Guest Post: Fr. WB on Anglican Current Events
Although most of our readers are Anglican young people and clergy, I thought it would be helpful to have a synopsis from an expert on the topic of current Anglican deliberations, particularly in this week of the Anglican Primates' meeting in Tanzania. For those who are of other traditions, NB that the Anglican Communion is- at this very moment- dealing most publicly and theologically with some of the most poignant issues of our generation. Anglican current events are worth your attention and your prayers. Fr. WB refers us to the blogs Stand Firm and Titusonenine for news roundups and links, and Lent and Beyond for devotional commentaries, guides, etc., for those interested in following the news from the Primates' Meeting and from the Anglican Communion in general. Now- here is our friend and mentor, Fr. WB on point-
Hello friends. For those of you interested in Anglicanism and what's going on in the Anglican World:
Right now there is taking place in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, the triennial "Primates' Meeting" wherein the chief pastors of the 39 Anglican provinces worldwide (of which the Episcopal Church is one -- and a small one) meet to consider this and that, and to express the mind of the Anglican Communion on various matters. Noramlly they might discuss such things as the problems of poverty or AIDS, or to discuss mission initiatives, etc. etc.
The lion's share of this meeting, however, will be given to discussing what to do with the Episcopal Church in the USA, which has departed from the Anglican Communion's moral teaching on sexuality by raising to the office of bishop a man who divorced his wife and is living openly in an unchaste relationship with another man, and by permitting its dioceses to authorize the "blessing" of same-gender sexual relationships.
The Episcopal Church's actions have precipitated a crisis in the Anglican Communion around the issues of inter-dependence and autonomy, and of what it means for Anglican provinces in different parts of the world meaningfully to share a common life or a common faith. Many, and perhaps most, of the chief pastors of the 39 Provinces are of a mind that if the Episcopal Church wishes to act unilaterally, then it should be set free of the rest of the Communion, so that all may pursue what appear to be mutually exclusive agendas and mandates.
This has all been playing out in accute ways for the past four years, and seems to be reaching a crisis point, perhaps this week.
Lastly, I would urge all of you to say a prayer for the Primates of the Anglican Communion, that they would be given wisdom, humility, and charity. Pray especially for Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is the "first among equals" among the primates, and on whom therefore falls a disproportionate weight and responsibility. This is a critical time for the Anglicanism in terms of Biblical witness. Pray that grace would abound, that unity in truth would obtain, "so that the world may know" that Jesus is Lord (John 17.23).
Hello friends. For those of you interested in Anglicanism and what's going on in the Anglican World:
Right now there is taking place in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, the triennial "Primates' Meeting" wherein the chief pastors of the 39 Anglican provinces worldwide (of which the Episcopal Church is one -- and a small one) meet to consider this and that, and to express the mind of the Anglican Communion on various matters. Noramlly they might discuss such things as the problems of poverty or AIDS, or to discuss mission initiatives, etc. etc.
The lion's share of this meeting, however, will be given to discussing what to do with the Episcopal Church in the USA, which has departed from the Anglican Communion's moral teaching on sexuality by raising to the office of bishop a man who divorced his wife and is living openly in an unchaste relationship with another man, and by permitting its dioceses to authorize the "blessing" of same-gender sexual relationships.
The Episcopal Church's actions have precipitated a crisis in the Anglican Communion around the issues of inter-dependence and autonomy, and of what it means for Anglican provinces in different parts of the world meaningfully to share a common life or a common faith. Many, and perhaps most, of the chief pastors of the 39 Provinces are of a mind that if the Episcopal Church wishes to act unilaterally, then it should be set free of the rest of the Communion, so that all may pursue what appear to be mutually exclusive agendas and mandates.
This has all been playing out in accute ways for the past four years, and seems to be reaching a crisis point, perhaps this week.
Lastly, I would urge all of you to say a prayer for the Primates of the Anglican Communion, that they would be given wisdom, humility, and charity. Pray especially for Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is the "first among equals" among the primates, and on whom therefore falls a disproportionate weight and responsibility. This is a critical time for the Anglicanism in terms of Biblical witness. Pray that grace would abound, that unity in truth would obtain, "so that the world may know" that Jesus is Lord (John 17.23).
posted by MM at 6:29 PM
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