WOMEN'S ORDINATION AND THE ECUMENICAL IMPERATIVE

In Advent 2010, Bishop Jack Iker of the Anglican Diocese Fort Worth offered “A Reflection on our Anglican Identity.” In it, he said, “I invite us all to look beyond the surface level of our Anglican Identity, with its temptation to denominationalism, and go back to our heritage as Catholic Christians...

“This means that we are not members of a sectarian, Protestant denomination, but of the Catholic Church. Remember, the Church of England, which came to be known as Anglican, existed before the Reformation and traces its roots back to the Patristic age of the early Christian Church. This same Church, which predated the arrival of Augustine and his missionaries from Rome in the sixth century, is continuous with the Church of England that emerged from the sixteenth century Reformation. Reformed, yes, but not a new denomination, the Church of England still maintained the sacraments, creeds, and holy orders of the undivided Church of the early centuries, before the Great Schism of West and East in 1054.

“Knowing this, Archbishop of Canterbury Geoffrey Fisher famously said, ‘We have no doctrine of our own. We only possess the Catholic doctrine of the Catholic Church enshrined in the Catholic Creeds, and these creeds, we hold without addition or diminution. We stand firm on that rock.’ And to that we might add that Anglicanism has no Scriptures of its own, no sacraments of its own, no holy orders of its own - just those of the Catholic Church that we have received. Fisher was right, as Anglicans we have no faith of our own.

“Like the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, orthodox Anglicans uphold the historic faith and order of the undivided Church. We are nothing more or less than Catholic Christians, seeking to be faithful to the teaching of the early Church Fathers and the Great Ecumenical Councils of the first centuries of Christian witness. With St. Vincent of Lerins, we affirm that the Catholic faith is that which has been believed ‘everywhere, always and by all.’ Wherever you find departures from this given faith and received order, you will find sectarianism, heresy and error.”

Unfortunately, many Anglicans are losing sight of these facts as presented by Bishop Iker. The reports that I have received of the recent Assembly of the Anglican Church in North America by godly and learned priests who were in attendance, bear this out. There are clearly two Churches in the Anglican Church in North America: 1) orthodox Anglicans, and 2) 2002 Episcopalians - Episcopalians who simply drew the line with the election of Gene Robinson to the episcopate in 2003. 

Despite assurances to the contrary, it does not seem that women’s ordination is on the way out. In fact, every report that I received said that there were far more women in collars in evidence at the 2012 Assembly than there were at the 2009 Assembly. In addition, we are hearing rhetoric that is reminiscent of the Episcopal Church, such as that we are in a “period of reception” regarding the “ordination” of women; and that there are two “integrities” in the Church and that this was the understanding from the beginning.

Even worse is the continued compromises being suggested by those who really know the faith. Many otherwise orthodox Anglicans, while still arguing against the ordination of women to the episcopate and presbyterate, are willing to compromise and allow the “ordination” of women to the diaconate. This is despite the fact that the Scriptural qualifications for all three Orders are essentially the same and are clearly male, and that the unanimous witness of Catholic Christendom throughout the ages is that all three Orders are male in character. Once orthodox Anglicans are willing to ignore the clear teaching of Scripture and the witness of Apostolic Tradition regarding the diaconate, what justification is there for not doing  the same with the presbyterate and episcopate? Without the authoritative witness of Scripture and Tradition, any doctrine of Holy Orders is reduced to personal opinion and preference. 

In support of such a compromise, we are sometimes hearing that both Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism agree that women may be validly ordained to the diaconate, even if those Churches for reasons of discipline chose not to do so. We are also hearing from some quarters that women who have been “ordained” to the presbyterate are valid priests who can validly consecrate the Eucharist, but that they should not have been ordained and should not serve because it is a violation of Biblical headship and Catholic Order. There are even stories being told of women illicitly ordained to the presbyterate in the Roman Catholic Church in Europe and China who, while recognized as valid priests by Rome, were forbidden to exercise their ministerial priesthood by Church authorities because their ordinations were a violation of Catholic Order and Canon Law.

I knew these views were incorrect and the stories apocryphal when I heard them, but I decided to get authoritative statements from the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches so there could be no doubt in anyone’s mind. I contacted Monsignor Jeffrey Steenson, Ordinary of the Anglican Ordinariate here in North America; Fr. Peter Stravinskas, superior of the Priestly Society of Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman whose publishing House, Newman House Press, published the Anglican Use Book of Divine Worship;  and the Russian Orthodox Church, because the Moscow Patriarchate is by far the largest Eastern Orthodox jurisdiction in the world. 

The following is my June 28, 2012 e-mail to Monsignor Steenson:

Good morning Monsignor Steenson,

My name is Fr. Victor Novak and I am the rector of Holy Cross Anglican Church in Omaha, Nebraska. We are a parish of the Anglican Church in North America. During the first decade of the new millennium I had served as the Ecumenical Officer for the Anglican Province of Christ the King and was very involved in the discussions that led to the issuing of Anglicanorum Coetibus. I will be attending the Forward in Faith North America Assembly in two weeks and I have a couple of questions for you.

First, we are beginning to hear voices among professed Anglo-Catholics that say women who are ordained priests are indeed priests, they are merely forbidden to exercise that ministry by Rome because it is contrary to Catholic Order. We are being told that some Roman Catholic women have been ordained in Europe by presumably dissident bishops, and in China out of perceived necessity, and that they have been recognized as valid priests but disciplined in Europe, and forbidden to exercise their priesthood in China. My understanding has always been that women cannot be validly ordained. Could you clarify this issue for me and shed any light on the truth or fiction of the stories about these alleged ordinations in Europe and China?

Second, we are hearing that although Rome does not ordain women to the diaconate at this time it is only a matter of discipline, and that women may be ordained to the diaconate and that the Roman Catholic Church does not dispute the validity of such ordinations. Again, my understanding has always been that women may not be validly ordained to the diaconate, and that the ancient Order of deaconess was a lay vocation much like the consecrated life and not the same as the diaconate. Could you clarify this for me? Thank you for your help.

I will be looking forward to hearing from you.

Wishing you every grace and blessing,

Fr. V. E. Novak+

Rev. Victor E. Novak

Rector

HOLY CROSS ANGLICAN CHURCH

Here is Monsignor Steensons response:

Dear Fr. Victor,

I am happy to answer your questions, because they are amongst the easiest I get these days!

1.  It is not a matter of these women being irregularly ordained; they are invalidly ordained.  This is a firm and settled teaching of the Magisterium of the Catholic Church that women cannot be ordained deacons or priests.  Perhaps the most accessible reference is Paragraph 1577 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

2.  You are correct on the question of women as deacons as well.  It is not permitted, nor is it under consideration.  The most definitive word on these matters is probably John Paul II's 1994 encyclical, Ordinatio Sacerdotalis. Note section four, where JPII says it is not a matter of discipline but a matter of the faith.

Good luck on your meeting.  I have many old friends in ACNA, and will keep you all in my prayers.

Msgr. Jeffrey Steenson

Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter

www.usordinariate.org / (713) 609-9292

While serving as an Ecumenical Officer during the discussions that ultimately led to the issuing of Anglicanorum Coetibus, I worked very closely with Fr. Peter Stravinskas, Ph.D, S.T.D.. He lived in Omaha at the time and we visited each others churches, dined together, and regularly communicated by e-mail and telephone. The priestly society which he heads has been very active in supporting the Anglican Use in the Roman Catholic Church, and he has great respect for our Anglican patrimony.

In response to my inquiry to him of June 28th, Fr. Stravinskas replied: “Paul VI in inter insignores and John Paul II in Ordinatio Sacerdotalis have made it abundantly clear that ‘The Church has no authority to ordain women.’ Period. Any stories to the contrary are exercises in wishful thinking.

“On the diaconate for women, we face a different issue. Clearly, in the early Church there were deaconesses, but their ‘ordination’ was no different from that of lectors and acolytes - a blessing to engage in a particular ministry not involved in sacramental power.”

In response to my e-mail to the Russian Orthodox Church, Fr. Anthony Bondi, Pastoral Vicar for Metropolitan Hilarion, called me on Friday, June 29th, and followed up our telephone conversation with the following e-mail:

Dear Father Victor,

It was a pleasure speaking with you.

This was passed on to me by the webmaster. His Grace is in Des Moines IA doing ordinations this weekend. So permit me to respond to you until he does so.

I also respond because there are a few priests who are attending the Forward in Faith Assembly who have asked me to attend and address their group.

Finally, I convey to you that I was once an Episcopal priest. I stayed to take care of my parish spiritually, until I simply could not take the level of apostasy anymore and left.

The teaching and practice of the Orthodox Catholic Church is that woman have never been, are not now, nor will ever be priests.  Some scholars have pointed out on an old mosaic the word “presbytera” and concluded that there were female priests. The fact is that to this day the WIFE of a Presbyter in the Greek Church is called “Presvytera” as a sign of respect. So shoddy scholarship does not measure up to the 2000 year old Tradition of the Church.

As to the Diaconate: There is a big difference between “Deaconess” and  “Female Deacons.”   We do not have any “Female Deacons” who have a liturgical role equal to the male deacon.  In the early Church there were deaconesses who assisted with the naked baptisms of women as they were immersed.  Today if a woman wished to be baptized it would be done in a public place with the wife of the priest or deacon assisting and with clothing on.

Now in all fairness, I must relay that there are a few Orthodox deaconesses in convents in Greece who bring communion to their fellow nuns who are in the infirmary as males are not permitted in those parts of the buildings.

The bottom line here, Father, is that the Anglican Church says that it is a “branch” of the Catholic Church (a self serving theory that both we and the Romans reject) but she continues to depart daily from the Tradition and Faith of the undivided Church. And even when she does try to keep that faith, she fragments into smaller and smaller pieces with more and more bishops.

Father Victor, you seem like a sensible man, why don’t you and the rest of the like minded men come as a group into the Western Rite of the Russian Church?

I will send you the Orthodox BCP as promised.

Fraternally in Christ,

Fr Anthony

Pastoral Vicar to the Metropolitan for Western Rite

Finally, I wanted to get the official position of the Polish National Catholic Church on the ordination of women to the presbyterate and the diaconate. In 2008, the Polish National Catholic Church issued an official profession of faith called the Declaration of Scranton. The Declaration of Scranton is based on the 19th century Declaration of Utrecht, but includes contemporary issues such as the ordination of women and the blessing of same sex-unions. In 2009, the PNCC issued an official Commentary on the Declaration of Scranton. The Commentary was approved by the PNCC Church Doctrine Commission on September 8, 2009, accepted by the PNCC Clergy Conference on October 21, 2009, and adopted by the PNCC General Synod in October 2010. Regarding the ordination of women this official document says: “The Polish National Catholic Church rejects the ordination of women to the three-fold office of diaconate, presbyterate and episcopate in concord with the practice of the Undivided Church, the teaching on Apostolic Succession and ministry, and the living Tradition of the Church.”

There is a complete Catholic consensus among the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Polish National Catholic Churches that the sacrament of Holy Orders is male in character and that women may not be validly ordained to the episcopate, presbyterate or the diaconate. Until the 1970s this was also the position of the Anglican Communion. 

The 1920 Lambeth Conference of the Anglican Communion declared, “The Order of Deaconess is for women the one and only order of ministry which has the stamp of apostolic approval, and is for women the only order of ministry which we can recommend that our branch of the Catholic Church should recognize and use” (Resolution 48). In order to make clear the distinction between the revived perpetual diaconate and the Order of Deaconess, the 1920 Lambeth Conference also stated, “The deaconess order is modeled on the diakonia ‘of the primitive rather than of the modern diaconate of men’” (Resolution 49).

The Order of Deaconess was restored in the Church of England in 1861, and by canon in the Episcopal Church in 1889. The Order of Deaconess also exists in the Anglican Church in North America. Deaconesses render valuable service to the Church and are identified by their blue habits. The Handbook for the Order of Deaconess says, “The Order of Deaconesses is an ancient and Apostolic vocation for lay women in Christ’s Church. It is a Scripturally based, theological appropriate venue for women who feel called to ministerial service.” For more information on the Order of Deaconess I invite you to visit the website of the Anglican Deaconess Association: www.anglican-deaconess.org  

In his presentation, A Reflection on our Anglican Identity, Bishop Iker said, “I invite us all to look beyond the surface level of our Anglican Identity, with its temptation to denominationalism, and go back to our heritage as Catholic Christians... This means that we are not members of a sectarian, Protestant denomination, but of the Catholic Church.” Unfortunately, it seems that we may be succumbing to the temptation of denominationalism and cafeteria-style Catholicism. In order to hold the ACNA together many otherwise orthodox Anglicans are willing to live with “two integrities” regarding the presbyterate at least for the foreseeable future, and to compromise with the advocates of women’s ordination by abandoning the universal Catholic teaching on the diaconate. Yet Bishop Iker reminds us that, “Anglicanism has...no holy orders of its own - just those of the Catholic Church which we have received... Wherever you find departures from this given faith and received order, you will find sectarianism, heresy and error.” It is alarming that advocates of women’s ordination in the Anglican Church in North America can be considered “conservatives” and “orthodox” today. The truth is that they would have been considered liberal-modernists in 1976, and remain so today. They are considered conservative and orthodox only because the center has moved so far to the left over the past forty years. 

As Anglicans, we are standing at the crossroads. Never have the ecumenical opportunities been greater. We have the opportunity today to fulfill our vocation of being a bridge Church and working to reunite the broken Body of Christ. The other branches of the Catholic Church are beckoning to us, and the Missouri Synod of the Lutheran Church is drawing closer to us as the Catholic Revival in that denomination continues to advance. We may indeed be on the verge of a New Springtime for the Church, and a family reunion that will see the Body of Christ breathing again with both lungs: Eastern and Western. But all of this will be lost if we succumb to the temptation of denominationalism, for as Bishop Iker has said, “Wherever you find departures from this given faith and received order, you will find sectarianism, heresy and error.” There will be absolutely no hope of Catholic reunion if we continue to allow the ordination of women to the presbyterate or the diaconate. None. Claims to the contrary are merely wishful thinking.

In 1961, Dom Anselm Hughes, one-time Prior of Nashdom Abbey, published a book called, The Rivers of the Flood. His book has had a great influence on my life and ministry. In it Dom Anselm Hughes reminds Anglicans of where our loyalty should be. He writes, “The first and most urgent matter to deal with is that of loyalty. Now in the Creed which in its Apostolic version is accepted by all members of the Church, either directly or vicariously, at their baptism; in the Creed which in its Nicene form they recite at every Sunday and feast-day Mass; they pledge their faith in the One Holy Catholic Apostolic Church. This is their first and largest loyalty, and those of whom we have been speaking as the Catholics within the Church of England consist of those to whom this allegiance comes always and instinctively first, and for whom all other loyalties, to the Church of England or the Anglican Communion, are made to rank as subservient to this over-riding, all-embracing, loyalty to the One Holy Church” (p. 146).

The bishops of the Anglican Communion, gathered in 1867 at the Lambeth Conference said, “We do here solemnly record our conviction that unity will be most effectively promoted by maintaining the faith in its purity and integrity, as taught by Holy Scripture, held by the primitive Church, summed up in the Creeds, and affirmed by the undisputed General Councils.” It would be hard to find a more succinct definition of the Orthodox Christian Faith; and there can be no compromise in matters of the Orthodox Faith.

Fr. Victor E. Novak is a priest of the Diocese of Mid-America and the rector of Holy Cross Anglican Church in Omaha, Nebraska. His parish websites are: www.holycrossomaha.net and www.holycrossmedia.com . He can be reached at: venovak@hughes.net or at (402) 573-6558.

PNCC-ACNA DIALOGUE PRESS RELEASE

PNCC-ACNA Dialogue Press Release

Meeting One

The inaugural meeting of the Polish National Catholic Church (PNCC) and the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) met on June 19-20, 2012 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. This historic meeting was hosted by the PNCC at the National Church Center located on Pittston Avenue.

In attendance for this inaugural meeting were the Primates of both Churches, the Most Reverend Anthony A. Mikovsky, Prime Bishop of the Polish National Catholic Church and the Most Reverend Robert Wm. Duncan, D.D., Archbishop and Primate of the Anglican Church in North America.

The Dialogue members in attendance were the Right Reverend Paul Sobiechowski as Co-Chairman, Right Reverend John E. Mack, Very Reverend Augustin Sicard, Reverend Jaroslaw Rafalko, Reverend Stanley Bilinski, and the Reverend John P. Kowalczyk, Jr. as Secretary for the PNCC. ACNA was represented by the Right Reverend Richard W. Lipka as Co-Chairman, Right Reverend Ray R. Sutton, Abbot Luis A. Gonzalez, OSB, and the Right Reverend Keith L. Ackerman, SSC, DD. Also in attendance was the Ecumenical Officer of the PNCC the Reverend Robert M. Nemkovich, Jr.

The two Churches met on Tuesday starting at 12:00 Noon and concluded with Vespers celebrated by the Primates of the two Churches. The dialogue continued on Wednesday morning with Holy Mass celebrated by the Right Reverend Paul Sobiechowski. This was followed by a presentation by Bishop Sutton on the 39 Articles of Religion and a presentation by Reverend Bilinski on the 11 Great Principles of the Polish National Catholic Church.

The PNCC-ACNA Dialogue will continue on January 29-30, 2013 in Bartonville, IL at Saint Benedict’s Abbey and will be hosted by the Anglican Church in North America.

A NEW SPRINGTIME

I often speak of a coming new Springtime for the Church, and we are seeing it at Holy Cross parish. While summer is often a slow time for churches, there has been no slowdown at Holy Cross. About the only thing that we have discontinued for the summer is our Christian education program (Sunday School). However, Christian education classes for children, youth and adults will resume in September.

Yesterday (June 17th) was the Second Sunday after Trinity and we had forty-six in attendance at the Eucharist with no "drop in" visitors. Actually, we were missing some of our regulars. We have grown from a small church with an average Sunday attendance of under twenty-five to a medium size church. In fact, our attendance on Sunday equaled the median Sunday attendance for congregations of the Anglican Church in North America. Not bad for summer!

Last Wednesday we had eleven at our 12:10 PM Eucharist, with one of our regular attenders out of State. Participation in the Mid-week Eucharist has grown steadily from two or three to half a dozen, and now to more than ten. Only one couple that attends on Wednesdays is retired. Why do parishioners make such an effort, and sacrifice their lunch hour to come to church? Because they have learned from experience that receiving the Sacrament of Holy Communion twice a week can change their lives! We are now planning to increase our weekday Liturgies by adding an early morning Eucharist. After that, I hope to add an early evening celebration, with the goal of eventually having a daily Eucharist. There is nothing that I would rather see than people receiving the Blessed Sacrament throughout the week, and even daily!

We have very active Women's and Men's groups at Holy Cross parish. Last Saturday the Sisters of Holy Cross held their annual fund-raising Rummage Sale. Between a furniture donation that they had auctioned off and the Rummage sale they raised around $1,700.00. The Women's Group plans to send $500.00 to the Board of Foreign Missions in support of the new indigenous Reformed Episcopal Church in Croatia and Serbia, and to buy a new flat screen TV for the parish hall so we can better enjoy our dinner and a movie nights. In August the Sisters of Holy Cross will sponsor our annual Summer Parish Picnic, and will provide scholarships for our fall Hayrack Ride, Bonfire and Potluck. The Men's Group assisted the Women's Group with their Rummage Sale and will be helping out at the picnic as well.

Every month we support the Open Door Mission with food donations. The needs are great. The Open Door Mission is just one of several homeless shelters in the Omaha area, but they serve 1,800 meals every day! Our goal has been to provide them with 100 pounds of food every month, but we have been far surpassing that goal. On Saturday of last week we delivered 236 pounds of food, and that was just for the first half of the month of June!

In Advent and Lent we used Mite Boxes to raise funds for the Anglican Relief and Development Fund. The ARDF raises money to help those most in need, whether it be clean water wells in third world villages or disaster relief in Japan during their recent nuclear crisis.

We have a new ministry at Holy Cross parish called the Holy Cross Love Squad. The Love Squad visits nursing homes, hospitals, Alzheimer's units and other institutions, providing music, companionship and more to the residents. This is a ministry to lonely, hurting and often forgotten people. Jack, our Love Squad Leader is a real dynamo, and Fr. Craig Smith who assists me at Holy Cross serves as chaplain to the group providing spiritual counsel to those who want to talk with a clergyman. Once a month our Love Squad leader picks up a bread donation from a local gourmet sandwich shop and delivers it to the Francis and Siena Houses, two other area homeless shelters.

Thanks to Jesse, our Outreach Director, we have a new media site up on the Internet. The new media site works in conjunction with our parish website, but it has a regional, national and global reach.  Holy Cross Media offers video, audio and podcasts that are designed to help people learn about classical Anglican history, theology, liturgics and spirituality. I hope that you will visit Holy Cross Media, use it, tell your friends about it, and check back often. You can find Holy Cross Media at: www.holycrossmedia.com

Holy Cross Anglican Church is a real parish community rather than just a place to worship. We have fellowship and refreshments in our parish hall every Sunday after Services and a potluck luncheon on the last Sunday of every month. Fellowship is so popular that when my wife and I leave for home in mid-afternoon there is always a group of men still there, drinking coffee and talking not about sports but about theology and church history!

During Lent we began providing Nursery Care for children under the age of four during our 10:00 AM Eucharist, and it has become very popular. We are a youthful congregation with a number of young families with small children. The Nursery cares for the children through the sermon, after which they join the adults for the rest of the Service. I even enjoy hearing a little fussing from the little ones in the pews. It is a sign of a healthy and growing church!

Morning Prayer is at 9:30 AM followed by the Holy Communion at 10:00 AM. We have a proper balance of Word and Sacrament in every Sunday Liturgy. We preach real sermons where we explain the Scripture lessons and teach the Faith. Now that we are in Trinity Season I have begun a sermon series on the Catechism of the Book of Common Prayer. The first of the series was presented last Sunday, but don't worry if you missed it. The series is being filmed and each week's lesson will soon be up  on Holy Cross Media.

In addition to all of these ministries I have two priests to assist me, three lay readers and chalice bearers, an acolyte, and a Pro-Life Coordinator. We also have an excellent Prayer Chain which has been a real blessing to those in need. Whenever an emergency situation arises the Prayer Chain springs into action, and within a very short time the parish is praying by name and need for the situation.

Less than half of the people at Holy Cross parish come to us from Anglican or Episcopal backgrounds. Our people come from many Christian traditions and none. We have people that come from as diverse of backgrounds as the Assemblies of God and Roman Catholicism, the LDS and Eastern Orthodoxy. 

The Work has prospered here. I am a full time rector and we support our diocese every month. We have already added about 50% more space to our leased facility and have outgrown that. We have a Building Committee and are wanting to build or buy our own church building. Buying would be more cost effective in the present economy, so we are actively looking at church buildings that are for sale. However, we have an immediate need for space, and more space adjoining us to the West is about to come open. Our Senior Warden and I plan to look at it tomorrow.

Don't let anyone tell you that you have to conform to the world and reinvent Anglicanism to grow. Holy Cross is a growing, active and thriving parish, and we are on fire for the Lord. You won't find anything new here. No trendy worship, watered down theology, or compromised morality. We are a classical Anglican parish using the Liturgy of the 1928 Book of Common Prayer and the 1940 Hymnal.

Our worship is accompanied by a church organ, we use pews and kneelers, celebrate facing the altar, and partake of the sacrament kneeling. We abstain from meat on Fridays, fast during Lent, support the church with our tithes and offerings, and our mission is to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those who do not know Him, and the fullness of the Apostolic Faith to those who do.

Rome has learned the same lesson. They have freed up their traditional Roman Liturgy, and reformed the Novus Order to make it more in line with tradition and to improve its beauty and reverence. Don't sell the Faith short and don't shortchange the people. Preach the truth in love, teach the Word, use the historic Book of Common Prayer, sing the great hymns of the Church, lift the hearts of the people to the Throne of Grace through reverent and inspiring worship, and the church will grow. Rather than repackaging the Faith as some sort of Anglicanism Lite, just give them that Old Time Religion. As the song says, it was good enough for Paul and Silas, and it's good enough for us. That Old Time Religion still changes lives!

THE FILIOQUE CLAUSE IN THE NICENE CREED

Metropolitan Jonah, primate of the Orthodox Church in America, spoke at last week's provincial Assembly of the Anglican Church in North America. In his address he reminded Anglicans of the necessity of removing the Filioque clause from the Nicene Creed if there is to be reunion with the Eastern Churches. The Nicene Creed, or more properly the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed was written by the Council of Nicea in 325 and the Council of Constantinople in 381, two of the undisputed seven Ecumenical Councils of the undivided Church. What is the Filioque clause? Filioque is Latin for "and the Son." The Nicene Creed as found in the Book of Common Prayer says that Holy Ghost "proceedeth from the Father and the Son." In the Liturgy booklet used at the Assembly last week the words "and the Son" were in brackets, indicating that they really didn't belong in the text. 

Some Anglicans are confused about this, and a few are indignant. But Metropolitan Jonah and the Eastern Orthodox are right about the Filioque clause, and the Anglican Communion has been in agreement with them for decades about this matter. It has only been the internal turmoil in the Anglican Communion over the last three and a half decades that have caused a delay in its removal. The Filioque clause was not in the Nicene Creed as originally written, does not belong in the Nicene Creed, and the sooner that it is officially removed the better it will be for our Church and for the cause of Christian unity.

The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church says, "It [the Filioque clause] is no part of the original Creed, but is first met with as an interpolation (acc. to the usual texts) at the Third Council of Toledo (589)." The Third Council of Toledo was a Spanish synod called to combat a revival of the Arian heresy in Spain. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church continues, "In 796 its use was defended by Paulinus of Aquileia at the Synod of Friuli and from c. 800, when the Creed began to be generally chanted in the Mass throughout the Frankish Empire, the words became widely familiar. Its introduction by Frankish Monks in 807 into their monastery at Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives aroused strong but easily understandable opposition from the Eastern monks of St. Sabas, and when the matter was referred to [Pope] Leo III he tried to suppress the addition to the formula while approving the doctrine. He caused the Creed in its original form to be engraved on two silver tables deposited at the tomb of St. Peter. The 'Filioque', however, continued to be sung and soon after 1000 had been adopted also at Rome."

The change in the Creed as formally adopted by the Ecumenical Councils of Nicea and Constantinople was the ultimate cause of the Great Schism or division between Eastern and Western Christendom in 1054. At the time of the Reformation, when the Anglican Church was finally able to regain her self-governing status that had been lost to Rome as a result of the Norman invasion of 1066, the Church of England had been reciting the Filioque clause in the Creed for centuries. We received this interpolation by inheritance from Rome, and continue to include it in our Prayer Books.

More than a century ago the Anglican Communion and the Eastern Orthodox Churches began to dialogue with one another. Soon a great interest in regaining the unity that was lost in 1066, led to serious reunion conferences. Repeatedly over the past century, in the days of its orthodoxy, the Anglican Communion has agreed that the Filioque clause was not part of the original Creed, was uncanonically interpolated into the Creed centuries after it was written, is the cause of division among Christians, and must be removed. 

For instance, The Moscow Agreed Statement of 1976 says, "The Anglican members therefore agree that:

(a) because the original form of the Creed referred to the origin of the Holy Spirit from the Father,

(b) because the Filioque clause was introduced into this Creed without the authority of an Ecumenical Council and without due regard for Catholic consent, and

(c) because this Creed constitutes the public confession of the faith of the people of God in the Eucharist,

the Filioque clause should not be included in this Creed."

The last Anglican-Orthodox agreed statement was in 1984. With the ordination of women by the Church of England in 1994, all serious reunion dialogue ended. The Dublin Agreed Statement of 1984 says, "Further discussions on the Filioque led to the reaffirmation by both Anglican and Orthodox of the agreement reached in Moscow in 1976 that this phrase should not be included in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed. Certain Anglican Churches have already acted upon this recommendation, whilst others are still considering it.

"From the theological point of view the Orthodox stated that the doctrine of the Filioque is unacceptable, although as expressed by Augustine, it is capable of an Orthodox interpretation. According to the Orthodox understanding the Son cannot be considered a cause or co-cause of the existence of the Holy Spirit. In spite of this we find certain Fathers, for example St. Maximus the Confessor (7th century), as explained by Anastasius the Librarian (9th century), the opinion that the Filioque, as used in early Latin theology, can be understood in an Orthodox way. According to this interpretation a distinction should be made between two senses of procession, one by which the Father causes the existence of the Spirit and the other by which the Spirit shines forth from the Father and the Son. This second sense of procession must be clearly differentiated from the later Western use of the Filioque which observed no distinction but rather confused 'cause of existence' with  'communication of essence'.  Some Orthodox theologians, while affirming that the doctrine of the Filioque is unacceptable for the Orthodox Church, at the same time, having in mind the position of Professor Bolotov (1854-1900) and his followers, regard the Filioque as a 'theologoumenon' in the West." 

St. Augustine and other early Western Church Fathers may have used the Filioque in their theological writings, but they did not recite it in the Creed. As The Dublin Agreed Statement of 1984 says, "the Filioque, as used in early Latin theology, can be understood in an Orthodox way."  The problem is that the Filioque clause was added to the Creed uncanonically, and that after the Great Schism the Western use of the Filioque changed theologically in a way that could no longer be considered orthodox, although some Orthodox theologians are willing to regard the Filioque as a Western theologoumenon (theological opinion). It is sometimes argued that the Athanasian Creed contains the Filioque clause so it must have been used anciently, and it does in the West just as it is included in the Nicene Creed, but the Eastern Orthodox Churches also make use of the Athanasian Creed in the Liturgy of the Hours where it is found without the Filioque clause.

The goal of the English Reformation was to restore the Faith of the undivided Church. In 1562, Anglican Bishop John Jewel wrote, "We have returned to the Apostles and the old Catholic Fathers. We have planted no new religion, but only preserved the old that was undoubtedly founded and used by the Apostles of Christ and other holy Fathers of the Primitive Church" (Apologia Ecclesiae Anglicanae).

Metropolitan Jonah has given us an opportunity to complete the reunion talks that were ended after the introduction of the purported "ordination" of women years ago. The Anglican Church in North America must do three things: 1) abolish the ordination of women to the diaconate and presbyterate, 2) remove the Filioque clause from the Creed, and 3) reaffirm the Faith of the undivided Church. After decades of study and dialogue, the Anglican Communion agreed to remove the Filioque clause in The Moscow Agreed Statement of 1976, and reaffirmed that agreement in The Dublin Agreed Statement of 1984. There is really nothing more to discuss. We have rightly agreed to remove an interpolation from the Creed, and it is time that we fulfill our promise.

Let us move swiftly in completing the New Reformation and the renewal of the Anglican Church so that we may fulfill our mission to be a bridge Church, healing the Great Schism between East and West. What a blessing it will be to live in a new era of the undivided Church and to feel the renewed strength of the Body of Christ breathing again with both lungs, Eastern and Western. That will be a New Springtime for the Church, a grace-filled restoration of Christendom, a new hope for the world, and the flowering of the new evangelization. May God speed the day, and may we do our part. Amen and Amen!

NEW ANGLICAN MEDIA MINISTRY LAUNCHED

On Trinity Sunday Holy Cross Anglican Church went live with its newest outreach: Holy Cross Media. This new ministry has been in the works for more than a year now. Jesse Nigro, the new editor and publisher of The North American Anglican Journal and a parishioner at Holy Cross parish, is the director of this outreach. Our mission is to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those who do not know Him, and the fullness of the Apostolic Faith to those who do.

Through Holy Cross Media we hope to extend our outreach to people all across the country and around the world. This new website will give people everywhere access to video, audio and print media that will deepen their knowledge and understanding of the Gospel, Church history, and of classical Anglican theology, worship and spirituality.

At Holy Cross Media you will find a video introduction to the historic Anglican liturgy, and a growing number of sermons, podcasts, lectures, discussions and articles, as well as access to my blog, and links to the Holy Cross parish website and Face Book page, the website of The North American Anglican Journal, and more. The content of Holy Cross Media will be constantly changing, so I hope that you will check back often.

I would like to thank Jesse and his wife Ashley for all of their hard work in getting this new outreach launched. I would also like to thank the owners and staff of Big Picture Productions who donated so generously of their time, talent, equipment and resources to produce the video of the Anglican liturgy and to put the media site together.

We would like to partner with other orthodox Anglican congregations in proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ and advancing the new reformation and renewal of Anglicanism and the ongoing realignment in the Anglican Communion by inviting Anglican churches and ministries in America and abroad to link their websites to Holy Cross Media and to utilize this ministry to assist them in their work. 

Readers of my blog and users of Holy Cross Media can assist Holy Cross Anglican Church in its mission by supporting our work with your prayers and offerings. You can donate to Holy Cross Anglican Church safely and securely through Paypal. Just go to Holy Cross Media and click the donate icon. Together, we can change lives!

You can access Holy Cross Media at: www.holycrossmedia.com

  

WHAT WE BELIEVE

Our mission at Holy Cross Anglican Church is to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ and teach classical Anglican faith and practice. You won’t find anything new here, just “the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3 ). 

The Gospel was brought to the British Isles by St. Joseph of Arimathea, the disciple who buried Christ after the crucifixion. Gildas the Wise (AD 425-512), an early British historian wrote, “Christ, the True Sun, afforded His light, the knowledge of his precepts to our island in the last year, as we know, of Tiberius Caesar.” The last year of Tiberius Caesar was AD 37, just a few years after the resurrection and ascension of Christ! The Church has existed in Britain from that time until today without a break in its continuity, and has since spread all around the world.

In the 16th century the bishops of the Anglican Church launched a Reformation to cleanse the Church from medieval doctrinal and moral corruptions and to restore the faith and practice of the early Church. In 1562, Anglican Bishop John Jewel wrote, “We have returned to the Apostles and the old Catholic Fathers. We have planted no new religion, but only preserved the old that was undoubtedly founded and used by the Apostles of Christ and other holy Fathers of the Primitive Church.” And Archbishop John Bramhall (1594-1663) of Armagh in Ireland wrote, “I make not the least doubt in the world, but that the Church of England before the Reformation and the Church of England after the Reformation are as much the same Church as a garden before it is weeded and after it is weeded is the same garden; or a vine before it is pruned and after it is pruned and freed from luxuriant branches is one and the same vine.”

The canon of Convocation which imposed subscription to the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion upon the clergy in the reign of Elizabeth I, directed preachers “to be careful that they never teach ought in a sermon, to be religiously taught and held by the people, except what is agreeable to the doctrine of the Old and New Testaments, and what the Catholic fathers and ancient bishops have collected out of the same doctrine.” Dr. E. B. Pusey, the great 19th century Anglican theologian wrote, “The Church of England has, from the Reformation held implicitly, in purpose of heart, all which the ancient Church ever held” (The Rule of Faith, p. 42).

Classical Anglicanism combines Evangelical Truth and Catholic Order.  Anglicanism, when it is true to itself, is Evangelical Catholicism. As Evangelicals we are Biblical Christians who proclaim the centrality of the cross, emphasize the necessity of personal conversion, and are committed to evangelism and activism. As Catholics we are Churchmen, committed to the historic visible Church which is the Body of which Christ is the Head, possess the Catholic ministry of male bishops, presbyters  (priests) and deacons in Apostolic Succession, emphasize the three Creeds as faithful summaries of orthodox Christian doctrine, believe in the sacraments as objective means of grace with the Holy Eucharist as the center and summit of our spirituality, and proclaim the universal call to holiness.

Orthodox Anglicanism is both thoroughly Evangelical and fully Catholic. Holy Cross parish is committed to the classical Anglican formularies: the historic Book of Common Prayer and its Ordinal and Catechism, the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion, and the two Books of Homilies, interpreted according to the Canon of St. Vincent of Lerins; and to embracing the fullness of our Anglican inheritance: the Church Fathers, Doctors, Reformers, Caroline Divines, and Tractarians. 

After the cultural and social revolution of the 1960s and 1970s the Universal Church is in need of a New Reformation, a restoration of  Apostolic faith and practice, and a revival of Evangelical witness and mission in an increasingly secular world. Holy Cross parish is committed to proclaiming the Gospel, teaching classical Anglicanism, and to advancing the New Reformation and realignment in the Anglican Communion. 

Because the Anglican Church is both thoroughly Evangelical and fully Catholic, Anglicanism has a special vocation to serve as a healing balm in a divided Christendom and as  a bridge Church to bring Christians back together again in one Body. This is authentic ecumenism, not a false ecumenism based on doctrinal indifference and political compromise. 

The bishops of the world-wide Anglican Communion, gathered in 1867 at the Lambeth Conference said, “We do here solemnly record our conviction that unity will be be most effectively promoted by maintaining the faith in its purity and integrity, as taught by Holy Scripture, held by the primitive Church, summed up in the Creeds, and affirmed by the undisputed General Councils.” It would be hard to find a more succinct definition of the orthodox Christian faith. It is this faith that we hold, confess and teach.

I hope that you will accept my personal invitation to worship with us at Holy Cross Anglican Church. We have members throughout Eastern Nebraska, in Western Iowa, and even South Dakota. Why are people willing to drive so far to go to church? Because they have found a church worth the drive. We celebrate the Holy Communion every Sunday at 10:00 AM, with fellowship and refreshments after worship and a potluck luncheon on the last Sunday of the month. We are a faithful and friendly church, and we have a place for you!

ANGLICANISM: EVANGELICAL OR CATHOLIC?

The question is sometimes asked whether Anglicanism is Evangelical or Catholic. The answer is that classical Anglicanism is both Evangelical and Catholic at the same time. These are not contradictory terms, but are actually complimentary. Anglicanism is Evangelical Catholicism. Evangelical, properly understood, is an adjective, not a noun. Catholic on the other hand is a noun.

With the divisions in Christendom in the last 500 years this has become obscured. Even in Anglicanism, unhealthy church parties, or schools of theology, developed in the 19th century professing to be exclusively "Evangelical" or "Anglo-Catholic." How did this happen?

The word Catholic means universal, whole and complete. In AD 105, St. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, wrote, "Wherever the bishop appears, let the congregation be there also. Just as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church." Why? Because the Church is the Body of which Christ is the Head. In the Martyrdom of Polycarp (c. AD 135) we read, "The church that sojourns at Smyrna to the church of God sojourning in Philomelium - and to all of the congregations of the holy and Catholic Church in every place." These and many similar texts show that the primitive church was episcopal in church government and that the term Catholic was used since the earliest times when referring to Christians "in every place." 

By the early 18th century the Church of England had become very lukewarm, and had begun to fall into decay. But God was about to bring a great Revival. In November of 1729 John Wesley, Fellow of Lincoln, his brother Charles, student of Christ Church, and two others began to spend several evenings per week together reading the Greek New Testament. Soon others joined the group. One of the new members was John Clayton, the son of a Manchester bookseller. In his father's bookstore he had read many of the writings of the early Fathers of the Church, and began sharing their insights during the group's studies. Soon, the group was studying the Fathers and putting into practice what they learned, including the weekly reception of the sacrament of Holy Communion. 

This group led by the Rev. John Wesley began attracting a lot of attention, and the seriousness of their religious pursuits in such a latitudinarian era led to them acquiring some derisive nicknames, including the Holy Club and the Methodists. They were called Methodists because of their method or rule which included regular prayer and Bible reading, the centrality of the cross, the necessity of personal conversion, the importance of evangelism and activism, the frequent reception of Holy Communion, and fasting.

This evangelical revival was also a sacramental revival. Large numbers of people experiencing personal conversion crowded into their once poorly attended churches for Communion to the consternation of latitudinarian clergy who were not used to such "excesses of enthusiasm." Where the clergy became Evangelical they quickly restored frequent celebrations of the Eucharist. John and Charles Wesley and their followers renewed the classical Anglican spirituality of the evangelical experience of personal conversion,  justification by faith, and the centrality of the Holy Scriptures; and a catholic understanding of the meaning, significance and value of the Holy Eucharist, and an emphasis on the universal call to holiness.

While the Wesley's and their followers were successful in winning hundreds of thousands of people to a living faith in Christ, they failed for the most part in making the Eucharist and the Church central to their spirituality. This was primarily because the predominantly latitudinarian clergy shunned the Wesley's, discouraged the religious enthusiasm of their followers, and all but closed the churches to them. Sermons, rather than the Eucharist, became central to their spirituality. 

A century later the Oxford Movement did for the Church what the Evangelical Revival had done for the individual. This Catholic Revival was a movement aimed at re-calling the Church to a proper understanding of its position with God and the State. The Tractarians were committed to the faithful use of the Book of Common Prayer and obedience to its rubrics, to teaching the importance of the Church, the Apostolic ministry, the sacraments, and the centrality of the Eucharist. The leaders of the Oxford Movement had no interest in creating a church party. Their interest was in reviving the whole Church. They used the term Anglo-Catholic as a name for the Church of England, not as a party label. They were "Anglo" because they were part of the English Church, and they were "Catholic," because the Anglican Church was the national Catholic Church of the British Isles.

Bishop John R. H. Moorman writes, "The best of the Anglo-Catholics realized that what they were doing was the natural outcome of evangelical religion with its insistence upon people's sin, and their redemption by the cross and sacrifice of Christ... Of Arthur Stanton, Mackonochie's curate and a thoroughgoing high-churchman, it was written that 'the constant — indeed the invariable — topics of his preaching were sin and forgiveness; the love of God towards the sinner and the sinners need of the cleansed heart; the guaranteed access to the Lord through the sacrament of the altar...' Here we get the perfect combination of the two approaches to religion; and many other Anglo-Catholics preached the same Gospel. E. B. Pusey, although the leader of the high-church movement, and one of the most disliked men in the country because of what he stood for and proclaimed, has been called 'one of the greatest English Evangelicals'... The Oxford Movement had been anti-liberal and anti-Erastian, but never anti-evangelical" (The Anglican Spiritual Tradition; Templegate Publishers; c. 1983; p. 165). 

Donald Bridge and David Phypers point out, "Contrary to common opinion, however, Evangelicals were not prominent in organizing opposition to the early ritualistic changes... By the end of the nineteenth century, on practical points the Tractarians had won hands down and the Evangelicals had accepted defeat by adopting many of their reforms. Thus church buildings had been restored with chancel and altar-rail steps, interiors had been cleaned and redecorated, box-pews had been replaced by open forms, organs had become universal, choirs wore surplices, worship had become more reverent, weekly eucharists had everywhere been restored and all clergy had taken to wearing clerical collars at all times" (Communion; The Meal That Unites?; Harold Shaw Publishers, c. 1981; pp. 133-134).

It was only with the emergence of the post-Tractarians that Anglo-Catholicism became a church party, and the Evangelicals reacted by forming their own church party. This new generation, often called "Ritualists" saw the Book of Common Prayer as inadequate, replacing it with various privately published missals, and began embracing Roman rituals, doctrine and spirituality.  E. B. Pusey, who had become the leader of the Tractarians, fought hard against this emerging movement which was seen as embracing Tridentine Roman Catholicism and seeking unity with an unreformed papacy. 

Sometimes called Anglo-Papalists today, this party has caused great harm to Anglicanism. How? If the Prayer book can be discarded or "supplemented" in favor of unauthorized missals, then why cannot the liberals and others replace or "supplement" the Book of Common Prayer with liturgies of their own? If the Anglican formularies can be rejected in part or in whole, then why cannot the liberals and others do likewise? If Anglicans can embrace Roman theology, then why cannot the liberals and others adopt liberal-modernist or other teachings?

Church parties formed in the 19th century have been the bane of Anglicanism. Anglicans are Reformed Catholics, often called Evangelical Catholics. We must stop seeing ourselves as Evangelicals or Anglo-Catholics, and stop identifying ourselves by party labels. The term Anglo-Catholic is fine as long as it is used as a synonym for the Anglican Church as used by the Tractarians, but it must be discarded as a party label. And the term Evangelical is fine as long as it is used as a synonym for the Gospel as used by the Reformers of the 16th century, but it must also be discarded as a party label.  

Anglicans are Evangelical Catholics. These terms are not two nouns, but an adjective (Evangelical) and a noun (Catholic). As Evangelicals we are Biblical Christians who proclaim the centrality of the cross, emphasize the necessity of personal conversion, and are committed to evangelism and activism. As Catholics we are Churchmen, committed to the historic visible Church which is the Body of which Christ is the Head, possess the Catholic ministry of male bishops, presbyters and deacons in Apostolic Succession, emphasize the three Creeds as faithful summaries of orthodox Christian doctrine, believe in the sacraments as objective means of grace with the Holy Eucharist as the center and summit of our spirituality, and proclaim the universal call to holiness. 

Without the Evangelical spirit, there is no real Gospel to proclaim and no effective evangelism, and that is why Anglo-Catholic congregations tend to be greying and not reproducing. However, without the Catholic Body, Evangelical congregations tend to drift from Anglican faith and practice, and become increasingly like generic pop-evangelical congregations. Anglicanism is both thoroughly Evangelical and fully Catholic, and if we are to renew the Church we must see ourselves once again as Evangelical Catholics, committed to the classical Anglican formularies: the historic Book of Common Prayer and its Ordinal and Catechism, the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion, and the two Books of Homilies; and embracing the fullness of our Anglican inheritance: the Church Fathers, Doctors, Reformers, Carolines, and Tractarians. In all of Christendom, only Anglicanism is both thoroughly Evangelical and fully Catholic, and that is why only Anglicanism can serve as a bridge Church and a healing balm in a divided Christendom.