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May 23, 2007
Bishops Gene and Martyn 'not invited' to Lambeth
22.05.07 Ruth Gledhill Times Online: I fear Dr Williams has lost some friends with this decision and I pray he knows what he is doing. It seems odd that he has done this so long before the September 30 meeting of TEC bishops
Full story:
www.timescolumns.typepad.com/gledhill/2007/05/gene_not_invite.html#more
Posted by latimer at 04:46 PM | Comments (0)
Robinson & Minns Not on Lambeth Invite List
Two bishops at the heart of the U.S. Episcopal Church’s divisions over sexuality and scripture will not be invited to next year’s global gathering of Anglican prelates, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s office said Tuesday.
Gay Bishop Kept Out of Anglican Meeting
By RACHEL ZOLL
The Associated Press
Full Story: www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/22/AR2007052200411.html
Those not invited: New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson, who lives with his male partner, called the decision Tuesday "an affront to the entire Episcopal Church." The other prelate, Bishop Martyn Minns, leads a U.S. parish network formed by Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola to counter the liberal-leaning American denomination on its home turf.
Robinson may be invited to attend the Lambeth Conference as a guest, but Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams is not contemplating inviting Minns, Kearon said.
“The question of Gene Robinson … I think has exercised the archbishop of Canterbury’s mind for quite some time,” he said, and there was no question that Robinson was duly elected and consecrated a bishop in accordance with the rules of the Episcopal Church.
“However, for the archbishop to simply give full recognition at this conference would be to ignore the very substantial and very widespread objections in many parts of the communion to his consecration and to his ministry,” Kearon said.
The conference, generally held every 10 years, will meet at the University of Kent in England from July 16-Aug. 4, 2008.
Posted by latimer at 04:12 PM | Comments (0)
Gay Bishop Gene Robinson not invited to Lambeth conference
22.05.07 Ruth Gledhill, Times Online: ...The Rev Chris Sugden, of Anglican Mainstream, the orthodox lobby group, said: "The Archbishop is in a very difficult position. It appears he is making the criteria of withholding an invitation causing division, or scandal or making resolution difficult. Who is to be the judge of these things once the criteria is not Biblical truth as held by the universal church and Anglican doctrine but ecclesiastical correctness?"
Gay bishop not invited to Lambeth conference
Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1825375.ece
The openly gay Bishop of New Hampshire, whose consecration in 2003 has taken the Anglican Church to the brink of schism, is to be excluded from the 2008 Lambeth Conference, the Archbishop of Canterbury said today.
In a significant blow to the lesbians and gays campaigning for equal rights within the Church, Dr Rowan Williams has decreed that Bishop Robinson will not be among the 800-plus Anglican bishops invited to Canterbury next summer for the three-week gathering.
Dr Williams' decision provoked fury from the gay community in the Church of England, who said it demonstrated the "institutional homophobia" haunting the Church of England. Dr Williams was also accused of practising "ecclesiastical correctness" by the conservative evangelical opponenents of Bishop Robinson.
But the Archbishop, once a proponent of liberal catholicism of the kind preached by Bishop Robinson and his supporters, had little choice in the matter. If he had invited Bishop Robinson, the conference would almost certainly have been boycotted by conservative evangelical bishops and archbishops from the 'Global South' provinces in Africa and Asia.
The first invitations for the 2008 conference were sent out today by Dr Williams. The gathering, which takes place every ten years and which next year will be the largest ever in the history of Anglicanism, will bring together bishops from the Churches in the 38 Provinces of the Anglican Communion together with ecumenical and other invited guests.
The 2008 conference will differ from previous gatherings in that the bishops will begin with a period of retreat and reflection. Much of this retreat time will be held in and around Canterbury Cathedral. There will be attempts, almost certainly futile, to avoid the controversies of previous years. In 1998 the controversy over homosexuality "came out" into the open for the first time, and 1988 was dominated by the controversy over women bishops.
Bishops' spouses will be invited later in the year by the Archbishop's wife, Dr Jane Williams, a theologian in her own right on the evangelical wing of the Church.
In his letter, Dr Williams acknowledges that there has been keen discussion of the Lambeth Conference of 2008, and makes a plea for a spirit of tolerance.
"Because there has been quite a bit of speculation about invitations and the conditions that might be attached to them, I want to set out briefly what I think the Conference is and is not," he writes.
"It is an occasion when the Archbishop of Canterbury exercises his privilege of calling his colleagues together, not to legislate but to discover and define something more about our common identity through prayer, listening to God’s Word and shared reflection. It is an occasion to rediscover the reality of the Church itself as a worldwide community united by the call and grace of Christ."
He continues: "Coming to the Lambeth Conference does not commit you to accepting the position of others as necessarily a legitimate expression of Anglican doctrine and discipline, or to any action that would compromise your conscience or the integrity of your local church."
Referring to the debates tearing the Church apart, he says: "At a time when our common identity seems less clear that it once did, the temptation is to move further away from each other into those circles where we only related to those who completely agree with us.
"But the depth and seriousness of the issues that face us require us to discuss as fully and freely as we can, and no other forum offers the same opportunities for all to hear and consider, in the context of a common waiting on the Holy Spirit.
"I have said, and repeat here, that coming to the Conference does not commit you to accepting every position held by other bishops as equally legitimate or true. But I hope it does commit us all to striving together for a more effective and coherent worldwide body, working for God’s glory and Christ’s Kingdom."
Justifying the exclusion of Bishop Robinson, he says: "I have to reserve the right to withhold or withdraw invitations from bishops whose appointment, actions or manner of life have caused exceptionally serious division or scandal within the Communion."
He indicates there are "one or two cases" on which he is seeking further advice. Each letter is sent with "a reply slip" for bishops to indicate whether they will be attending or not, with replies needed by the end of July this year.
The Rev Martin Reynolds, spokesman for the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, condemned the policy. He said it demonstrated "the institutional homophobia presently haunting the Anglican Communion."
He quoted a recent communique from the Church's primates, which said: "The victimisation or diminishment of human beings whose affections happen to be ordered towards people of the same sex is anathema to us.”
Mr Reynolds continued: “This is a flagrant example of victimisation that quite clearly intends to diminish Bishop Robinson’s status. If the Archbishop of Canterbury is unable to follow the dictates of the Primates Group, let alone the dictates of his own conscience, we are in a very unsafe state.
"We are deeply sorry for the failure of the Communion to live up to its own standards. Bishop Robinson and the diocese he was duly and canonically elected to serve have our full support and we believe they deserve much better.”
He said the decision placed most US bishops along with others throughout the world in an embarrassing position. "If they accept their Lambeth invitations this might appear to support Bishop Robinson’s victimisation, while if they reject the invitation they will abandon our Communion to the homophobes.”
The Rev Chris Sugden, of Anglican Mainstream, the orthodox lobby group, said: "The Archbishop is in a very difficult position. It appears he is making the criteria of withholding an invitation causing division, or scandal or making resolution difficult. Who is to be the judge of these things once the criteria is not Biblical truth as held by the universal church and Anglican doctrine but ecclesiastical correctness?"
Posted by latimer at 04:00 PM | Comments (0)
May 04, 2007
Canadian Anglicans balk at gay blessings
04.05.07 Canadian bishops' surprise move leaves U.S. church alone on same-sex marriage
Anglicans balk at gay blessings
Canadian bishops' surprise move leaves U.S. church alone on same-sex marriage
May 02, 2007 04:30 AM
Stuart Laidlaw
Faith and Ethics Reporter Toronto Star
www.thestar.com/article/209546
Canada's Anglican bishops are rejecting same-sex marriage blessings in this country, leaving the U.S. church alone in a fight that has pushed the international communion to the verge of schism.
The surprise move came in the form of a pastoral letter issued early yesterday by the church on behalf of its bishops.
The church had no one available to comment yesterday. The office of Edmonton Bishop Victoria Matthews, one of the architects of the letter, for instance, said she is out of town for a few days and could not be reached for comment. Matthews is a top candidate to be the next primate of the church.
Chris Ambidge, a spokesperson for the gay Anglican group Integrity Canada, said yesterday the situation is incredibly frustrating and reveals a lack of leadership among the bishops.
"My patience has expired," he told the Star.
The bishops' statement comes just two weeks after Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, spiritual leader of the church worldwide, visited Toronto and urged the Canadian church to consider the unity of the church internationally when deciding whether to bless same-sex marriage.
While in Canada, Williams also met privately with the House of Bishops as they grappled with the issue of same-sex blessings during a retreat in Niagara Falls.
Yesterday's pastoral letter says a priest can celebrate the Eucharist with a gay couple married in a civil ceremony, as long as the local bishop approves, but cannot bless their union.
"The doctrine and discipline of our church does not clearly permit further action," the bishops said in the letter, which calls for three more years of discussion before proceeding any further.
As well, the bishops said they "hope" no child would be denied baptism "as a way of imposing discipline on the sexual behaviour of the parents."
Ambidge said the bishops have the power to do more than simply hope, and should have issued a stronger statement requiring that no child be turned away because of the sexual orientation of the parents.
"That is something under their direct control," he said.
In March, the U.S. House of Bishops voted to support the blessing of same-sex marriage and the ordination of gay ministers, despite an ultimatum to change its policies by Sept. 30 or be expelled from the international communion.
In issuing the statement, the American bishops said they knew the move could hurt the unity of the church, but that their reading of the scriptures compelled them to support gay rights.
The Canadian bishops, however, are calling for further study, and want a report prepared by 2010 on the theological issues surrounding same-sex marriage and the impact that extending gay rights in Canada would have on the unity of the church, both nationally and internationally.
Ambidge said the church has been grappling with the issue for more than 15 years and the time has come to make a decision.
"Quite clearly what they want to do is derail the thing yet again," he said. Ambidge said he wished the Canadian bishops would show the courage of their U.S. counterparts.
The Canadian bishops acknowledged in their letter that supporters of gay marriage blessings will find the position "inadequate or insufficient," but said others might feel it goes too far in allowing gay couples to celebrate their union in a church, albeit in a limited manner.
The bishops approved the statement in an email vote after failing to agree during their Niagara retreat. The letter will now be sent to delegates to the church's general synod next month in Winnipeg, where a vote will be held on allowing local churches to decide for themselves whether to bless same-sex marriages.
A positive vote there would effectively overturn the letter.
The bishops' letter mirrors a recommendation to the Niagara meeting from Prairie bishops calling for the same-sex blessings vote to be delayed for further study, essentially rejecting the proposal for the time being.
Gay rights have become the focus of a growing split in the worldwide Anglican communion between conservatives, dominated by churches in developing countries, and liberals in North America and Britain.
Several U.S. congregations have broken away from the Episcopal Church, as Anglicanism is known in that country, to align themselves with the church of Nigerian Bishop Peter Akinola, who has emerged as leader of the church's conservative wing.
On Saturday, Akinola will be in Virginia to install a bishop to oversee breakaway churches. The move has been met with harsh criticism from the head of the Episcopal Church, who says Akinola is overstepping his authority by installing bishops in another country.
"Since the fourth century (it has been) expected that bishops minister only within their own churches, except by explicit invitation from another bishop," U.S. Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said in a statement. "This action would only serve to heighten current tensions, and would be regrettable if it does indeed occur."
A vote to allow same-sex blessings in Canada would almost certainly lead to sanctions similar to those imposed on the Episcopal Church.
Akinola and other conservative leaders are already advising Williams not to invite Canada and the U.S. to next year's international meeting of the church in Lambeth, England.
Also yesterday, a frustrated Saskatoon priest quit rather than recant his intention to bless same-sex marriages, as he was instructed to do by his bishop.
Instead, Rev. Shawn Sanford Beck resigned his position with Saskatoon Native Ministry, saying in an open letter the church's ban on same-sex marriages and blessings "is theologically problematic and fundamentally unjust."
Posted by latimer at 12:11 PM | Comments (0)