Carey: The circumstances facing each Archbishop of Canterbury will vary according to the needs
of the hour. For these reasons, I believe, that Dr Rowan Williams should not regard
the advice he has evidently received that this matter [inviting AMiA and CANA bishops] is ‘fixed’ as necessarily binding
on him in the very different circumstances of 2007.
God created humans with free will. Christians must combine faith and common sense to forge a future that serves the whole. That doesn’t mean coming to agreement on issues that divide us. Often, people think of resolution in just such a way. They advance their position over and over in the hope others finally will see the light. Yet proponents of the other side have the same hope. We need to develop a larger vision. When will this be resolved? When will they see it our way? Maybe never.
Reducing morality and immorality to brain chemistry — rather than free will — might diminish the importance of personal responsibility. Even more important, some wonder whether the very idea of morality is somehow degraded if it turns out to be just another evolutionary tool that nature uses to help species survive and propagate.
In the Road to Lambeth we said “We will definitely not attend any Lambeth Conference to which the violators of the Lambeth Resolution are also invited as participants or observers.” We note that all the American Bishops who consented to, participated in, and have continued to support the consecration as bishop of a man living in a homosexual relationship have been invited to the Lambeth Conference. These are Bishops who have violated the Lambeth Resolution 1.10.
Of course, what should really happen is that the bishops of the Church of England stop using colleges like this to train its priests. Places such as Wycliffe are turning Anglicanism into a cult. But it’s a symptom of how bad things are in the C of E, and how frightened its bishops have become of the financial muscle of conservative evangelicals, that they won’t find the gumption to cut Wycliffe adrift.
– Giles Fraser, The Guardian
The most recent development in the court battle came last week, when the congregation that remained with the Episcopal diocese appealed an April ruling by Judge Thomas Cooper to deny the diocese ownership of the church property. He upheld a 1745 deed that said the church real estate is held in trust for the benefit of the people of the Waccamaw Neck, for the establishment of an Anglican church. That means that neither the Episcopal Diocese nor the Anglican Mission in the Americas can lay claim to the church property.
In his sermon, the Rt. Rev. J. Neil Alexander, Bishop of Atlanta, urged Bishop Johnston to “wear us out! Wear us out with the promise of the resurrection!” “It was a delight to see 30 bishops of the Church gather to celebrate, and an utter delight to hear Fodor perform” Bach’s Ciaccona, Bishop Jefferts Schori said. “The music and the preaching were all right on target,” Bishop Gibbs said. “It’s all about resurrection. We finally got back on message. Thanks be to God!”
Mindful of the speculation that has surrounded the issuing of invitations to the Conference Dr Williams recalls that invitations are issued on a personal basis by the Archbishop of Canterbury and that “the Lambeth Conference has no ‘constitution’ or formal powers; it is not a formal Synod or Council of the Communion”, and that invitation to the Conference has never been seen as “a certificate of doctrinal orthodoxy”. Nevertheless Dr Williams recognises in his letter that under very exceptional circumstances an invitation may be withheld or withdrawn.
UPDATE: Bishops Gene Robinson and Martyn Minns have not been invited according to the Washington Post. Read it here.
Nationwide, food banks — clearinghouses that distribute food donations to local charitable pantries and emergency shelters — report receiving fewer donations in the form of imperfectly packaged canned and boxed edibles. It is the down side of a drive in recent years by manufacturers and retailers for greater supply-chain efficiency.
At this time in the life of the Church of England and the Anglican Communion, faced with a faulty view of revelation, false teaching and indiscipline, we believe that it is necessary to set out where we as orthodox Anglicans stand, and to invite others to join us. If Communion is finally broken by some with The Episcopal Church, there will be those in the Church of England who will continue publicly to express their strong support for TEC. This will put many parishes and clergy who are in their charge in impossible situations.