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Some items from (mostly) liberal-minded blogs, focused on Anglican affairs.
For up to date news about the Anglican communion see Thinking Anglicans and Anglicans Online. More news links here.
MCU News
as at Tuesday, July 22, 2008
The Modern Churchpeople’s Union
News Release
30 June 2008
Ethos of Anglicanism "betrayed"
The Modern Churchpeople’s Union is a theological organization founded within the Church of England. It promotes liberal theology based on scholarly learning.
As liberal Christians we reject outright the claim of The Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans to be the representatives of orthodox Anglicanism. Their claim to be traditionalists is as bogus as their claim to speak on behalf of half of the world’s Anglicans.
Contrary to their claims, the Anglican Communion is traditionally one that embraces difference and respects diversity. Since the reign of Henry VIII the Church of England has sought to encompass a range of opinions because it recognized that no one group has special access to truth. Therefore engagement with those with whom you disagree is essential in pursuit of truth.
The formation of FOCA is nothing less than a pre-emptive first strike by those who are determined to have their own way come what may. Their abandonment of serious theological discussion and debate is a betrayal of the ethos of Anglicanism.
Jonathan Clatworthy, General Secretary of the MCU said: “They tried to take over, using homosexuality as a rallying-cry and threatening to split the Anglican Communion. Finding their more extreme demands rejected they have finally decided to go their own way. This will be an opportunity for the Anglican Communion to reaffirm its traditional openness and diversity, recognizing that nobody has all the answers”.
John Plant, Chair of the MCU added: “We deplore their personal attacks on the Archbishop of Canterbury who has been selfless and courageous in the quest to find a way forward. This group routinely calls for discipline but feels free to ignore it whenever it applies to them.”
Next week’s MCU Conference, “Saving the Soul of Anglicanism” reflects more authentically the true ethos of Anglicanism. It will provide a proper context for listening and theological debate. The conference will be chaired by Archbishop of Wales Dr Barry Morgan and speakers represent the diversity of Anglicanism including Bishop Gene Robinson and Bishop Trevor Mwamba, bishop of Botswana and Dean of the Province of Central Africa.
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News Release, 24 June 2008
Saving the Soul of Anglicanism
A conservative African bishop and a gay bishop will show how they can worship together as members of the same church at a conference next month.
The Bishop of Botswana, Rt Revd Trevor Mwamba, and the controversial Bishop of New Hampshire, Rt Revd Gene Robinson, are among the speakers taking part in the Modern Churchpeople’s Union Conference, July 8-11.
The aim of the event is to show how the Anglican Church can be open, inclusive and allow differences of opinion. It takes place a week before the start of the Lambeth Conference, preparations for which have been overshadowed by divisions in the church over the issue of homosexuality.
With the title, Saving the Soul of Anglicanism: the Nature and the Future of the Anglican Communion, the MCU conference will focus on protecting a faith based on reason and tradition as well as on Scripture.
It will be chaired by the Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan. He will also lecture on the poetic vision of Welsh priest RS Thomas.
The other speakers, who will explore Anglicanism from different perspectives, are:
Revd Canon Dr Charlotte Methuen Lecturer at Oxford University, on the Protestant roots of Anglicanism;
Rt Revd Dr Michael Jackson, Bishop of Clogher, on Anglicanism in Ireland;
The Rt Revd Frank Griswold, former Presiding Bishop of TEC on a perspective from the USA;
Andrew Brown, writer and journalist, on a journalist’s view;
Revd Dr Janet Wootton, Director of Studies for the Congregational Federation, on a “Dissenter’s view”
Revd Canon Professor Marilyn McCord Adams, Regius Professor at the University of Oxford on the proposed Anglican Covenant and its implications
Jonathan Clatworthy secretary of MCU, said, “Until now the Anglican Communion has contained within itself the tools for a change in response to new insights. However, the current debate reveals many confident assertions of certainty as the only acceptable way to be Anglican.
“We believe such an approach sanctions a more intolerant response to differences of opinion, which will lead to further splits. We hope this conference will show that there is a different way forward – and that the true unity of the Anglican church lies in its diversity.
“If there is one principle which can, and should, hold the Anglican Communion together, it is that none of us has all the answers; each of us may be wrong, however strongly we feel, so we should listen to each other with respect and acknowledge our need for each other.”
The Modern Churchpeople’s Union Conference takes place at High Leigh Conference Centre, Hoddesdon, Herts, July 8-11. For a full programme, visit the website www.modchurchunion.org
For more information or interview requests, contact Anna Morrell (details at end). Please note that Bishop Gene Robinson will not be giving interviews.
Note to editors
The Modern Churchpeople’s Union in an Anglican society which promotes liberal theology. It was set up in 1898 for members of the Church of England. It is now open to anyone who shares its ethos.
It has 750 members and its president is the Bishop of Lincoln, the Rt Revd John Saxbee.
Anna Morrell
Archbishop's Media Officer / Swyddog y Cyfryngau i'r Archesgob
Tel: 02920 348208; mobile: 07 939393 717
39 Cathedral Rd, Cardiff / 39 Heol y Gadeirlan, Caerdydd
CF11 9XF
http://www.churchinwales.org.uk
Article in Wales Online (Western Mail): Gay bishop at conference/ Archbishop defends gay cleric attending "controversial" event "It's about talking to and being open to people"
Jonathan Clatworthy's new book
Liberal Faith in a Divided Church
O Books, publication date 27 June 2008, £14.99
You can order Liberal Faith in a Divided Church directly from the author. Make your cheque payable to Jonathan Clatworthy and send it to MCU Office, 9 Westward View, Liverpool L17 7EE, UK.
In UK: £14.99
Outside UK but within EU: £15.99.
Outside EU: £17.99.
The battle lines are drawn in what some believe will be the final showdown between liberals and conservatives in the Anglican Church. If the two sides can't agree, the cracks which began to show over the ordination of women may well become an unbridgeable chasm and the church will split. The catalyst is the row over the consecration of a gay bishop in America, but Jonathan Clatworthy argues that it goes deeper than that, to the very roots of Anglicanism itself.
Different theories developed at different stages to produce the mix of ideas we have today. The Reformation, the Enlightenment, the nineteenth century revivals and fundamentalism all produced their own ideas about the authority of the Bible, reason, the Church and individual experience.
Clatworthy believes that classical Anglican theology is by definition liberal. It affirms tradition but is open to new insights and humble enough to accept that our knowledge can never be complete or certain. The Church should be inclusive, welcoming, and open to debate, allowing differences of opinion to continue until consensus is reached. Conservative Christians see it differently; this book explains why the two views may well be irreconcilable.
Full details from www.clatworthy.org.
A sermon by Jonathan Clatworthy: Authority in the balance of Scripture, reason and tradition
Official Response by the Church of England to the Draft Anglican Covenant
Details and MCU response are here
The MCU response to the Listening Process by Jonathan Clatworthy is here.
The MCU Response to The Draft Anglican Covenant by Jonathan Clatworthy, Paul Bagshaw and John Saxbee, Bishop of Lincoln, has been circulated to members, to many members of General Synod, and to other liberal-minded church groups.
The Response and summaries are available here.