Free Republic

The future of the worldwide Anglican Communion was in jeopardy last night after the Archbishop of Canterbury said that the election of a lesbian bishop in the United States raised “very serious questions”. Dr Rowan Williams added that the choice of Canon Mary Glasspool to be a suffragan bishop in Los Angeles had “important implications”. The election of Canon Glasspool, who has lived with the same female partner since 1988, is the second appointment of an openly homosexual bishop in the US Episcopal Church

The Church of England has survived the Spanish Armada, the English Civil War and Elton John performing “Candle in the Wind” at Princess Diana’s Westminster Abbey funeral. So it will probably survive the note the Vatican issued last week, inviting disaffected Anglicans to head Romeward, and offering them an Anglo-Catholic mansion within the walls of the Roman Catholic faith. But the invitation is a bombshell nonetheless. Pope Benedict XVI’s outreach to Anglicans may produce only a few conversions; it may produce a few million. Either way, it represents an unusual effort at targeted proselytism, remarkable both for its concessions to...

...In less than five years Pope Benedict has shown himself to be quietly yet deliberately engaged in reshaping Catholicism. Even more surprising are the remarkably liberal means he has used to achieve his ends -- means that could lead to places the pontiff may not intend to go. A case in point is last week's stunning announcement...that the pope is creating a novel "church within a church" so that Anglicans can join with Catholics without giving up their rites and traditions... In another development last week, one that drew far less notice but could have a profound impact, the Vatican...

Senior Anglican Bishop Reveals He Is Ready To Convert To Roman Catholicism The Rt Rev John Hind, the Bishop of Chichester, has announced he is considering becoming a Roman Catholic in a move that could spark an exodus of clergy. Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent 24 Oct 2009 Bishop Hind said he would be "happy" to be reordained as a Catholic priest and said that divisions in Anglicanism could make it impossible to stay in the church. He is the most senior Anglican to admit that he is prepared to accept the offer from the Pope, who shocked the Church...

I Won't Rule Out Converting To Catholicism, Says Bishop By MAIL ON SUNDAY REPORTER 25th October 2009 Outspoken: Dr Michael Nazir-Ali could set a trend A controversial bishop yesterday became the most high-profile cleric to hint he might convert to the Roman Catholic Church following the Pope’s offer to disaffected Anglicans. The former Bishop of Rochester, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, an outspoken figure in the Church of England, said: ‘I won’t rule it out or rule it in. I wait with interest to see what the details of the offer are.’ Any suggestion that Dr Nazir-Ali, who retired in September, could...

Britain's Conservative Anglicans Welcome Vatican's Overture For many disillusioned by the Church of England's liberal bent, the offer from Rome to include conservative parishes in the Roman Catholic fold is a godsend. By Henry Chu October 23, 2009 Reporting from London - The parishioners at St. Savior's come from various backgrounds: Afro-Caribbean countries, Eastern European nations, Britain itself. But it may be that all roads are leading them to Rome. The East London church is Anglican in name but Roman Catholic in spirit and worship, with the "smells and bells" of traditional Roman Catholic liturgy. Father David Waller sticks to...

As many as 1,000 priests could quit the Church of England and thousands more may leave churches in America and Australia under bold proposals to welcome Anglicans to Rome. Entire parishes and even dioceses could be tempted to defect after Pope Benedict XVI’s decision to offer a legal structure to Anglicans joining the Roman Catholic Church. His decree, issued yesterday, is a serious blow to attempts by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, to save the Anglican Communion from further fragmentation and threatens to wreck decades of ecumenical dialogue. Dr Williams was notified formally only last weekend by the...

Church of England under pressure to accept gay marriage By STEVE DOUGHTY 11th July 2009 The Fellowship Of Confessing Anglicans, a coalition of clergy and lay people, are unhappy with the liberal agenda of some churches The Church of England warned last night that it is under pressure to accept gay marriage. But two senior bishops - writing on behalf of the CofE - said it is not prepared to abandon its traditional teachings in favour of the idea of 'gender neutral' marriage. They said that the Church of England considers 'it is vital for the Church to maintain a...

Let me speak from the heart. I was an Anglican for fifteen years: for most of that time I was an Anglican in England, first a theological student, then a priest. My visit this weekend to Church of the Atonement, San Antonio, made me feel nostalgic for those days, and for the great traditions of the Anglican Church. When I go on to the Anglo-Catholic blogs like Anglican Wanderings and others I feel even more nostalgia for the Anglican Church and all its many treasures. Not only do I feel nostalgia for the fine buildings, the exquisite choral tradition, the...

Young clergy face life on the dole after Church of England loses £1.3billion 31st May 2009 No jobs: The Church is turning away graduates of theological colleges The Church of England is turning away trainee clergy for the first time in history after £1.3billion of its investments were wiped out in the financial crisis. Up to a dozen graduates of theological colleges will miss out on their ordination next month and may end up on the dole as there are no parish jobs for them. The Church has previously given all graduates placements in parishes as curates, which they need...

Margaret Thatcher in St. Peter's Square May 27. (Reuters/Alessia Pierdomenico) Margaret Thatcher met Pope Benedict XVI at the end of his weekly general audience today. The 83-year-old former British prime minister, who led the country from 1979 to 1990, had earlier in the day laid flowers at the tomb of John Paul II. An Anglican, it was Baroness Thatcher’s second visit to the Vatican in less than two years, leading some to speculate whether she is thinking of joining the Church. During her previous trip, she also visited John Paul II’s tomb to pay her respects. According to those who...

Anglican Friends of Israel is dismayed at the Resolution on the Middle East passed by the Anglican Consultative Committee in the name of all Anglicans on 9 May 2009. Once again, Anglican representatives have singled out Israel for criticism without placing her actions in context or directly addressing the Palestinian contribution to the conflict. Thus the Resolution calls on Israel to lay down all measures which protect her citizens fromArab terrorism whilst failing to demand that Palestinian leaders meet anyof the obligations placed on them by UN resolutions, such as therequirement to dismantle their terrorist networks. Israel is falsely accused...

The Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) experiment ended up being far more successful as a marketing gimmick than as a science project. The intrepid researchers never found the little green men. Perhaps that's because they never aimed their high-dollar radio telescopes at The Church of England. The Right Rev Richard Chartres made the following comments that suggest his familiarity with how affairs are conducted on the third planet out from Sol is nodding at best. He addressed reporters covering the Church of England's General Synod on the financial crisis."Sometimes, people seem to be relieved to get off the treadmill and...

Anglican Bishops Blame Labor Government for policies that have lead to the breakdown of Family. How absurd! The Anglican Community has reduced itself to a farce in its ordination of women, gays and lesbian bishops and selling its empty churches to Islamic activists for establishment of mosque and sharia law and now blame government for the breakdown of family. This is what occurs when tradition and culture are allowed to collapse into a meaningless acceptance of diversity and objective truth is mocked and reviled. As Chesterton remarked "he who believes in everything believes in nothing" and this is what has...

PROVISIONAL CONSTITUTION ADOPTED 12/03/2008 PROVINCE OF THE ANGLICAN CHURCH IN NORTH AMERICA PREAMBLE In the Name of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen. We are Anglicans in North America united by our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and the trustworthiness of the Holy Scriptures and presently members of the Common Cause Partnership. We know ourselves to be members of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. We are grieved by the current state of brokenness within the Anglican Communion prompted by those who have embraced erroneous teaching and who have rejected a repeated call to...

The writhings of worldwide Anglicanism are another reason to disestablish the Church of England IN THE end it held together, but only just. The 650-odd bishops who attended the once-a-decade Lambeth conference went home with open schism between the liberal and conservative wings of the worldwide Anglican Communion averted. A split may prove no more than postponed, as the agreed mechanisms for making minds meet are oh-so-slowly put in place (see article). But at least the unedifying spectacle of comrades in Christ tearing strips off each other over gay sex will vanish from the headlines for a bit. Does it...

Traditionalist Anglicans say several passages in the Bible clearly outlaw active homosexuality. But liberals say the Bible's general message is that all people should be included in the Church.

The Rt Rev John Broadhurst, Bishop of Fulham, claims most of the church's assets once belonged to the Roman Catholic Church. He says it would be "legalised theft" if the Church of England tried to keep buildings used by Anglo-Catholics who may defect to Rome after its governing body voted to bring in women bishops without special concessions for traditionalists. Anglo-Catholics have already said they hope entire parishes will be accepted into the Roman Catholic Church while keeping their existing churches, a move which would be strongly resisted by the Church of England and would inevitably lead to legal disputes....

The rector who presided at the controversial 'gay marriage' of two priests has caused fresh outrage by conducting £1,800 'white wedding' services for Japanese tourists. The Rev Martin Dudley has benefited from a craze for Western-style ceremonies among Japanese couples - many followers of Shintoism or Buddhism - by blessing their unions in his London church. The blessings - which feature traditional music, a white bridal dress, prayers and Bible readings, bouquets and confetti - are not banned by the Church of England but critics say they undermine the dignity of marriage.

Christian doctrine is offensive to Muslims, the Archbishop of Canterbury said today. Dr Rowan Williams also criticised Christiaity in history for its violence, harsh use of punishments, and its betrayal of its peaceful principles. His acknowledgement of Christian faults came in a highly conciliatory letter to Islamic leaders calling for an alliance between the two faiths for 'the common good'. It risked fresh controversy for the Archbishop in the wake of his pronouncement earlier this year that a place should be found for Islamic sharia law in the British legal system. The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams has admitted...

Roman Catholic liberals and their Anglican allies are directing a campaign of propaganda at Anglo-Catholics, telling them that "Rome" does not want them to convert en masse following the vote for women bishops. This is a lie. According to Ruth Gledhill, "an extremely well-connected Roman Catholic friend" reckons that former Anglicans are "the last thing we need" and that the Vatican will not upset liberal Catholic parishes or its relations with Rowan Williams by making special arrangements for them. Alas, Ruth seems to have been taken in by this untruth. In fact, her friend - whom I do not doubt...

The Church of England's ruling body has voted to go ahead with the ordination of women bishops. But the Church was facing a damaging split after members of its General Synod threw out compromise proposals on females in senior ranks. All safeguards demanded by traditionalists were rejected. Sky News correspondent Mike McCarthy said: "It's a historic and very significant moment for the Church of England. "The real test now is how many people will leave (the Church). There are certainly going to be many wrestling with their consciences." The Synod members voted to approve work on a national statutory code...

Church of England clergy plan mass exit over women bishops 1,300 write protest letter to archbishop Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent More than 1,300 clergy, including 11 serving bishops, have written to the archbishops of Canterbury and York to say that they will defect from the Church of England if women are consecrated bishops. As the wider Anglican Communion fragments over homosexuality, England’s established Church is moving towards its own crisis with a crucial vote on women bishops this weekend. In a letter to Rowan Williams and John Sentamu, seen by The Times, the signatories give warning that they will consider...

Anglican conservatives, frustrated by the ongoing stalemate over homosexuality in the Anglican Communion, declared Sunday that they would defy the church's historic lines of authority and establish a new power bloc within the church that will be led by a council of predominantly African archbishops. The announcement came at the close of an unprecedented meeting in Jerusalem by conservatives, who contend that they represent a majority of the 77 million members of the Anglican Communion. They depicted their efforts as the culmination of an anti-colonial struggle against the church's seat of power in Britain, whose missionaries first brought Anglican Christianity...

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Conservative Anglican leaders pledged on Sunday to stay in the worldwide Anglican Communion but form a council of bishops to provide an alternative to churches they say are preaching a "false gospel" of sexual immorality. ADVERTISEMENT The Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) said member churches would continue sponsoring breakaway conservative parishes in liberal western member countries and called for a separate conservative province in North America. It also said in a final declaration that Anglicanism -- the third largest group of Christians after Roman Catholics and Orthodox -- was not "determined necessarily through recognition by the Archbishop...

Just minutes ago, conservative Anglicans announced what they are calling “The Jerusalem Declaration,” which states their intention to erect a new “fellowship of confessing Anglicans.” "We grieve for the spiritual decline in the most economically developed nations, where the forces of militant secularism and pluralism are eating away the fabric of society and churches are compromised and enfeebled in their witness…Sadly, this crisis has torn the fabric of the Communion in such a way that it cannot simply be patched back together."... The declaration is the unanimous product of the bishops and archbishops meeting here in Jerusalem, whose dioceses together...

A vicar accused of conducting a gay 'wedding' at his historic church is a controversial figure who has previously married his former mistress to another man, it has emerged. Dr Martin Dudley performed a ceremony for two homosexual priests at the church where he is the rector, St Bartholomew the Great in the heart of the City of London. Dr Martin Dudley The 12th century church, which once featured in the romantic comedy Four Weddings and a Funeral, was the setting for a traditional liturgy from the Book of Common Prayer, with confetti and exchange of rings. But it is...

LONDON — A "wedding"-like ceremony between two male priests broke the Church of England's rules, a spokesman for the Anglican body said Saturday. The two clergymen exchanged rings and vows last month at a ceremony in St. Bartholomew the Great in London, according to The Sunday Telegraph, a preview of which was made available Saturday. The paper said the ceremony included traditional marriage liturgy, hymns and a Eucharist. The ceremony took place in defiance of the Bishop of London, in whose diocese it took place. It is likely to embolden liberal clergy who have been reluctant to offer a full...

An Anglican church has held a homosexual "wedding" for the first time in a move that will deepen the rift between liberals and traditionalists, The Sunday Telegraph can disclose. Two male priests exchanged vows and rings in a ceremony that was conducted using one of the church's most traditional wedding rites – a decision seen as blasphemous by conservatives. Rev Peter Cowell and Rev Dr David Lord The ceremony broke Church of England guidelines and was carried out last month in defiance of the Bishop of London, in whose diocese it took place. News of the "wedding" emerged days before...

The policies of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown have helped to generate a spiritual, civic and economic crisis in Britain, according to an important Church of England report. Labour is failing society and lacks the vision to restore a sense of British identity, the report says in the Church’s strongest attack on the Government for decades. It accuses the Government of “deep religious illiteracy” and of having “no convincing moral direction”. The report, commissioned for the Church of England and to be published on Monday, accuses the Government of discriminating against the Christian Churches in favour of other faiths, including...

Church attendance in Britain is declining so fast that the number of regular churchgoers will be fewer than those attending mosques within a generation, research published today suggests. The fall - from the four million people who attend church at least once a month today - means that the Church of England, Catholicism and other denominations will become financially unviable. A lack of funds from the collection plate to support the Christian infrastructure, including church upkeep and ministers’ pay and pensions, will force church closures as ageing congregations die. In contrast, the number of actively religious Muslims will have increased...

There are an estimated 1.6 million Muslims in Great Britain. By some estimates, more people attend mosque than go to Anglican churches every week. Judging by recent comments by the Archbishop of Canterbury, it is easy to see why. As most of you by now know, Archbishop Rowan William said in a recent interview that the “UK has to ‘face up to the fact’ that some of its citizens do not relate to the British legal system.” He left no doubt who those “citizens” are: British Muslims. So according to Williams, British Muslims should not have to choose between “the...

The Archbishop of Canterbury will try to put aside the row over sharia law as he makes his first public appearance since the controversy erupted. Dr Rowan Williams hit back on Friday night over criticism of his comments amid growing calls for his resignation. He made no proposals for sharia, and "certainly did not call for its introduction as some kind of parallel jurisdiction to the civil law... his core aim was "to tease out some of the broader issues around the rights of religious groups within a secular state". At least two Synod members have already called for Dr...

Anglicans may be heading for a court fight with a Vancouver church after the congregation voted to leave the liberal Canadian church and affiliate with a more conservative South American group. On Feb. 13, the congregation of St. John's Shaughnessy in Vancouver voted more than 90 per cent in favour of leaving the church over doctrinal issues, including the blessing of same-sex marriages. The same day, the head of the church in Canada, Archbishop Fred Hiltz, warned in a letter that Anglicans who leave the church must give up any claim to church property or assets. However, a spokeswoman for...

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Most of a congregation in Murfreesboro has left the Episcopal Church over the issue of homosexuality. The former members of Holy Cross Episcopal Church formed Faith Anglican Fellowship on Sunday, saying the national denomination has strayed from Scripture and its doctrine on the role of Christ and on homosexuality. The Rev. Frederick Richardson will lead the new church. Several other congregations have left the national denomination in the wake of the 2003 ordination of its first openly gay bishop.

To the Traditional Anglican ping list: I discovered a (fairly) new Anglican blog today, run by a fellow whose other blog I had read for a long time, and thought some of you might find this interesting. English-Speaking Christianity

For some time now, people have been asking me why I haven't written anything on the current—or, depending on your point of view, everlasting—crisis in the Anglican world. After all, I have been an Anglican for nearly twenty-five years, virtually all of my adult life. Surely I have some opinions on the mess the Anglican Communion is now in, on how it got this way, and how it might get out again? Well, yes, I do have such opinions. But they are worthless. All such opinions amount to little more than the assignation of blame for past events and predictions...

Three wise men leading us astray? By Jill Rowbotham December 21, 2007 12:00pm Article from: The Australian COULD the devil be in the detail of the Christmas story? That's what the leader of the world's Anglicans, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, has implied in a BBC interview. The story of the three wise men following the star to Bethlehem is a legend - stars don't behave like that, he said - it is unlikely Jesus was born in December and you can take or leave the virgin birth. He says he believes in it but that's not a pre-condition for...

THE leader of the world's Anglicans has described the Christmas story of the three wise men as nothing but a "legend" and has said not all followers must believe in the virgin birth of Jesus. The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams has picked apart elements of the Christmas story, including how a star rose high in the sky and stood still to guide the wise men to Jesus's birth place. Stars simply don't behave like that, he told the BBC during an interview. Dr Williams said there was little evidence that the three wise men had existed at all....

The first meeting of the Common Cause Leadership Council created the structure necessary for building a federation of orthodox Anglicans in North America. Three delegates from each of the ten Common Cause partners gathered in Orlando, Florida December 17-18. The Council unanimously elected Bishop Bob Duncan as Moderator. Delegates also elected Canon Charlie Masters of Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC) as General Secretary and Mrs. Patience Oruh of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA) as Treasurer. The Leadership Council recognized the ratification of a statement of theology and formed the committees called for by the Common Cause articles...

Although some have tried to hail his statements as a great thing, a recent letter from Archbishop Rowan Williams to Bishop John Howe of Central Florida strikes me as further muddy-ing the waters regarding the future of orthodox Anglicans in the global Communion.  Read the whole letter at StandFirm:  http://www.standfirminfaith.com/index.php/site/article/7037/ . Abp. Williams has stated to Bp. Howe that:  "...any Diocese compliant with Windsor remains clearly in communion with Canterbury and the mainstream of the Communion, whatever may be the longer-term result for others in The Episcopal Church. The organ of union with the wider Church is the Bishop and...

Child abuse has gone unchecked in the Church of England for decades amid a cover up by bishops, secret papers have revealed. Information that could have prevented abuse has been "lost or damaged", concerns about individuals have been ignored and allegations have not been recorded. It means that the Church has no idea how many paedophiles are in its midst. Lawyers warned last night that the Church faces a crisis as catastrophic as the one that engulfed the Roman Catholic Church and cost it millions of pounds in damages. Richard Scorer, a solicitor who has specialised in child abuse cases,...

The Archbishop of Canterbury's hopes of averting schism in the worldwide Anglican Church are foundering after he was accused of dehumanising gays by the openly homosexual bishop Gene Robinson. Gene Robinson said he 'had to tell the truth' Dr Rowan Williams is holding two days of crisis talks in New Orleans in an eleventh-hour effort to persuade the bishops of the American branch of Anglicanism to reverse their pro-gay agenda. But insiders said that a number of the liberal bishops were in no mood to capitulate, and any compromise that they might eventually accept was unlikely to placate conservatives who...

Insiders in the often emotive private meeting in a New Orleans hotel said that Dr Williams rapped the Americans over the knuckles for triggering the crisis by consecrating Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire in 2003. He told them that they had to balance their fidelity to gay and lesbians with fidelity to their fellow members in the 77-million strong Anglican Communion, the vast majority of whom believe homosexuality is sinful and unbiblical. advertisement But Bishop Robinson, who is attending the six-day House of Bishops meeting with his partner Mark Andrews, said that though he had always publicly supported...

ABUJA, Nigeria, August 27, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Archbishop Peter Akinola, the Primate of the Anglican Church of Nigeria, released a statement indicating that traditional conservative Anglicans may have to part ways with the liberal American Church over the issue of homosexuality. Referring to the U.S. Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church in Canada's move to accept same-sex "marriage," he stated, as reported in the Christian Post, "Their intention is clear; they have chosen to walk away from the biblically-based path we once all walked together."  Clearly indicating that faithful conservative Anglicans cannot accept a position that directly contradicts the...

WINNIPEG -- After a weekend of emotional debate, the Anglican Church of Canada has rejected a long campaign by its most liberal members to let priests bless the partnerships of same sex couples. About 300 delegates to the church's national meeting in Winnipeg voted Sunday against allowing blessing ceremonies for gays and lesbians. The decision complicates the position and future of the church because earlier in the day delegates approved a historic motion that said same-sex blessings did not violate the "core doctrines" of the church. The voting Sunday followed years of squabbling over the matter and theological study within...

WINNIPEG, Manitoba, June 22, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - "No scenario could emerge" from any decision made by the Canadian Anglican Church this week that would prompt the church's expulsion from the World Wide Anglican Communion says a top spokesman of the Church of England. Canadian Anglicans are meeting now in Winnipeg at their General Synod and are expected to vote in favour of the blessing ceremony for homosexual partners that has already been in use in some Canadian Anglican dioceses. Kenneth Kearon, secretary general of the Anglican Communion told CanWest News, "There's no question the Anglican Church of Canada is a...

Episcopal Panel 'Dodges' Response to Moratorium http://www.christianpost.com/article/20070615/27991_Episcopal_Panel_'Dodges'_Response_to_Moratorium.htm http://tinyurl.com/35qes6 By Lillian Kwon Christian Post Reporter Fri, Jun. 15 2007 07:13 AM ET An Episcopal panel of clergy and lay people indicated on Thursday they will not give a response to the moratorium Anglican leaders requested for by September, arguing that only the General Convention has the authority to respond. The next General Convention – The Episcopal Church's primary governing and legislative body – however, meets in the summer of 2009. After a four-day meeting that ended Thursday, the Executive Council said that no governing body other than General Convention can agree...

Executive Council prepares for communiqué response http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_86791_ENG_HTM.htm Two committees hear experience of gay Nigerian activist By Mary Frances Schjonberg June 11, 2007 [Episcopal News Service] The Executive Council, the Episcopal Church's governing body between General Conventions, began its four-day meeting June 11 in New Jersey learning that a draft of a response to the Anglican Communion Primates' latest communiqué was ready for their consideration. In a public plenary session, House of Deputies President Bonnie Anderson said that Executive Council members would discuss during private conversation later in the day a draft report of the EC008 Task Group, requested by the...

Breakaway Anglican Groups Invited to Form New Alliance http://www.christianpost.com/article/20070604/27766_Orthodox_Anglicans_to_Initiate_Talks_on_Forming_'Anglican_Union'.htm http://tinyurl.com/37dsm9 By Lillian Kwon Christian Post Reporter Mon, Jun. 04 2007 07:09 AM ET The head of a conservative Anglican network in the United States has invited major breakaway Anglican groups to up the level of their partnership for a united Anglicanism in North America as some predict a split in the Anglican Communion. Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh, moderator of the Anglican Communion Network, called for a Sept. 25-28 meeting to initiate discussion of creating an "Anglican Union" among the partners. The creation of the union would be a step...