Anglican Mainstream South Africa

News Analysis

By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
8/24/2008

When he was at the Lambeth Conference last month in Canterbury, the newly consecrated first black Bishop of Maryland, Eugene T. Sutton made the following statement; he said that the use of Scripture to reject homosexuality in the Anglican Communion evokes previous eras’ biblically based arguments in support of slavery and racism.

He was supported in his views by all eight black Episcopal bishops at the conference who believe rights for homosexuals and their behavior is acceptable based on similar logic.

Another bishop, the black Suffragan Bishop Gayle E. Harris of Massachusetts agreed saying, “As a person who knows what it means to be oppressed, I refuse to allow my brothers and sisters in the faith to be discriminated against.”

Not everyone agrees with this linkage.

“As a black Christian, these types of remarks are extremely disturbing, as they in no way reflect the level of scriptural literacy, knowledge of theology, history and methods of biblical interpretation bishops (and other church leaders) should possess,” says a fourth generation black Evangelical Episcopal layman, Dr. Michael Howell.

Howell, a former professor of Marine Science, is a member of the Diocese of SW Florida Standing Committee and also serves on the boards of Trinity School for Ministry, (TSM) the American Anglican Council (AAC) and Forward in Faith, North America (FIFNA).

He wrote to VOL saying that one cannot cite erroneous uses of the Bible as justification for slavery as an argument for dismissing scriptural passages that condemn homosexual behavior.

“That’s not godly wisdom, but rather, sheer ignorance. Have they forgotten that the witness of the bible was an integral part of William Wilberforce’s (British Evangelical politicians’) argument for the eradication of the slave trade and (later), slavery?

“Slavery is never glorified in scripture and in the New Testament; it is a situation that should be avoided. There is a clear trajectory from conditional practice and tolerance (e.g., Exod. 21:1-11, Deut. 23:15-16, etc.), towards an end where emancipation is a moral imperative. In Philemon, Paul makes a compelling case for Onesimus (a slave), to be welcomed as a brother in Christ, rather than the continuation of his pre-imprisonment status as Philemon’s slave.

The bible is very clear that God has always intended for people of all races, cultures and classes to be fully reconciled with Him. We see this throughout the Old Testament (e.g., Gen. 18:17-19; Ps. 67: 4; Is. 49: 6; Is. 56: 7; Is. 60: 3, 5; Dan. 7: 14; Mal. 1: 11) and certainly in the New Testament (e.g., Mt. 12: 18, Mt. 28: 19; Mk. 13: 10; Lk. 2: 32; etc.). In Acts 15, James justifies the acceptance of the Gentiles by the Church not solely on the testimonies of Peter, Paul and Barnabas, but by appealing to scripture (c.f., Acts 15: 13-21).”

Howell, a Ph.D. who has been a General Convention deputy who recently attended GAFCON and serves on the Common Cause Partnership Council said that by contrast, no scriptural parallel exists for the acceptance of homosexual behavior, despite the fact that biblical writers were certainly familiar with the notions of different sexual “orientations” and other ideas used in antiquity to support acceptance of such behavior (see “The Bible and Homosexual Practice” by Prof, Robert A.J. Gagnon for a through discussion of this topic).

“A biblical justification of slavery can only be made by ignoring and distorting the spirit, letter and trajectory of scripture - clearly unacceptable methods for exegesis and formulating hermeneutics. Those who attempt to discredit the clear and unambiguous witness of the bible towards homosexual behavior, use the same flawed approached to support the notion that homosexual behavior is compatible with Christian belief.

“For the Church, the matter of homosexual behavior can never be a “rights” or a “justice” issue. No one is barring anyone from participating in any aspect of church life or governance simply because they have same-sex attractions, weak or strong. Sex is a blessing that God has reserved for the context of (heterosexual) marriage. Sexual expression is not a “right” and scripture does not support such thinking.

Read all of this article here

August 23rd, 2008 Posted in Global Anglican Future Conference |

Video highlights of the GAFCON Pilgrimage are now available on the GAFCON website!

Thanks to Anglican TV, you can now watch this video for free HERE.

Watch also other GAFCON videos including lectures, interviews, and much more.

Monday 30th June

BBC Radio 4 “Sunday” Programme - Anne Atkins on GAFCON (Second Item)
Anglican Media Sydney - GAFCON pilgrims visit Sea of Galilee

Saturday 28th June

Anglican Media Sydney - GAFCON pilgrims visit Bethlehem
Anglican Media Sydney - Venables going to Lambeth
Anglican Media Sydney - GAFCON - Sleeping Giant Awakes

Friday 27th June

Anglican Media Sydney - GAFCON’s First Convert!!!
Anglican Media Sydney - Vaughan Roberts on who is in charge

Wednesday 25th June

Anglican Media Sydney - Service at Ophel Gardens
Anglican Media Sydney - Bishop Benn on Lambeth Conference
Anglican Media Sydney - Os Guinness at the Media Conference
Anglican Media Sydney - Michael Nazir-Ali at Tuesday’s News Conference

Tuesday 24th June

Anglican Media Sydney - GAFCON at the Mount of Olives
Anglican Media Sydney - GAFCON Media Conference, Monday 23rd June
Anglican Media Sydney - Archbishop Orombi preaches at GAFCON

Sunday 22nd June

BBC World Service - Archbishop Jensen of Sydney
Anglican Media Sydney - Sunday Night News Conference

Friday 20th June

Anglican Media Sydney - What Archbishop Jensen is expecting
Anglican Media Sydney - The perspective from Neutral Bay, Sydney
Anglican Media Sydney - Why Community is more important than Architecture

What We Are by the Rev’d Canon Dr. John Yates, The Falls Church, Falls Church VA

An Episcopal (TEC) bishop asked me what do I want, as I envision how the Church should be.  Here are some thoughts about the qualities I believe would be true of the Anglican Church that I love.

We are Anglican in theological outlook:

• Rooted in the English Reformation doctrines of the 39 Articles, the early prayer books, Cranmer’s homilies, and the confessions of our Anglican martyrs.
• Our Triune God has spoken supremely in our Lord Jesus Christ and in holy Scripture.
• Our trust in God is rooted in the atoning life, death and resurrection of Jesus, and we look to the Holy Spirit as our ongoing Counselor, Guide, Equipper, and Friend.
• We accept the historic episcopate model of church governance expecting bishops to be shepherds and teachers, assuring continuity of the apostolic faith and discipline, their ministries being rooted in the local church.
• We embrace our common heritage with the worldwide Anglican Communion, looking to this body as our primary, international family.

As “mere” Christians, we also see ourselves as:

• Orthodox, in that we are rooted in the New Testament Church and in the creeds and the early councils, and see ourselves linked with the early Church as it has continued, uninterrupted, across the centuries.
• Protestant in the company of Cranmer, Ridley, Latimer, Luther, Calvin, etc., proclaiming a Gospel of Grace through faith in our Lord Jesus.
• Evangelical in the tradition of Wesley, Whitfield, Newton, Simeon, Wilberforce, Ryle, Stott, Packer.
• Fundamental in our insistence on the truth of the fundamental doctrines as opposed to cultural assumptions which come and go.
• Charismatic in our dependence upon the energy and life-giving gifts of the Holy Spirit.
• Catholic in our commitment to unity with both the early church as well as the orthodox family of believers around the world. Anglicanism is a vital part of the broader, ongoing worldwide Christian Church.
• Sacramental in our belief that Christ is present and ministers to us in Holy Communion and Holy Baptism.
• Biblical in our conviction that God inspired the authors of Scripture – what they wrote was God’s truth. The original documents were without error, the scriptures are infallible in what they teach about truth and practice. The Old and New Testaments contain all things necessary to salvation.  They are our guide, our rule, our ultimate standard of faith.

Basically, I long for a church in which the following is true:

• We humbly cling to a unique savior and exclusive gospel in a pluralistic world; an authoritative Bible in a skeptical age; a sacrificial lifestyle in a consumer culture; a pure and chaste life in an era of permissiveness.
• We pray earnestly with humble confidence in the ongoing intercessory ministry of Christ our only mediator and advocate.
• We say the creeds without crossing our fingers.
• We trust in the reality of Heaven and Hell.
• We proclaim Jesus as the only hope of salvation, for all people, in all places, for all time. The work of God in Christ and the Word of God in Scripture are complete – we add nothing to either.
• We believe that the local church can be the hope of the world.
• We are plain, simple, mere Christians.

Bishop Duncan Shares Concerns on Windsor Continuation Group

Good leadership hinges on moral tenets - Anglican Fathers

From the Anglican Church in Nigeria

Leadership at all levels in the Country, including the Church, has been challenged to stand out in condemnation of the quest for materialism and ill-gotten wealth prevalent in the society. Delegates to the 11th Annual Men’s Conference, Diocese of Egbu, Christian Fathers’ Association, (CFA) made the call in a 11point communiqué at the end of the conference held recently at Holy Trinity Church, Nekede in Owerri West Local Government Council. It urged the leaders not only to express disapproval of such vices but also to strive and toe the line of moral rectitude and proper Christian living.

Conference delegates who also expressed dismay over the problem of homosexuality in Christendom, contrary to biblical teachings and practices, associated itself with the philosophy of the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) held recently in Jerusalem. It commended the vision of the Primates Council of GAFCON and called on all Christians, irrespective of their denominations, to uphold the teachings of the Bible.

It noted with regret that such unbiblical and false gospel has paralyzed the Anglican Communion world-wide and called on all GAFCON Bishops and Churches to remain resolute in ensuring that the Communion was reformed around the biblical gospel and mandate to go into the world and present Christ to the nations.

Conference delegates were satisfied with the Conference theme “Take off your Sandals for the place where you are standing is holy ground”, describing it as apt in every Christian life and advised Fathers to identify their sandals of cultism, immorality, adultery and other mundane tendencies in their lives, so as to take them off in order to embrace a new creation in Christ. Some Christian Fathers, the Conference delegates noted seemed to be losing faith in God because of some afflictions upon them and urged such persons to continue to build their trust absolutely in God who would always see them through in all their depressed situations.

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AAC: A message from Bishop David Anderson

August 18th, 2008 Posted in American Anglican Council, Archbishop Of Canterbury |

From AAC

Dearly Beloved in Christ,

As I reflect on the strange times we live in with regard to the Church and the Anglican Communion, I am preparing for another birthday next week. I will by year’s end celebrate 64 years as an Anglican, thirty-six of them in Episcopal Church Holy Orders, and almost two years as a priest and then bishop in CANA (Nigeria), outside of TEC.

As early as 1988 I saw this conflict coming, but never imagined that it would be so worldwide or so bitter. Part of my amazement and disappointment has been with the duplicity of the current Archbishop of Canterbury, saying things in private that he has to act counter to in his public role. I could sympathize with his pain, but in reality the pain is of his own making. He can either change his mind over his privately held opinions, or he can step down from the office; either way his pain will go away. The fact that he has to espouse things publicly which the Anglican Communion is on record as believing and he secretly doesn’t believe, does damage to his spirit and soul.

All of this could just be his personal burden and his personal pain, except that in looking at the decisions (and the lack of decisions) that have occurred since Dr Williams became the Archbishop of Canterbury, it is not hard to see that this personal conflict is affecting his work performance. He cannot bear to really punish the American and Canadian Churches because they are very close to where he is, though he can’t say so. When the Panel of Reference failed, when the decisions of Dromantine, and Dar es Salaam, and the requirements of the September deadline were not met and we wonder why….it is because he can’t bring himself to take action against those that are in fact his soul mates.

In Dr Williams’ response to the controversy about the letters published last week by the Times, he stated, “In the light of recent reports based on private correspondence from eight years ago…” and then goes on to say that he still accepts the Lambeth 1.10 position. Dr Williams allowed that “In the past, as a professional theologian” he had “made some contributions” to the “study” of how the church should view homosexual relationships. This might pass muster, except for two circumstances: firstly, he wrote this most recently revealed private correspondence WHILE ARCHBISHOP OF WALES, not while in an academic ivory tower. He was then an archbishop and primate of the church, sworn to hold and uphold the beliefs taught by the Communion - just as he is now. Secondly, his work product as the primus inter pares indicates that his privately held beliefs ARE impacting his decisions about the breach of faith and discipline by America and Canada. These together nullify his claim of beliefs held only as an academic or theologian.

READ MORE HERE