Anglican Church - time to split?

[lunamoth]

Originally Posted by The Fool

I read the following on a Liberal Christian site I am a member of:

"I think the time has come for a civilised and reasonable split so that we can create an inclusive and open Anglican option where we can proclaim our liberal Gospel without fear of definement of heresy from those who share our denomination, and where gay people will be warmly welcomed and their relationships liturgically recognised."


Question is - is this a reasonable position to take?

For example, should the Anglican Church be seeking internal reconcilliation and thus strengthen itself through unity.

Or has all time for that passed - is it time for the gay Christians to remove themselves entirely from the mainstream Anglican Church?

OK, I'll throw a few thoughts out for consideration. First and foremost, there is no "liberal gospel." There is one Gospel (well, OK technically 4 cannonized Gospels, picky picky) and it applies equally to everyone who hears it, and it has no laws about homosexuality, for or against. It does have a teaching from Jesus that clearly prohibits divorce. It also tells us that the second greatest commandment, after loving God, is love your neighbor as yourself.

Second, most Christian denominations, including the Anglican Communion, take either the Apostles' Creed or the Nicene Creed as the baseline for Christian belief. It has nothing about homosexuality.

Third, the Anglican Communion is not united by a single authoritative person or group, but by a book, the Book of Common Prayer. OK, I admit that I have not read the Book of Common Prayer cover to cover, but a quick scan of the Catechism brings up nothing about homosexuality. There is the line "To use all our bodily desires as God intended," which can be (and obviously is) interpreted differently by different people. It does define Holy Matrimony as between a woman and a man. I do not know how the marriage blessings are the same or different from Holy Matrimony.

A scan of the Articles of Religion yields Article XX, Of the Authority of the Church, which states 'it is not lawful for the Church to ordain any thing that is contrary to God's Word written, neither may it so expound one place of Scripture, that it be repungent to another. Again, with regards to homosexuality this is still a matter of interpretation of the Bible, in the light of tradition and reason.

I personally do not think a split is the answer, although it does look like it is going that way. It's difficult to get any two people to agree on such a huge spectrum of beliefs as are presented in the fullness of the Bible, much less a massive worldwide collection of dioceses. I'm glad this question is being brought up in the Episcopal Church and I hope for a resolution that reflects Jesus' compassion and desire for unity, rather than one of exclusion.

You left out a third option, a united Anglican Communion in which all people, regardless of sexual orientation, are warmly welcomed to all forms of ministery and to all the sacraments, including marriage.

lunamoth

[Quahom1]

Originally Posted by I, Brian

Well - it's about politics within the Church of England.

Speaking of which, the Church of Scotland has come out in favour of gay priests:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4374249.stm

Is this the end of a single Anglican Communion?

I find concern when any church body feels the need to divide. There actually is a sense of dissapointment and melancholy (for lack of a better descriptor), espeically for one that is familiar (I'm as comfortable in an Anglican or Episcopal church as I am in a Catholic one).

v/r

Q

[Bandit]

Originally Posted by Quahom1

I find concern when any church body feels the need to divide. There actually is a sense of dissapointment and melancholy (for lack of a better descriptor), espeically for one that is familiar (I'm as comfortable in an Anglican or Episcopal church as I am in a Catholic one).

v/r

Q

I was in an Episcopal church for 3 years and it was during a time when they were going through substitute rectors, so it was tough. It was 95% Jamaican and I was able to learn there customs as well as the liturgy. It had its problems and was a more conservative body, but over all the Jamaicans and Episcopal in that church are very loving people.
People split for many reasons. A lot of times it is not even about doctrine, but can lean toward a political or money issue.

[I, Brian]

I agree that it's sad - the Anglicans seemed a particularly important part of the pillar of Ecumenism - now they themselves are falling apart.

[lunamoth]

Actually I talked with my priest today and things are actually quite hopeful about keeping the Communion together. The wheels grind slowly, probably much too slowly for the attention span of the media.

lunamoth