Church of England crisis: Mass defections loom as rebel faction appeals to English clergy
Pastor Dale Morgan
Church of England crisis: Mass defections loom as rebel faction appeals
to English clergy*
· Hundreds may be ready to leave Church of England
· Traditionalists' conference swamped by 750 delegates
* Riazat Butt, religious affairs correspondent
* The Guardian,
* Wednesday July 2, 2008
Hundreds of English clergy appear poised to defect from the Church of
England to join a new conservative movement after a conference led by
rebel archbishops was swamped with delegates in London yesterday.
The 750 delegates attending the meeting in central London were asked to
pledge their allegiance to a 14-point manifesto issued last weekend in
Jerusalem by the Global Anglican Future Conference (Gafcon), a coalition
of traditionalist clergy who have challenged the authority of the
archbishop of Canterbury.
According to the conservative website, Anglican Mainstream, clergy and
churchwardens are asked to "stand in solidarity" with Gafcon by
registering their support online.
The popularity of the event caught organisers and speakers by surprise,
as only half that number were expected. The attendance level, in
addition to the 50 serving English clergy sponsoring the meeting,
indicated the disillusion felt by conservative evangelicals.
Their interest in Gafcon threatens to further undermine the authority of
Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, who also faces a rebellion
at General Synod this weekend over the ordination of women bishops.
During the day, leading figures from Gafcon urged delegates to support
the movement. They also offered parallel jurisdiction and oversight
where clergy believed their bishops had strayed from biblical teaching.
The archbishop of Sydney, Peter Jensen, told the assembly: "Gafcon
exists and is on your side. We need mutual support within the Anglican
Communion and across it. This is the moment. England, don't fail us. We
are looking to you. We need you to be strong and brave and true. We will
help you."
He added that Gafcon had to take care of Christians caught in dioceses,
parishes and churches who were faithful to orthodox biblical teaching
but found themselves under liberal leadership. "If we do not care for
them, who will?" he asked.
Earlier, at a press conference, Jensen denied that he and the other
archbishops present, Henry Luke Orombi from Uganda and Gregory Venables
from the Southern Cone, were in London to woo parishes or to recruit
people into their fellowship.
He said the meeting had been arranged before Gafcon took place,
suggesting that England had long been seen as fertile ground for new
members.
The event was clearly intended as a rallying point, with theologian Jim
Packer saying there was something "dispensable about the archbishop of
Canterbury.
"It is not of the essence of Anglicanism to be in communion with him
when he becomes part of the doctrinal problem.
"Pray for the next archbishop and that he may be with us sooner than we
might have thought."
The day saw a steady stream of Anglicans, in their traditional summer
uniform of panama hats, socks, sandals and shirt sleeves flowing in and
out of All Souls' church. They were only disrupted at lunchtime, when
Peter Tatchell and other gay rights campaigners confronted them with
posters bearing slogans such as Anglicans Repent Your Homophobia.
Neither Tatchell, nor the archbishop of Canterbury's pointed rebuke
issued two days previously deterred the conference delegates.
Angus Macley, a rector at St Nicholas, Sevenoaks, Kent, said his main
concern was developments in the Anglican communion. "There is a degree
of sadness that Gafcon is needed but I feel we have departed from
biblical authority. My diocesan bishop is Michael Nazir-Ali and we're
grateful he has taken such a principled and courageous stand."
Others were attending without the knowledge of their bishop. One vicar,
who did not wish to be named, said: "It's a decision to be faithful to
the Bible and not to follow practices that have been sieved through the
opinions of modern society.
"Gafcon is setting up an alternative shadow structure. There are options
apart from leaving. I would say that my congregation shares my views. We
have reached the point of no return."
There are several ways for traditionalists to opt out of liberal
leadership, with the most successful models operating in the US, which
has proved to be the faultline in the Anglican communion due to its
stance on consecrating gay clergy and blessing same-sex unions.
The Convocation of Anglicans in North America is a Nigerian Anglican
body in the US comprised mostly of local churches that have severed ties
with the Episcopal Church and sought the ministry of bishops consecrated
in Nigeria. There is also the Anglican Mission in the Americas, a
similar body whose priests and bishops are ordained by churches in
Rwanda and south-east Asia.
Across London, Williams was conferring Lambeth degrees, a practice
dating back to Peter's Pence Act of 1533, which empowers the head of the
Anglican church to grant academic dispensations that were previously
given by the Pope.