Archbishop Akinola of Nigeria has issued a treatise of his understanding of the history of the Anglican Communion: A Most Agonzing Journey Towards Lambeth 2008. He seeks the following for participation in Lambeth and the Anglican Communion:
“We Anglicans stand at a crossroads. One road, the road of compromise of biblical truth, leads to destruction and disunity. The other road has its own obstacles [faithfulness is never an easy way] because it requires changes in the way the Communion has been governed and it challenges [all] our churches to live up to and into their full maturity in Christ.”
The first road, the one that follows the current path of The Episcopal Church USA and the Anglican Church of Canada, is one that we simply cannot take because the cost is too high. We dare not sacrifice eternal truth for mere appeasement; we cannot turn away from the source of life and love for a temporary truce.
The other road is the only one that we can embrace. It is not an easy road because it demands obedience and faithfulness from each one of us. It requires a renewed commitment to the Historic Biblical Faith. For those who have walked away from this commitment, especially The Episcopal Church USA and the Anglican Church of Canada, it requires repentance, a reversal of current unscriptural policies and credible assurances concerning such basic matters as:
The Authority and Supremacy of Scripture.
The Doctrine of the Trinity
The person, work and resurrection of Jesus the Christ
The acknowledgement of Jesus as Divine and the One and only means of salvation
The doctrines of sin, forgiveness, reconciliation, and transformation by the Holy Spirit through Christ.
The sanctity of marriage and teaching about morality that is rooted in the Bible.
These are not onerous burdens or tiresome restrictions but rather they are God’s gift, designed to set us free from the bondage of sin and give us the assurance of life eternal.
John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim’s Progress, describes the Christian life as a journey from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City. On his journey, Pilgrim is confronted by numerous decisions and many crossroads. The easy road was never the right road. This is our moment of truth.
+ Peter Abuja
Fr. Jake discusses the article point by point and comes to some different conclusions. Although both Fr. Jake and Archbishop Akinola see us on on journey, Jake concludes:
The easy road would be to exclude a minority group for the sake of unity. But if we did that, we would reveal ourselves as unworthy of the claim to be the sacrament, the outward and visible sign, of Jesus Christ, who has set the prisoners free. Will we be Christians, or will be just another exclusive club? This is indeed our moment of truth.
Stephen Noll, Vice Chancellor for Uganda Christian University calls Archbishop Akinola the “Jeremiah” of our day.
Thinking Anglicans also has a discussion of the article.
All eyes seem turned towards the next date on the Anglican Communion calendar, the September meeting of the Episcopal Church House of Bishops. The Archbishop of Canterbury and the House of Bishops will meet in New Orleans. Many of the bishops and their spouses are also taking time to work in recovery efforts for the Gulf Coast. The bishops and spouses choir is making a CD to raise funds for the recovery. Many bishops are bringing gifts to assist the effort. They are encouraging each bishop to bring $10,000.00 from his or her diocese to provide the much needed funds to help the churches and residents of the Gulf Coast.
Maybe the mission work will help sort out our priorities.
Episcopal Life Onlinehas a new update on New Orleans recovery