Ruth Gledhill - Times Online - WBLG

Summer of Schism: Archbishop calls for rethink on gays

Archbishop Alan Harper, Archbishop of Armagh and primate of All-Ireland, has perhaps not received the attention he has deserved since taking over from the high-profile Robin Eames, lead author of the Windsor Report. My mission today is to change that. He has this morning delivered a powerful and, I have to say, rather convincing address making the intellectual case for a new look at St Paul's texts on homosexuality. What is clever is that he has done this, not in the usual irritatingly woolly way we have come to expect from Anglican liberal bishops, but in a rigorous, faithful fashion, drawing directly on Richard Hooker's Lawes on Ecclesiastical Polity. This was of course the exact same text cited with such power by Uganda's primate Archbishop Henry Orombi at Gafcon. You can download the full address here and our story on this is now online. He was speaking at the USPG annual conference at Swanwick.

Boris clergy scandal uncovered

(Update Friday morning: Why is Tom Ambrose's recent dispute relevant to this case? See below for details.)

When Church of England clergyman Ray Lewis was made deputy mayor for young people by Boris Johnson, a couple of people contacted me urging me to write about the powrful example being set for the church by this charismatic leader. I am rather glad I never found time to do it. Because today it has emerged that he was placed on the Lambeth List and barred from office for serious financial misconduct. More details appear in our story, now online. Boris has this afternoon launched an investigation. Lewis has condemned the claims as 'absolute rubbish' and denied he was ever suspended. True, technically he did resign. But Chelmsford diocese has promised full cooperation with Boris' office. And their statement, produced below, is pretty unequivocal.

Summer of Schism: Gregory Cameron on the 'dark side'

Canon Gregory Cameron, deputy general secretary at the Anglican Communion Office and the architect of the Covenant, has as we report delivered a strong speech at the Dean's Library in St Asaph. You can download the entire lecture here . He warned Anglicans against making homosexuality a "shibboleth"  but also criticised the "dark side" of western Anglicanism which assumes superiority over Anglicans in the developing world.

The Dragon of Chaos and the Splitting of the Shellfish

Time to herald the Lambeth Conference. Time to move on from Gafcon. Time to praise the Lord, and with a mere minor weekend schism in between now and then when the General Synod meets in York, we can at last shift our attention to the big event of the decade, Lambeth 2008. I was enjoying a rare day off today but have been been inspired to blog once more by reading the Bible studies up on the Lambeth website, just relaunched, with a wealth of good material. You might find some other enjoyable bits but this is my favourite so far, from the Lambeth study booklet Signs on the Way. Thank you to the Lambeth Design Group for this timely reminder of why it is sometimes fun to be an Anglican.

Trads threaten walk-out over women

As we report exclusively today, more than 1,300 clergy and bishops in the Church of England, 60 per cent of whom are still serving, have written an open letter to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York threatening to leave the Church if women are consecrated bishops with no legal provisions for opponents. You can download here the full letter and list of signatories. The 11 bishops are the three flyers, Ebbsfleet, Richborough and Beverley, plus the flyer-without-wings Fulham, and then the suffragans and assistants Burnley, Horsham, Plymouth, Edmonton, Newcastle, Whitby and Pontefract. Two of them, Simon Morris of London and Philip Corbett of Southwell, both in their twenties, were only ordained last Sunday.

Update: from The Times leader today, 3 July: 'The more immediate challenge this weekend, however, comes not from Foca but from clergy unreconciled to women bishops. They want permanent, binding safeguards for traditionalists which Dr Williams and others are unwilling to concede for fear of enshrining discrimination. He must therefore address their defiance in York as vigorously as he has replied to the Gafcon rebels. On his performance hangs not only the unity of the Church of England but the prospects for the fractious Lambeth conference. Rarely has a challenge been as daunting.' Also in the same paper, George Walden says Dr Williams is a closet liberal, and that he must come out of the closet and campaign for full equality for homosexuals in the church, or resign.

Summer of Schism: Cantuar slams Gafcon

A strong statement from the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams warning of the risks being taken by Gafcon. He urges them to think carefully, says the way ahead will be problematic and challenges those who have accepted clergy disciplined for 'scandalous' behaviour in another jurisdiction to think again. Here I understand him to have been referring to priests such as TEC's Sam Pascoe, stripped of his licence for an inappropriate relationship with an adult parishioner and then reinstated under a Ugandan bishop. Read it all below. This pic shows London's Rev Rosemary Priestly with her baby Joseph, seven weeks, at a press conference at Westminster Abbey this morning to promote the argument for women bishops to be approved by General Synod this coming weekend without any special legal protection for opponents. Senior clergy from the Abbey, St Paul's and Southwark were there, as well as MPs and Baroness Howe of the Lords. Responses from CofE's Bishop of Durham and TEC's Bishop John Chane of Washington below.

A very 'Anglican' schism

When is a schism not a schism? When it is done by Anglicans. A new  global Anglican fellowship, a province for North America which means formalising the brokenness that exists already, remaining in communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury but broken communion with the liberals, a strong 'Jerusalem Declaration'. It is pretty much as we reported today online and tonight in The Sunday Times. Read it all for yourself, below.

Gafcon: a longer look

Our story today follows up the press conference yesterday with Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi of Kenya. He confirmed that Gafcon will today and on Sunday firm up plans for the new "church within a church" that he said was being referred to in the committee as 'Gafcon' but which I've temporarily christened the Global Anglican Communion. Below I've tried to take a longer look at the whole thing, as much for my own benefit as anything, to have as a reference when writing about this in future. It is clear that Gafcon is not a one-off but going to be a permanent structure. Another conference of this nature will probably take place in Jerusalem in two years, after the pilgrims received a warm welcome from the Israeli tourist authority. A senior Israeli representative actually told delegates on their pilgrimage to the garden at the foot of Temple Mount that Jewish and Christian people must stand together against the 'common enemy'. And no, that 'enemy' is not homosexuality...

Theologian calls on Rowan Williams to resign

Theologian Jim Packer, 81, who had his Anglican licence removed and is now a priest with the Anglican Network in Canada, under Gregory Venables' jurisdiction, has called on the Archbishop of Canterbury to resign. He was speaking at Holy Trinity, Eastbourne and Dave Walker has more details at his Church Times blog. My contention, voiced here at Gafcon, is that the views of a preacher unlikely to be recognised by Cantuar and who according to David Virtue does not deign to use mobile, computer or any of the new technologies actually do not matter very much. But Virtue in the press room here at Gafcon tells me he is still important. Am interested in what readers here think and have posted full text of his remarks below.

What's going on at Gafcon

This is a rare photograph ofthe millionaire Howard Ahmanson, pictured here at Gafcon in Jerusalem. He has made a name as a funder of the conservative Anglican cause in the US, as revealed by Jim Naughton in Following the Money. He has a delegate's badge around his neck, but has to my knowledge played no public role in the conference. I can't help but feel that his presence here is significant however. He is a friend and prayer partner of the chief executive of the American Anglican Council, David Anderson, who is also at Gafcon, and has a history of funding Christian right missions with an anti-gay objective.

Give trads their own diocese says Guildford bishop

If he was in a grave now, John Gladwin would be turning in it. At the least he must be spluttering into his coffee or tea or port or whatever it is bishops in Chelmsford prefer these days. His successor at Guildford, dear Christopher Hill, one of the goodest and truest of catholic men in England today, has posted a pastoral letter on his diocesan website making the case of structural provision for the opponents of women priests. In other words, an extra-geographical diocese as outlined in the Manchester report. He seems to think General Synod next month might even go for something like this, and warns a code of practice will not work, that it will in effect mean 'goodbye'. An interesting development I think, given what is happening in Jerusalem, where I am filing this from. Although it will be fiercely resisted by some, really it's not such a big deal. There are already two dioceses in Europe, one Episcopal, the other Anglican, overlapping each other completely. This perhaps could be a possible form for the church within a church model, for the ecclesial renewal that the Roffen has just spoken of here in Jerusalem, as recorded on my previous post.

Nazir-Ali: there must be development in terms of doctrine

The Bishop of Rochester, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, has just delivered a strong address to Gafcon where he managed to shift the focus of the conference from defensiveness one of a positive and combative engagement with 'militant secularism'. He was surprisingly moderate in talking about how doctrine should develop in terms of the local culture. Gafcon, he said, was a miracle. 'And if you are anything gathered here together, you are the beginnings, the miraculous beginnings we can even say, of an ecclesial movement for the sake of the Gospel and for the renewal of Christ's church.' He did not speak from a text. Gafcon say the transcript will be available shortly but meanwhile, here are some extracts from my own recording. Our news story is also now online.

Gafcon: 'There will be no split'.

Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi, primate of Kenya and leader of that country's four million Anglicans, confirmed last night that there will be no split at Gafcon. See our news report. This is significant because he is heading the committee that is drawing up the final communique that will be issued on Sunday night. It also confirms the word here that the agenda is now reform from within, as we reported earlier. The figure that is crucial in all this is not based in Africa at all, although he is in the Global South. The formidable Archbishop of Sydney, Dr Peter Jensen, pictured here at Gafcon, has become the key player on the Anglican conservative wing, shifting the emphasis from the US conservatives to the South. Significantly, Pittsburgh bishop Bob Duncan, who heads Common Cause, isn't even here, although he was in Jordan and looked after the Pakistani and Sudanese bishops who weren't allowed into Israel after the others left to be with Archbishop Akinola. Bishop Duncan's address in Jordan has been emailed out widely.

The only gay at Gafcon

In the early 1990s, when he was in his 20s, Iain Baxter spoke passionately at the Methodist Conference in the UK arguing the case for chastity outside marriage and fidelity within it. His speech helped sway the conference and that became its official policy, although in practice the Methodists are more liberal. Iain became a Christian at 14, at about the same time he was starting to understand that he was gay. Pictured here in the Garden of Gethsemane, he knew all the words to the evangelical songs the 1,242 Gafcon attendees sang this morning in the very spot where Jesus wept at the top of the Mount of Olives. He has been welcomed by the organisers at Gafcon as the official representative of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement. (Update: Iain has also been invited to be one of the speakers at Jerusalem Pride which coincides with Gafcon, taking place in Jerusalem on Thursday afternoon, and I've posted the text of his speech below.)

Gafcon: 'The Banned'

The eight men and women pictured here are on the official list of those to be denied entry to Gafcon should they try to show up. 'Not allowed in' it says at the top of the page, given to security officials at the conference. 'The Gafcon 8' as they have been christened, they are Colorado Bishop Robert O'Neill, Nigerian gay activist Davis MacIyalla being embraced by the Church of England's Rev Colin Coward, Louie Crew, Susan Russell, Scott Gunn and Deborah and Robert Edmunds. Bishop O'Neill is staying with Jerusalem primate, Bishop Suheil Dawani, who never wanted the conference here in the first place. Father Edmunds is Bishop Suheil's new chaplain, meaning, as Jim Naughton comments on Thinking Anglicans, that an Anglican meeting is banning entry of the bishop's chaplain in the bishop's own diocese.

Archbishop Akinola on error and apostasy

This is Dr Peter Akinola, Archbishop of Nigeria, addressing Gafcon this evening. 'A sizeable part of the Communion is in error and not a few are apostate,' he said, questioning whether the Communion could be rescued from within or without. It was an important rallying call that will set the tone for the rest of the conference. I wrote a story published in the paper, but here are some extracts from the address.

'A conference of this magnitude would normally require several years of extensive planning, consultations and fund raising. We had barely five months to put this conference together. The Lord raised men and women who gladly and willingly offered their time, skill and money to make it happen.'' The figures he gave were £2.5 million for the total cost of Gafcon, with $1.3 million raised in three weeks in Nigeria alone, of which $900,000 was given to him in a cheque from one person. Nigeria has even managed to pay for its bishops from the US to attend.

Earlier, Bishop Suheil Dawani, who had pleaded with the organisers not to hold the conference in his diocese, preached at the Anglican Cathedral of St George's on the importance of Lambeth, and how pilgrims were always welcome in the Holy Land. For more on that, see Gafcon's own site. (This pic by Matthew Davies, the rest by me.)

Conservative Catholics open sanctuary to conservative Anglicans

The Catholic Knight reflects the thinking of a number of Catholics watching Anglican events closely from Rome. The problem is, just as they complain we don't understand them - Basil Hume used to tell me, 'We just don't do things like that' - it is clear they don't understand us either. My own understanding, after talking to a lot of senior Gafconites last night, is that a formal split is not underway and that means is to be sought of reforming the church from within. Read the Archbishop of Sydney's little bro on why you 'can't split a marshmallow'. The conveniently renamed 'instruments of communion'  might be put to one side for a while, but significantly, communion will be retained with Canterbury, equally significantly renamed the 'focus of unity'. Although it was pointed out to me that in some cases, this will be with the 'office' of the Archbishop, and not necessarily the present incumbent.

Bishop of Durham sees the funny side

There's not much light relief around in Anglican affairs at the moment. Returning from Chris Morgan's requiem in Llandaff, a sad event, and heading off to Gafcon in a few hours, I was immensely cheered to see that one of my favourite bishops, Dr Tom Wright, has been persuaded onto the Colbert Show during his US tour for his new book. I must say, I never knew that theology could be so amusing. Watch, and see for yourself.

Gafcon versus Gay Pride

Have just found out that Gafcon clashes with next Thursday's Jerusalem Pride, the seventh Gay Pride march in the city. Is this an extraordinary coincidence or God's strange sense of humour? I always suspected He had one. If they need some moral support, Rabbis against Gay Pride won't have to go far this year. This photo by Noa Raz is from last year's march.

Akinola 'barred' from Jordan

Extroardinary scenes at Gafcon, where David Virtue tells me the Nigerian primate Dr Peter Akinola has apparently been denied entry to Jordan and so has gone direct to Jerusalem instead. This has left the organisers in a bit of a fix: Dr Akinola is one of the key players in the Global South and the whole Gafcon movement. Southern Cone primate Greg Venables who is not in Jordan either. So the 100 or so who are at the small, behind-closed-doors meeting in Amman are packing their bags and tomorrow morning, getting on a bus to Jerusalem. The plan originally was not to go to the Holy Land until Sunday. The main conference will begin in Jerusalem on Sunday with more than 1,000 delgates, including 280 bishops, launching Gafcon in dramatic service on the Mount of Olives. And guess what folks, I'll be there, bringing you a live blog from the spot. Bet you can't wait!