Liberal hatred for orthodox primates bubbled to the surface when the chairman of the Anglican Consultative Council, Bishop John C. Paterson of Auckland, New Zealand, issued an apology in Canada for the way the Episcopal Church was treated at Nottingham in being made to withdraw from the council. But that was all a fiction and completely imaginary.
Read moreBy David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The juxtaposition of the above two statements highlights the crisis in the Episcopal Church. In fact, it might be said that Robinson and Cranmer represent the polarities between the Global South and biblically orthodox Anglicans across the Anglican Communion and the liberal West and North, with its pluriform thinking on matters of faith and practice.
Read moreTo say that his leadership has been disastrous doesn't really begin to touch it. When he took over from Ed "the flexible" Browning, he promised to be the bishop of all, telling the story about how God had spoken to him in Italy as he visited the significant sites of the life and witness of Francis of Assisi. He said that God told him to "rebuild His church."
Read moreHe responded in a message to the Church Times saying: "I have read Archbishop Akinola's letter. Without going into details of the content, I would like to make it clear that I was not present when that letter was written, so I did not take part in its conception. It is sad what is going on."
Read moreThe heat got turned up a notch on Nigerian Primate Peter Akinola this week when a third Primate, Archbishop Drexel Gomez (West Indies), described the letter sent out by the African leader as "an act of impatience and a disrespect for process. Unfortunately we never had a discussion of the letter. It was just circulated along with other documents - we only had 40 minutes to meet and were only told about the background to it."
Read more"We are troubled by your reluctance to use your moral authority to challenge the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada to call for the immediate cessation of any blessings of same sex unions and on any ordinations of those in such unions in every diocese in the Episcopal Church USA and the Anglican Church of Canada."
It is the most in your face poke at the leader of 80 million Anglicans to date, and it has rocked the whole communion.
Read moreIt was a powerful and dramatic 72 hours in the life of many Episcopalians, former Episcopalians, and Anglicans from around the Anglican Communion. Almost one third of those in attendance were ex-Episcopalians now on the road to healthier spiritual lives under new orthodox jurisdictions that included anything from the Anglican Mission in America, the REC, to a plethora of overseas orthodox Primates.
Read moreThe uproar that ensued was predictable. British evangelicals excoriated Dr. Williams for his action, but a report that said evangelicals in the Diocese of London had asked London Bishop Richard Chartres to prevent Robinson from speaking was inaccurate. They asked that Robinson address the meeting in a secular venue, not in St. Martins. The evangelicals could not then be accused of trying to stifle free speech.
Read moreInvited for the occasion was the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Dr Rowan Williams who, according to various reports, argued strenuously for sides to continue talking and listening to one another.
Read moreDATE: November 15, 2006 (following General Convention 2006).
And so, dear readers, VirtueOnline can now tell you what has been planned for months -- the extirpation of all orthodox bishops in the Episcopal Church and the total evisceration of biblically faithful Episcopalians in The Episcopal Church.
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