Nor was I surprised by the general reverence of the press. For about a decade the overwhelming majority of religious comment has come from Roman Catholics. One can instantly think of a large handful of Catholic columnists (Paul Johnson, Charles Moore, Libby Purves, Christina Odone, William Rees-Mogg) - can you name a single one who is noticeably Anglican? There are also plenty of dogmatic atheist columnists, of course, and their daring disbelief has been on display.
Read moreWhat has become clear is that the days of so-called "Pluriform Truth" are over. The liberals have clearly lost any control of the direction that the Anglican Communion is going.
Read moreThere may be many other things about homosexuality in matters of pastoral care, social concern and church order up for discussion, but according to Lambeth, the compatibility of homosexual activity with the Word of God is not one of them.
Read moreWith a couple of thousand years of history to learn from, Christians don't have to quibble about what is and isn't the historic, revealed faith. The issue is whether or not we accept it. Those churches preferring to base their religion and morality on current fads, social work, liberal politics, and the latest issue of the New York Times are disappearing.
Read moreDr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has the sort of beard to which we should all aspire. It does not, perhaps, possess the wilful abandon of the Greek Orthodox beard (a church for which he nonetheless has some theological affection), nor the unbending certainty of the fundamentalist Muslim beard.
Read moreAfter meeting with our gifted lawyer Bob Kuhn, we realized that our ex-diocese could drag this out for years in the courts, appealing again and again even if we won at the lower court level. Our former diocese has very deep pockets. With the BC Supreme Court cost being $10,000 a day, we decided that this would not be a good use of our resources. We would rather focus on telling people about the love of Jesus.
Read moreHeresy charges were invoked against Bishop Pike but there was neither the will nor the numbers to move forward. Whether overwhelmed by the counterculture of that era, or perhaps Pike's doubts were widely shared, the Episcopal Church failed to reprimand the obstinate bishop.
Read moreOn the weekend of April 17, my wife, Fran, and I traveled to Connecticut so I could lead the worship and preach the gospel just in case the rector, Fr. Ron Gauss, were inhibited by the bishop. We were blessed by our visit in many ways. The following is a report of our visit:
I, along with five other priests from parishes outside the Diocese of Connecticut, have traveled here to preach and be present in worship as an act of solidarity for the beleaguered priests and their parishes.
Read moreIt was so good to have him speaking so strongly and personally. Bishop Stanton has done an incredible amount to keep the global communion perspective alive in his diocese and within ECUSA. Bit it's a hard task right now. This must rank as one of the most turbulent times in Christian history for a bishop. I'm reminded of the Arian controversy in the early fourth century, when the great Athanasius was exiled from his see no less than five times.
Read moreOne can only ask if those who speak so freely of his being too conservative believe there is any truth in Scripture, tradition, reason and human experience that is binding on us all.
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