The New Reformation in the Anglican Communion continues to advance. Next week some 200 Archbishops, Bishops, leading clergy and lay leaders representing twenty-nine of the thirty-eight provinces of the Anglican Communion will meet in London. The meeting has been called by the Primate's Council of the Anglican Communion. The meeting will be chaired by Archbishop Peter Jensen of Sidney, Australia, the Secretary General of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, the body organized by the GAFCON Conference in Jerusalem in 2008, and charged with advancing the New Reformation and realignment in the Anglican Communion. The Telegraph of London reports, "They want to restore 'orthodox' values to the worldwide Anglican Communion and outlaw liberal church leaders who have rejected traditional teaching."
The vast majority of the Anglican Communion is essentially orthodox as can be seen by the fact that twenty-nine of the thirty-eight provinces of the Anglican Communion will be represented, and the orthodox provinces are committed to Reformation and Renewal throughout the Communion. In North America, where communion had to be broken with the Episcopal Church and her Canadian counterpart because of apostasy and the faithful remnant reorganized as a new orthodox province, renewal and new growth has been swift. Although only established in the summer of 2009, the Anglican Church in North America and its ministry partners now consist of more than 1,000 congregations and is already larger than twelve of the thirty-eight provinces of the Anglican Communion. In the last two years more than two hundred new congregations have been planted, with many more in the planning stages.
While next week's meeting in London will be a closed meeting, there will be a press conference held afterward. I will keep you informed. The following is an article from The Telegraph in London. I know that you will find it encouraging. The devil has done his worst to us over the past generation. We have lived through a long Good Friday, but Easter Sunday always follows Good Friday. Christ knows His way out of a grave, and the gates of hell will never prevail against His Church!
"And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a lamb as it had been slain... And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing" (Revelation 5:6, 11-12).
UK: Traditionalist Anglican leaders to meet over homosexual bishops 'crisis'
A high-powered group of traditionalist Anglican church leaders are to gather in London to address a growing "crisis" over openly homosexual bishops. Dr Rowan Williams will this year step down amid criticism he has failed to heal divisions over sexuality.
By Edward Malnick
THE TELEGRAPH
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/
April 15, 2012
They want to restore "orthodox" values to the worldwide Anglican Communion and outlaw liberal church leaders who have rejected traditional teaching.
They will meet for the first time since more than 200 bishops boycotted an official summit for Anglican leaders in 2008 in protest at the presence of bishops from the US Episcopal Church, which consecrated the first openly homosexual Anglican bishop.
The decision by the leaders to hold talks in Britain is likely to increase tensions between the traditionalists and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, who will this year step down amid criticism he has failed to heal divisions over sexuality.
Its timing means that it will provide traditionalists with an opportunity to call for Dr Williams's successor to be sympathetic to traditionalists.
The gathering of 200 clergy and laity will be led by Dr Peter Jensen, the Archbishop of Sydney, who is General Secretary of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (FCA), the body set up by traditionalists at their 2008 "alternative" Lambeth Conference in Jerusalem.
Many will be bishops from the Global South - a group which includes churches in Africa, Asia, South America and the West Indies - who say they have been ignored in the face of controversial steps by liberal churches.
Dr Jensen said: "The major concern is the contest that continues to go on over major doctrinal issues. It's a contest which has not gone away. The contest has, if anything, heated up.
"The impetus towards the secularisation of Christianity, particularly with modern communications, is growing everywhere.
"It is perfectly clear, for example, that the Global South is being challenged to rethink its faith and hence the existence of the FCA movement is really to defend and proclaim the gospel, and to restate biblical faith in modern terms."
The five-day conference starting on April 23 will include addresses by Church of England clergy including the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, the former Bishop of Rochester.
They will be among leaders from 29 countries calling for churches to adopt the Jerusalem Declaration - a 14-point manifesto intended to reaffirm orthodox values and condemn moves by liberals away from traditional church teaching.
Dr Jensen said: "I think that the Global South is looking for an Archbishop of Canterbury who will unambiguously and from the heart endorse the teaching of scripture on human sexuality and therefore be able to gather the Communion in a way that Archbishop Rowan was not always able to do."
But he added that "the route to heaven does not go through Canterbury", suggesting more weight should be given in the future to prominent primates, in the Global South.
Shortly after Dr Williams announced his resignation the Anglican Covenant - his own attempt to heal divisions in the Communion - was defeated in the Church of England.
The unity document was intended to stop national churches breaking away from traditional practices without seeking agreement from other provinces. It would effectively have halted the appointments of openly homosexual bishops.
It followed the consecration in 2003 of the Rt Rev Gene Robinson, the first openly homosexual, non-celibate Anglican bishop, by the US Church.
Unlike the Covenant, the Jerusalem Declaration - borne out of the breakaway talks - deals explicitly with sexuality, stating that the "proper" place for sexual intimacy is between "one man" and "one woman" in marriage.
It also pledges to reject the authority of churches and leaders who have "denied the orthodox faith".
Bishop Nazir-Ali said the manifesto was now "the only game in town" to prevent the fragmentation of the Communion.
"The Covenant has gone, the primates have been unable to gather, Lambeth had a significant number of bishops missing, a large number of leaders from the Global South have resigned from the main Anglican committees - so that causes us all a great deal of concern," he said.
He added: "The Jerusalem Declaration is not perfect by any means and no doubt can be improved, but at the moment it seems to be the only thing that a large number of people could subscribe to in good conscience."
END
