…at this crucial time, many of those strong evangelical Anglicans from Africa, Asia and South America have removed themselves. The American bishops, led by Dr. Jefferts Schori, seem strengthened in their resolve to force the approval of aberrant behavior and experimental theology on the Communion. They’ve signaled a willingness to go their own way no matter what Lambeth does.
I talked with a number of bishops here. They are worried. Uncertain about the outcome of the Conference. I’m convinced that the majority of those here gathered are orthodox in their faith, determined to conform themselves to Scripture in a holy life. They must find within themselves, in the midst of this pilgrimage, the resolve to stand for the Faith and say “no” to innovations that have yet to be tested by time and have often proven so able to bring spiritual, emotional and physical suffering.
If they do not, a great cry of anguish will resonate in that great cloud of witnesses nurtured faithfully over the centuries and drawn from the battlefields of faith stretching from Canterbury to Mombassa. The anguish of betrayal. A weeping over souls now placed in peril by a Lambeth that could not find courage and lead.
An old and tired Anglicanism cannot be preserved here. But a renewed and reformed Anglicanism fit for twenty-first century mission could be reborn. Pray for the Church.
I appreciate Todd Wetzel’s report on the mood he perceives among the bishops, and especially his reminder of the great sacrifices made by the intrepid British missionaries who went to “darkest Africa” in the Victorian period to sow the seed of the gospel. It’s good to be reminded that some of them packed their meager belongings in a coffin, since they didn’t expect to survive long in the malaria-infested areas to which they went. But they went anyway, in obedience to the call of Christ to “make disciples of all nations.” And God took the seed and caused it to grow in miraculous ways.
I too, like Fr. Wetzel, believe that the old Anglicanism that we have known and cherished is withering and dying. It is a casualty in large part of the secularization of western elite culture, and the momentous change from a Christendom era to a post-Christendom age. A new Global, Post-Colonial, post-Christendom Anglicanism, however, is beginning to appear for those who have the eyes to see it, and it is foreshadowed by GAFCON.
But the success of this new kind of Anglicanism depends on the willingness of its leaders to count the cost and gladly give their all for the cause of Christ, as those first missionaries to Africa did. May it be so.
David Handy+
I could weep sometimes with frustration, and yes anger, and resentment at what is happening in the AC, and the souls of so many being led astray in these days.
However, this post by Fr.Wetzel, truly made me weep for those brave soldiers who went before to mark our road ahead.
Thanks for posting it KSH,
Gloria in SC
You know the game is over when you face an organization that is completely without joy. 815 has not brought joy to the body for years, and it is incapable of bringing joy to others. Majoring in the minors.
The Evangelicals are focused on poverty and the 30,000 children that perish daily from disease and malnutrition — we could learn a few things about priorities.