JERUSALEM: Liberals are tearing apart church, says Anglican bishop
By Martin Beckford in Jerusalem
The Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2197766/Liberals-are-tearing-apart-church%2C-says-Anglican-bishop.html
6/26/2008
Liberals within the Anglican church have "torn up the fabric of the communion" and should be barred from a debate over the church's future, an English bishop has warned.
The Rt Rev Wallace Benn, the Bishop of Lewes, said he could not attend the once-a-decade Lambeth Conference with liberal Americans who went against Scripture by consecrating an openly gay bishop and who are trying to drive out conservatives.
He suggested the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, should not have invited the liberals because they have broken church rules.
Bishop Benn added that the Gafcon conference in Jerusalem, where 303 Anglican bishops from around the world have gathered, would find a way out of the crisis by returning to the teachings of the Gospel.
He said: "The reason I don't feel I can go [to Lambeth] is because I don't think I can pretend to have fellowship with those with whom there is a broken fellowship.
"How am I meant to set down at a table with people who are persecuting my friends?
"I don't believe I can pretend that the facts on the ground of the tearing of the fabric of the Communion doesn't exist.
"It is of great regret to me that the invite list includes almost all those who have torn the fabric of the Communion."
He went on: "That has been a very hard decision not easily come to. I wrote a year ago to the Archbishop of Canterbury that if the invitation list is not changed I would not be able to go.
"I believe I could not go and pretend that things are what they manifestly are not."
Bishop Benn is one of three Church of England bishops known to be boycotting Lambeth, together with the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, the outspoken Bishop of Rochester who is a key figure at Gafcon, and The Rt Rev Pete Broadbent, the Bishop of Willesden.
Describing the discussions held at Gafcon about a way forward, Bishop Benn said: "There needs to be in Christian leadership a consistency and continuity between private and public lives, and faithfulness to apostolic teaching."
END
| Poster | Thread |
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| Cennydd | Posted: 2008/6/26 13:31 Updated: 2008/6/26 16:57 |
Home away from home   Joined: 2005/10/30 From: Los Banos, CA, Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin Posts: 6684 |
 Re: JERUSALEM: Liberals are tearing apart church, says An...Bishops Benn, Broadbent, and Nazir-Ali are absolutely RIGHT! There is no room for liberalism anywhere in the Communion, and if our Anglican Communion is to survive in any form, it must be suppressed.
Healthy debate is desirable, of course, but when liberalism as we have come to know it becomes harmful to the very survival of everything sacred to us as Anglican Christians, it must be "forced to the rear," so to speak, and take a back seat. Others might say it should be "kicked off the bus." Cennydd |
| daveball | Posted: 2008/6/26 19:40 Updated: 2008/6/26 19:40 |
Home away from home  Joined: 2004/12/18 From: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 2281 |
Re: JERUSALEM: Liberals are tearing apart church, says An... Indeed the liberals have torn apart the faith. They have "walked apart" from the historic church. That being said, there is no mechanism in the Anglican Communion to "throw them out". Neither is there an apparent way to redefine the existing communion to not include them. We are then left with creating a new Anglicanism.
Going to Lambeth is not going to accomplish any of this. It will be a pure waste of time and money, no matter how noble the intentions of the believing bishops and Primates who do attend. The fact is that less than half of those who claim to be Anglicans will be represented at Lambeth. The noisiest group will be the agenda driven "gay pride" LGBT mob. Ruin Williams will be lucky to realize where he is much less what he should be doing if he were really an Archbishop. So, Bishop Benn, no need to explain your decision. You're right - don't go. I pray that we put thoughts of whatever does or does not happen at the Lambeth fairy fest out of our minds and concentrate on how to establish the new Anglican Communion. God knows there are enough problems to overcome in that undertaking to keep us busy for some time. |
| yendor | Posted: 2008/6/27 7:43 Updated: 2008/6/28 19:37 |
Just can't stay away   Joined: 2007/11/3 From: Posts: 86 |
Re: JERUSALEM: Liberals are tearing apart church, says An... Daveball says that there is no mechanism for ejecting a church from communion with Canterbury. Here in South Africa in the Diocese of Natal in the 19th century we had 2 rival Anglican Bishops, both in communion with Canterbury. This situation eventually ended (after about 30 years) when the ABC recognised only the bishop approved of by the bishop of Cape Town. This gave rise to the Church of England in South Africa which is not in communion with Canterbury, but strangely its clergy apparently are still recognised by the CofE (unlike the clergy of Continuing Churches in the USA). If an ABC could declare a church out of communion with him then, he can do it now.
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