Inspire Magazine on the “Fear or Freedom? Why a warring church must change,” a book of essays on the Anglican Communion and other historic churches to be issued next week by Ekklesia:
Christians need to be beacons of hope, not signs of decay, it argues, suggesting that the “conservative versus liberal” stereotype disguises a deeper tension between establishment religion and the Christian message of radical transformation.
…
Many Christians and other onlookers are completely baffled by the nasty arguments within Anglicanism right now”, explains Simon Barrow [editor of the volume and co-director of Ekklesia]. “These rows are missing four key ingredients – an understanding
that ‘top-down’ models of the Church are dying,
that the world needs examples of reconciliation and peacemaking rather than animosity,
that many want to affirm gay Christians on deeply traditional grounds, and
that disagreement without courtesy and love is destroying the credibility of the Church’s message.”
Read it all here.
The ugly public rows over sexuality, authority and the interpretation of the Bible in the Anglican Communion leave many people not caught up in internecine church conflict baffled and frustrated.
What has this bitterness got to do with the Gospel and Jesus’ message of radical emancipation?
Why is there so much fuss over a denomination that often appears a colonial hangover?
What about the far more pressing issues of war, peace, development, environment, science and spirituality?
How does such infighting impact the credibility of the Christian message in the twenty-first century?