Sunday, September 23, 2007

Splitting yes, but why?

Read the following article, 'Church is split by gay movement's impatience' from Nederlands Dagblad of 19 augustus 2006 and consider, why is the Anglican Church splitting? Is it because the radical queers can wait a few years to let their agenda grow on the church like a slow growing cancer? Or is it because the collegial bishops would not or could not confront evil and wrong in their midst? What if Spong, PIke and their ilk had been excommunicated when they first showed on the X-Rays, where would we have been? Likely, we would have been in the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States and they would be in hell. They are bound there anyway, trust me on that. Anyway, read on!
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From our Religion Desk

LONDON - If it comes to a split in the Anglican Communion, it is not the fault of the orthodox wing which wants to leave, but of the radical wing that couldn't wait to make a 'gay bishop' and the blessing of gay relationships possible.

Such is the view of the spiritual leader of the Anglican Church, the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, expressed in an interview with the Dutch Evangelical daily newspaper, Nederlands Dagblad.

Williams himself does not regard homosexuality as an issue on which the Church should split. He says it is a subject 'we must talk about'. ,, There are enough Christians of good faith in every denomination - Evangelical to Roman Catholic - to whom it is not quite so self-evident, who are not absolutely sure that we have always read the Bible right.''

But that discussion is being foreclosed by people with a 'radical agenda' who just can't wait, says the Archbishop. The Episcopal Church in the United States (ECUSA) three years ago ordained a Bishop who lived openly in a gay relationship. In doing so ,, it has made a decision that is not the decision of the wider body of Christ'', says Williams. He confronts the ideal of the inclusive church. ,, We welcome everybody into the Church, but coming in is a decision that will change you. Conversion is called for,'' so the Archbishop.

He is worried about an imminent split in the American Church which will reverberate throughout the Communion. His 'nightmare scenario' is that there will eventually be American-, English- and Nigerian-Anglican Churches in the same city, and that ,, in ten years' time we will all be tied up before law courts, in disputes about property''.

Concerned Anglicans in America say they are encouraged by what the Archbishop has said. Their leader, the Bishop of Pittsburgh Robert Duncan, says the Anglican Church in the US and worldwide is threatened by 'balkanisation'. He says the interview makes clear that the Archbishop is aware that he has to provide 'help and leadership'. He embraces Williams's vision that ,, a relationship with Jesus Christ comes with the call and the means to repent and change''. This is the ,, classical, reformed-catholic'' Anglican faith that we want to stick to, Bishop Duncan says. The radical wing ,, chooses to go a path that leads them outside the Anglican Communion and mainstream Christianity''.

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