{"id":82382,"date":"2019-06-07T12:10:43","date_gmt":"2019-06-07T16:10:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=82382"},"modified":"2019-06-07T17:54:58","modified_gmt":"2019-06-07T21:54:58","slug":"tgc-how-reasserting-anglicans-in-canada-found-new-life-after-their-eviction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=82382","title":{"rendered":"(TGC) How Reasserting Anglicans in Canada Found New Life After Their Eviction"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2002, when his regional synod voted to let its bishop bless same-sex unions, [David] Short stood up and walked out of the room (as did Packer<\/a>). So did leaders from half a dozen other churches.<\/p>\n

The pastors knew they had to form their own organization and to find episcopal supervision. But that didn\u2019t seem hard. Most of the global Anglican church still held to the gospel. The Canadians just had to appeal for alternative episcopal oversight, something already permissible in Canada, and call it a day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it would take 10 weeks,\u201d Short said.<\/p>\n

It took 10 years. Ten years of accusations and meetings and lawsuits. Ten years of stress and fear and anger. Nearly all the churches would lose their buildings; all did lose congregants and money. Pastors lost sleep. Some nearly lost their sanity.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe asked all the wisest people I knew\u2014all the cleverest theologians,\u201d Short said. \u201cNo one had any idea what to do.\u201d So they just did the next thing. And the next.<\/p>\n

This June, the Anglican Church in North America\u2014made up of…conservative Anglicans primarily in the United States and Canada, including Short\u2014will celebrate its 10th anniversary. The denomination has 135,000 members in more than 1,000 churches. It\u2019s in \u201cfull communion\u201d with the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (GAFCON).<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was all worth it,\u201d said Ottawa rector\u2014the Anglican term for senior pastor\u2014George Sinclair, whose church left with Short\u2019s. But he would have said that no matter what.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if the church had declined, that wouldn\u2019t be a sign that we had made a mistake,\u201d he said. \u201cBecause the Bible is clear on this issue. You need to take a stand on it\u2014without any expectation about how God will bear fruit from your faithfulness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cFunctionally, we found ourselves part of a national church that was no longer recognizably Anglican historically or globally,\u201d said rector Ray David Glenn. \u201cThey were using Christian language to describe secular humanism.\u201d https:\/\/t.co\/AEl1wReA7W<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 The Gospel Coalition (@TGC) June 6, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n