Once the Fractures Start – A Few Things Anglican

The following well states my position as regards Lambeth, if I was an Anglican Bishop.

“…Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi is reported as reasoning thus: “Lambeth 2008 should have been about a return to God in view of these realities, yet it’s obvious that won’t be the case. Canterbury has sanctioned homosexuality. We cannot be going there to keep up with its theological gymnastics.” 

Is this not missing the point of Lambeth? Isn’t this cowardly? 

This conference is central in our church tradition as one of the four instruments of the Anglican Communion. 

It is intended to, under the presidency of the Archbishop of Canterbury, express Episcopal collegiality worldwide, and gather bishops for common counsel, consultation and encouragement, and serve as an instrument for guarding the faith and unity of the communion. 

It is here that the bishops should stand to differ with their own peers on issues they feel are pertinent to the communion in terms of doctrine and spirituality, which is why they are bishops…” 

Read the full article here.

And this from Jason Byassee in the May 20 issue of Christian Century

“…Last year the Church of the Resurrection in suburban West Chicago closed its doors and put its building up for sale. The Episcopal congregation had suffered membership losses 14 years earlier when some conservative members left to start their own church, also called the Church of the Resurrection, in nearby Glen Ellyn. The new congregation later aligned itself with the Anglican Mission in the Americas (AMIA), which is connected to the Anglican Church in Rwanda.

The new Church of the Resurrection later experienced its own split, with some members leaving to launch the Church of the Great Shepherd—also affiliated with AMIA—in Wheaton. The Church of the Great Shepherd eventually closed its doors, but not before a 2004 split led to the formation of the Church of the Savior back in West Chicago. During this time the ranks of St. Mark's, an Episcopal congregation in Glen Ellyn, had been swelling—until the Episcopal Church consecrated an openly gay bishop in 2003, whereupon many St. Mark's members left to form All Souls, still another AMIA church, in Wheaton. Meanwhile, another split at the original Church of the Resurrection in West Chicago, which had experienced renewed growth, led to the creation of the Church of the Resurrection Anglican, a church which is overseen by the archbishop of Uganda. So now there are two Resurrection churches in the area, both formed in exodus from the original—now defunct—Church of the Resurrection, and both affiliated with African Anglican bodies, not with the Episcopal Church in the United States, sometimes abbreviated as TEC…”

Read the full article here, and further commentary on the article here.