Posted on 08/27/2002 5:35:44 AM PDT by xzins
Bishops Declare Solidarity with Dissenters in New Westminster Diocese: Diocese in the Anglican Church of Canada to Allow Same-Sex Unions
Erik Nelson
A number of orthodox Bishops in the Episcopal Church USA have signed a letter “declaring our solidarity with those faithful clergy and congregations who have dissociated themselves from the Bishop and Diocese of New Westminster for conscience and the gospel.”
The Diocese of New Westminster passed a resolution that would allow the blessing of same-sex unions. A significant number of parishes and priests declared their dissent from the decision, and representatives of nine parishes—representing a quarter of the membership of the diocese—walked out of synod. It is the third time the diocese has voted to allow same-sex unions. The bishop in the diocese, Michael Ingham, decided that the diocese would not move forward until 60% or more voted for the measure. This time, his threshold was reached.
Ingham said, “No one is being excluded from our fellowship today. We have not taken sides with one group in our church against another. We have chosen to live together in mutual respect. In this we ask for the support of the wider church, not condemnation, and patience from those who live in very different social contexts from our own.”
The forceful statement issued by the American bishops said: “This decision repudiates the clear teaching of our Lord, and the Holy Scriptures, the virtually unanimous witness of the Christian tradition, the Lambeth Conference of Bishops from the whole of the Anglican Communion, and the Canadian House of Bishops.” A 1998 Lambeth resolution, which passed with 80% support, declared homosexuality to be incompatible with Christian belief and practice. The Canadian House of Bishops has also refused to authorize its clergy to perform same-sex unions.
“The blessing of same-sex unions violates our communion as Christians, and with the deepest sadness, we declare that by this action those who subscribe to the decision of Synod on June 15, 2002 in the Diocese of New Westminster are departing from Anglican tradition in both teaching and practice.”
Also expressing solidarity with the dissenting parishes in New Westminster was the Oxford Consultation on the Future of Anglicanism. The Future of Anglicanism Conference was held in Oxford June 30-July 5. A letter from the Consultation states the signers’ intention of making a pastoral visit to the dissenting parishes of New Westminster, and to write to the Canadian Primate, Michael Peers, and Bishop Ingham. “The wider Oxford Consultation has been made fully aware of the crisis in New Westminster and declares its solidarity with you,” the letter said. Signatories include the Rt. Rev. Robert Duncan, Bishop of Pittsburgh; J. I. Packer, Professor of Theology, Regent College; and the Rt. Rev. Ronald Ferris, Bishop of Algoma, Canada.
The Most Rev. George Carey, Archbishop of Canterbury, also had strong words for the Canadian diocese in a sermon to the Future of Anglicanism conference. Carey called the action by the New Westminster synod “schismatic” and “ecumenically embarrassing.”
Good news for some episcopals out there. At least there's opposition against this perversion in some quarters.
There are many faithful Anglicans in many quarters, not all of them inside the officially recognized Anglican Communion - which is looking less and less like a Communion every day.
It's good to read about them taking a stand!
What do you know about the Episcopal churches that are aligning themselves with those conservative, orthodox African bishops? Will that split Anglicanism....these guys don't seem kindly dispositioned toward Canterbury?
Watch what happens in Pennsylvania in September. If the Rev David Moyer is inhibited by Bishop Bennison, you may see one or more African bishops step in. You can find out more about that whole situation at the Forward in Faith website.
Anglicanism has been split for the last 30 years. The groups that have remained true to the "faith once delivered" are beginning to come closer together, and faithful and brave Primates in Africa and other countries are beginning to lose patience with the innovations (heresies?) of some - particularly in North America.
Convergence is the word being bandied about by the traditionalists - both those still within the "official" Communion and the "continuing" Anglicans.
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