There's a lot of folk claiming to be the really, really, really true Anglicans. Good for them.
Still, it makes me a bit cantankerous to have the Anglican Church in North America making the claim to be the real Anglican presence in North America, rather that, say, The Episcopal Church, the Anglican Church of Canada, and (depending on where you think North America ends) The Anglican Church of Mexico.
In a like matter, I would suspect it must make the Church in Ghana and the Primate of the Church of the Province of West Africa, The Most Revd Justice Ofei Akrofi, just a bit indisposed to have there be a church claiming to be the real Anglicans - the Orthodox Anglican Church of Ghana - right there in his home town.
A news story from the Ghana News Agency on the Most Rev. Dr. Jacob Augustine Welborne, trumpets the celebration of Welborne's fifth year as Archbishop. But not to worry. The really really really orthodox Anglicans out there in Ghana are opposed to those awful gay and lesbian people.
The paper reported, "Archbishop Welbourne said the Church is reserved for the godly and abhors evils such as homosexuality and lesbianism, which are shameful, intrinsically disordered, unhealthy and mortally sinful and against natural law."
One presumes that this is the voice of the Orthodox Anglican Communion in place. I wonder where the voice of the Anglican Church in Ghana is?
It is a strange world where the so-called and self styled Orthodox Anglicans are those who have left off having anything to do with the sensibilities of the Church that gave them voice.
These folk are really, really, really far from whatever it means to be Anglican - on more levels than one.
"Archbishop Welbourne said the Church is reserved for the godly..."
ReplyDeleteReally? I thought that "the church was the only institution that existed for the benefit of those who are not it's members" (William Temple)? Sounds like Archbishop Welbourne has us confused with a social club.
I have been positing lately that there are a varietiy of Church of Englandisms out there, but that Anglicanism is reserved for those formed by the generous, tolerant, pastoral spirit of Richard Hooker.
ReplyDeleteWe watch as faux CofEistas fall off one side towards Rome and off the other side to various biblical fundamentalisms, as the real COfEism inder ++Rowan muddles along. But Actual Anglicans are comprehensivists, who appreciate and find the deeper truths that unite Christians and keep their knickers untwisted about things indifferent. Actual Anglicans can hold truths learned through science in creative tension with scripture when need be, or follow it's guidance in areas where scriptures dictates are uncouth ancient truths. AAs can incorporate Harry Potter or the spiritual essences of other religions and say with Archbishop Tutu that God is not Christian.
Michael Russell, Hooker's Curator (one of)
"Archbishop Welbourne said the Church is reserved for the godly . . .
ReplyDeleteReally? Let's start here:
Mark 2:17 When Jesus heard this, he said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners."
Seems as if the church were reserved for the godly, there'd be a whole lot of empty pews.
"A church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints." --Abigail Van Buren
ReplyDelete"Archbishop Welbourne said the Church is reserved for the godly . . ."
ReplyDeleteHo, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters;
And you that have no money, come, buy and eat!
Uh, you ungodly people out there, go somewhere else. Don't attempt to use Isaiah to expect God to respect you, certainly not in my archdiocese. I don't respect you, therefore I am quite convinced that God doesn't either.
I think that North America goes all the way to about where Panama touches Columbia in South America, so that would also include la Iglesia Anglicana de la Region Central de America and at least one diocese of the Church in the Province of the West Indies.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, the church is not reserved for the godly.Archbishop Welbourne actually said:The Ordained Ministry of the Church is reserved to godly men only. Marriage is sacred bond between a man and a woman. We do not ordain homosexuals and lesbians. Neither, do we ordain women to the priesthood. The Church tells us that the priest acts "in persona Christi Capitis"; in the person of Christ, the Head of the Church . Though a mere man by nature, by the Sacrament of Holy Orders he represents the New Adam in the midst of His Mystical Body and Bride (II Corinthians 5:20; ). Thus the priest has traditionally been called an alter christus - another Christ! In fact, the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles attest that this call was made in accordance with God's eternal plan: Christ chose those whom he willed (cf. Mk 3:13-14; Jn 6:70), and he did so in union with the Father, "through the Holy Spirit" (Acts 1:2), after having spent the night in prayer (cf. Lk 6:12).
ReplyDeleteArchbishop Welbourne actually said: "The Ordained Ministry of the Church is reserved to godly men only."
ReplyDeleteFor anyone that knows the parties involved the characterization of Welbourne's words by Harris was immediately recognized as intentional distortion. #fakenews