Aspinall warns Jensen

The Most Rev. Phillip Aspinall, Primate of the Australian Anglican Church, has warned the Archbishop of Sydney, Dr. Peter Jensen, that he risks a legal battle if Jensen tries to overstep the laws of the church.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports:

Speaking on ABC Radio last night, Dr Aspinall said he was saddened by the rift and disappointed by the Sydney Archbishop’s boycott of the forthcoming meeting of church leaders at Lambeth, and said the rebels’ actions added to “confusion and chaos” in the church.

During the interview Aspinall said:

A number of participants in the GAFCON conference have said that they believe that what they’re doing will help to bring order in a situation of chaos.

I think if they act in the way which has been indicated, they will add to whatever confusion and chaos exists at the moment and the former Archbishop of Canterbury; George Carey said as much himself back in the year 2000 and the year 2001 when these unlawful consecrations of bishops and unlawful interventions in the life of churches around the world first began to happen.

. . . . .

Where there are indications that people might cross boundaries, that bishops might act outside their own jurisdictions and intervene in the life of other churches, where people might seek to leave the church and take property that is held in trust by the church for a different purpose.

I think all those things do raise legal questions and I think those kinds of conflicts will be brought on by people trying to act unilaterally and not following due process.

The Sydney Morning Herald also profiles Archbishop Jensen as “the pin-up boy for church conservatives:”

Peter Jensen describes the past two weeks as among the most spiritually invigorating of his life. The Anglican Archbishop of Sydney is the talk of Anglicans worldwide – conservative and liberal – as the breakaway movement he helped create openly challenges the relevance and authority of the See of Canterbury, the historic centre of Anglican power and influence. Not everyone is a fan.

Jensen and fellow Anglican archbishops – Nigerian Peter Akinola and Ugandan Henry Orombi – have been making waves as the frontmen for the new Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, which was birthed in Jerusalem late last month at the Global Anglican Future Conference, or Gafcon, a meeting of Anglican bishops unhappy with the direction of the mainstream church.

The rebels have singled out the Canadian and American arms for their teaching on homosexuality, specifically acceptance of gay bishops and same-sex unions. They say the Jerusalem summit was called “in a sense of urgency that a false gospel has so paralysed the Anglican Communion that this crisis must be addressed. The chief threat of this dispute involves the compromising of the integrity of the church’s worldwide mission”

See Thinking Anglicans: GAFCON: more comments and reports.

Sydney Morning Herald: Aspinall warns Jensen and The battle for hearts and souls.

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