Father Jones on the (Near) Future of the Anglican Communion

Father Greg Jones thinks schism is near--both of the Episcopal Church and in the larger Anglican Communion. I agree with his analysis:

I keep wondering how best to describe what is so clearly unfolding. With the news that the Anglican Church of Kenya has now appointed a second American (formerly Episcopal) priest as a bishop for missionary work in North America -- it is quickly becoming obvious what is happening. The announcements from Kenya that Murdoch and Atwood will be bishops with missionary oversight in America, and their welcome reception by the Anglican Communion Network's Bob Duncan, indicate that the long-awaited 'orthodox' and 'new' North American 'Anglican' province is on its way. It must deduced that while no such clearly worded announcement has been made by anybody -- all new facts on the ground point to the fact that a new alternative brand of Anglicanism is being offered under the guise of traditionalism on North American soil. It is indeed a joint venture between various strands of Anglo-Catholic and Anglican Evangelical -- and it includes the various dioceses still working hard to figure out a way to steal away from the Episcopal Church -- the various parishes which mostly have done so already -- and the half-dozen or so largest groups of traditionalist Anglican fellowships. It looks like there will be no shortage of bishops. If the Reformed Episcopal, Traditional Anglican, Anglican Communion Network, Convocation of Anglicans, Anlglican Mission in the Americas, Kenyan, Uganda, Bolivian, and others come together -- as it looks like they are doing this summer -- there will be more bishops than one can imagine.

. . .

Anyhow, friends, this is how it's playing out. By Summer's end, with further news that Gene Robinson will be going to Lambeth (in some reduced status), along with all the other bishops with jurisdiction of the Episcopal Church, and that the realignment forces have continued to not only ignore the Windsor process but deny that the Windsor Report urges they refrain from such activity, what reasonable hope is there that the Communion will withstand the pressures of the separatists? It won't. They will leave, as they do in many localities, and they will do everything they can to build the church they want.

Read it all here.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Giles Fraser on Gay Marriage

Image
The Rev. Gileas Fraser offers thoughtful piece on gay marriage on BBC Radio this morning: Back in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, as the Book of Common Prayer was being put together, marriage was said to be for three purposes: First, It was ordained for the procreation of children … Secondly, It was ordained for a remedy against sin, and to avoid fornication .. Thirdly, It was ordained for the mutual society, help, and comfort, that the one ought to have of the other, both in prosperity and adversity. How do these three concerns relate to the prospect of gay marriage? The third priority insists that marriage is designed to bring human beings into loving and supportive relationships. Surely no one can deny that homosexual men and women are in as much need of loving and supportive relationships as anybody else. And equally deserving of them too. This one seems pretty clear. The second priority relates to the encouragement of monogamy. The Archbishop of Canterbury himself has rig
Read more

Religious Map of United States

Image
This map shows which of eight major Christian denominations has a plurality in the United States, county by county. the map obviously does not capture the full story given the rich diversity of Christian denominations in the United States, but it does show much of the regionalization of the major denominations. The map and analysis can be found here . Hat Tip to my friend Jim .
Read more

New Climate Change Study

What a coincidence. Yesterday, I blogged about the James Dobson et al "We Get It" effort to deny climate change. Yesterday, NASA scientists issued a new report showing a strong causal link between human activity and climate change. Here is the Science Daily report: A vast array of physical and biological systems across the earth are being affected by warming temperatures caused by humans, says a new analysis of information not previously assembled all in one spot. The effects on living things include earlier leafing of trees and plants over many regions; movements of species to higher latitudes and altitudes in the northern hemisphere; changes in bird migrations in Europe, North America and Australia; and shifting of the oceans' plankton and fish from cold- to warm-adapted communities. "Humans are influencing climate through increasing greenhouse gas emissions, and the warming world is causing impacts on physical and biological systems attributable at the global scal
Read more