ANGLICAN COMMUNION FACES SPLIT

North American Province Will Become a Reality

By David W. Virtue in Jerusalem
www.virtueonline.org
June 28, 2008

Believing that God has called them to a "new work", Primates at the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) announced tonight that they have launched a movement of Confessing Anglicans that will, in effect, be a rival Anglican Communion.

Tomorrow, when orthodox Anglicans meet for their final day of pilgrimage, 1,200 representatives including 303 bishops of the Anglican Communion representing more than 70% of the Communion, will announce the formation of a new Anglican body that will affirm "'the faith once for all delivered to the saints"' as a bulwark against the growing and rampant liberalism in the mostly Western church.

While the word "schism" is not found in the text, it is, to all intents and purposes, a formal split from the Archbishop of Canterbury and the four Instruments of Unity.

The new global Anglican fellowship will act, for a time, within the present organization, but many see fragmenting synodical boundaries of the Church of England. In North America, a new North American Anglican Province will be set up to draw together members of Common Cause Partnership and various Anglican evangelical and Anglo-Catholics jurisdictions, setting it on a collision course with the liberal (some believe revisionist) Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church in Canada.

Coming as it does, just two weeks before some 600 bishops representing only 30% of the Anglican Communion meet in Canterbury, this fellowship meeting in the land of Jesus' birth, poses a direct challenge to the authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, as well as to the Primate of The Episcopal Church, Katharine Jefferts Schori and to Fred Hiltz, Primate of the Anglican Church in Canada. Most of the Anglican bishops here will not attend Lambeth.

This momentous decision, the likes of which we have not seen in 500 years of Anglican history, made by representatives from all 38 provinces, will directly affect nearly half the total number of provinces in the communion including, Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, India, Sydney, and the Southern Cone, which makes up two-thirds of all worshipping Anglicans.

Years of endless talking and listening have come to an end over a number of issues including the acceptance of pansexuality within the Episcopal Church, the Canadian and now the Church of England. These "pilgrims" want nothing more to do with the liberalism that has penetrated and bankrupted the Anglican Communion. Whole dioceses and parishes are now in serious decline. There is litigation against orthodox parishes wanting nothing more to do with liberalism.

The action taken by these mostly Evangelical Anglicans is the most devastating blow to the unity of the Anglican Communion in the West since the 16th Century Protestant Reformation.

These Anglicans will now forge ahead to meet the challenges by planting new churches among unreached peoples and to restore authentic Christianity to compromised churches.

The GAFCON theological leaders laid out a 14-point statement of theological orthodoxy which includes, among other things, affirming the Old and New Testaments as the Word of God, upholding the four Ecumenical Councils and the three historic Creeds as espressions of the rule of faith of the one holy catholic and apostolic Church. They uphold the Thirty-nine Articles as containing the true doctrine of the Church agreeing with God's Word and as authoritative for Anglicans today.

The conveners say they want a "federation of provinces" which Dr. Rowan Williams has repeatedly resisted. He has staked his job on trying to keep the worldwide Communion together. Some believe his job might now be in jeopardy, as he has singularly failed to do this.

The orthodox Province of Nigeria has deleted all reference to Canterbury from its constitution. It appears other provinces will now follow. One Episcopal diocese (San Joaquin) has already fled The Episcopal Church. Three more dioceses are expected to make the break following Lambeth. Some 300 churches have left The Episcopal Church and attached themselves to a number of African jurisdictions. They argue that it is the liberals, not them, who have adopted innovations leading to the breakdown of the communion. They say liberals have abandoned the biblical faith and the teachings of Christianity.

It is unclear what the legal implications will be in England, where the Queen is Supreme Governor of the Church. In the U.S. and Canada, where parishes are fleeing The Episcopal Church, millions of dollars are being spent on litigation to keep properties in TEC. Most must close, once the parishioners have fled. Many have simply left their properties. Others are fighting to keep them.

It is expected that the new fellowship will include those churches that have separated from TEC since 1977 over such issues as Women's Ordination and other doctrinal matters.

Here at GAFCON, in Jerusalem, are bishops from the Church of England, Sydney, South Africa, the Southern Cone, US, India, TEC, Canada and the Reformed Episcopal Church in the US. There are also representatives from the American Anglican Council, Anglicans for Life, Anglican Relief and Development, and the Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC). US representatives from CANA, the Anglican Missions in the Americas, Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda are also present. None of these latter bishops have been invited to Lambeth.

One report from the "London Times" says that more than 600 Church of England clergy, representing almost as many parishes, are expected to swear allegiance to the new body when they meet on Tuesday at All Souls, Langham Place, which is regarded as Britain's evangelical flagship.

The fellowship was given a boost in North America on Friday when a Virginia judge ruled that a group of 11 breakaway parishes could keep their property. Lawyers from the Episcopal Church will appeal. The case is being watched closely by dozens of other parishes. There are at least three dioceses also planning to break away, observed the Times.

One of the lightning rod issues for the new movement is the 2003 consecration of the non-celibate homogenital Bishop of New Hampshire, Gene Robinson. In addition to this, another issue has been the authorization of same-sex blessings in the ultra-liberal Diocese of New Westminster in Canada.

The key players in this new fellowship include the Bishop of Rochester, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali; the Archbishop of the Southern Cone, the Most Rev. Gregory Venables; the Archbishop of Uganda, Henry Luke Orombi; the Archbishop of Sydney, Dr. Peter Jensen; and the Archbishop of Kenya, the Most Rev Benjamin Nzimbi, who led the committee drawing up the final communique in Jerusalem. Archbishop Venables says he will be at the Lambeth Conference.

Dr Jensen said, "American revisionists committed an extraordinary strategic blunder in 2003 . They did not think that there would be any consequences.

"Now, if they did not believe that there would be consequences, that is an arrogant thing, I have to say. But I don't know them, so I really cannot say. The consequences have been unfolding over the last five years. Now their church is divided. It looks as though there will be permanent division, one way or the other.

"All around the world, the sleeping giant that is evangelical Anglicanism and orthodox Anglicanism has been aroused by what happened in Canada and the United States of America. It was an act of folly."

The fellowship will draw up its own Book of Common Prayer,using the original formularies as outlined by Thomas Cranmer, and incorporated into the 1662 Book of Common Prayer.

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