Episcopal Church Has Caused the Greatest Spiritual Catastrophe since the Reformation

English Archdeacon says staying means greater discipleship and uncompromising mission

By David W. Virtue in Virginia
www.virtueonline.org
Sept. 14, 2009

VIRGINIA---A Church of England Archdeacon says the behavior of The Episcopal Church has brought about the greatest spiritual catastrophe since the need for the Reformation and that the tear in the fabric of the Anglican Communion is near terminal.

The Venerable Michael Lawson of the Diocese of London told members of the Episcopal Evangelical Assembly at a conference held at Virginia Theological Seminary on Friday that the call to remain means a call to greater discipleship and uncompromising mission. He called it a "crisis of opportunity."

"You have no mandate to remain in The Episcopal Church and simply fade into the background, keeping your head down, avoiding controversy, and preaching a scaled down gospel for our very sick and resistant cultures."

Lawson said that reformation, revival and renewal are the pathway towards an Evangelical future. "Episcopal Evangelicals are some of the most strategic people in the world."

"I own and use all the commentaries of John Calvin because they constantly highlight the meta narrative of Scripture. The Reformers rescued the Bible from medieval allegory, distortions and attempts to keep the Scriptures from the people.

"The other aspect of Evangelical renewal is the renewal of the denomination. Ecclesia Reformata, Ecclesia Semper Reformanda - reforming the church from within. It's been a keynote since Augustine, since the magisterial reformers, and indeed since 1966 and 1967 with the National Evangelical Assembly and the first NEAC at Keele," he said.

Lawson praised American evangelist Billy Graham saying that the Church of England had more Evangelical ministers who were converted through him than any other person. "Billy had a huge influence upon our denomination." Lawson also praised the life-long ministry of John R.W. Stott saying that most of us would not have remained in the Church of England if it had not been for him and his enormous impact on the country through the preaching of the gospel for more than 50 years. Lawson said he worked for Stott for six years as Director of Pastoring at All Souls' Langham Place.

Lawson asked, "Are we children of the Donatists or Augustine, of the Anabaptists or the Magisterial Reformers? If we believe that the church must always be reforming itself, then these are some big issues to be tackled."

Lawson said both Calvin and Luther had a passion for the reformation of structures, doctrine and spirituality along biblical lines - a vision of reform within the church, not the creation of a new church.

"Luther and Pope Leo the 10th were chalk and cheese. It is said that Leo's first reaction was 'Luther is a drunken German, he'll feel differently when he is sober.' But it wasn't Luther who left the church, that's the legend. It was the church that left Luther. That's the truth. At the Diet of Worms in 1521 Lither was excommunicated and declared a political outlaw."

Luther was not persuaded to break away from the church. Why? Schism was the very last thing he wanted. Luther wrote in 1519, "If unfortunately, there are things in Rome which cannot be improved, there is not - and cannot be - any reason for tearing oneself away from the church in schism. Rather, the worse things become, the more one should help her stand by her, for by schism and contempt nothing can be mended."

Lawson also praised American preacher Jonathan Edwards, a frail and asthmatic man, who recovered the meta-narrative and laid the foundation becoming the most effective evangelist and theologian of the Great Awakening.

Lawson said that not only was reformation and revival necessary citing leaders like Whitfield, Wesley, Edwards and others but renewal also, praising ALPHA which has swept Europe, Africa and the U.S. It's now in 130 countries renewing many denominations including the Roman Catholic Church, he said.

Lawson, a converted Jew, said it is because of the meta-narrative of Scripture that he is an Evangelical. It makes sense of the whole salvation story. As C.S. Lewis says, "By it I see everything else."

"My family's roots were in Eastern Europe. I grew up post war under the smoldering cloud of the Holocaust. In our family, Auschwitz was often in our conversation, because many of my grandfather's family died there. I questioned a Rabbi about why God allowed the Holocaust to happen and if God exists and allowed the Holocaust, how could he possibly be good? I got no answers. I became a concert pianist and composer. Someone gave me an essay by C.S. Lewis called 'The Weight of Glory'. It ends in these luminous words, 'I believe in Christianity as I believe in the sun that rises.' That opened up for me a whole world of explanation."

Lawson said he did not condemn the formation of movements like the Anglican Mission in the Americas (AMIA) or the newly formed Anglican Church of North America (ACNA). "I can recall awful stories of bullying, congregations locked out of churches and worse. I have spent time with (Archbishop) Bob Duncan and colleagues in ACNA. All these folk have taken their stand after huge soul searching and prayer. They would certainly say it's because they have been seriously and unmistakably thwarted in their gospel ministry. Given the circumstances I believe these new arrangements must be from God, and I seriously hope the Archbishop of Canterbury will find a way to recognize ACNA as part of the Anglican Communion.

"For those of you who have stayed, I believe this means a call to greater discipleship and uncompromising mission."

You can listen to a recording of his speech at http://canterburytrail.wordpress.com/.

The Rev. Chuck Alley's talk is also posted here: http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=11198

NOTE: The Episcopal Evangelical Assembly are a group of evangelical Episcopalians dedicated to staying in The Episcopal Church.

FOOTNOTE: An archdeacon in North American Anglican terms is the equivalent of a suffragan bishop. He represents the diocese in parishes when the bishop cannot, for reasons of time and other commitments, attend.


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