Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent
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Anglican conservatives meeting in Israel yesterday described their sense of “betrayal and abandonment” by the leadership of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and declared the formation of a new global Anglican communion for “faithful” Anglicans living in liberal provinces.
Details of the “church within a church” will be announced on Sunday. The founders intend it to halt the slide of their Church towards Western secular values and to reform it from within.
Meeting in Jerusalem, more than 1,100 evangelicals from around the world, including 300 bishops, have stepped back from the brink of schism.
Up to 600 Church of England parishes are expected to be at a conference in London next month to discuss affiliating with the new “orthodox” structure.
The announcement came after a week of tense negotiations between hardliners calling for schism and moderates urging reform from within. Organisers claimed that the Jerusalem gathering was the most significant event in Anglicanism in their lifetimes and said that it would herald a “new reformation”.
The new body will have its own bishops, clergy and theological colleges, and eventually its own structures, within the legal constraints of existing Anglican institutions. Two theological colleges - Oak Hill in North London and Wycliffe Hall in Oxford - have been earmarked for the training of evangelical clergy.
The Global Anglican Future Conference (Gafcon) was prompted by the “failure”, as conservatives see it, of Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, to “discipline” American bishops who took part in the consecration of the gay Bishop of New Hampshire, Gene Robinson, in 2003 by not inviting them to next month’s Lambeth Conference.
Many bishops from Africa and Asia consider themselves patronised by their former colonialist masters, who supplanted their traditional religions by importing Christianity and then liberalised it into something barely recognisable as the Gospel they believe in. The Archbishop of Kenya, Benjamin Nzimbi, said that there was a need for more permanent structures “for faithful Anglicans who live and serve in provinces that have abandoned the traditional teaching of the Bible”.
More than 100 bishops have voted to boycott the Lambeth Conference in Kent. Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester, who helped to move the debate on from homosexuality with an address on the need for reform from within, will also be avoiding worship and plenary sessions at the Conference. His speech went a long way towards healing the hurt among the Global South delegates, but the US conservatives remain angry and are driving the talk of schism. Lambeth Palace is “cool” about all this. Dr Williams understands that some of the bishops boycotting Lambeth would have liked to accept his invitation, but are staying away in line with the African principle of loyalty to their own “baba” or “father” archbishops.
Conference organisers have tried to avoid an obsession with the gay issue and were privately furious when a junior volunteer, acting out of misguided zeal, gave security staff a list of pro-gay activists “not allowed in” to the conference. This list - obtained by The Times and featuring a cast now known in the blogosphere as the “Gafcon 8” - made the conference appear far more militant than it is. The Bishop of Jerusalem’s new chaplain was one of those on the list.
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Brian O Cinneide, eThekwini, Afrika Borwa talks about:
"when Henry VIII split from Rome"
The world is rather different than it was 500 years ago Brian.
Social mores then encouraged burning all who disagreed.
No doubt you'd like tat back too !
Ian, Berwick, UK
We get so hung-up about man-made organisations - especially denominations, which God never intended us to have any way. God "looks not at the outward appearance, but at the heart".
Tim Fellows, Worcester, UK
Anglican conservatives feel betrayal and abandonment.
As do gay and lesbian people, by Christianity.
Christianity wouldn't be Christianity unless without witches and heretics to burn .
They're brothers to their colleagues in Islam.
One murder-breathing Ayatollah is much like another.
Sean, Coventry, UK
All gods are fantasies created by people, and this story highlights the nonsensical nature of superstitious ritual and worshipping the supernatural. Religion is a refuge for those who are terrified of the oblivion which follows death.
Neil, Gloucestershire, England
Human biology and sexuality is not a clear cut thing. Why should people be ostracized because they are at a different sexual spectrum. Much more important is how they act in relationships and in society. There are herterosexual men and women who are abusive and cruel and cause damage.
Janet Moreton, Oxford, Great Britain
Let's be honest here. Homosexuality is not in keeping with scriptural Christianity. Homosexuality and christianity are scripturally mutually exclusive and you cannot tailor the gospel to make it fit your views without destroying its message. You must choose one or the other!
Sid, Penzance, England
Ruth, Paul Handley's CT blog ponders what GAFCON-minded folk might now become. Global Anglican (GA) Group? GA Future Forum? Snag: GAG or GAFF Christians won't do (as Steve Fouch has spotted). Why not cut the gordian knot and settle on 'Global Anglican ("GA") Christians'? Acronym pronunciation TBA...
Francis Scott (Rev.), York,
This is not about opinion. The liberals have chosen to remove Chapter 1 of Romans from the Bible. The conservatives have decided tho follow the clear teachings in the Book.
John, Austin, Tx, USA
The real aim of these Obadiah Slopes at Gafcon is to take control of the Anglican communion, changing it from an open, pluralist confederation to a dogmatic, fundamentalist, centralized church. The gay issue is a means to this end, and charges of neo-colonialism are rhetoric worthy of Mugabe.
James, Wisconsin, USA
Oh good. Just what the world needs - more organized, conservative evangilicals to spread their message of stagnation and intolerance. Wake up and smell the 21st century, guys.
Stephanie, Bristol,
Why are there so many bishops determined to discriminate against homosexuals?
Could they not try and do some useful work instead?
Des, Edinburgh,
What orhodoxy? the Anglican Curch lost its' way when Henry VIII split from Rome. The only answer for these people is to return.
Brian O Cinneide, eThekwini, Afrika Borwa