gpppDECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
Here is the final statement from the first of what will hopefully many GAFCON meetings. It’s reproduced in its entirety with commentary here and there: Praise the LORD! It is good to sing praises to our God; for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting. The LORD builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel. (Psalm 147:1-2) Brothers and Sisters in Christ: We, the participants in the Global Anglican Future Conference, send you greetings from Jerusalem! Introduction The Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON), which was held in Jerusalem from 22-29 June 2008, is a spiritual movement to preserve and promote the truth and power of the gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ as we Anglicans have received it. The movement is global: it has mobilised Anglicans from around the world. We are Anglican: 1148 lay and clergy participants, including 291 bishops representing millions of faithful Anglican Christians. We cherish our Anglican heritage and the Anglican Communion and have no intention of departing from it. And we believe that, in God’s providence, Anglicanism has a bright future in obedience to our Lord’s Great Commission to make disciples of all nations and to build up the church on the foundation of biblical truth (Matthew 28:18-20; Ephesians 2:20). This is not a one-time deal. GAFCON is not just a moment in time, but a movement in the Spirit, and we hereby: launch the GAFCON movement as a fellowship of confessing Anglicans The Global Anglican Context The future of the Anglican Communion is but a piece of the wider scenario of opportunities and challenges for the gospel in 21st century global culture. We rejoice in the way God has opened doors for gospel mission among many peoples, but we grieve for the spiritual decline in the most economically developed nations, where the forces of militant secularism and pluralism are eating away the fabric of society and churches are compromised and enfeebled in their witness. The vacuum left by them is readily filled by other faiths and deceptive cults. To meet these challenges will require Christians to work together to understand and oppose these forces and to liberate those under their sway. It will entail the planting of new churches among unreached peoples and also committed action to restore authentic Christianity to compromised churches. Why GAFCON? What was the purpose of this conference? The Anglican Communion, present in six continents, is well positioned to address this challenge, but currently it is divided and distracted. The Global Anglican Future Conference emerged in response to a crisis within the Anglican Communion, a crisis involving three undeniable facts concerning world Anglicanism. The first fact is the acceptance and promotion within the provinces of the Anglican Communion of a different ‘gospel’ (cf. Galatians 1:6-8) which is contrary to the apostolic gospel. This false gospel undermines the authority of God’s Word written and the uniqueness of Jesus Christ as the author of salvation from sin, death and judgement. Many of its proponents claim that all religions offer equal access to God and that Jesus is only a way, not the way, the truth and the life. It promotes a variety of sexual preferences and immoral behaviour as a universal human right. It claims God’s blessing for same-sex unions over against the biblical teaching on holy matrimony. In 2003 this false gospel led to the consecration of a bishop living in a homosexual relationship. The North Americans. Check. The second fact is the declaration by provincial bodies in the Global South that they are out of communion with bishops and churches that promote this false gospel. These declarations have resulted in a realignment whereby faithful Anglican Christians have left existing territorial parishes, dioceses and provinces in certain Western churches and become members of other dioceses and provinces, all within the Anglican Communion. These actions have also led to the appointment of new Anglican bishops set over geographic areas already occupied by other Anglican bishops. A major realignment has occurred and will continue to unfold. The necessary realignment. Check. The third fact is the manifest failure of the Communion Instruments to exercise discipline in the face of overt heterodoxy. The Episcopal Church USA and the Anglican Church of Canada, in proclaiming this false gospel, have consistently defied the 1998 Lambeth statement of biblical moral principle (Resolution 1.10). Despitenumerous meetings and reports to and from the ‘Instruments of Unity,’ no effective action has been taken, and the bishops of these unrepentant churches are welcomed to Lambeth 2008. To make matters worse, there has been a failure to honour promises of discipline, the authority of the Primates’ Meeting has been undermined and the Lambeth Conference has been structured so as to avoid any hard decisions. We can only come to the devastating conclusion that ‘we are a global Communion with a colonial structure’. The deliberate refusal of the Anglican Communion to do anything at all about any of this. Check, check and check. Sadly, this crisis has torn the fabric of the Communion in such a way that it cannot simply be patched back together. At the same time, it has brought together many Anglicans across the globe into personal and pastoral relationships in a fellowship which is faithful to biblical teaching, more representative of the demographic distribution of global Anglicanism today and stronger as an instrument of effective mission, ministry and social involvement. Now what? A Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans We, the participants in the Global Anglican Future Conference, are a fellowship of confessing Anglicans for the benefit of the Church and the furtherance of its mission. We are a fellowship of people united in the communion (koinonia) of the one Spirit and committed to work and pray together in the common mission of Christ. It is a confessing fellowship in that its members confess the faith of Christ crucified, stand firm for the gospel in the global and Anglican context, and affirm a contemporary rule, the Jerusalem Declaration, to guide the movement for the future. We are a fellowship of Anglicans, including provinces, dioceses, churches, missionary jurisdictions, para-church organisations and individual Anglican Christians whose goal is to reform, heal and revitalise the Anglican Communion and expand its mission to the world. We love the Anglican tradition. But get this straight. Anglican Christianity is WAY more important than any given occupant of the See of Canterbury. QED, the fact that Dr. Williams doesn't recognize some church as Anglican no longer means anything to us. Our fellowship is not breaking away from the Anglican Communion. We, together with many other faithful Anglicans throughout the world, believe the doctrinal foundation of Anglicanism, which defines our core identity as Anglicans, is expressed in these words: The doctrine of the Church is grounded in the Holy Scriptures and in such teachings of the ancient Fathers and Councils of the Church as are agreeable to the said Scriptures. In particular, such doctrine is to be found in the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion, the Book of Common Prayer and the Ordinal. We intend to remain faithful to this standard, and we call on others in the Communion to reaffirm and return to it. While acknowledging the nature of Canterbury as an historic see, we do not accept that Anglican identity is determined necessarily through recognition by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Building on the above doctrinal foundation of Anglican identity, we hereby publish the Jerusalem Declaration as the basis of our fellowship. The Jerusalem Declaration In the name of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit: We, the participants in the Global Anglican Future Conference, have met in the land of Jesus’ birth. We express our loyalty as disciples to the King of kings, the Lord Jesus. We joyfully embrace his command to proclaim the reality of his kingdom which he first announced in this land. The gospel of the kingdom is the good news of salvation, liberation and transformation for all. In light of the above, we agree to chart a way forward together that promotes and protects the biblical gospel and mission to the world, solemnly declaring the following tenets of orthodoxy which underpin our Anglican identity. 1. We rejoice in the gospel of God through which we have been saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Because God first loved us, we love him and as believers bring forth fruits of love, ongoing repentance, lively hope and thanksgiving to God in all things. 2. We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God written and to contain all things necessary for salvation. The Bible is to be translated, read, preached, taught and obeyed in its plain and canonical sense, respectful of the church’s historic and consensual reading. 3. We uphold the four Ecumenical Councils and the three historic Creeds as expressing the rule of faith of the one holy catholic and apostolic Church. 4. We uphold the Thirty-nine Articles as containing the true doctrine of the Church agreeing with God’s Word and as authoritative for Anglicans today. 5. We gladly proclaim and submit to the unique and universal Lordship of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, humanity’s only Saviour from sin, judgement and hell, who lived the life we could not live and died the death that we deserve. By his atoning death and glorious resurrection, he secured the redemption of all who come to him in repentance and faith. 6. We rejoice in our Anglican sacramental and liturgical heritage as an expression of the gospel, and we uphold the 1662 Book of Common Prayer as a true and authoritative standard of worship and prayer, to be translated and locally adapted for each culture. If GAFCON achieves nothing else, contributing to the death of the theological monstrosity that is the Episcopal Organization’s 1979 service book(which I refuse to dignify by attaching the glorious name Book of Common Prayer thereunto) will mean that this conference is a complete success. 7. We recognise that God has called and gifted bishops, priests and deacons in historic succession to equip all the people of God for their ministry in the world. We uphold the classic Anglican Ordinal as an authoritative standard of clerical orders. 8. We acknowledge God’s creation of humankind as male and female and the unchangeable standard of Christian marriage between one man and one woman as the proper place for sexual intimacy and the basis of the family. We repent of our failures to maintain this standard and call for a renewed commitment to lifelong fidelity in marriage and abstinence for those who are not married. Crewser? Susie Russ? Robbie? Either come up with something a whole lot more empirical than your word for it or keep your mouths shut. 9. We gladly accept the Great Commission of the risen Lord to make disciples of all nations, to seek those who do not know Christ and to baptise, teach and bring new believers to maturity. So much for your Christian-Muslim dialogue, Dr. Williams. We mean to learn from them only so much as we need to know to convert them. See, we believe the Christian religion. 10. We are mindful of our responsibility to be good stewards of God’s creation, to uphold and advocate justice in society, and to seek relief and empowerment of the poor and needy. 11. We are committed to the unity of all those who know and love Christ and to building authentic ecumenical relationships. We recognise the orders and jurisdiction of those Anglicans who uphold orthodox faith and practice, and we encourage them to join us in this declaration. Canterbury doesn’t recognize them? We no longer care who Canterbury recognizes. 12. We celebrate the God-given diversity among us which enriches our global fellowship, and we acknowledge freedom in secondary matters. We pledge to work together to seek the mind of Christ on issues that divide us. For those of you scoring at home, that would be, um...er...uh...women’s ordination. 13. We reject the authority of those churches and leaders who have denied the orthodox faith in word or deed. We pray for them and call on them to repent and return to the Lord. Hear that, Kate? As far as GAFCON is concerned, you’re not a bishop of anything anymore. 14. We rejoice at the prospect of Jesus’ coming again in glory, and while we await this final event of history, we praise him for the way he builds up his church through his Spirit by miraculously changing lives. The Road Ahead We believe the Holy Spirit has led us during this week in Jerusalem to begin a new work. There are many important decisions for the development of this fellowship which will take more time, prayer and deliberation. Among other matters, we shall seek to expand participation in this fellowship beyond those who have come to Jerusalem, including cooperation with the Global South and the Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa. We can, however, discern certain milestones on the road ahead. Primates’ Council We, the participants in the Global Anglican Future Conference, do hereby acknowledge the participating Primates of GAFCON who have called us together, and encourage them to form the initial Council of the GAFCON movement. We look forward to the enlargement of the Council and entreat the Primates to organise and expand the fellowship of confessing Anglicans. That sound you just heard was Rowan Williams and his successors becoming completely irrelevant. We urge the Primates’ Council to authenticate and recognise confessing Anglican jurisdictions, clergy and congregations and to encourage all Anglicans to promote the gospel and defend the faith. Whether my gracious lord of Canterbury recognizes them or not. We recognise the desirability of territorial jurisdiction for provinces and dioceses of the Anglican Communion, except in those areas where churches and leaders are denying the orthodox faith or are preventing its spread, and in a few areas for which overlapping jurisdictions are beneficial for historical or cultural reasons. Defend the Gospel and we’ll stay out. Compromise the Gospel for the approval of the secular culture and your “territory” is fair game. We thank God for the courageous actions of those Primates and provinces who have offered orthodox oversight to churches under false leadership, especially in North and South America. The actions of these Primates have been a positive response to pastoral necessities and mission opportunities. We believe that such actions will continue to be necessary and we support them in offering help around the world. We believe this is a critical moment when the Primates’ Council will need to put in place structures to lead and support the church. In particular, we believe the time is now ripe for the formation of a province in North America for the federation currently known as Common Cause Partnership to be recognised by the Primates’Council. Dr. Williams? Bob Duncan is a primate whether you think he is or not. Conclusion: Message from Jerusalem We, the participants in the Global Anglican Future Conference, were summoned by the Primates’ leadership team to Jerusalem in June 2008 to deliberate on the crisis that has divided the Anglican Communion for the past decade and to seek direction for the future. We have visited holy sites, prayed together, listened to God’s Word preached and expounded, learned from various speakers and teachers, and shared our thoughts and hopes with each other. The meeting in Jerusalem this week was called in a sense of urgency that a false gospel has so paralysed the Anglican Communion that this crisis must be addressed. The chief threat of this dispute involves the compromising of the integrity of the church’s worldwide mission. The primary reason we have come to Jerusalem and issued this declaration is to free our churches to give clear and certain witness to Jesus Christ. It is our hope that this Statement on the Global Anglican Future will be received with comfort and joy by many Anglicans around the world who have been distressed about the direction of the Communion. We believe the Anglican Communion should and will be reformed around the biblical gospel and mandate to go into all the world and present Christ to the nations. Some quick reactions. Since conservative Anglicans can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory better than anyone, we must, of course, await the actions that follow these words. But coming from someone who’s never been a convinced Anglican(I was an Episcopalian because that’s where my mother had me baptized), I'm very encouraged by this statement. Consider. The conservatives will not, at present, formally walk away. But as far as GAFCON is concerned, the United States and Canada have just become Anglican mission fields. Canadian and American bishops who uphold the Gospel of Jesus Christ will have our support and encouragement. Canadian and American bishops who don't are, well, not bishops. Same with the Archbishop of Canterbury. If he will not exercise teaching authority or impose discipline in the Communion, we’ll do it ourselves by withdrawing our recognition of this bishop and conferring it on that one. And if the tone of this communiqué is any indication, the Lambeth Conference, the Anglican Communion’s single most important event, has just been completely and totally eclipsed. At the upcoming Lambeth Conference, Dr. Williams can still pull the Communion back from the brink. If he wants to. If he doesn’t, if he doesn’t realize what’s just gone on in Jerusalem, then it really doesn’t much matter any longer what he says or does about anything. And Rowan Williams will have completed his greatest achievement. In the space of only five years, he took an office that used to mean something, used to be important, and turned it into a joke.
publish the Jerusalem Declaration as the basis of the fellowship
encourage GAFCON Primates to form a Council.
Submitted by Tregonsee
at 6/29/2008 7:42:19 AM| This is indeed a great day for all Anglican Christians. After what appeared to be several years of dithering, there now is an unmistakable international and domestic movement which will go ahead despite the disapproval and inaction of other members of the AC. It is going to be fun in a way to watch, but also extremely messy when that new province is officially formed here. No doubt +KJS and her advisors Beers, Wormwood, and Screwtape, will spring into action with mass depositions and lawsuits. One of the things the Left, whether secular or religious, cannot stand is being ignored and dismissed. |
Submitted by LP
at 6/29/2008 7:55:59 AM| When this document was "broken" and "released" on SFiF, there were essentially 3 themes in the responses over the next 6 hours there, as North Americans read the document last night:
1. Yay, this is just what we wanted Naturally, I felt my own contribution & perspective would be most useful on the third point (at least as long as I'm STILL ABLE to post there), and so I put up several entries on this topic: A. SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES between the Declaration and the Affirmation of St. Louis B. Thoughts on the self-consciously PROTESTANT nature of the Declaration... it has chosen the "protestant" rather than the "catholic" side of Anglicanism as its norms of Faith and Order. C. A CASE STUDY in how the differences of "authorities" in the Affirmation and the Declaration can play out in specific points of Faith and Order. D. Observations on what GAFCON ultimately needs to do in terms of "COMMUNION" if they are serious about rejecting the authority and validity of PEcUSA as a Christian body and also intend to retain any meaningful or traditional Anglican sacramental theology about the issue... if it wants to genuinely create a reformed "Communion" rather than just another "working subgroup" within the Lambeth Anglican Fellowship.
While anglocatholics and angloprotestants share these beliefs, they have fundamental differences about the authority of Tradition and the Ecumenical Councils, about the priesthood, and about sacramental theology (including the nature of the Eucharist and communion)... difference which -- because they are fundamental to and definitive of what "church", "jurisdiction", and "in commuion" mean -- preclude jurisdictional unity. (Unless, of course, one group or another sacrifices its own identity and theological integrity).
In short, then, on the "popular" question of "what about anglocatholics" that came up, in various forms, on SFiF:
So I don't think that it's a bad (nor, for that matter, unexpected) thing that GAFCON is clearly setting itself up to be a "Protestant Anglican Communion". But I think it's important that people realize that -- if indeed that's where they're headed (as all signs seem to be) -- that's precisely what it is.
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Submitted by Ken
at 6/29/2008 9:00:26 AM| What LP said... The devil, as always, is in the details, and the detail is "secondary matters". Are sacraments "secondary matters"? Is it secondary whether the Eucharist is the Real Presence of Jesus or a memorial only? Corollary to that, what is the nature of the priesthood/ministry and episcopate? Women's ordination? More importantly, who decides what's secondary? Perhaps since Anglo-catholics have been in communion with Reformed Anglicans for lo-these-many years, those questions are already answered. Except, of course, the question of who decides. And that's a foundational issue in Anglicanism. The sad history of the Continuing Church movement from 1976 to today is testimony to the tendency to fragmentation which is destructive of a gospel witness, just as the heresy of TEC. Anglo-catholics would do well to remember the little matter of historic Anglican antipathy (up to the late 19th century) to Anglo-catholic theology and practice. In a real way, it was the Oxford Movement, long before the '79 service book (good one, Christopher) that relegated the 39 Articles, as a body, to the status of "historic documents". |
Submitted by LP
at 6/29/2008 9:11:07 AMPerhaps since Anglo-catholics have been in communion with Reformed Anglicans for lo-these-many years, those questions are already answered.One difference. In the first centuries of Anglicanism -- and intentionally so -- these questions were left ambiguous, precisely to create the "union" of protestant and catholic which secular and national politics in England required. Thus, for all the tension, both views have always been "acceptable" within "Anglicanism" in past generations. The problem is that to stay "uncommitted" on those things -- issues touching on the sacraments, the Ecumenical Councils, the authority and interpretation of the 39 Articles etc -- Anglicanism was always fundamentally incoherent and reluctant to "discipline" or "insist" on theological matters. The result was the kind of institutional, structural and doctrinal weakness which allowed the apostates to take over PEcUSA and rendered the Anglican Communion unable to do anything about it. This situation has changed with both the Affirmation and (it seems) the Declaration. Each is, in avoiding that weakness, sufficiently "specific" so as to exclude on party or another. For example, the Affirmation insists on all seven Ecumenical Councils, which angloprotestants refuse to accept; the Declaration insists on the second-only-to-Scripture status of the Articles, which anglocatholics (giving the early Church more authority) refuse to accept. Accordingly, the fact that anglocatholics and angloprotestants have been, in the past, within the same somewhat ambiguous "Communion" does not mean that now, with matters of Faith and Order made somewhat more clear on both sides, that that temporary and "expedient" solution -- the Elizabethian Settlement -- can continue. Gotta dash to church! :-)
pax, |
Submitted by tjmcmahon
at 6/29/2008 9:23:54 AM| LP, Thanks for your exposition here and on SFiF. The questions posed for Anglo Catholics deserve attention and discussion. But I think that however difficult the future of Anglo Catholics may be within a "Gafcon Province" we must recognize that Anglo Catholicism is already, essentially, outlawed by TEC's Title III canon. Certainly, whatever ambiguity is left in the canons will be tightened up at the next GC. (Along with all the new disciplinary powers in the coming Title I and Title IV.) I rather suspect that the new structure for a North American province could be much different than the current geographical structure in use by TEC. I can see no reason why there cannot be overlapping Anglo Catholic, CANA and AMiA jurisdictions. Assuming that Fort Worth and Quincy join with San Jaoquin, there would be minimally 3 Anglo Catholic dioceses. Give the bishop of Quincy authority over an Anglo Catholic church in Virginia, and give the CANA bishop of Virginia authority over an Evangelical parish in Illinois. This is, more or less, the way things are organized already in Common Cause. It is certainly no more confusing than a current TEC diocese which may contain an Anglo Catholic parish using the missal and observing 7 Sacraments, a parish that insists on full immersion Baptism, another that performs gay marriages and another that uses a liturgy written on a weekend retreat, all under one bishop (which would be representative of a couple dioceses I've lived in). |
Submitted by David+
at 6/29/2008 9:28:26 AM| If Rowan Williams keeps the Lambeth Conference agenda the same, then Lmbeth is finished. And so is Rowan Williams. He is not just inept, he is very underhanded as well. And he has, finally, now been officially called such. |
Submitted by Tom (St. Louis)_
at 6/29/2008 9:37:05 AM| Forgive my immense skepticism. There have been so very many fine statements over the decades. Kudos to LP for the fine work to compare GAFCON with the Affirmation. But I live in Missouri, show me! The only strategy I see that will save me from the heretic on Locust St. is an "out strategy." I think the fact that the Statement itself was so quickly overtaken by the embargo "scandal" indicates that the Statement breaks no new ground. When will GAFCON succumb to Anglican wooziness, or has it already?
As for the alleged premature release of the Statement, I fail to see the big deal. That risk was always present when you circulated documents in advance and has only been exacerbated in more recent years by the internet. I'm sorry that the show got spoiled by that's life. IMO the far more despicable practcice, related to this issue, is the intentional use of the internet by all sides as the means of public delivery for what should be private correspondence. This practice shows massive disrespect to the recipient and proves that the only intent in the correspondence is to "hear ones own voice." The sender places no value what so ever in anything the recipient might say. The real issues tend to get lost in the chatter of the bloesphere...and yes, I'm guilty of that as well! |
Submitted by David Loving
at 6/29/2008 9:50:09 AM| Another conference, another organization, another paper, another pronouncement, more claims and counter-claims, more "what about me?". Is this another "network?" There's enough hot air to float the Albuquerque Balloon Fest. Tom, above, said it best: "The sender places no value what so ever in anything the recipient might say. The real issues tend to get lost in the chatter of the bloesphere..." This is the way nothing gets done in the church but everybody looks busy and concerned. Yawn... |
Submitted by Katherine
at 6/29/2008 10:11:48 AM| What a negative group over here! (Other than Chris, of course.) Ken, I've been Episcopalian/Anglican for 30+ years, and the parishes where I have chosen to spend my time all view the Holy Communion as the Real Presence of the Lord, and not just a memorial. I do hang out in believing parishes, mind you. Tom, is the heretic on Locust St. the Episcopal bishop of MO? I'm sorry to say there is no strategy which will allow parishes in hostile dioceses (outside of VA and maybe CA) to realign and take their properties. To take advantage of the new province, people are going to be worshipping in rented facilities, as I have for several years. It's going to be messy for sure. |
Submitted by the pilgrim
at 6/29/2008 10:20:27 AMOur esteemed host stated... "Hear that, Kate? As far as GAFCON is concerned, you’re not a bishop of anything anymore." Point of fact: To many of us here, she never was. |
Submitted by Katherine
at 6/29/2008 10:21:08 AM| LP, I'm curious. Let's assume for the moment that this movement ended up outlawing women's ordination. (I know, I know, pigs will fly first, but just assume it for a moment.) Would the ACC/APCK Anglo-Catholics be interested in rejoining the movement? |
Submitted by surrenderorothy
at 6/29/2008 10:34:53 AM| That's one load of gooey goodness dumped all over the broccoli head... |
Submitted by Katherine
at 6/29/2008 10:41:36 AM| Chris, how about this line: "We repent of our failures to maintain this standard and call for a renewed commitment to lifelong fidelity in marriage and abstinence for those who are not married." sounds to me like it can be a commitment to begin facing the divorce mess as well as the gay agenda. |
Submitted by Christopher Johnson
at 6/29/2008 11:29:58 AM| I hope you're right, Katherine. As for the document itself, once again, I have to emphasize that I live in Missouri. I like what I read, I like it a lot, but how, when and whether it translates into results remains to be seen. A lot of that will depend on whether people in the West are willing to take risks. And whether other people in the West will quit waiting for someone else to "rescue" them and begin to take their "rescue" into their own hands. |
Submitted by Katherine
at 6/29/2008 11:34:05 AM| Yes, Chris, exactly. The new province is going to be built in the next few months to one year, I think, and it will be recognized by Primates representing the majority of Anglicans no matter what the ABC does. So people really have few excuses left to delay, and even if they dither another year, they'll be run out entirely by TEC's GC 2009. It's now up to people to take the hand which is being held out to them. |
Submitted by saint
at 6/29/2008 11:39:44 AM| Good Lord, the Sydney Anglicans should do something about people publishing tripe like this on their website not even hours after the Jerusalem statement. |
Submitted by Katherine
at 6/29/2008 11:53:23 AM| Just shows they really will tolerate high-church types, saint, assuming that's what you mean by "tripe." Most American Anglicans, even the evangelicals, aren't of the Sydney persuasion. |
Submitted by HokiePundit
at 6/29/2008 12:12:03 PM| As I was reading this, II Chron. 7:14 came to mind: "if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." Prayerfully, this will happen. As to the Evangelicals and the Anglo-Catholics, it may be time for an amicable separation, similar to what the Czechs and Slovaks did after the fall of Communism. Both groups respect each other, yet it is simply the case that the two movements are incompatible with each other and there is no need for hostility between the two. Again, prayerfully, a "special relationship" will remain between the two groups. My fond hope is that Rome will extend a hand to the Anglo-Catholics and allow them to keep a form of Anglo-Catholicism within the wider Holy Catholic Church. The Traditional Anglican Communion already has a petition for this under consideration with the CDF (which is headed by an American Cardinal). If any Pope will do this, it'll be Benedict. |
Submitted by saint
at 6/29/2008 12:20:09 PM| I think there is a lot of hubris in this piece, Katharine, like oh well we will just tolerate this for now, we'll set them straight later. And I really can't get over the appalling opening statement (devour?) and the strident anti Canterbury tone. This is not the sort of sentiment I know from Aussie Anglicans, even those from Sydney. |
Submitted by Ken
at 6/29/2008 12:28:23 PM| Katherine, I don't mean to be negative. Like Christopher, I see a lot here that I like. But (as some of us have been saying for awhile, there has to eventually be a resolution on the women's ordination issue. I am very pleased to see the divorce problem addressed as well. But facts are facts: 7 sacraments or 2? The 39 articles are specific about that one. Real Presence or Zwinglian memorial? Yes, Cramner's consecration is comprehensive (or, if you prefer, ambiguous). Except this is in the 28th article: The Body of Christ is given, taken, and eaten, in the Supper, only after an heavenly and spiritual manner. Real Presence? Priests offering the Sacrifice of the Mass or Preachers? This from Article 31: Wherefore the sacrifices of Masses, in the which it was commonly said, that the Priest did offer Christ for the quick and the dead, to have remission of pain or guilt, were blasphemous fables, and dangerous deceits. I became an Episcopalian when Bp. Scott Field Bailey, in his red rochet, laid hands on my head in a parish (Grace Church, Georgetown)and diocese (Texas) where Solemn High Morning Prayer (which I love, btw) was the normal Sunday service, except on the first Sunday. I watched that diocese change over the years to where Eucharist was the normal service (notable exceptions, of course). I watched as the bishops changed their rochets for chasibles and mitres. I first experienced Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament at St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, Bellaire. I learned the rosary at an Episcopal Church. I know the variety of churchmanship and the comprehensive (some would say confused) nature of the theology. The question, in computer terms, is whether that's a bug or a feature. Without a solid and authoritative resolution to issues (and even to what issues need resolution), the center cannot hold. The history of Christianity is filled with sects and cults wandering off to die in irrelevant (if well-appointed) cultural cubbyholes. Ok, rant over and I'll end on a positive note. The best feature of this whole thing is the what looks to me like the intent to establish new Anglican provinces on the North American continent, to replace the degraded sects into which TEC and ACC have descended. That is a very good thing. The question, of course, if whether they can pull it off without the fragmentation of so many other efforts. |
Submitted by Katherine
at 6/29/2008 12:28:52 PM| Well, it's just one person, saint. Jensen himself was a balancing influence in Jerusalem, according to reports, and spoke against a Communion-wide schism. HokiePundit, the separatist Anglo-Catholic movement in the U.S. will go either to Rome via the ACA (if Rome permits) or will continue as a separate church. There are others who have shown themselves willing to try to remain part of the wider Anglican church. My own opinion is that the Anglicans need both the evangelical and catholic emphases, because they keep each other from going off their respective edges. |
Submitted by Katherine
at 6/29/2008 12:39:15 PM| Hi, Ken. Peace. As you know, the seventeenth-century Anglican divines were able to find ways to live within the Articles, and so have many since then. With respect to the Real Presence, my question is always, "What part of 'this is my body' don't you understand?" I don't need a detailed explanation for what is a divine mystery given by the Lord. What knocked me over, as a person raised in a liberal Protestant church, was to begin reading about the Church Fathers, the same people who treasured and saved the preaching of the Apostles they knew and by their living and witness established the canon of Scripture. These same people were overwhelmingly sacramental with respect to the Holy Communion, and of course we can see that even in Paul's letters (you will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord if you receive unworthily). So my hope is that as we all focus on Scripture and the first centuries following the Apostles we will grow closer together, not farther apart. |
Submitted by saint
at 6/29/2008 1:01:23 PM| Oh I agree with you Katherine. I thought that piece did what some in the media had been trying to do all week. Undo Gafcon in six short paragraphs. And really, devouring your mother? What was this woman inhaling? ROFL |
Submitted by Ken
at 6/29/2008 1:01:24 PM| Amen, Katherine. Believe me, I hope for the best with this new movement. Hokiepundit - Rome did make room for Anglicans who wish to retain aspects of their cultural heritage. In the U.S., it's called the Anglican Use. I don't have time to provide a link, but a quick google will give you more information that you want. There is a Book of Divine Worship, which is and approved liturgy not unlike the Rites 1 and 2 of the '79 prayerbook (theological adjustments made, of course). Married men already ordained in Anglicanism can be ordained to the Catholic priesthood. Anglican hymnody is the norm. And so on. This is a usage within the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, but a separate prelature or even status like the Eastern Catholics has been bandied about. That is what the TAC is seeking. |
Submitted by Katherine
at 6/29/2008 1:06:29 PM| Ken, I have felt for many years that Anglicans who feel called to become Roman Catholics should do as you did. |
Submitted by MDiv
at 6/29/2008 1:07:39 PM| It's understandable, I guess, that so many here want to focus on the GAFCON implications re: theological issues such as the exact nature of the presence of Christ in the sacrament.
What seems to me to be the biggest line in the sand is the overt call for primates to form a Council. Given that the Archbishop of Canterbury has intentionally refused to call the usual primates meeting ahead of Lambeth - a position underscored by his letter last Fall to Bishop Howe - there is no doubt in my mind that this is the most explosive and fundamental of the stands taken in Jerusalem. Moreover, the GAFCON participants not only chose to make a firm stand on the overall basis for their fellowship through publication of the Jerusalem statement. They also directly challenged the right of ABC to claim leadership of the Anglican church on the basis of history. In effect GAFCON has said "we are the ones who continue the work that founded and shaped the Anglican tradition". Maybe y'all already have absorbed this & are moving on to the fine print, but IMO this will reverberate for many years to come. |
Submitted by Paula Loughlin
at 6/29/2008 1:27:51 PM| As a Catholic I think it wonderful and a testament to the Glory of God, that GAFCON has issued this statement. I do not mind tht it is a clear expression of Protestant Christianity. I think those with a more Catholic/Orthodox view of the Sacraments and the meaning of "Church" do need to asses what this means for them. But the Anglican Church simply can not continue to be all things for all people. True that started out with every good intention and for a long time it worked (at least on the surface). But it also meant that those who advanced women's ordination and other innovations were able to argue " but we have always had our differences and see how well things work out". The people who forced gay rights as the 11th commandment were able to condemn the very thought of schism by appealing to the the "Rodney King" settlement. Truth is secondary the important thing is to get along. So Global Anglicans have decided to define themselves as Protestant. That is a good thing it means they can have a clear meaning of what wil and will not fly in that communion. This allows those who gracefully disagree to depart without rancor. More importantly it allows the drawing up of disciplinary procedures for those who would defy the faith as taught and expressed within the communion. So God bless and keep all those who have prayed, worked and hoped for this day. |
Submitted by Larry
at 6/29/2008 2:57:21 PM| Chris You are so correct. Episcopalians who are fed up with the current unpleasentness need to stop nit picking and start going to work. If all they do is sit around waiting for someone else to do the work for them, it isn't going to happen. """"I like what I read, I like it a lot, but how, when and whether it translates into results remains to be seen. A lot of that will depend on whether people in the West are willing to take risks. And whether other people in the West will quit waiting for someone else to "rescue" them and begin to take their "rescue" into their own hands.""" |
Submitted by Floridian
at 6/29/2008 3:32:20 PM| Hills of the North has a very good commentary on the Jerusalem Declaration (of independence) here: http://hillsofthenorth.blogspot.com/ |
Submitted by Tim Ferguson
at 6/29/2008 4:50:19 PM| As a Roman Catholic, I am hoping that the Pope himself, or at least through the President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Cardinal Kasper, acknowledges the import of this statement, welcomes the GAFCON Primates into this year's celebration of St. Paul the Apostle, and offers to initiate conversation with the GAFCON bishops on issues of mutual interest. |
Submitted by surrenderorothy
at 6/29/2008 4:50:49 PM| Hang on to your stoles folks....the wailing and gnashing of teeth from SATAN (a.k.a. Schori, Exec Idiots, VGR, et al....it's going to be loud and nasty. Cue the priest from the Exorcist, green pea soup, levitating beds, and spinning heads. |
Submitted by Sinner
at 6/29/2008 4:57:19 PM| Despair is a mortal sin. Those who despair of GAFCON despair of Christ and will surely die! The trumpet has sounded from the south! To war! To war! Let us close the wall with our Anglican dead! |
Submitted by Whitestone
at 6/29/2008 5:00:48 PM| If you look back to 2003, you can see careful, steady progress, building structural frameworks leading up to GAFCON and this realignment.
The Jerusalem declaration offers a voluntary 'follow your conscience' decision for individuals, parishes, dioceses and now whole provinces. Captain Yips has a very good post and don't miss the comments. |
Submitted by LP
at 6/29/2008 7:07:15 PMwe must recognize that Anglo Catholicism is already, essentially, outlawed by TEC's Title III canon.Anglocatholicism -- genuine theological anglocatholicism -- has been dead in PEcUSA for 30 years. Indeed, the first move the apostates did, after getting the new BCP out, was to drive out as many remaining anlgocatholic priests and congregations as they could. Ask around the various continuing jurisdictions among the elder priests, and you'll hear one horror story after another. The mistake in your premise is, I think, to say "GAFCON must be good for anglocatholics, because it's better than PEcUSA". This is like saying death by the guillotine is better than death by the sword, so we should all run to the guillotine. The fact is that there is - and for some time has been - no support nor future for anglocatholicism -- I should say, for the "catholicism" of the Creeds in the Anglican or any other tradition -- in PEcUSA (and that was true by the 1980s -- it's not a recent development), and there is no support or future for it in GAFCON either. If anglocatholicism has a future, that future lies with the Continuing movement -- not with PEcUSA, not with GAFCON. That latter has been clear from the composition of GAFCON, from the statements of its leaders, and now from the very clear (and normative) Protestantism of its Declaration. With both the Affirmation of St. Louis in 1977 and the Declaration of 2008 we are in a new situation. Neither document is as "ambiguous" or "open ended" as Anglicanism has been in the past. And this is a good thing -- because that incoherence and refusal to "define" has been a weakness in Anglicanism all along... indeed, it was precisely that weakness which allowed the apostates to take over PEcUSA in the first place. (Quite literally -- if you look at the growth of that movement from the late 1950s, it was precisely by initially presenting themselves as 'moderates' between the catholic and protestant wings of PEcUSA that they made their first inroads.) The fact that there could be parishes with a variety of practices and (at least unofficially) widely varying beliefs in the past does no |