Loading ...Executive Council describes session with Canterbury envoy
flockwoodHere’s how the Executive Council summed up its meeting with Kenneth Kearon, Secretary General of the Anglican Communion:
The 45-minute session on Friday with invited guest Canon Kenneth Kearon was carefully prepared for by the Standing Committee on World Mission, who wrote the thoughtful and substantive questions that made clear our commitment to being an inclusive church while also deeply committed to classic Anglicanism and deepening our relationship with our sisters and brothers across the Communion.
Canon Kearon began by describing the beginning of the current tensions as the increasing “problem of growth and diversity in the Anglican Communion.” This statement was significant to a body that has long seen diversity in the Body of Christ as an opportunity and has sought to base its actions on the baptismal promise that we will seek and serve Christ in all people and respect the dignity of every human being.
The questions sought clarification on the presenting issues, including the Archbishop of Canterbury’s removal of appointees from The Episcopal Church to ecumenical bodies and Canon Kearon’s statement that The Episcopal Church does not “share the faith and order of the vast majority of the Anglican Communion.” He also responded to concerns about incursions by other provinces of the Communion. He acknowledged that the Archbishop of Canterbury considers certain activities of the Province of the Southern Cone to constitute an incursion, but is awaiting clarification about the extent of these activities from the primate of that province. However, such ongoing breaches of the moratorium on incursions do not rise to the same level of departure from the faith and order of the Communion as does the full inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered Christians.
The Council very much appreciated the chance to meet with Canon Kearon, who agreed to respond in writing to additional questions from members of the Council.
June 19th, 2010 at 12:25 pm
Short translation: Canterbury wants us to follow the unwritten rules, but won’t require the Southern Cone to follow the written rules. Typical evangelical position: Follow our rules, but not the ones propounded by the actual ecclesiastical authority.
June 19th, 2010 at 11:33 pm
Ehem, and the written rules of scripture, Caleb, where do they stand?
June 20th, 2010 at 2:58 pm
Justin, as far as I know, scripture continues to occupy the same place in the Anglican view of the world that it always did. The grass eaters always want to make everything a battle between the Bible and the world, but this battle is far more mundane than that. Justin, if you are truly concerned about following biblical rules that would help society, you might want to examine the traditional biblical rule against usury, the charging of interest on money, the breaking of which has virtually destroyed our economy and leave off gay bashing just a few minutes. It will do you good.
June 21st, 2010 at 3:16 pm
Justin, as far as I know, the role of scripture in the Anglican tradition hasn’t changed, though I understand that the conservatives don’t like its traditional role. Sounds to me they don’t much like being Anglican, and if so, they should leave and form their own church and say what they want to about the Bible without inflicting it on the rest of us.