Archive for July, 2007
Written by: Rev. Dr. Ephraim Radner
Tuesday, July 31st, 2007
A Brief Statement of Resignation from the Anglican Communion Network:
It is with sorrow and deep disappointment that I tender my resignation from the Anglican Communion Network. Since the time I assisted in its founding, its leaders, members, and mission have been dear to me, even when I have disagreed with some of its corporate actions. The recent statements by the Moderator of the Network, Robert Duncan, however, so contradict my sense of calling within this part of Christ’s Body, the Anglican Communion, that I have no choice but to disassociate myself from this group, whom I had once hoped might prove an instrument of renewal, not of destruction, of building up, not of tearing down.
read more...
July 31 2007 | Articles
Written by: Tim Dakin, CMS
Monday, July 16th, 2007
In the following ten sections I argue for a remaking of Anglicanism around a renewal of our understanding of the relationship between covenant, mission and Scripture. In part A. Some Ecumenical and Missional Reflections on the Windsor Report (sections 1-3) I explore how we can learn what this looks like in another tradition (the Baptist one) and then reflect on what implications this has for the Anglican Communion in relation to the Windsor process. I argue that this will require a remaking of Anglicanism around a new understanding of covenant, mission and scripture that will address the unresolved question of authority in Anglicanism.
read more...
July 16 2007 | Articles
Written by: The Anglican Communion Institute, Inc.
Friday, July 13th, 2007
During the first week of July, ACI, Inc. theologians joined other scholars at Wycliffe Hall for a four-day consultation. Over 100 visitors attended the event at Oxford University in England.They came together to confer on two key matters of common concern: taking forward the proposed Anglican Communion Covenant and examining the challenges andopportunities for Anglican Mission in the ‘First World’.
read more...
July 13 2007 | Articles
Written by: Rev. Dr. Ephraim Radner
Friday, July 13th, 2007
The movement towards a separated North American Anglican church, aligned perhaps with one part of the Anglican Communion and not another, appears to be gaining steam. The focus of the Anglican Communion Network’s official leadership has shifted perceptibly towards this goal, overtly transferring its energies from its work as a coalition of American traditionalist bishops working representatively with the larger Communion, to the strategy of a “Common Cause” formation of a new ecclesial structure that would function either as a new Anglican Communion province, or as a province in a new alternative Anglican Communion. Regular consultation among Network bishops has diminished in frequency, while the work on Common Cause has demanded new and steadier communication.
read more...
July 13 2007 | Articles
Written by: Rev. Dr. M. B. Davie
Friday, July 13th, 2007
In this paper I examine theologically the nature of the Instruments of Communion and the proposal made about them in section 6 of the draft Anglican Covenant.
I begin by looking at what we mean by communion with the help of Andrei Rublev’s icon ‘The Old Testament Trinity,’ before going on to look at how the word and the dominical sacraments are the primary means by which we enter into communion with God and each other.
read more...
July 13 2007 | Articles
Written by: Rev. Dr. Ephraim Radner
Friday, July 13th, 2007
Remarks in this discussion build on the previous reflections on the “search for one-mindedness”, according to Philippians 2.
1. One-mindedness leads to a common confession. But “confession” — “speaking as one” – is bound to the same context of attitudes as one-mindedness, and cannot preempt the character of its search.
2. The history of “confessionalism” in Anglicanism, exemplified by the fate or role of the Articles of Religion, demonstrates how incapable the Anglican Church has been in using such statements for the purpose of finding, let along living in, “one mind”.
read more...
July 13 2007 | Articles
Written by: Rev. Canon Benjamin B. Twinamaani
Thursday, July 12th, 2007
The issues of the national church and Anglican Communion are again upon us, and since they have directly impacted our parish in the past (about 23 families, one-third of the parish membership, left Grace Church over the actions of General Convention of 2003), and many of our members place high priority on them, I think it is prudent for us to know a bit more about the underlying issues as a background against which to interpret the underlying motives that underpin some of the events, actions and reports that will come up in the coming months. Here are some of my own personal thoughts on the many issues in four main points.
read more...
July 12 2007 | Articles
Written by: Rev. Professor Christopher Seitz
Sunday, July 8th, 2007
Biblical Theological Reflection and the Rule of Faith: Threshold Considerations
In order both to set some limits and for clarity’s sake-themes to which I shall return-I understand my assignment to be: theological reflection on covenant and the appropriateness of using this term for work presently before us in the Anglican Communion. By ‘theological reflection’ I mean, giving a comprehensive account of Scripture with concern for its total witness. I take this to be the concern of one of the Articles, with a long prior history, that scripture be read in such a way that its portions be not repugnant, one with another. The same concern also animates what in our present period is called ‘canonical reading.’
read more...
July 08 2007 | Articles
Written by: Rev. Dr. Ephraim Radner
Sunday, July 8th, 2007
Every Sunday, in my congregation, we offer up to God these words from the Prayer “for the whole state of Christ’s Church militant here in earth”: “[We beseech] thee to inspire continually the Universal Church with the spirit of truth, unity, and concord: And grant, that all they who do confess thy holy Name may agree in the truth of thy holy Word, and live in unity, and godly love.”
read more...
July 08 2007 | Articles
Written by: Rev. Dr. Philip Turner
Sunday, July 8th, 2007
We are gathered to discuss the covenant that has been proposed as a means of preventing the fragmentation of Anglicanism and insuring its continuance as a communion of churches. As a way to throw light on the subject, I have been asked to speak about “Integrity, Diversity, and Episcopal Authority within the Anglican Communion”. The fact is that conflicting ways of understanding these four nouns (integrity, diversity, authority, and communion) lie at the heart of our travails. The subject before us is in fact of central importance to our future. However, the pace of events is such that hardly a thought crosses my mind before it is rendered problematic by yet another development within one or another of our provinces. Within my own church, for example, the consecration of Gene Robinson and the election of a woman as Primate have been followed by the whole sale rejection on the part of the House of Bishops and the Executive Council of the scheme of pastoral care proposed by the Primates meeting in Dar es Salaam, In reaction to these and other previous developments, we have witnessed the formation of CANA, the announcement that Kenya and Uganda will each consecrate a bishop to oversee the “orthodox” parishes within the U.S. that have placed themselves under their care, and formation of a wider coalition (Common Cause) that includes these and other groups. This coalition bears all the marks of a proto province. By the time I deliver this address, I assume even more will have transpired; and I assume as well all that occurs will have profound effects on how the question I have been assigned is adequately to be addressed.
read more...
July 08 2007 | Articles