Bishops claiming to represent around 40 million practising Anglicans opted to attend the Jerusalem gathering rather than Lambeth because of the American Episcopal Church’s decision to consecrate the openly gay cleric Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire.
Sources within Anglican Mainstream backed Prof Radner’s calls but said it may now be too late to bring the two sides together.
“I think it would take a miracle for these things to happen,” one said.
Cannon Chris Sugden, Anglican Mainstream’s executive secretary, echoed suggestions that the Lambeth Conference could be a make-or-break moment for the future of Anglicanism.
“If nothing is done at Lambeth it will underline the importance of the Gafcon movement and declaration in securing the future of orthodox Christian within the Anglican church,” he said.
A spokesman for the Anglican Communion declined to comment on Prof Radner’s remarks but said: “The passing of resolutions is not on the agenda for this particular conference.”
I think Chris Sugden has it precisely wrong. Rather if “nothing is done at Lambeth” it will underline the impotence of the Gafcon movement and declare the mainstream of the Anglican Communion “over” being blackmailed and bullied and ready to get on with mission and ministry.
Sorry, but I disagree.
Sussan Russell,
1. What REALLY is the “mission and ministry” of the Episcopal church and presently of the Anglican Communion under +++Rowan?
2. Who REALLY is “being blackmailed and bullied”?
Respectully asked,
Kingsley Jon-Ubabuco
Susan, what is mission and ministry when there is no core doctrine to share about Jesus Christ? There will be, of course, no thing coming out of Lambeth. Design or not, nothing will come out of nothing.
I honestly thought post #1 was satire until I read the name of the sender. In my home parish, my diocese, and I suspect in the whole of TEC, “Mission and Ministry” is code for “silence the orthodox and show them the door”. The interesting thing is Gene wears a bullet proof vest and has never been touched or in any danger, but I was physically and verbally accousted last year in the chapel of my home church for being critical of the powers that be. But, I didn’t file a lawsuit; I simply turned the other cheek.
Gene Robinson reportedly wore a bullet proof vest (whether true or false is another story altogether) not necessarily because his life was in danger. What better way to attract attention and garner support from uncritical and naive world of the “non-judgmental-can’t-we-all-get-along-in-love-pew-sitters”??!?!?
We know the Left love the victim-hood mentality, and that a sense of drama and anything with some element of news-worthiness is always preferable to them than anything else.
Honestly, the Left are good at what they do. No question. They are the masters and mistresses of the art.
But, again, we know the end of all this, don’t we.
Fr. Kingsley Jon-Ubabuco
Arlington, TX
Once again, the author has it totally wrong:
(openly) Gay Clergy is a symptom of the deeper ills besetting the Anglican Church. Even more upsetting is the abandonment of orthodox theology and doctrine for the spirit of the age that led to the consecration of VGR.
Jim Elliott <><
“Bullied and blackmailed?” Add “bought” and you just described TEC and Integrity’s influence on the Communion. Herself has, on many occasions, triumphantly announced her visits and phone calls to the Anglican Communion office. I’d love to know how much the ‘umble have paid of the Lambeth expenses.
But I do wish they’d make up their minds. Oftentimes, we reasserters are called “a tiny minority” and “irrelevant” but, suddenly, when splits are mentioned we’re “bullies” and capable of “blackmail.”
1. Susan
Sorry to break it to you, but what you think is completely irrelevant to what will transpire after Lambeth. The audience that matters is the 40 million plus Anglicans that are sitting waiting to see if the bishops in attendance are prepared to stand up for the faith or to take a stroll with you and yours. Pretty simple.
The current issue of FIRST THINGS has a terrific article, “The Death of Protestant America”, that everyone should read…especially the likes of Ms. Russell. The article displays the total devastation that she, and others like her, have helped bring upon the the now nearly dead mainline churches and thereby to the nation. Its good and insightful read.
#6 Spiro–I didn’t get into that aspect; but Gene is obviously in no danger from any of us. The vest is a theatrical prop. He is in no more danger than the man who punched me in the chest at church; even though I spent 21 years in the Marines and could have killed him with my bare hands in about 3 seconds. Who wears the vest and who is violent to whom? The irony is obvious, I hope.
David Keller (# 10),
Try dressing in white slacks with white loafers and walking alone in a brew pub neighborhood on a Saturday evening when the weather is pleasant.
#11–Am I going to do that so I can find out if I can really kill an attacker in 3 seconds?
“If nothing is done at Lambeth” then it will simply confirm that the Anglican Communion has transformed itself into a federation of national churches. This is something which TEC would like. But it would not reveal GAFCON as impotent, but rather it would confirm GAFCON’s structures as the best hope for restoring an actual Anglican Communion.
Sorry folks. Susan Russell has spoken and she has wiped her feet and left…and she never takes questions.
I have been searching for a word that will summarize the atmosphere generated by Lambeth and all that surrounds it. The best I can think of is “arid.” The obvious conclusion that nothing will be done at Lambeth, that there was never any intention to act, that all the talk will come to nothing, the intuition that for many there, this is a high tea – all this and more has g enerated the overwhelming sense that this portion of the AC is in a deadly drought. There is no sense, regardless of the words to the contrary, that this meeting is alive.
Have you ever planted ground that is exhausted? The soil may look right and feel right, but the seeds, when they have germinated and used up their stored nutrients, grow pale, wither and die. No rain, however sweet and generous, can revitalize exhausted soil. the American solution, of course, is to pour in artificial nutrients, but the result is an even more sterile soil, living off artificiality. Take that away, and the soil is utterly dead for many many years. Artificial life is fake life, destroying that which it should be nourished by – if you will allow a parphrase of Shakespeare.
In the language, public and private, in the liturgy, in the very carriage of the participants, one senses the absence of the vital force. It is wholly appropriate that the liberal forces gathered here should sponsor and nourish homosexuality, for this abnormality is the paradigm of sterility. And I note that in Susan Russell’s entry above, most of you sensed an artificiality, a message from a drought stricken land.
In GAFCON, however, we all sensed that, though the liturgy may have been the same, the positive words the same, there was a sense of rising life, of elan vital, which drew its nourishment form a living soil, rich and deep and organic – if I may use that word in it best sense.
Lambeth will fail because its vitality has failed, its soil is exhausted, because its drought its without sign of remission. Prayer is no use here, you must have seen that, for nothing is as unproductive as prayers for the dead. Mind you, all these people will continue because The Agenda is like chemical nitrogen; it WILL makes make plants grow, but the soil is dead, and the CofE and TEC will wither and die when this artificial fertilizer is gone. LM
jamesw said:
[blockquote]“If nothing is done at Lambeth†then it will simply confirm that the Anglican Communion has transformed itself into a federation of national churches.[/blockquote]
The AC has never been any more than a federation of national churches — [b]except[/b] for one thing: All were in unspoken (no need to speak it!) agreement on the historic foundations of Christianity, and the heresies that were decided and left behind. Now this can no longer be taken for granted, hence this unmitigated disaster.
[blockquote]… rather it would confirm GAFCON’s structures as the best hope for restoring an actual Anglican Communion.[/blockquote]
History has shown that when basic Christianity is in dispute, councils must be called to set the faith straight once again. There is likely no other way. I suppose GAFCon and its structures for accountability, if not enforcement, [b]are[/b] a modern council, or preparatory for councils to come.
I wonder if the leadership of TEC (in comment #1) hasn’t just shown their entire Lambeth hand. I believe I’ve read where others have suspected that this is the plan, but not someone in the revisionist leadership suggesting it. It doesn’t even require Delphi’ing the indaba groups.
One might admire the elegance and simplicity of it. The result is that, to the outside, TEC looks like the Homo Sapiens sharing a wonderful, carefree picnic of mission and ministry, and the GAFCon confessors look like the ants (Formicidae) trying to steal near-microscopic bits of cheese and bologna. You see, TEC is strong enough that they can choose to ignore the ants and enjoy their picnic. Machiavelli rightly might sit back and admire.
And there may be somewhat less of a flurry of final agreements and statements of direction and victory at the end than has been posited. Surely this is all a sign that the modernist leadership believe, not that they are “so close to victory that they can taste it,” but that they have already won. So, in this light, was calling GAFCon before Lambeth and choosing for the conservative leaders to stay away wise? To be sure, time will tell, but sometimes one’s options are limited, and to be faithful one must just do what they know to be right. IMHO, GAFCon was right.
Again, I pray God will fill those at Lambeth with the true Gospel, and when they leave many lives are forever changed.