The Articles once more
November 22, 2009 at 4:15 am | In Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
The 18 – 30s Mission: A Missing Generation?
November 20, 2009 at 6:00 am | In Uncategorized | Leave a Commentovember 19th, 2009 Posted in News |
Please take the time to visit this site and follow some of the links this is very import (Fr Gavin)
`Scripture, Faith and Order.
November 20, 2009 at 5:40 am | In Uncategorized | Leave a CommentNovember 19th, 2009 Posted in News | Comments Off
In 2005 Anglican Mainstream published the following statement on Scripture, Faith and Order, In the light of the current discussions, it is republished here for the record’s sake.
At the moment two major issues threaten to divide the Church of England. The first is the issue of homosexuality and the second is the issue of whether it is right for women to become bishops.
Both of these issues raise questions of biblical authority. In both cases the proposal to revise of the Church of England’s current position has seemed to call into question not only the tradition of the Church but also the clear teaching of the Bible in passages such as Rom 1:26-27 and 1 Tim 2:11-15. Furthermore, many arguments used by those advocating a change in the Church of England’s current position are the same in both cases. Thus arguments relating to experience, inclusivity, natural justice and the need for the Church to remain relevant to contemporary society are used by both the supporters of the ordination of practising homosexuals and the supporters of the consecration of women bishops.
However, although there are these similarities between the two issues, from an Evangelical perspective there is also a real and important difference between them.The basis for this difference is the distinction between what are known as first and second order issues.
First order issues are those that are central to the Christian faith, about which disagreement is therefore impermissible. Examples would be the deity and humanity of Christ, Christ’s death on the cross for our salvation and Christ’s return in glory to judge the living and the dead. If someone denies any or all of these then from an Evangelical perspective he or she has put themselves outside the limits of orthodox Christianity altogether. Second order issues are less central to the Christian faith and disagreement about them is permissible. From an Evangelical perspective such issues would include whether people should be baptised as infants or adults, what is the best pattern of ministry and who should be permitted to preside at Holy Communion. These are issues on which Evangelicals might think that others are mistaken without also thinking that they had ceased to be orthodox Christians.
This distinction between first and second order issues can be traced back to the New Testament itself where St. Paul, for example, is clear that there is no room for equivocation of the issue of justification by faith (Gal 3:1-5:12), but he is also clear that room should be allowed for a difference of opinion over whether it is right to eat particular kinds of food or to observe particular days as more holy than others (Rom 14:1-23).
http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/?p=18256#more-18256
Is Scripture clear? Ten ideas about the clarity of Scripture
November 16, 2009 at 4:37 am | In Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
Idea 1: The clarity of scripture is an evangelical clarity.
It is the gospel of Jesus Christ that both unites scripture and renders it clear. Jesus is the ‘Yes’ who both explains and fulfils the promises of God. The Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8 appeared baffled by his reading of Isaiah until he met Philip who explained it to him. We shouldn’t be distracted by the presence of an interpreter here: the point is not: ‘you need an authorised interpreter’ but rather ‘Jesus makes sense of it’. It is the proclamation of Christ crucified and risen that is the great shining light in the middle of the Bible, making the rest of its sometimes disparate parts cohere.
Idea 2: The clarity of scripture is a doctrine of the Holy Spirit
This evangelical clarity is a work of the Holy Spirit. The Ethiopian is able to read the Scripture and probably understand what the words mean but the significance is totally lost on him. For that, cue the Holy Spirit!
Idea 3: The doctrine of the clarity of the scriptures has little to do with how simple or how hard the scriptures are to understand.
Indeed, in 2 Peter 3:16, Peter complains that Paul’s letters have things in them that are very difficult! The clarity of Scripture does not mean that the matters and the subjects with which the scriptures deal are not mysteries that far exceed our human intellects.
Idea 4: Scripture itself speaks of its own clarity.
The Bible is a book whose authors expected to have readers who understood what they were talking about. The law in Israel was to be a light to the paths of the people (see also Ps 19:8): they were expected to read it and obey it, and were held accountable for it! Scripture is breath-out by God for the purpose of training the man of God (2 Tim 3:16). Scripture does not cast itself as a book of secrets, a book of codes and mysteries. These things are written, says John, that you might believe and believing have life! (20:31)
Idea 5: The clarity of scripture implies that scripture interprets scripture.
On account of the clarity of Scripture we discover that Scripture has the power of interpreting itself. By this the Reformers held that the basic ideas of Scripture clarify the parts, and that the obscure texts are explained by the plain ones. This was not to say that we should pretend we have no presuppositions when we approach the Bible – that would be sheer arrogance. But it does ensure that those presuppositions submit to the things we find in the pages of the Bible and are not held as an authoritative grid over it.
Idea 6: The clarity of scripture as a norm does not excuse the church and Christians from the responsibility of proper interpretation.
Having said that the Bible is self-interpreting, is not to excuse Christians and the church from the business of working hard at the text of scripture. But the Church’s interpretation ought to be ministerial rather than magisterial – it serves rather than rules.
Idea 7: The clarity of Scripture is more about discipleship and holiness than it is about linguistic theory.
The clarity of Scripture, because it is an evangelical clarity, has more to do with the submission of the reader to the rule of Jesus than it does to some linguistic technique or skill. The disciples of Jesus know and recognise their master’s voice. If you are converted, you are teachable: you are receptive to what the Spirit has to say to you in the Word of God.
Idea 8: We need to develop a proper ‘spirituality’ of reading
Reading the bible is a spiritual activity, to be attended by the virtue of humility and the business of prayer, as an anti-dote to our own pride and self-derived wisdom. See Psalm 119 for example!
Idea 9: But the clarity of scripture DOES have implications for linguistic theory.
If God’s word is effective to communicate as a Word – that is, not as some wordless mystical silence – then words themselves are not ineffective instruments in his hands. Words may be the proper vehicles for the expression of concepts; and may even be effectively translated.
Idea 10: The danger of the doctrine of scripture’s clarity is that we become rationalistic
The risk with the doctrine is that we will assume that Scripture can be understood by anyone possessed of native intelligence – which, is at one level, true. But though Scripture is human, it is not just human. It is the means by which the holy God reveals himself to us. As Paul Jewett puts it: ‘its meaning is not simply at the disposal of our native intelligence.’ That’s why we pray before we read it,
Archbishop Duncan of the Anglican Church in North America on the Anglican Schism
November 16, 2009 at 4:05 am | In ACNA, FCA, North America | Leave a Comment
Charles Lewis reports:
Archbishop Robert Duncan rejects the term “breakaway” to describe the faction of orthodox Anglicans he now leads.
He argues, instead, that the more than 700 orthodox Anglican parishes in Canada and the United States that have left their national churches behind represent where the vast majority of Anglicans in the world are — and where the rest of the Anglicans will soon be.
Archbishop Duncan, visiting Canada last week for the first time since he became head of the Anglican Church of North America (ACNA), the first Anglican jurisdiction that crosses national boundaries, earlier this year, says it is the national churches in Canada and the United States — the Anglican Church of Canada and the Episcopal Church USA — that are the real schismatics, trading in the Bible and orthodoxy for a trendy form of Christianity that is trying to be popular instead of faithful.
Those institutions have “turned so far to the left” they are now on the road to virtual oblivion, he said, pointing to such innovations as the blessing of same-sex marriage.
“They’ll become irrelevancies,” he said during an interview with the National Post. “People who are looking for a saviour who can save.
They are really looking for how they can shape their lives and what they can trust in. And what the [national churches] are offering is Jesus lite. Folks don’t need a Jesus lite.”
RESPONSE TO OFFER OF AN APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTION TO ANGLICANS
November 11, 2009 at 3:39 am | In Anglican Communion, GAFCON, Gafcon Primates | Leave a CommentStatement from GAFCON/FCA Primates Council
We have received the Archbishop of Canterbury’s letter informing us of the Pope’s offer of an ‘Apostolic Constitution’ for those Anglicans who wish to be received into the Roman Catholic Church. We believe that this offer is a gracious one and reflects the same commitment to the historic apostolic faith, moral teaching and global mission that we proclaimed in the Jerusalem Declaration on the Global Anglican Future and for this we are profoundly grateful.
We are, however, grieved that the current crisis within our beloved Anglican Communion has made necessary such an unprecedented offer. It represents a grave indictment of the Instruments of Communion whose very purpose is to strengthen and protect our unity in obedience to our Lord’s clear command. Their failure to fully address the abandonment of biblical faith and practice by The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada has now brought shame to the name of Christ and seriously impedes the cause of the Gospel.
The Primates Council of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (GAFCON/FCA) is convinced, however, that Anglicanism has a bright future as long as we remain grounded in the Holy Scriptures and obedient to our Lord Jesus Christ’s call to reach the lost and make disciples of all nations teaching them to observe the whole Gospel. We also believe that there is room within our Anglican family for all those who hold true to the ‘faith once delivered to the saints’. We would like to encourage those Anglicans who are considering this invitation from the Roman Catholic Church to recognize that Anglican churches are growing throughout the world in strength and offering a vibrant testimony to the transforming work of Christ.
We are convinced that this is not the time to abandon the Anglican Communion. Our Anglican identity of reformed catholicity, that gives supreme authority to the Holy Scriptures and acknowledgement that our sole representative and advocate before God is the Lord Jesus Christ, stands as a beacon of hope for millions of people. We remain proud inheritors of the Anglican Reformation. This is a time for all Christians to persevere confident of our Lord’s promise that nothing, not even the gates of hell, will prevail against His Church.
+Peter Abuja,
Chairman,
GAFCON/FCA Primates Council
November 10, 2009
New Anglicans taking their travails in stride
November 9, 2009 at 5:18 am | In Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
At the convention of the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh, which is appealing a Common Pleas Court decision that awarded its property to the smaller Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, there was laughter over the litigation and its possible consequences.
Archbishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh and the new Anglican Church in North America, spoke of visiting a West Coast parish that lost its building to the Episcopal Church. Parishioners stuck a sign in the church lawn with a paraphrase of Hebrews 10:34, “We gladly accept the confiscation of our property.”
The litigation stems from a 2008 split when the majority of clergy and laity at the diocesan convention voted to secede from the Episcopal Church, which they believed had failed to uphold biblical doctrine on matters from salvation to sexuality.
The new Anglican diocese and its 58 parishes are affiliated with the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone in South America and the new Anglican Church in North America. Before the split, some of the 28 parishes in the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh sued the Anglican diocese, saying that church law requires property of departing parishes to remain with the denomination. Last month’s court decision dealt only with assets of the central diocese, such as endowment funds, not with parish buildings.
Last night the convention seemed to be taking the litigation in stride. The Rev. Mary Hays drew peals of laughter from the 335 clergy and laity when she preached on a passage from Isaiah that says, “He who has no money, come buy and eat.”
“Hey, you who have no money, do you think Isaiah knew that our funds would be frozen?” she asked.
At a dinner people were given donor cards for the Staying Faithful Fund, which was set up to cover expenses related to the litigation. For every $2 given through the end of 2010 an anonymous donor will give $1, up to a match of $200,000 for donations of $400,000. About $18,000 has been given so far.
Today, the diocese is expected to receive formally four parishes from outside its original boundaries. Saying that “we want our new parishes to be fully equipped,” Archbishop Duncan presented Terrible Towels to representatives of the parishes in Raleigh, N.C., Springfield Mo., San Jose, Calif., and Cleveland. While the others gave their towels at least a token wave, the man from Cleveland quickly set his aside.
Despite the collection for legal expenses, there were no pep talks about the likely success of the appeal. Instead, Archbishop Duncan said it was a sign of spiritual courage and that members of the Anglican Church in North America were prepared to give up their buildings if necessary.
In the great Christian revivals of St. Patrick’s Ireland or John Wesley’s England or East Africa today, “it isn’t that they have money, it’s that they have the Holy Spirit,” he said.
Archbishop Duncan predicted that the 21st century will be an “Anglican century” because Anglicanism embraces evangelical faith in the Bible, tradition that stems from a Catholic heritage and a Pentecostal reliance on the Holy Spirit.
“Let’s bless our enemies and move forward,” he said.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09311/1011614-455.stm#ixzz0WKqL9LLf
Bishop is ordained before hundreds
November 3, 2009 at 4:07 am | In Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
Bishop William Thompson, center, signs a Bible
Pageantry and song accompany Long Beach rector’s three-hour welcome to the Diocese of Western Anglicans. The church’s first bishop will preside over 22 churches.
By Brianna Bailey
Anglican clergymen from as far away as Uganda and Newfoundland visited Newport Beach on Saturday to ordain a new bishop in the fledgling Anglican Church of North America.
Formed in 2008, the church is made up of congregations in the United States and Canada that have broken away from the Episcopal Church over differing views on homosexuality and the Scriptures.
The movement includes Newport’s St. James Church on Via Lido.
“This is an important, historical day for the whole church,” said Archbishop Robert Duncan of the Anglican Church of North America, who presided over the incense-drenched ceremony at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church on Saturday. “You can see the excitement in the people today.”
William Thompson was ordained as the first bishop of the of the Diocese of Western Anglicans of the Anglican Church in North America during a three-hour ceremony filled with pageantry and song.
The newly formed Diocese of Western Anglicans Thompson will preside over includes 22 churches scattered across California, Arizona, Idaho, Washington and Montana.
The few hundred people assembled at the ordination broke into applause as the archbishop placed a red embroidered bishop’s hat atop Thompson’s head.
“Receive the helmet of protection and salvation,” Duncan said after placing the pointed hat on Thompson’s head. “Be merciful and not remiss, so minister discipline, yet do not forget mercy, that when the chief shepherd shall appear, you man receive the never fading crown of glory.”
At one point during the ceremony, Thompson began to cry, while kneeling at the front of the church.
“I was mostly trying to hold my tears back,” Thompson said after the ordination. “There was a sense of unbelief that God had chosen me for this.”
Thompson, rector at All Saint’s Church in Long Beach, never had aspirations to be a become a bishop, he said.
But he has become one of the leaders in a growing movement of conservative congregations who have broken away from the Episcopal Church in the past five years over differing views on homosexuality and their interpretation of Holy Scripture.
The fledgling bishop hopes to see his diocese grow, building new churches across the Western United States, he said. There are also the ongoing legal battles with the Episcopal Church to attend to.
Several churches in the diocese are still embroiled in heated property disputes with the Episcopal Church, including St. James.
St. James became one of three conservative Southern California parishes that placed themselves under the jurisdiction of an Anglican Ugandan bishop after the Episcopal Church consecrated a gay bishop in 2003. Other Episcopal bishops began sanctioning gay marriages about the same time. The break led to a highly publicized property dispute over whether the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles or the St. James’ congregation owned the white stucco church, which stands across the street from Newport Harbor on the Balboa Peninsula.
Uganda: Uganda Christian University Head to Retire
November 1, 2009 at 4:46 am | In Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
THE Vice Chancellor of Uganda Christian University, Prof. Stephen Noll, has announced his retirement at the end of his second term on August 31 next year.
He will have served the University for 10 years. The announcement was made at a special University Council Meeting held at the Mukono campus recently.
He intends to see through the construction of the Hamu Mukasa Library, science labs and the completion of the internal administrative review. The finished Hamu Mukasa Library will cost close to sh10b.
Prof. Noll was appointed the first Vice Chancellor of Uganda Christian University in 2000. Since then he has seen the university grow from a few hundred students to over 7000 today.
Call to Prayer
October 28, 2009 at 2:22 pm | In Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
Bishop Bethlehem Nopece, Episcopal Patron of the FCA Southern Africa has been led to call the FCA and all orthodox Anglicans to a special time of prayer.
This is for Sunday 1st November 2009 the feast of All Saints. This feast that we know as All Saint’s Day originated as a feast of All Martyrs, sometime in the 4th century. The special focus of your prayers during that time is asked for the orthodox faithful across the world that:
- · They would be strong in their stand for the written word of God.
- · Continue to hold to the faith “once delivered to the saints” Jude 1:3
- · The Lord strengthens those caught in unhappy struggles and divisions over churches and property.
- · We stand strong in face of persecution from the culture and even part of our own church. Pray that it may be said of us that we even:’ joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.’ Heb 10:34, If that is what we are called to de in our stand for the truth.
- · The Lord blesses all bishops in the role of guardians of the faith.
As help and direction for your prayers at this time may we suggest this passage of Scripture:
“3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. 5 Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day– 7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. 8 Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones.” (Jud 1:3-8 ESV)
It seems that the church in the 21C struggles with just the same problems and needs the same encouragement.!!! Let us pray for all the faithful on this All Saints Day!
Fr Gavin Mitchell
General Secretary FCA SA frgavin@gmail.com
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