Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. - 2 Timothy 2:15
From a Telegraph [UK] article, Anglican Church offshoot founded by traditionalists in Jerusalem:
Anglican Church offshoot founded by traditionalists in Jerusalem [/] By Martin Beckford, Religious Affairs Correspondent [/] Last updated: 2:44 PM BST 29/06/2008A new church representing almost half of the world's 80 million Anglicans has been officially formed, posing a serious challenge to the Archbishop of Canterbury. [/] The organisation created by traditionalists - called the Gafcon movement after the Global Anglican Future Conference which led to its creation - will retain ties with Dr Rowan Williams and will technically remain within the global Anglican Communion.
But it is also likely to lead to orthodox Anglicans severing all links with the main churches in America and Canada, whose liberal leaders are blamed for sparking the current crisis by breaking with the Bible's teaching and by consecrating openly gay clergy and blessing gay "marriages".
The movement's leaders will include at least two Church of England bishops as well as the heads of leading African, South American and Australian churches, and it is said to represent 35 million worshippers worldwide and so spell an end to the "colonial" domination of Canterbury.
Organisers of the Gafcon summit in Jerusalem who produced a statement declaring the formation of the "church within a church" were keen to state that it does not represent a complete split or schism in Anglicanism, and that they only want to preserve the faith's original intentions. [/] Their final statement stated: "We cherish our Anglican heritage and the Anglican Communion and have no intention of departing from it."
But they said that some parts of the Communion were using "false Gospel" to rewrite the Bible along liberal lines, forcing some dioceses to break with their leaders in America and Canada and join churches in Africa and South America. [/] And they claimed that the "colonial structure" of Anglicanism had failed to discipline those churches which had broken the rules by consecrating gay clergy and blessing same-sex unions. [/] They added that Anglican identity "need not be determined through recognition by the Archbishop of Canterbury", implying that they will carry on regardless of how their movement is viewed.
Together with a series of 14 proclamations called the Jerusalem Declaration, the Gafcon leaders announced the formation of a new Council of church leaders. [/] The statement said they should ratify the formation of a traditionalist North American province based on the existing Common Cause federation, which would declare independence from the liberal Episcopal Church.
Despite their claims not to have caused a schism, however, the sheer size of the church and the power of its leaders mean it will pose a serious threat to Dr Williams, who has been carefully trying to preserve unity and his role as the head of Anglicanism's 38 provinces since the divisions over sexuality began. It is considered by some the most significant event in the church since the Reformation. [/] He must now face a row over the introduction of women bishops at a meeting of the Church of England's governing body, the General Synod, this Friday, followed by a gathering of Anglican bishops from around the world at the once-a-decade Lambeth Conference later in July.
Most of the church leaders who are involved in Gafcon, including the outspoken Bishop of Rochester, the Rt. Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, are to boycott Lambeth, further eroding its claim to represent the whole of Anglicanism. [/] Traditionalists who do attend Lambeth, such as the head of the church in South America - the Archbishop of the Southern Cone, the Most Rev Gregory Venables - who has already taken conservative American dioceses under his wing, will use the opportunity to spell out to Dr Williams the demands of the new movement.
They say the split was triggered by clergy in the Episcopal Church - the main Anglican church in America - who in an attempt to reflect progressive ideas in society and make themselves relevant to younger churchgoers, began departing from the traditional Bible view that homosexuality is sinful. Some have denied the resurrection of Jesus Christ took place.
The Lambeth Conference of 1998 ruled that same-sex unions went against Scripture. But then five years later the Americans consecrated the openly gay Gene Robinson as the Bishop of New Hampshire while clergy in Canada began blessing gay "weddings".An official investigation - the Windsor Report - ruled in 2004 they must not support gay clergy or same-sex unions but no disciplinary action was taken, while a "covenant" spelling out rules for Anglicanism and punishments for churches who break them has still not been adopted despite conservatives' demands. [/] In response to the crisis, some American clergy began opting out of the Episcopal Church and becoming ordained as bishops in African Anglican churches, which take a much stricter line on the Bible and sexuality. [/] The Episcopal Church responded by trying to oust conservative bishops and taking legal action to commandeer their churches, although a court ruled on Friday that breakaway congregations can keep their property. [/] When it was disclosed that most of the Episcopal leaders would be attending Lambeth this summer, many of the traditionalists around the world decided to boycott it and instead planned Gafcon as a way to meet and discuss how they could work together.
They were united in their outlook on the primacy of the Bible and their contempt for the liberals who are said to be "re-writing" the Bible.
But many also wanted to show the strength of the so-called Global South - the developing nations of Africa, Asia and South America where tens of millions of Anglicans live. [/] They hope the new church will spell an end to the centuries-old dominance of England over Anglicanism, which many at Gafcon view as a remnant of the British Empire, with Dr Williams this week dismissed as a colonial relic. [/] Some within the movement had demanded a complete "amputation" from Canterbury as the only way to preserve its integrity, but after a week of discussions in Jerusalem attended by more than 1,000 people including 300 bishops it was decided that the new movement should try to reform Anglicanism from within by reaffirming the primacy of the Bible.
Delegates at Gafcon said bishops "repeatedly leaped in the air" and were "weeping with joy" when they were read the text of the statement announcing the new movement.
The Archbishop of Sydney, Dr Peter Jensen, said this week that the "sheer existence" of the Gafcon movement posed a challenge to the existing Anglican Communion but insisted the liberals had brought the split upon themselves. [/] "The American revisionists committed a strategic blunder in 2003. I don't think they believed there would be consequences. It was a horrific strategic blunder they committed and there are consequences. The consequences are unfolding and our churches are divided." [My ellipses and emphasis]
Jim :) Smiling aka Brother Jonathan aka Toto Of Kansas
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