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Ecumenical News International Daily News Service, 01 November 2004 African Anglican bishops call on US and Canadian churches to repent ENI-04-0720
By Obed Minchakpu Lagos, Nigeria, 1 November (ENI)--Africa's Anglican bishops have ended their first continent-wide gathering by reiterating what they said was their "biblical position" in the controversy within the worldwide Anglican Communion about homosexuality.
"God created us male and female and we cannot sacrifice truth for any revisionist agenda which leans on a faulty understanding of Christian unity," the bishops said in a statement issued on Monday after a six-day gathering in Nigeria's commercial capital, Lagos.(...)
4b) http://www.eastandard.net/hm_news/news.php?articleid=4840 Tuesday November 2, 2004 African bishops may quit Anglican Church By Samuel Rambaya and BBC
African Anglican bishops are contemplating quitting the Church of England over the ordainment of gay clergy in the United States.
A communique issued at the end of the African Anglican Bishops Conference held in Lagos, Nigeria, just fell short of proclaiming a formal split from the Anglican Communion over the gay bishops.
The bishops also vowed to end theological training in the West and also passed a resolution to set up their own institutions, consistent with African culture and theology.
They have spurned funding from America and Britain and now they want theological independence.
That, according to the meeting, means an end to the practice of sending clergy for advanced training in the US and Britain.
"Now we have discovered that they have a new theology and a new religion, we feel it would be dangerous for the future of our church to continue to send our own future leaders to those institutions," said Archbishop of Nigeria and chairman of African Anglican Primates, Dr Peter Akinola(...)
5) http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=1610 Weaknesses of the Windsor Report Bishop John Rodgers and Kevin Higgins, Nov 3, 2004 October 18, 2004
To Archbishops Kolini and Yong, as well as the Bishops of Rwanda, including Bishop Murphy and the Bishops of the Anglican Mission in America,
Greetings in the Name of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
We are writing to share with you our response to the Windsor Report in hopes that it might prove helpful as you reflect upon your own responses. We have hurried so that this will be available prior to the "All Africa Bishops Meeting". This was written in the Airport in Nairobi, sent first from London, and lightly corrected and sent from the USA the next day.
We will begin our comments from page 44 of the Report. Our responses are keyed to the paragraph numbers in the report itself. We only had the "Recommendations" section with us to comment upon.
105: The tendency of this report is to overemphasize the position of the Archbishop of Canterbury and neglect the Lambeth 1998 Resolution that recommended that the Primates should have an enhanced responsibility. Therefore, we would wish to see the Archbishop of Canterbury as the focus of unity only when speaking in concert with his fellow Primates.
109: We would hold that the Archbishop of Canterbury should only speak to any provincial situation when speaking with his fellow Primates.
110: No Primate should be excluded from such invitations except with the advice and consent of the fellow Primates. The same should apply to Bishops in good standing.
111 and 112: A Council of Advice may well prove helpful to the Archbishop of Canterbury, but should not be allowed to speak with the same authority as when the Archbishop of Canterbury speaks with his fellow Primates.
118: We did not see the "possible draft" in Appendix Two. However, we think the general idea of a covenant is a good one provided the classic standards of the Anglican faith are clearly stated and enjoined. It is noted that there are a number of global denominational covenants. It should also be noted that all of them include a statement of Faith agreed upon by the respective denominational bodies. These classic standards should include:
- Holy Scripture as the supreme authority.
- The three Catholic or Ecumenical creeds.
- The Book of Common Prayer tradition with the 1662 Prayer Book as the classic expression of that for theological reference.
- The 39 Articles.
- The Lambeth Quadrilateral as a framework for ecumenical relations, not as an adequate statement of the Anglican Faith.
Lacking such elements in a Covenant such as the one proposed would leave us lacking in theological cohesion and integrity.
125: The statement that "the fact of divorce and remarriage would therefore not seem per se to be a crucial criterion" could not be further from the truth. It only means that the Western Provinces have proceeded further down the path of secularization than the rest of the Communion. We need a commission to study the biblical teaching on this subject and seek a better grasp how the Communion should be at one in this matter.
126: The statement that the Communion has expressed a common mind on the subject of women as Bishops (while acknowledging there is a degree of impairment that the Communion could bear) is naïve. In fact there is grave danger of a split upon this very subject. The authors of the Report want to find Unity were there is none.
128: We find it hard to believe that those who consented to the consecration of V. G. Robinson did not know that they were violating both the expressed agreement of the Communion and the clear teaching of Scripture. In fact the Report itself acknowledges this point in paragraphs 129 and 130.
133: We do not believe the Archbishop should "exercise considerable caution" but that the Bishop of New Hampshire should be excluded from the councils of the Communion.
134: We do not agree that the Episcopal Church (USA) should be invited to express its regret, but that it should in fact be required to repent. Specifically, that it should repent of the election and consecration of a practicing and advocating homosexual as Bishop, an action which not only threatens the unity of our Communion but also contradicts the express teaching of the Communion (in Lambeth 1998) and the clear teaching of Scripture. An apology is not what is called for. What is required is an act of repentance that would inhibit the said Bishop from exercising his ministry. This would apply to all priests and deacons who are practicing and advocating a homosexual lifestyle.
135: The listening process advocated in Lambeth in 1998 was intended to be a pastoral conversation to insure to those members of our Communion who have a homosexual orientation of the care and concern of the church and to help them live a celibate lifestyle and/or to recover their heterosexual lifestyle if possible. It was not intended to be a never-ending theological discussion about homosexuality, about which the scriptures are abundantly clear. As the Lambeth fathers clearly stated when they declared homosexuality to be "incompatible with Holy Scripture". The strategy of a never ending conversation is designed to continue until those who believe the Scriptures to be the "Word of God written" grow weary and leave the Communion altogether. To go on debating what the Bible teaches about a subject upon which it is abundantly clear is itself a denial of the authority of Scripture and sinful.
137: This Report quotes the Lambeth 1998 gathering of Bishops and their conclusion that it could not advise the legitimizing or blessing of same sex unions. It is instructive that the Report omits the phrase that such unions are "incompatible with Holy Scripture". This very omission indicates a tendency in this Report to major on processes of unity to the exclusion of appeals to the Faith of the Anglican Communion and the clear teaching of Scripture.
143: We agree wholeheartedly with the statement in paragraph 143 and urge the Primates to act appropriately in the light of it.
144: We refer to our comments in paragraph 134 and affirm that repentance is needed, including a retraction of Rites for and authorization of the blessing of same sex unions.
146: See our comments on "listening" in paragraph 135.
149: The writers of the Reports offer no concrete suggestions. How would they have had us handle this differently? They offer us no suggestions. People in large numbers were leaving the Communion. Congregations were leaving. Congregations which remained were being oppressed for their theological convictions. The Archbishops who took action to extend care to these beleaguered brothers and sisters should be lauded and not criticized.
150: We do not perceive the repressing revisionists to be faithful members of the Anglican Faith. They are in direct contradiction of all the Instruments of Unity and the classic expressions of the Anglican Faith.
151 and 152: Any form of oversight which leaves us in communion with those who have denied the Faith of this Church does not face the issue responsibly. Therefore the proposals of the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church were woefully insufficient. See the previous, extensive comments of the AAC on this subject.
154: The fact of the matter is that we already have six parallel jurisdictions in the Anglican Communion. Parallel jurisdictions which mutually recognize each other and affirm the Anglican Faith is in principle not a problem. As an historical note, it may be relevant to observe that the Church adopted "diocese" from the practice of the Emperor Diocletian, the great persecutor of the Church. The Truth of the Gospel and the Mission of the Church is surely of greater significance than any one of the patterns of organization that the Church has adopted and adapted over the centuries.
155: This paragraph is so bad as to be offensive. It seems to suggest that there is a similarity between the action of those who moved in accordance with the Scripture and the instruments of unity of our Communion to rescue congregations and individuals who were being persecuted for their conviction that the Scriptures were 'the word of God written" and that homosexual practice was incompatible with Holy Scripture, with those who in stubborn arrogance violated Scripture and the express teaching of the Primates in Lambeth. There are times when the lesser of two evils must be chosen. People are saved by the Truth of the Gospel, not by the instruments of unity. If the Truth is being denied and the structures of the Church are being used to deny it, then the structure must be temporarily violated. Thanks be to God for those who have had the clarity of theological conviction and courage to have done that. It is clear that this Commission is not one of such.
156: This paragraph urges us to seek ways of reconciliation. Reconciliation requires the repentance we have referred to in our previous comments.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION:
This report disappoints greatly because its chief interest is institutional unity as opposed to the truth of the Gospel. It is insufficient to respond to this charge by stating that the mandate of the Commission was simply to concern itself with unity. The unity of the Church is always and only found to be in the truth of the Gospel. It is the "sine qua non" (COD: indispensable condition) of all ecclesiastical unity. Therefore to address the issue of unity without a clear concern for the Truth of the Gospel is indefensible and itself heretical.
The repeated failure to appeal to the clear teaching of Holy Scripture and the invitation into a never-ending process of discussion on matters about which God has clearly spoken is a strategy that has been used in ECUSA on a number of issues. Such a process will drive from the Communion those who take the Scripture seriously. "Enough is enough!"
This Report seems to fly in the face of the recommendations of Lambeth 1998 which was much clearer on the place of Holy Scripture and on the matter of homosexuality. It also gave to the Primates as a 'college" a much clearer place of "enhanced responsibility".
This report seems to confuse an apology with repentance.
When the Faith is being violated, it is impossible with resolution of the truth of the matter to speak of reconciliation. In short, this Report if followed would bring about the end of the Anglican Communion in its present form as a Communion in the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.
We hope these reflections are sufficiently clear, helpful and challenging. We assure you of our prayers.
Your Brothers in Christ,
John Rodgers, and Kevin Higgins (Note: The full report can be viewed at the following website -http://windsor2004.anglicancommunion.org/windsor2004/downloads/index.cfm)
6) http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11280824%255E2703,00.html Voters dismiss same-sex marriage Robert Lusetich, Los Angeles correspondent November 04, 2004
AMERICANS dealt a crushing blow to the gay rights movement yesterday by resoundingly rejecting homosexual marriage.
Eleven states held referendums on the contentious issue and all, including Oregon, which gay activists thought would approve the measure, voted against it.
"This issue does not deeply divide America," conservative activist Gary Bauer said.
"The country overwhelmingly rejects same-sex marriage, and our hope is that both politicians and activist judges will read these results and take them to heart."
The amendments to ban gay marriages were passed, by hefty margins, in Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Ohio, Utah and Oregon, which married 3000 same-sex couples last year before a judge ordered the ceremonies to end(...)
Tuesday, November 2, 2004 - Page A11, Globe and Mail Newspaper Lagos -- Widening the growing global Anglican rift over homosexuality, bishops in Africa said yesterday they would stop theological training of African clergy in Western institutions(...)
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