More than 200 Anglican bishops from conservative dioceses around the world are to boycott next month’s Lambeth Conference and attend a rival Global Anglican Future Conference in Jordan this week instead.

Entire provinces, such as Nigeria, Uganda and R wanda, are attending the alternative gathering, styled Gafcon, instead of Lambeth because of their emphasis on a Bible-based Christianity that rules out many of the liberal developments in the Western Church, such as the increasing acceptance of homosexuality.

Two Church of England bishops, Wallace Benn, of Lewes, and Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, of Rochester, will be carrying the standard for the Church of England, and conservatives from the United States and Australia will also be in Amman.

Although organisers say their goal is not to set up a rival Anglican structure, in a statement at the weekend the Church of Uganda admitted that the aim of Gafcon was “to prepare for an Anglican future in which the gospel is uncompromised and Christ-centred mission is a top priority”.

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The Bishop of Winchester has today voiced his concerns over the first gay “marriage” to be held in an Anglican church.

Rt Reverend Michael Scott-Joynt was speaking after it was revealed that Reverend Peter Cowell and the Rev Dr David Lord exchanged vows at St Bartholomew the Great in the City of London.

He said: “Strictly speaking it is not a marriage, but he marriage is clearly modelled on the marriage service and the occasion is modelled on the marriage service. This clearly flouts Church guidelines and will exacerbate divisions within the Anglican Communion.”

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News of the service of blessing for the union of two male clergy at St Bartholomew’s church in the City Of London last month has brought to a head the issue of whether or not the Church of England intends to remain faithful to the Bible’s revelation.

The Church of England now faces the same sort of division as the Episcopal Church of the USA. Our only hope of preventing this is for bishops to exercise swift and clear discipline. Unless this happens, the floodgates of indiscipline will open. There is no longer any room for carefully constructed statements designed to hold everyone together in an uneasy truce. Schism in the church is being caused not by orthodox believers but by clergy pursuing a liberal agenda.

The issue is clear: will a church which is formally committed to the Bible’s teaching on marriage now exert discipline in order to support its belief on what mainstream credal and apostolic Christianity holds to be a fundamental of the faith? This “service of blessing” has brought the issue to a head on the eve of the departure of many orthodox church leaders in England for the Global Anglican Future Conference and Pilgrimage (GAFCON). Faithful Anglican leaders both at GAFCON and Lambeth will now be looking to the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London to take decisive action. We urge them to do this before GAFCON convenes in order to prevent a further loss of confidence in the Archbishop’s willingness to tackle the issue and to demonstrate their communion with the Global South. The choice they must make is whether or not they want to keep true to the doctrine of the Church of England (as defined in the Worship and Doctrine Measure 1974 (Sections 5.1 and Canon A5)) and secure discipline. A failure to secure such doctrinal discipline will lead globally to a ghettoization of a declining revisionist “Canterbury Communion”. Those seeking to be true to the doctrine of the Church of England will necessarily have to realign themselves with those Anglicans, at home or abroad, who can affirm with integrity Canon A5.

For the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London the choice, therefore, is between being faithful to the Bible’s teaching or acquiescing in the promotion of the liberal sexual agenda. They cannot do both. Words are no longer enough. It is only clear action that will now speak to the worldwide Anglican Communion as well as to orthodox Anglican and other church leaders in this country.

The Church of England is facing a turbulent General Synod after two gay priests were married at the weekend. The issue of the ordination of women bishops will also cause dispute. Paul Eddy, a lay member of the General Synod explains the disputes.

The audio link is here and the segment is 2 hours and 42 minutes in.

The Church of England has been plunged into fresh turmoil by the “marriage” of two gay clergymen and threats of an exodus of priests opposed to the consecration of women bishops.

The Times has learnt that up to 500 Anglo-Catholic priests are ready to resign after failing to secure the concessions that they had sought over women bishops.

Church of England bishops have rejected plans for legal safeguards for those who had hoped for the introduction of extra-geographical dioceses as havens for traditionalists. Instead, plans to consecrate women bishops will be put to a vote at the General Synod in York next month, with the safeguards for opponents enshrined in a voluntary code.

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The New Zealand priest whose gay wedding ceremony has fuelled a row that threatens to split the Anglican Church in Britain has surrendered his own licence to officiate.

The Reverend David Lord ”“ a former Hamilton emergency room doctor ordained as a deacon in December 2005 ”“ angered conservative Christians by exchanging rings and vows with his partner in a church ceremony for his civil partnership in London last month.

But Dr Lord, who tied the knot with English clergyman Peter Cowell, a hospital chaplain, “felt it appropriate to lay down his clergy licence”, according to a statement jointly released with the Bishop of Waikato, Rt Rev David Moxon.

His decision will bar him from officiating as a priest.

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A vicar accused of conducting a gay ‘wedding’ at his historic church is a controversial figure who has previously married his former mistress to another man, it has emerged.

Dr Martin Dudley performed a ceremony for two homosexual priests at the church where he is the rector, St Bartholomew the Great in the heart of the City of London.

The 12th century church, which once featured in the romantic comedy Four Weddings and a Funeral, was the setting for a traditional liturgy from the Book of Common Prayer, with confetti and exchange of rings.

But it is not the first time Dr Dudley, 54, a one-time contender for the position of Mayor of London, has performed a controversial ceremony.

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The first gay “marriage” to be held in an Anglican church has reignited controversy over homosexual clergy and same sex civil partnerships.

The Reverend Peter Cowell and the Rev Dr David Lord exchanged vows at St Bartholomew the Great in the City of London last month.

Church of England guidelines say gay clergy can enter a civil partnership if they provide reassurance that they will abstain from sex.

Couples who ask a priest to bless their union must be dealt with “pastorally and sensitively” on an individual basis.

This is the first time a full ceremony has been held for a same sex couple.
Reverend Martin Dudley, who led the ceremony, said he disagrees with the official guidance.

He added: “I was asked by a friend and colleague to bless their civil partnership. I said ‘of course I will’.

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They come from a host of Christian denominations, but one thing unites them: they are part of a shrinking number of theology students nationally who are interested in taking over a pulpit rather than doing something else with their degrees.

About 100 seminarians from over two dozen denominations, from Baptists and Roman Catholics to Unitarian Universalists, are attending a weeklong conference aimed at reversing a trend of young people shying away from the gaps in churches nationwide left by retiring Baby Boomer ministers.

The conference by the Atlanta-based Fund for Theological Education will also bring in 50 undergraduates from colleges nationwide who are thinking of attending seminary and then going into ministry as a profession.

“The image of being a church leader is very boring,” said 25-year-old conference attendee John Helmstadter, a student at Yale Divinity School. “It doesn’t seem like a vibrant sector. It excites me to be a part of the revival of the church.”

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He isn’t playing well for him, and still manages to force a playoff.

Addressing a packed congregation at one of the city’s largest black churches, Senator Barack Obama on Sunday invoked his own absent father to deliver a sharp message to African-American men, saying, “We need fathers to realize that responsibility does not end at conception.”

“Too many fathers are M.I.A, too many fathers are AWOL, missing from too many lives and too many homes,” Mr. Obama said, to a chorus of approving murmurs from the audience. “They have abandoned their responsibilities, acting like boys instead of men. And the foundations of our families are weaker because of it.”

The speech was striking for its setting, and in how Mr. Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, directly addressed one of the most sensitive topics in the African-American community: whether absent fathers bore responsibility for some of the intractable problems afflicting black Americans. Mr. Obama noted that “more than half of all black children live in single-parent households,” a number that he said had doubled since his own childhood.

Accompanied by his wife, Michelle, and his daughters, Malia and Sasha, who sat in the front pew, Mr. Obama laid out his case in stark terms that would be difficult for a white candidate to make, telling the mostly black audience not to “just sit in the house watching SportsCenter,” and to stop praising themselves for mediocre accomplishments.

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A tendency to read the Bible through the lens of “fundamentalism” threatens to undermine Catholics’ understanding of Scripture, the Vatican said Thursday (June 12).

The statement appears in the agenda for the next general assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which will bring prelates to Rome in October to consider the “importance of the Word of God in the life and mission of the Church.”

The 86-page document released Thursday emphasizes the need to increase Catholics’ knowledge and understanding of Scripture. While encouraging the faithful to read the Bible either alone or in study groups, it stresses that all interpretation must be in light of church teaching.

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The bishop of London said Sunday he would order an investigation into whether two gay priests exchanged rings and vows in a church ceremony, violating Anglican guidelines.

The priests walked down the aisle in a May 31 service at one of London’s oldest churches marked by a fanfare of trumpets and capped by a shower of confetti, Britain’s Sunday Telegraph reported.

The bishop, the Right Rev. Richard Chartres, said such services are not authorized in the Church of England. He said he would ask the archdeacon of London to investigate.

A call placed with the archdeacon was not immediately returned.

Britain officially recognizes civil partnerships but the Church of England’s guidelines say clergy should not bless such unions.

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United Methodist disaster response teams from Illinois were assessing needs after major flooding in the state’s southeastern counties.

The June 10 flooding led to more problems as the water system for the town of Lawrenceville, with 4,600 residents, stopped working the next day, according to The Associated Press. Some 200 residents evacuated after levee breaks and could not return home because of flooded roads.

The latest heavy rains arrived after two floods hit the Pontiac and Watseka area in February, while two March floods hit the southern part of the United Methodist Illinois Great Rivers Annual (regional) Conference. Both regions received a $10,000 grant from the United Methodist Committee on Relief at the request of Bishop Sharon Brown Christopher.

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Three goals in the second half to come back from being down 2-0. Wow.

More than 35 members of the Australian contingent to GAFCON gathered in Sydney to hear Archbishop Peter Jensen declare that the conference is about “facing new realities in the (Anglican) communion and turning them into gospel opportunities”.

The Sydney contingent met at St Andrew’s House to pray and prepare for the one-week gathering, which starts in Jerusalem on June 22.

The conference will be preceded by a meeting of the leadership team and bishops from majority-Muslim countries in Jordan.

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Tory MP Sir Patrick Cormack, a prominent Anglican, said: ”˜This is extraordinary. I am surprised the rector of such an important church should act in apparent defiance of his bishop.’

Alison Ruoff, a member of the Church of England’s General Synod, said: ”˜It is incredibly sad that people are prepared to sin against God and the Church.’

Liberal clergy have flouted the rules by including prayers for same-sex couples during ordinary services, but full-length ceremonies are unprecedented.

Although not recognised in law or authorised by the Church, the service will be seen by many to be a spiritually valid blessing.

It will stoke the fury of conservatives who are threatening to split the worldwide Church if liberals are not brought to heel.

Mr Dudley said he was unrepentant. He said he had written to Bishop Chartres 18 months ago for guidance on blessings for same-sex couples in civil partnerships, but was told the Church’s House of Bishops had not approved them.

”˜Bishop Chartres asked me not to offer them and I do not offer them,’ he said.

”˜But if close friends ask me to bless them, I do not say no.

”˜It would be an act of hypocrisy to do anything else.

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Over the past year Pittsburgh Presbyery has made news for the churches it lost to another denomination. But at its most recent meeting there was unanimity and celebration when the 214 commissioners voted to ordain seminarian Jeff Eddings, who has already co-founded the fastest-growing church in the presbytery.

Hot Metal Bridge Faith Community on the South Side was founded in 2003 with $237,000 from the presbytery’s New Church Development Fund. Now that fund is nearly out of money, and its overseers plan to ask the presbytery to build it back up. They hope one source will be money left by churches that are leaving the Presbyterian Church (USA) for a more conservative denomination.

“We believe that God is not finished with what he wants to do here,” said Vera White, director of new church development for the presbytery.

When the presbytery voted in 2000 to put $1.55 million of reserve funds toward new congregations, “we had gone 40 years without starting a new church,” Ms. White said.

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NPR’s Andrea Seabrook memorializes journalist Tim Russert who died Friday of a heart attack.

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The massive undertaking that is the Global Anglican Future Conference or (GAFCON) is days away from starting in Jerusalem.

Archbishop Peter Jensen, along with the Bishop of North Sydney, Glenn Davies and the Academic Dean of Moore College, Dr Mark Thompson will be meeting this week in Jordan with the conference leadership team in preparation for the seven days of prayer, bible study and fellowship that will follow in Israel.

Dr Jensen has told sydneyanglicans.net that he’s expecting to find a buzz among the 1000 who will gather.

“I’m expecting to find a great number of people thoroughly committed to the Bible and to the Lord Jesus Christ, fellowshipping together, working on who we are as Anglicans and then working on the future. It’s going to be one of the most significant events, I think, in the Anglican Communion, at least in this next two or three decades.”

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Lord Chris Smith:

Some people would probably say ‘Ah, but modern stories have come along and have taken the place of the old.’ That Harry Potter, and Lord of the Rings, and suchlike ”“ these are the stories that we now live by and does it matter that we’ve lost some of the old stories that used to inform our grandparents and our great-grandparents?

Archbishop of Canterbury:

I think there are two things about that. One is of course that Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings and so forth actually build on much older stories and bigger stories in some ways, and you get the most out of them when you know a bit about the world they come from, and the second is really to do with that world that they come from. The stories of Classical mythology, the stories of the Bible, are the stories that have shaped lots of people’s lives across history and lots of the art around us and the cultural world, the literary references, and so again if we want to experience the most when we’re encountering that heritage we need to know something about that.

Lord Chris Smith:

And just thinking about how we’ve lost some of that automatic knowledge, how do… if we want to put it back, how would we set about doing it? Is it the education system? Is it the media? Is it parents? Is it in the stuff of society? Where can we do things to intervene here?

Archbishop of Canterbury:

I think some of it is education and some of it is parenting. I think that for all sorts of reasons parents telling their children stories is a vastly important human activity. It’s no accident that that’s what we often associate with parenting. It’s stories being told. Rhymes and songs being communicated. It’s telling the generation coming along that their human experience is actually part of something bigger. Now, how you encourage that among parents is difficult, but I sometimes toy with the idea of people appointing community storytellers, but already you see sometimes at festivals and community events, you have storytellers in a way that actually you didn’t in decades past, because you take it more for granted. Now people are bringing that in a bit, bringing it back, that’s a good thing.

Lord Chris Smith:

Is it perhaps rediscovering a bit of the Medieval troubadour, who’d come and would gather a group of people around them and sing a song or tell a saga or whatever? Perhaps we’re rediscovering some of this?

Archbishop of Canterbury:

I think we probably are, yes, and I think at schools too people need to be perhaps quite unapologetic about communicating stories.

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Simply amazing–watch it all.

Traditionalists in the Anglican Church have been angered after two gay clergymen exchanged vows in a version of a marriage ceremony.

The service, at St Bartholomew the Great Church in the City of London last month, used formal rites.

The Reverend Peter Cowell and the Reverend Dr David Lord were already civil partners.

Critics say the ceremony flouted guidelines, but the vicar who conducted it said church rules were not broken.

The couple are said to have exchanged vows and rings in front of hundreds of guests in the event thought to be the first of its kind in the Anglican Church.

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Now, while the activists will emphasize that we should send the toasters and gift cards, the point remains that this was a direct political action. It’s goal is political.

It was timed to coincide just as GAFCON is convening and a month out before Lambeth. Last weekend we had Gene Robinson’s wedding in the Episcopal Church. Looks like the brethren in England did not want to let him hog all the limelight.

But what it means is that the COE activists have borrowed the infamous TEC activists’ playbook of recent years. When there is organized opposition to their marketed strategy of prophetic inclusion, then it’s time for drama. Now that drama is crossing the Atlantic from Minneapolis to London on the eve of the Lambeth Conference.

We remember that Bishop John Spong had a meltdown in a letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury where he accused Rowan Williams of ecclesiastical treason, that Rowan Williams was picked because he endorsed by word and action the inclusion of men marrying men and women marrying women. When Dr. Williams made several key decisions that undermined those activist goals, the street activists in the Episcopal Church were outraged.

They were emboldened when Rowan Williams was appointed the new Archbishop of Canterbury. They threw all caution to the wind and flew forward at an accelerated pace, confident that Canterbury would not blink but look the other way. The Episcopal activists were very worried that their momentum had peaked at Denver’s General Convention and if they did not move fast, they be set back decades. Their base of support was aging – who could guarantee that they would have sufficient numbers in another 20 years to achieve their political goals? It did not look good….

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Almighty God, who hast revealed to thy Church thine eternal Being of glorious majesty and perfect love as one God in Trinity of Persons: Give us grace that, like thy bishop Basil of Caesarea, we may continue steadfast in the confession of this faith, and constant in our worship of thee, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; who livest and reignest for ever and ever.

The marriage calls into question the authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury ”“ one of four fundamental points of unity for the worldwide communion ”“ and tears at the very heart of Anglicanism.

Only three years ago, Dr Williams flew to meet the African archbishops to reassure them that the Church’s teaching on sexuality would not be compromised by the introduction of the Civil Partnerships Act. The Church issued guidelines allowing clergy to register their relationships on the condition that they assured their bishop that they would abstain from sex. It said homosexual couples should not be given formal services to celebrate their relationship.

The archbishop stressed that priests who broke these rules would be disciplined. However, a number of clergy have since performed so called “blessing services” for homosexual couples. These are significantly different from wedding services: they involve no wedding rite; there is no exchange of vows, no bridesmaids or pageboys. Most are carried out quietly. Despite being controversial, not one has resulted in disciplinary proceedings.

The fact that one vicar has actually conducted a proper wedding service, using such traditional liturgy and furthermore, between two priests, makes the issue impossible to ignore.

Read it all and there is yet another article to read here.

Although some liberal clergy have carried out “blessing ceremonies” for homosexual couples in the past, this is the first time a vicar has performed a “wedding ceremony”, using a traditional marriage liturgy, with readings, hymns and a ­Eucharist.

Both the conservative and liberal wings of the Anglican communion expressed shock last night.

The Most Rev Henry Orombi, the Archbishop of Uganda, said that the ceremony was “blasphemous.” He called on Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, to take decisive action if the Anglican Church were not to “disintegrate”. Archbishop Orombi added: “What really shocks me is that this is happening in the Church of England that first brought the Gospel to us.

“The leadership tried to deny that this would happen, but now the truth is out. Our respect for the Church of England will erode unless we see a return to traditional teaching.”

The Rt Rev Michael Scott-Joynt, the Bishop of Winchester ”“ a powerful conservative figure ”“ said that the service represented a wedding “in all but name”. He said: “Strictly speaking it is not a marriage, but the language is clearly modelled on the marriage service and the occasion is modelled on the marriage service. This clearly flouts Church guidelines and will exacerbate divisions within the Anglican Communion.”

The bishop said that it was up to the Rt Rev Richard Chartres, the Bishop of London, to act, adding that it would become a high-profile test case of Church authority.

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Update: Episcopal Cafe helpfully provides the bulletin from the service here.