From Anglican Mainstream.
The Archbishop of Canterbury
The Most Revd Rowan Williams,
Lambeth Palace,
England.
Your Grace,
As you well know I am totally committed to the health, vitality and effectiveness of our beloved Anglican Communion, and thus also to its healing from the current crisis. I have supported all efforts made by yourself and others to do so and to bring greater clarity and strength to our polity and mission as a communion.
As Archbishop of the Province of the Indian Ocean and the Chair person of CAPA, I feel that I should express the heartfelt feelings of the people of God who are extremely distressed at the disrespectful and high handed manner in which the TEC continues to dismiss the concerns of the rest of the Communion and to undermine the decisions taken by the Primates.
I believe that I have been patient and hopeful that our co-operation and listening, our reasoning and brotherly concern would have brought transformation. However it is now abundantly clear to me and to my people that the Episcopal Church has no intention of honouring any of the commitments it has made whether that be in terms of ‘moratoriums’ or ‘gracious restraint’. It is to my mind hell bent on a course that is in radical disobedience to the counsels of God in Holy Scripture.
You have yourself been amazingly patient with TEC, we as Primates have made our position abundantly clear on occasions without number, some of us going so far as to declare broken or impaired communion with both the TEC and the Anglican Church of Canada. This it seems has been to no avail, as the recent letter to the Primates from the Presiding Bishop of TEC makes clear that a deliberate course has been irrevocably chosen by that church. In it is stated that the intention to proceed with the consecration of a second person living in an actively homosexual partnered relationship and thereby to disregard the mind of the rest of the Communion is “…not the decision of one person, or a small group of people. It represents the mind of a majority of elected leaders in The Episcopal Church, lay, clergy, and bishops, who have carefully considered the opinions and feelings of other members of the Anglican Communion as well as the decades-long conversations within this Church.”
Consequently, I feel constrained by my conscience to uphold my duty as shepherd of the flock and to forthwith suspend all communication both verbal and sacramental with both the TEC and the ACC – their Primates, bishops and clergy until such time as they reverse their theological innovations, and show a commitment to abide by the decisions of the Lambeth Conference. This suspension of communion would not include those bishops and clergy who have distanced themselves from the direction of the TEC (such as the Communion Partners group)
Both Archbishops Mouneer Anis and Henry Orombi are to be admired for the way in which they have taken a stand and I am proud to associate myself fully with the sentiments they express. Both of them in their recent communications with you have expressed their disquiet at the way in which the teaching and leadership role of the Primates in matters of faith and order has been effectively subverted. I want to agree with them and with their call for an overhaul of the structures of the Communion to bring them into line with the changed demographics which are the reality of our church today. If over 80% of Anglicans live in the global south, why is this not reflected in communion structures? Further attention needs to be given to the adoption of the Anglican Covenant which would bring the communion back to its true calling. However the matter of credibility of the structures which are meant to oversee the process needs to be addressed.
I also support Archbishop Henry’s call for a Primates meeting. I also will only attend this meeting on condition that we as Primates be consulted first before the agenda is finalised, and on condition that the Primates of TEC and the ACC are not present.
I urge you to consider seriously our request. The failure to take prompt and decisive action at this time will only see the Communion falling into deeper chaos and disintegration.
With the assurance of my brotherly affection and prayers.
Yours at His Service
The Most Revd Ian Ernest, G.O.S.K, Bishop of Mauritius & Archbishop of the Province of the Indian Ocean
12 April 2010
Amen!
God Bless Archbishops Mouneer, Henry, Ernest and their churches as they one by one take a personal stand for biblically faithful Christianity. Trust me folks, this is just the beginning. The rubber is about to hit the road and Rowan the-faint-of-heart better be paying attention. So should those so-called conservative bishops in the Canadian HOB that Frank refers to from time to time in his comments.
I agree Trav. The big guns have started up and not with shots across the bow – but direct hits, finally. Lets hope and pray that ++ Ian has it right and its Rowan the patient and not Rowan the sly.
For Winter Traveller
The proof of the pudding insofar as the bishops who claim to be orthodox will show itself at the upcoming General Synod. I sincerely pray that the outcome will surpass my expectations as from the lack of any real action within the House of Bishops I remain quite skeptical. It seems that there is a common belief that the authority of Scripture is subject to a majority vote or to the whims of so-called bishops. I continue to pray for conversion and repentance of the part of the apostates, particularly Michael Ingham and Michael Bird. I also include the Primate.
I am deeply grieved by the letter from Archbishop Ernest. As someone who considers him a personal friend who walked in the way of faith with him while he was here in the U.S. this letter reflects a very different attitude than the man I came to know and respect. I believe it violates Christ’s words that we are all one. On the 5th Sunday of Easter we read the passage from Acts in which Peter has a vision of a large sheet coming down from heaven with all sorts of non-kosher foods. The message being the Spirit baptizes who the Spirit wills. God’s reconciliation of the world is for all people and all creation. It is NOT our choice as to who we choose to be in communion with or not. All of us are one in Christ’s Body. This is simply a fact not a choice by some to declare who is in and who is out. God’s Word is embodied in the person of Christ’s command for reconciliation. In a pluralistic world the Anglican Communion has the greatest capacity to hold the inherent tensions of difference together. For any of us to walk away from one another for any reason runs contrary to the Gospel. I pray my brother Archbishop Ernest sees my message and opens his heart to TEC remembering how very different our church is structured than many of the other churches. We are not a church only governed by bishops but by the sense of the whole faithful.
What does the Gospel say about how we are to deal with false teachers?
For Friend in Connecticut:-
I note you are deeply grieved but your grief should be in relation to the apostasy that has taken over the TEC. We are not all one in Christ’s body. The apostates do NOT believe or accept the authority of Scripture or the uniqueness of Jesus Christ and they serve a different master and I do not think I have to explain that one. The orthodox believers have done the right thing by separating from them. That is clearly stated in Scripture 2 Corinthians 6:14 – 7:1. For too long we have used the terms liberals vs. conservatives and while that might be polite the correct terminology is apostasy vs. orthodoxy and you cannot have unity between them. I sincerely pray that you will be able to grieve for the right reason and work within your church to defeat apostasy.
Scripture says nothing about same-sex persons in committed relationships. For that matter either does Jesus in the gospels. The concept of committed relationships is far from apostacy. I am an orthodox Christian who is convinced that the Holy Spirit is clearly doing something new as the Spirit always does. If that were not true we would continue to support slavery and women would remain the property of men. Read the Acts of the Apostles reading for this Sunday and reflect on the magnitude of the change brought about by the Spirit that runs counter to hundreds of passages of scripture that would keep Gentiles out of community with their Jewish brethren. The current debate is no different. Archbishop Ernest and his wife are personal friends and I am ismply surprised at the shifting of his views since I’ve known him. How can we profess being part of one, holy and apostolic church when we walk away from one another over non-dogmatic teachings? Even in the Roman Catholic Church its teachings on these issues are non-dogmatic and therefore always open to reinterpretation as the Spirit moves the Church, which is what I firmly believe is happening now. This is not politically correct, populist teaching, or apostacy, it is the Holy Spirit trying to break through to teach us something new about being in relationship. Let’s not walk away from one another at this time.
FIC (#8), we get it already. Despite your claim to be an orthodox Christian (I would be curious to hear your definition of the term “orthodox”), your views on the origin, authority and interpretation of Scripture are almost certainly at odds with orthodox Christianity over the centuries. Having grown up in the Pentecostal tradition, I find your reference to the “Holy Spirit doing something new” especially unconvincing. Whenever I hear an Anglican speak of the “leading the Spirit”, my first reaction is to assume it is a cover for something unbiblical (aplogies to my Anglican friends). I have no need to look to the RCC for an example. TEC and the ACoC created the mess they’re in and pleas to “not walk away from one another” do nothing to fix the much deeper problems.
The clear thrust of the NT is against slavery (Paul tells slaves to obtain freedom if they can, and gives directions on how to live a Christian life as a slave if they cannot. He tells Christian slave owners to treat Christian slaves as brothers and sisters – as equals ! Nowhere does he say that slavery is a good thing).
The NT gives a status and dignity to women that was denied them in the society of the time – Jesus chose a woman to appear to first after his resurrection.
Where does it say, anywhere in the bible, that same sex relationships are a good thing?
We must test the spirits by going back to God’s word written. If what the spirit is doing contradicts God’s word, we may be sure that it isn’t the Holy Spirit at work.