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This page last updated 27 February 2006
Anglicans Online last updated 20 August 2000

Letters to AO

EVERY WEEK WE PUBLISH a selection of letters we receive in response to something you've read at Anglicans Online. Stop by and have a look at what other AO readers are thinking.

Alas, we cannot publish every letter we receive. And we won't publish letters that are anonymous, hateful, illiterate, or otherwise in our judgment do not benefit the readers of Anglicans Online. We usually do not publish letters written in response to other letters.

We edit letters to conform with standard AO house style for punctuation, but we do not change, for example, American spelling to conform to English orthography. On occasion we'll gently edit letters that are too verbose in their original form. Email addresses are included when the authors give permission to do so.

If you'd like to respond to a letter whose author does not list an email, you can send your response to Anglicans Online and we'll forward it to the writer.


Letters from 20 to 26 February 2006

Like all letters to the editor everywhere, these letters are the opinions of the writers and not Anglicans Online. We publish letters that we think will be of interest to our readers, whether we agree with them or not. If you'd like to write a letter of your own, click here.

Not rooted in dissent

In his letter in response to your essay on the Superbowl, the Reverend Ron Baillie of Pittsburgh laments that Episcopalians (and by extension, one supposes, Anglicans everywhere) no longer know what holds us together, what our core beliefs are.

While the Reverend Mr. Baillie and I obviously hold different views on practices and understandings on the periphery of Anglicanism, I am sure that, at the core, we agree. "I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord...etc." I am not aware that the Creeds, the Lambeth Quadrilateral, our Anglican tradition of inclusiveness has changed. While there are certain Anglicans, like the Reverend Mr. Baillie and the Network, who would have us all worship in the same way, hold the same interpretation of selected verses of scripture, practice our faith in uniformity, and sing from the same song sheet, I maintain that the very strength of our church is its shared core beliefs and diversity of practice.

The beauty of Anglicanism is the fact that our statement of faith, our core, is found in the creeds, not in any document created in dissent.

Rene Jamieson
The Cathedral of St. John
Winnipeg, Manitoba, CANADA
20 February 2006

The Holy Spirit working through the Councils of the Church: in just what way?

The Synod of the Diocese of Melbourne (Australia) has just concluded a meeting at which it had hoped to elect a new Archbishop. Over 30 names had been considered earlier by a Committee and a final three names went forward for consideration by this Synod. However, after several meetings and considerable debate, the necessary support to elect one of those three (two-thirds majority in each of three Houses) was not obtained. As a result the whole process begins again in about three months time.

Already one of those three 'finalists' has announced he won't be allowing his name to go forward again, believing God has indicated to him that he should remain where he is, as Bishop of another Australian Diocese.

This is an interesting conclusion to reach. Has God only given him — and all the others of course — only one chance? Was this a 'rejection' of him or a challenge to the Synod to continue deliberating on that final three? How does this candidate know God wants him to remain where he is? Many would have prayed for him to go to Melbourne, many for him not to do so. Has he made a decision not to resubmit his name because of the frustration of it all?

What interesting questions are raised by the whole scenario: the mystery of the working of the Holy Spirit. How do we discern the will of God? Do we have the patience to wait on Him? How many times does He try us?

Trevor G Cowell
Christ Church, Illawarra, Longford
Perth, Tasmania, AUSTRALIA
platcha1@optusnet.com.au
22 February 2006

Earlier letters

We launched our 'Letters to AO' section on 11 May 2003. All published letters are in our archives.

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