The formation of the Anglican Ordinariate was a natural consequence of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s mismanagement of the crisis facing the Anglican Communion, the leaders of the Gafcon movement said in a statement released on May 10.
In a strongly worded communiqué summarizing the work of their April 25-28 meeting in Nairobi, the archbishops of the Gafcon movement, representing a majority of the church’s members, voiced their displeasure with the usurpation of authority by Dr. Williams and the staff of the Anglican Consultative Council and laid upon their door responsibility for the de facto schism within the communion.
While the 13-point communiqué touched on administrative issues for the Anglican reform movement, including the creation of a Nairobi and London offices, the appointment of Bishop Martyn Minns as Deputy Secretary, and the calling of a second Jerusalem conference in 2013, the heart of the letter came in a sustained attack on the actions taken by London-based instruments of the Anglican Communion.
Words are cheap. I’ll believe it when they actually do something.
Words are cheap, alright, but I think we need to hold to our opinions while keeping in mind that the reformation of Anglicanism is going to be a work in progress for quite some time. I respect these Primates and the work they’re doing. This can’t be done overnight. They’ve made a good start, and I think they’re on the right track. Is a London office appropriate? Yes, it is.
The Right Rev. Dr. Williams must be shaking in his boots right now.
Too late, too late. Much too late. At this point it’s just empty posturing. Don’t those guys realize the fact or are they simply unable to recognize reality? Mrs Schori’s retort would undoubtedly be the Arab proverb Andre Gide quoted to Truman Capote one day in Tangier, “The dogs bark, but the caravan moves on.”
They can say that all they like about the ordinariate, but that’s just not an accurate history of how it came to be.
It seems that if we didn’t have Gafcon and the ACNA, many would still be clamoring for them. Anglicanism has never had a peaceful history except a few dull years in England when the bishops were more concerned about keeping their palaces paid for than what was actually happening in their dioceses.
So now we have Gafcon and the ACNA. And those who are tired of the seeming denominationalism which it fosters can now make the trip to the one “true church of God” via the ordinariate while keeping their cherished Anglican liturgy.
Is it going to continue to evolve and change? Yep……..that you can bet the bank on.
“…except a few dull years in England when the bishops were more concerned about keeping their palaces paid for than what was actually happening in their dioceses.” Ah, Barchester. Very much missed these days. Now, rather than the happy times when my predecessors hunted and fished and made their pastoral calls on horseback, not troubling themselves nor anyone else with theological conceptualisations, now we must pay lawyers and watch our congregations melt away just because of a silly addiction to change for change’s sake.
[blockquote] “Words are cheap.” [/blockquote]
Yes, how silly of our Lord and Saviour to only leave us with words!
And what fools were the Nicene Fathers, who left us only a handful of words. What a pity they didn’t have us to guide them!
[blockquote] “Don’t those guys realize the fact or are they simply unable to recognize reality?” [/blockquote]
Funny that, they don’t seem to realise it. And after all, what would they know? They are only the leaders of tens of millions of Anglicans after all. They didn’t listen to similar comments made about America in the 2000s, they simply made their statements, and in due course took action.