Dear MAMA Church family,
Anglican Archbishops from around the world will be meeting at Lambeth Palace (the residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury - the spiritual head of the Anglican Communion) later this month. This meeting will likely settle the future of the Anglican Communion - whether it will return (in the West) to its Orthodox roots or continue (in the West) down the road to Heterodoxy (teaching what is not Biblical).
Please pray (and consider fasting) for the Archbishops as they gather. Pray especially that the GAFCON and Global South Archbishops (including our own Archbishop of North America - Foley Beach) will be able, through the leading of the Holy Spirit, to help the errant Archbishops see the truth and light of the Gospel.
Please also take a few moments to read the excellent article below, written by Bishop Bill Atwood. Bishop Bill is, in this article, spot on and to the point. What is at stake in this debate is something far more precious that bragging rights. What's at stake is the heart and soul of the Church, salvation, and the identity of Jesus Christ that the Church presents to the world.
Your prayers are very much needed and desired by those doing battle for the sake of the Gospel.
Father Todd
Every 500 Years or So…
After the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus, the Gospel spread
throughout the world, usually as a result of persecution, or at least
accompanied by it. The first few centuries saw amazing expansion of
Gospel belief. It was a time during which the Church had to figure out
what had happened through Jesus Christ. The Council of Nicaea in 325 was
one of those amazing points in time in which the church produced the
Creed which addresses Who Jesus is and Who the members of the Trinity
are. Not too many years later, around 500 AD, Benedict wrote his Rule
which dramatically advanced monastic religious life.
About 500 years later, in 1054 AD, the Church experienced the final separation between Eastern and Western Christians. On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-five Theses to the chapel door of Wittenberg Castle, which was one of
the key factors provoking the Reformation.
Now, about 500 years after that, the world and the Church have
undergone a huge assault from Postmodernism, Paganism, and Materialism
to the point that much of the Church demonstrate merely “the form of
godliness without the power but denying its power.” (2 Tim 3:5) As a
result of those factors, many leaders in the Church have begun pursuing a
different agenda that is a radical departure from Gospel history. In
addition to the lightning rod of removing boundaries of sexual behavior,
there has been a departure from the settled historic understanding of
the Atonement, the Divinity of Christ, the purpose of the Church, and
even dismantling the understanding of sin as a departure from God’s
design.
In the midst of that chaos, Churches struggled with how to deal with
the changes that society was thrusting upon them. In many places, parts
of the Church simply caved in and adopted the same worldview as the
fallen world. While there were countless actions of departure from
settled Christian teaching and revelation, one of the most dramatic was
the the US Episcopal Church’s election, confirmation by General
Convention, and then the consecration as a Bishop of a man in an active
same-sex relationship. Rather than the Bishop being an example and
defender of Biblical authority, a Bishop became an icon of rebellion
against God’s Word and order.
Unwilling to participate in the 2008 Lambeth Bishops’ Conference
because of the consecration that the Episcopal Church had done, sixteen
Archbishops, Bishops, and a few other leaders gathered on the twelfth
floor of the Hilton Hotel in Nairobi to pray about what to do. As the
group prayed, a series of themes were articulated that all seemed to
come from the Psalms of Ascent (Psalms 120-134). Those Psalms were ones
that were read aloud by pilgrims as they made their way up from the
banks of the River Jordan to the Holy City of Jerusalem. Because the
route was very dangerous from robbers and thieves, pilgrims would read
the Psalms for encouragement and to help them keep pace on their journey
so they would not be caught out in the dangerous Judean hills after
dark.
As they prayed, the group realized that all the prayers were from the
Psalms of Ascent. Someone said, “I think the Lord is calling us to ‘go
up to Zion.’ Maybe He is literally calling us to go to Jerusalem.” At
that point, the room became electric with excitement and agreement to
gather in Jerusalem as quickly as possible. That turned out to be a
Global Anglican Future Conference, coined by Archbishop Nicholas Okoh as
GAFCON.
When the conference opened on June 22, 2008, Archbishop Peter Akinola
(Nigeria) insisted that we begin with a blank sheet of paper. After
every speaker, devotion, presentation, and small group, there were
feedback cards available so people could write down what they were
hearing, thinking, praying, and what – if anything – was missing. Those
cards from the 1100 participants went to a group that organized the
information into themes. A drafting group then wrote down what was
emerging. By the end of the Conference,
The Jerusalem Declaration
was read to the assembled body. At first there was just a hush over the
room, but then the room erupted in cheers and a standing ovation that
lasted for several minutes. I remember thinking at the time, “Dear Lord,
this is what happened in Nicaea!”
I had always wondered how people could gather from all over the world
and produce the Nicene Creed. This was how. Praying, listening,
agreeing, and writing. The Jerusalem Declaration is one of those every
500 years or so events. It is the tonic at this season for what ails the
straying church and empty world. It makes clear that the only way to
build a future that will be lasting and faithful is to build it on the
foundation of revealed Christian truth to which Anglicans (up until
recently) were committed.
Now, however, there is a great battle going on for the soul of
Anglicanism. The Western industrial nations have pretty well caved to
the voice of the times, and it is one of those every 500 year struggles.
It is all quickly coming to a head. In January, there will be a
gathering of Anglican Primates in Canterbury. There have been many
conversations leading up to it. Leaders from GAFCON and the Global South
are clear that they know what is at stake. There needs to be clear
consensus and commitment to “the faith once delivered” (Jude 1:3) in
order for the Communion to survive.
Some liberal Primates like Archbishop Fred Hiltz of Canada have
projected great confidence that no decision of substance can or will
happen, but privately, word is that many liberal Primates are very
concerned about the gathering.
This gathering is a very difficult one because there are two
positions that cannot be reconciled. That is not the assessment of a
hardliner (well, maybe…), it is the stark reality that either the
historic Anglican formularies are authoritative or they are not. Jesus
cannot at the same time be Lord and not Lord. What is at stake is not
“bragging rights.” Orthodox leaders are well aware that what is at stake
is eternal life and redemption. Those who diverge from revealed
Christian truth are not just wrong, they are heading toward and leading
others to Hell. There is literally no other issue that is as important.
No temporal issue can hold a candle to the import of whether or not
people are saved.
For more than twenty years, there has been a huge war going on. It
has come to a head. The decisive battle will be in Canterbury from
January 11th to 15th. It will determine the future of the Anglican
Communion. Please pray! This is not just an institutional kerfuffle. It
is a spiritual war of epic proportions. Any energy devoted to praying
and fasting for this meeting will be well invested.
Bishop Bill Atwood
