received and believed" in the sense they have had always in the Catholic Church.

Tradition

The received Tradition of the Church and its teachings as set forth by "the ancient catholic bishops and doctors," and especially as defined by the Seven Ecumenical Councils of the undivided Church, to the exclusion of all errors, ancient and modern.

Sacraments

The Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, the Holy Eucharist, Holy Matrimony, Holy Orders, Penance and Unction of the Sick, as objective and effective signs of the continued presence and saving activity of Christ our Lord among His people and as His covenanted means for conveying His grace. In particular, we affirm the necessity of Baptism and the Holy Eucharist (where they may be had) -- Baptism as incorporating us into Christ (with its completion in Confirmation as the "seal of the Holy Spirit"), and the Eucharist as the sacrifice which unites us to the all-sufficient Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross and the Sacrament in which He feeds us with His Body and Blood.

Holy Orders

The Holy Orders of bishops, priests and deacons as the perpetuation of Christ's gift of apostolic ministry to His Church, asserting the necessity of a bishop of apostolic succession (or priest ordained by such) as the celebrant of the Eucharist - these Orders consisting exclusively of men in accordance with Christ's Will and institution (as evidenced by the Scriptures), and the universal practice of the Catholic Church.

Deaconesses

The ancient office and ministry of Deaconesses as a lay vocation for women, affirming the need for proper encouragement of that office.

Duty of Bishops

Bishops as Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Shepherds and Teachers, as well as their duty (together with other clergy and the laity) to guard and defend the purity and integrity of the Church's Faith and Moral Teaching.

The Use of Other Formulae

In affirming these principles, we recognize that all Anglican statements of faith and liturgical formulae must be interpreted in accordance with them.

Incompetence of Church Bodies to Alter Truth

We disclaim any right or competence to suppress, alter or amend any of the ancient Ecumenical Creeds and definitions of Faith, to set aside or depart from Holy Scripture, or to alter or deviate from the essential pre-requisites of any Sacrament.

Unity with Other Believers

We declare our firm intention to seek and achieve full sacramental communion and visible unity with other Christians who "worship the Trinity in Unity, and Unity in Trinity," and who hold the Catholic and Apostolic Faith in accordance with the foregoing principles.

II. PRINCIPLES OF MORALITY

The conscience, as the inherent knowledge of right and wrong, cannot stand alone as a sovereign arbiter of morals. Every Christian is obligated to form his conscience by the Divine Moral Law and the Mind of Christ as revealed in Holy Scriptures, and by the teaching and Tradition of the Church. We hold that when the Christian conscience is thus properly informed and ruled, it must affirm the following moral principles:

Individual Responsibility

All people, individually and collectively, are responsible to their Creator for their acts, motives, thoughts and words, since "we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ . . ."

Sanctity of Human Life

Every human being, from the time of his conception, is a creature and child of God, made in His image and likeness, an infinitely precious soul; and that the unjustifiable or inexcusable taking of life is always sinful.

Man's Duty to God

All people are bound by the dictates of the Natural Law and by the revealed Will of God, insofar as they can discern them.

Family Life

The God-given sacramental bond in marriage between one man and one woman is God's loving provision for procreation and family life, and sexual activity is to be practiced only within the bonds of Holy Matrimony.

Man as Sinner

We recognize that man, as inheritor of original sin, is "very far gone from original righteousness," and as a rebel against God's authority is liable to His righteous judgment.

Man and God's Grace

We recognize, too, that God loves His children and particularly has shown it forth in the redemptive work of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that man cannot be saved by any effort of his own, but by the Grace of God, through repentance and acceptance of God's forgiveness.

Christian's Duty to be Moral

We believe, therefore, it is the duty of the Church and her members to bear witness to Christian Morality, to follow it in their lives, and to reject the false standards of the world.

IV. PRINCIPLES OF WORSHIP

Prayer Book - The Standard of Worship

In the continuing Anglican Church, the Book of Common Prayer is (and remains) one work in two editions: The Canadian Book of 1962 and the American Book of 1928. Each is fully and equally authoritative. No other standard for worship exists.

Certain Variances Permitted

For liturgical use, only the Book of Common Prayer and service books conforming to and incorporating it shall be used.

V. PRINCIPLES OF ACTION

Intercommunion with other Apostolic Churches The continuing Anglicans remain in full communion with the See of Canterbury and with all other faithful parts of the Anglican Communion, and should actively seek similar relations with all other Apostolic and Catholic Churches, provided that agreement in the essentials of Faith and Order first be reached.

Need for Sound Theological Training

Re-establishment of spiritual, orthodox and scholarly theological education under episcopal supervision is imperative, and should be encouraged and promoted by all in authority; and learned and godly bishops, other clergy and lay people should undertake and carry on that work without delay.

Financial Affairs

The right of congregations to control of their temporalities should be firmly and constitutionally recognized and protected.

Administrative Matters

Administration should, we believe, be limited to the most simple and necessary acts, so that emphasis may be centered on worship, pastoral care, spiritual and moral soundness, personal good works, and missionary outreach, in response to God's love for us.

The Church as Witness to Truth

We recognize also that, as keepers of God's will and truth for man, we can and ought to witness to that will and truth against all manifest evils, remembering that we are as servants in the world, but God's servants first.

Continuation, Not Innovation

In this gathering witness of Anglicans and Episcopalians, we continue to be what we are. We do nothing new. We form no new body, but continue as Anglicans and Episcopalians.

 
NOW, THEREFORE, deeply aware of our duty to all who love and believe the Faith of our Fathers, of our duty to God, who alone shall judge what we do, we make this Affirmation. Before God, we claim our Anglican/Episcopal inheritance, and proclaim the same to the whole Church, through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, be all honor and glory, world without end. Amen.

Hmmmm.....

LP: "The continuing Anglicans remain in full communion with the See of Canterbury and with all other faithful parts of the Anglican Communion,..."

These two excerpts seems a bit contradictory, eh LP? ;-)

A very fine article arguing for GAFCON only attendance: Philippi or Corinth: Where is the Anglican Communion? A Response to Graham Kings

TUaD: Nope, not contradictory. By "there is no such thing as the Anglican Communion" I mean that the "organization" or "fellowship" as a whole is meaningless... that to sacrifice the faith in order to "remain in the Anglican Communion", as the institutionalists do, is stupid.

On the other hand, there are plenty of faithful Anglicans in other parts of the world -- the Global South -- and it's perfectly proper & appropriate for first world Anglicans to recognize that breaking fellowship with apostates doesn't equate to breaking fellowship with Anglicans, despite the fact that those apostates are still constituent members of this so-called "Anglican Communion."

Of course, for such "communion" to ever become a real "Anglican Communion" (something the world has never had), rather than just an informal fellowship, would require something like a genuine Covenant -- with teeth! -- and modes of enforcement and discipline. Not that other provinces necessarily would have the authority to interfere, but minimally that they'd have ways to censure, suspend and expell member churches which abandoned the basic parameters of that Covenant.

What is different about the situation now than in 1977 is that it's no longer the case that the institutional Church of England can be counted as part of "Anglican" rather than "apostate" (in terms of theology). But I highlighted those phrases to help show just how congruent it is to the kind of thinking that "conservatives" in PEcUSA are touting as their revolutionary new way forward -- to show that their thinking is, in fact, about 30 years out of date... it was time to be saying and acting up on that in 1977, not in 2008.

pax,
LP

"that to sacrifice the faith in order to "remain in the Anglican Communion", as the institutionalists do, is stupid."

"that to sacrifice the faith in order to "remain in the Anglican Communion", as the institutionalists do, is stupid."

Aye LP, that it is. Such plain-spoken remarks must repeated in the hopes of penetrating thick skulls and dull stone hearts.

But what also gets sacrificed is the corporate gospel witness to an unbelieving world. Anglicanism will be thought of as a "social justice" religion with an emphasis on the Millenium Development Goals, "Inclusivity" leading to Unitarianism, Environmental Issues like Global Warming, Abortion through the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, etc... instead of being a beacon and bulwark and a worthy Bride of Jesus Christ.

Heck, I have even heard that in the Carribean Islands like Jamaica that the word "Anglican" is slang code for homosexual. Something like, "Yo mahn, da dude over dere at da bar is Anglicahn."

LP continues: "I wonder... would people like to see something like this come out of GAFCON for America and Canada?"

LP makes an insightful observation here and a larger point can and should be extracted, and then formally, explicitly, and pointedly set forth.

Transposing: The question confronting those -- like the GS/GAFCON bishops -- who have come to recognize and abhor the See of Canterbury's continual granting of safe conduct to PEcUSA's apostasy (from not just Anglicanism but from Christianity itself) is NOT whether or not they wish to stay in the Anglican Communion to remain Anglican -- it is, rather, whether or not they want to leave the Anglican Communion in order to RETURN to Anglicanism.

I'm sure the prospect is already being discussed in high places and in back channels. Fervent prayer and moral courage is required if the Lord wills it. This is simply the break of the Continuing Churches magnified and applied globally to the Anglican Communion. Part II, redux.

A "marital separation" of indeterminate length? Is that what GS/GAFCON bishops should do? "I'm separate from you, but I'm also still technically married to you, the See of Canterbury. Let us rework and rewrite our vows through the Anglican Draft Covenant, no matter how long it takes." And as such, this is the appropriate Godly response towards the rampant heresy and apostasy raging throughout TEc and the Anglican Communion?

A "marital separation"? What does Light have to do with Darkness? If ++Venables et al wishes to stay tethered to the See of Canterbury and the Anglican Communion, c'est la vie. But if other primates and their provinces have to say goodbye to the See of Canterbury and ++Venables as they walk away alongside TEc, then let it be.

Take a look at this: "It took several centuries to convert Britain to Christianity, but it has taken less than forty years for the country to forsake it." That was the judgment of historian Callum G. Brown in his book, The Death of Christian Britain, released in 2001."

From: "It Feels as if the Soul of Britain is Dying"

So I ask you, why would the GS/GAFCON bishops want to remain married to a dying apostate, heretical adulteress in the Church of England and the See of Canterbury? Doesn't it glorify Christ more to set up a non-Canterbury based Anglicanism?

1. Meet at GAFCON to confirm the following plan

2. At (or of) Lambeth, demand that Canturbury and the Instruments of Unity immediately, unequivocally, and formally dismiss the U.S. and Canada from membership in the Anglican Communion because of their repeated and willful rejection of basic Scriptural teaching in theology and morality. No committees, no discussion groups. A formal up or down vote at Lambeth.

3. If (when) that fails to happen, to formally announce, as a body, that they consider England, the U.S., Canada, etc to have - by their departure from Scriptural teaching and rejection of basic Biblical and Creedal Christianity - effectively withdrawn themselves from any Christian body, such as the Anglican Communion.

4. To formally recognize and encourage the sending of missionary bishops into these now "Anglican Commuion"-less territories, as well as to take steps formally to engage the various non-Communion Anglican bodies already in existence there. But not, yet, to set up formal alternate national jurisdictions in these territories. Rather, to accept a period of "overlapping jurisdictions" the way the Orthodox Churches have... but to provide venues for these different groups to interact.

5. With these partners, to draft a new Anglican Covenant -- one with teeth and meaning, not some wishy-washy impotent cr*p like we all expect would come out of Canturbury and be accepted (with suitable redefining of basic English words -- it depends on what the meaning of "is" is).

6. When an approved Covenant is in hand and accepted by the national member jursidictions as a "statement of Communion", to invite the non-member national churches of England, the U.S., Canada, etc to return to Scripture and Anglicanism and sign on to the Covenant.

7. When those liberal and apostate bodies refuse, only then start fornally to put in place the groundwork for taking the various jurisdictions and overseas parishes within each country and working out a way for them to move - over the course of a few decades - into one jurisdiction which would, when constituted, fornally accept the Covenant. These new national jurisdictions would be recognized as the member jurisdictions of this formal and meaningful "Anglican Communion". The rump of apostate and post-Christian liturgical Unitarians/Gaians/Druids/Wiccans/etc (which would be what would be left of PEcUSA, the ACinC, etc) would be irrelevant.

pax,
LP

However, you may have to get into a mud-wrestling match with Sarah Hey over whether you can use the word "Anglican". I have seen her get pretty worked up about who can and cannot use the word "Anglican" in identifying themselves. She is adamant that one must be in communion with the See of Canterbury in order to legitimately use the term.