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February 15, 2008
UK Church vows to tackle Bible shortage
The Church's General Synod has voted to ensure that every visitor to a church should have "easy and unfettered" access to the Word of God.
Church vows to tackle Bible shortage
By Jonathan Petre, Religion Correspondent
Last Updated: 7:23pm GMT 14/02/2008
Telegraph.co.uk
The Church of England has admitted that there is a shortage of bibles in the country's churches and has vowed to make the Good Book more easily available to worshippers.
Many churches have failed to make Bibles readily available
The Church's General Synod has voted to ensure that every visitor to a church should have "easy and unfettered" access to the Word of God.
Opening a debate on the issue at the Synod this week, Tim Cox, from Blackpool, said that many churches failed to make Bibles readily available.
Canon Marilyn McCord Adams, the Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford University, said she had grown up the American Bible Belt "on the choruses of Jesus Loves Me! This I Know, For The Bible Tells Me So and The Bible, Yes, That's The Book for Me."
She said Bibles should be in churches so that people in the pews could object to interpretations of it by the "higher ups".
The Archdeacon of Malmesbury, the Ven Alan Hawker, said that at the Reformation, the Bible had been chained to the lectern, but it was at least there.
It was "critically important" that the Bible was in church buildings and available for people to use.
Support also came from Brigadier Ian Dobbie, from Rochester, who said that if the Bible was read in church, it was more likely to be read at home.
In a Synod briefing paper, Mr Cox, an officer in the Boy's Brigade, complained that churches sometimes locked their bibles away in a cupboard.
"The saddest thing about this is that whilst our churches fail to make available the scriptures, hotels, prisons, schools, hospitals and even offices can often be found too have a Gideon's Bible available for each and every visitor," he said.
He added: "One church, whose parochial church council had previously provided Bibles, chose to remove them on the grounds that 'they were too difficult to dust'."
In 1536, Henry VIII made it a legal requirement for an English version of the Bible to be placed in every church, and they proved so popular with the public that they often had to be chained to the pulpit.
Gideons International placed nearly a million copies in this country last year, more than half of which had gone into schools.
In a separate paper, the House of Bishops recommended seven versions of the scriptures, including the Authorised Version or King James Bible, the New Jerusalem Bible and the Standard English Version.
Posted by latimer at 09:11 AM | Comments (0)
February 12, 2008
Why I'm going to Israel - Archbishop Peter Jensen
A Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) is planned for June 2008. I want those ... to know what this is about and why I am involved.
Why I'm going to Israel
Archbishop Peter Jensen
4 February 2008
Global Anglican Future Conference is planned for June 2008. I want those in the fellowship of our Diocese to know what this is about and why I am involved.
In 1998, the Lambeth Conference made it clear that the leaders of the overwhelming majority of Anglicans world-wide maintained the biblical view of sexual ethics – that sexual relationships are reserved for marriage between a man and a woman. Five years later, however, actions were taken in Anglican Churches both in Canada and the United States of America which officially transgressed these boundaries in defiance of the Bible’s authority.
The American actions impacted churches all around the world. In particular the churches of the Global South had to own the name ‘Anglican’ while living in societies where the actions of the Americans was condemned by all, especially Muslims. The action of some North Americans severely hurt the witness of these churches. It also hindered the good effect that membership of the Anglican Communion has for those who live in a situation where Christians are in a minority.
Since 2003, patient attempts have been made to call the offending North Americans back to biblical standards. Many American Anglicans are now more aware of the distress which their actions have caused others, and regret this impact. At the same time, however, others have condemned attempts by Global South Bishops to provide ministry for the orthodox Christians who still wish to be Anglican, but cannot continue to do so in the fellowship of the American churches. Individuals, parishes and even dioceses have left the original church, becoming associated with other dioceses in other parts of the world, and with new bishops being appointed from overseas to care for the disaffected.
Such has been the fall-out that it is now clear that we will never go back to being the Communion which we once were. There has been a permanent change. We live in a new world. Some American Anglicans are as committed to their new sexual ethics as to the gospel itself, and they intend to act as missionaries for this faith, wishing to persuade the rest of us. The problems posed by the American church are not going to remain in North America. This means that the rest of the Anglican world must be vigilant to guard the teaching and interpretation of scripture. How are we going to help each other remain true to the authority of God’s word? How are we going to help each other to preach the gospel of God’s transforming power and grace? These matters require urgent attention.
The next Lambeth Conference has been summoned for July-August 2008. The Archbishop of Canterbury is responsible for the guest list, and he has invited all except for the Bishop of New Hampshire on the one hand and some of the new bishops appointed to care for the dissidents on the other. Thus, for example the Bishop of New Westminster has been invited although his actions have caused the Reverend David Short and his congregation (which includes Dr Jim Packer) to withdraw as far as they can from the Diocese. An invitation to share the Conference under these circumstances has posed a real difficulty for many of us.
Several African Provinces have indicated that they will not be attending Lambeth, because to do so would be to acquiesce with the North American actions. They are not ending the Anglican Communion, or even dividing it. They are simply indicating that the nature of the Communion has now been altered by what has occurred. They see that since the American actions were taken in direct defiance of the previous Lambeth Conference, the Americans have irreparably damaged the standing of the Conference itself. They asked without success for the Conference to be postponed. They do not think that this Conference is what is needed now. To attend would be to overlook the importance of the issues at stake.
The Anglican Future Conference is not designed to take the place of Lambeth. Some people may well choose to go to both. Its aim is to draw Biblical Anglican Christians together for urgent consultation. It is not a consultation which can take place at Lambeth, because Lambeth has a different agenda and far wider guest list. Unlike Lambeth, the Future Conference is not for Bishops alone – the invitations will go to clergy and lay people also. It seeks to plan for a future in which Anglican Christians world-wide will increasingly be pressured to depart from the biblical norms of behaviour and belief. It gives an opportunity for many to draw together to strengthen each other over the issue of biblical authority and interpretation and gospel mission.
I am hoping that we will also see Sydney laypersons and clergy in attendance with our bishops. We must look to the future, and network with Anglican Christians from around the globe who share our fundamental trust in the authority of God’s word. We have much to learn from them and they can benefit from our fellowship also. I hope that you will pray for the Conference and support our decision to attend.
Posted by latimer at 12:13 PM | Comments (0)