Letters
from 27 February to 6 March 2005
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Thank
you, thank you for your front page of 27 February.
What
troubles me most, regardless of my own views on Windsor,
etc., is the lack of ecumenical spirit within our
own Anglican ranks. We seem more able to talk to
Catholics, Baptists, or whomever than to fellow Anglicans
of differing stripes.
Abandoning
the Anglican communion may well bring us to the place
where we remember the reason it was there to begin
with. Yet, if we neglect the gathering of ourselves
together, will we still have the grace and graciousness
to be with Christ in his works of healing, mercy,
and peace?
Jesus
does not ask whether we are gay or non-gay when he
commissions us to feed his sheep. So why does it
worry the sheep so much?
Brian
McKinlay
Canberra, AUSTRALIA
brian@nottoomuch.com
28 February 2005
'Introverted
squabbles'
Some
weeks ago you quoted Archbishop
Tutu's simple but compelling description of the Anglican
Communion: 'we meet'. Yet no more are we to meet
as one body in the Anglican Consultative Council
now that the US and Canadian churches have euphemistically
been asked to withdraw. As a result the Archbishop
of Canterbury is left trying to explain to the global
media and the few people outside the church still
interested in these introverted squabbles that being
apart for a while helps the process of listening!
The
primates' communique represents an appalling affront
to the heart of Christ who prayed that the disciples
should be one so that the world may believe. My heartfelt
prayer is that those Anglican provinces who remain
open to the prompting of the Spirit, will want
to continue to meet with our US and Canadian sisters
and brothers, whose presence is vital for our
mission to the world. Maybe this can be done bilaterally
in one on one meetings or plurilaterally with
regional meetings.
If
our increasingly doddery and out-of-touch primates
cannot act together in unity for the sake of the
Gospel, then the rest of us will just have to do
it for them.
Stephen
Jacobi
St John's Cathedral
Napier, NEW ZEALAND
28 February 2005
Feels
like home
Your
site is the one I use as my home page. It is continuously
the voice of reason and, I hope, not just crying
in the wilderness. This week was more than the best! I
am encouraging many to go and see.
Your
work and dedication is worth a great deal to me.
JC
Eriksen
St. Clare's Episcopal Church
Blairsville, Georgia, USA
3 March 2005
Can
you offer a
home for this book?
In
1959, the Cambridge University Press produced the "Draft
Report of the Joint Committee of both houses of the
General Synod on the Revision of the book of Common
Prayer. I have a copy of this book, signed by every
member of the revision committee ... thirty-five
signatures ... everyone from the senior bishop at
that time Philip Charrington (Philip Quebec) to
the baby bishop, George Snell (soon to become Bishop
of Toronto).
I
have contacted various Toronto Anglican sites
and have received no reply. Perhaps you could be
of some assistance in finding some person or institution
that would be interested in acquiring this item.
Terrence
J. O 'Neil
St. Paul's Cathedral
London, Ontario, CANADA
webuildit1@aol.com
6 March 2005
'When
did the word "communion" mean "everyone thinks alike"?'
Thank
you for your as-usual brilliant, reasonable take
on the current unpleasantness in the Anglican Communion
(your missive published the week of 2/27).
I
am so puzzled: since when did the word "communion" mean "everyone
thinks alike"? Lovely
irony in all this, isn't there... the American Colonies
split from Great Britain because we didn't like some
of GB's ideas... the Puritans left Great Britain
because they were being persecuted for their beliefs...
the early American Anglicans were persecuted by other
early Americans for reading the BCP...
...and
now, for a change, the Episcopal Church in America
is actually embracing, welcoming, even loving those
whom Jesus did -- the socially unacceptable -- yet
the Anglican Communion as we know it may cease to
exist because of it What
terrible wounds cause such fear-driven actions?
The
Anglican Communion has weathered great political
upheaval, wars, famine, pestilence, the ordination
of women and people of color, and even, for Heaven's
sake, interpretive dance. May She withstand something
so extraordinary as love and acceptance.
Christy
Favorite
St. Mary's Episcopal Church
Anchorage, Alaska, USA
4 March 2005
Bishop
as intercontinental missile?
In
making a unilateral decision to go forward with Bishop
Robinson's consecration, the American Church has
exhibited the same arrogance and disregard for the
opinions of others that is often attributed to the
United States in its foreign policy.
However,
even more disturbing was the reported refusal of
some of the primates from other Provinces to receive
communion at any service at which Bishop Griswold
also received the sacrament. Do they really believe
they are serving our Lord by following the example
of the Pharisees?
Paul
Powers
Fort Worth, Texas, USA
6 March 2005
'Wisdom
in our Reformation roots'
Thank
you very much for
this week's essay, which articulates something I've
been pondering as we deal with the current crisis:
are we in danger of making an idol of the Anglican
Communion? There was a time when I would have welcomed
a greater centralisation of authority, seeing it
as proof that we are, indeed, a 'Catholic' body.
Recently, however, I have reflected on how a major
tenet of the English Reformation was the notion that
foreign bishops don't have the right to meddle in
the affairs of a national Church. Yet that is precisely
what is happening.
A
lot has changed since the idea of the Anglican Communion
first came into being. The sun has long since set
on the British Empire, and the various provinces
are developing very differently in widely divergent
cultures. Perhaps it is time to look for wisdom in
our Reformation roots.
The
Reverend William Bippus
St. Paul's Church
Marinette, Wisconsin, USA
stpaulsmarinette@centurytel.net
3 March 2005
Money
moratorium
Since
the Primates have decided that it is appropriate
for the voices of the Anglican Church in Canada and
ECUSA not to be heard on the Anglican Consultative
Council, perhaps they should also consider a moratorium
on member churches receiving financial assistance
from all Canadian and American Anglicans, whatever
their individual stances. This would seem to be the
only way to avoid the unseemly appearance of Primates
being for sale to the highest bidder.
Stephen
Stray
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA
1 March 2005
Another
side of Sydney
Bashing
the Diocese of Sydney is popular worldwide
these days. But I thought your readers might appreciate
this thread on the forum of its web pages. Although
one can click here (www.sydneyanglicans.net/community/viewtopic.php?t=1000)
and read the full thread, I thought
it would be interesting to quote this first post.
How encouraging that among our brothers and sisters
here, there is a desire to self-examine, in a spirit
of humility.
Of
course, I cannot speak for the Diocese. But in my
opinion, we have much to learn and much to give.
May we have the humility to do both.
I
love [the] Sydney Diocese. I praise God for
our leadership in Peter Jensen. I praise God
that we have been stirred up for mission. I am
grateful for the Bible teaching I have received.
Yet,
for all that I give thanks for, I have some sadnesses
and concerns. Sometimes this means I feel a little
out of place and alienated, within my own diocese. Most
issues have to do with our reaction to error. As
we have reacted to error over time, it seems to me
that we have always tended towards over-correction.
If
I may give some examples:
1.
To the excesses of charismatics, we have overreacted
so that the Holy Spirit in many of our churches,
is a silent partner.
2.
To the lack in the past of good Bible teaching, we
now speak of ministry as if it only consisted in
Bible teaching.
3.
To the error that worship was seen as the hour on
Sundays, we think that the Sunday gathering does
not consist in worship at all. Related to that -
to the error that our church services emphasised
purely the vertical, we have turned services into
meetings which focus mainly on the horizontal.
4.
To the error of over-emphasis on the Lord's Supper,
we endeavour to make sure it hardly means anything.
5.
To the error of some churches which could be accused
of manipulating people's emotions, we steer away
from any emotion in church and emphasise the cerebral.
6.
To the push of feminism, and in reaction to the ordination
of women, we harshly judge churches that have women
preach. Students from college steer away from such
churches. It is often the new touch-stone of orthodoxy.
7.
In reaction to the 'social gospel', we have pushed
away any attention on giving to the poor, because
every dollar for the poor is one less for mission!
8.
Sadly there is an epistemological arrogance about
us -- which of course puts many people off side.
9.
In reaction against formalism and order in services,
and liturgy, we have largely abandoned it, and at
times and in some places, little thought is given
to order or form at all.
Brothers
and sisters, I think these are real concerns. I
know I am not alone in seeing these. But what to
do? I
pray. I speak with like-minded people. I ask the
Lord to fill us with grace and humility -- before
Him and one another.
Thank
you for letting me share these thoughts in this forum.
I am sorry in advance, for any offense caused.
May
the Lord make us more like the Lord Jesus.
Liz
Shore
Sydney, AUSTRALIA
shoreliz@hotmail.com
28 February 2005
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