by Margaret Rodgers

Many Anglicans worldwide are talking of a crisis in the Church. Archbishop Peter Jensen and the five Sydney regional bishops have issued a strong statement in response to developments that have caused the current crisis.

The Sydney bishops’ statement, released last month, speaks of “a tragic disruption of fellowship” that has led to “a watershed in relationships within the Communion.” They also call on other bishops to join with them and others “who are making clear their abhorrence of adultery and all sexual immorality, and their commitment to the Bible as the supreme authority in doctrine and ethics for our churches.”

The developments include the official blessing of same sex unions in the Canadian Diocese of New Westminster, the appoint-ment of a leading Church of England advocate for gay rights as a Bishop in Oxford diocese, and the election as a bishop in the US Diocese of New Hampshire of a clergyman living in a homosexual relationship.

While emphasising they remain in fellowship with those who oppose these developments, Sydney’s bishops have made it clear that they will not welcome to minister in the Diocese any “who have abandoned the teaching of Scripture in such a flagrant manner.”

Twelve months ago, New Westminster Synod voted to approve same sex blessings, with Bishop Michael Ingham approving.

The 38 Primates of the Communion met in May, and issued a unanimous statement that said “the question of public rites for the blessing of same sex unions is still a cause of potentially divisive controversy … therefore we as a body cannot support the authorisation of such rites.”

As the Primates were returning home, the first same sex union was officially blessed in a New Westminster parish. This was closely followed by the announcement of the appointment of the Rev Jeffrey John as an assistant bishop of Oxford. He later told the UK Times that he had no intention of leaving his partner of 27 years and would not stand down.

While a storm of protest began to be heard throughout the Anglican world, news came of the election of the new bishop for New Hampshire. This was The Rev Gene Robinson’s third attempt to be elected a bishop. Years ago he had divorced his wife and left her and their two daughters to live with his gay lover, who was present with him to celebrate news of his election. Since the ECUSA General Convention will be held in Minneapolis this month, Robinson will have to wait for his election to be confirmed by the Convention. Many conservative biblically minded US Anglicans are calling for the Convention not to agree, though this is regarded as unlikely.

Anglicans opposed to these developments have not been silent. Like the Sydney bishops many Archbishops and bishops from around the world have issued statements protesting against them. Some have declared themselves ‘out of communion’ with New Westminster and New Hampshire dioceses.

On hearing of the New Westminster action the Primate declared he and his Archbishops and bishops and the entire Province of Nigeria, with its 17 million membership were out of communion with New Westminster.

The Archbishop and bishops of the Province of South East Asia, who come from the dioceses of Sabah, Kuching, West Malaysia and Singapore issued a statement that said “We want to affirm our stand and total commitment to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Apostolic Faith. Therefore, with a heavy heart, we are duty bound to declare, with immediate effect, that we no longer be in communion with Bishop Michael Ingham and all those who are supportive of his said act and policy in the Diocese of New Westminster.”

Sixteen Anglican Primates have signed a statement that says the New Westminster situation “has taken the diocese far beyond the generally accepted teaching of the church”, that proceeding with same sex blessings is “at variance with the witness of Holy Scripture”, and that “Bishop Ingham, by deliberately and intentionally abandoning the established Anglican consensus, has placed himself and his diocese in an automatic state of impaired communion with the majority of the Anglican Communion.”

A significant number of US bishops have issued statements of concern about the New Hampshire election and about 20 of them will be meeting together before the ECUSA Convention commences to discuss their plans.

In England, 16 bishops many of them evangelicals have signed an open letter criticising the appointment of the Rev John to Oxford diocese. They include Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali of Rochester Diocese and the Bishop of Liverpool, the Rt Rev James Jones. They were both among the names considered seriously for the recent appointment of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The evangelical C of E bishops were joined by some Anglo-Catholic bishops including the well-known Bishop of Winchester, Michael Scott-Joynt.

In Sydney, the Anglican Church League issued a call to prayer for the Anglican Communion that says “these trends should be of deep concern to Bible-believing Christians everywhere, because they amount to a denial of the authority of the Bible as the revealed Word of God.”

The Sydney bishops’ statement discusses relationships within the Anglican Communion. It says “Unless there is a change, the Communion is now lessened, becoming more like a federation or network of churches related by history and ties of affection, but containing fractures of relationship which must be healed if true communion is to be restored.”

This Anglican uproar places great demands on the recently appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams. When Southern Cross went to press he had continued his silence after offering a brief statement that signalled his “sadness and disquiet” at the New Westminster action.