Sailing the Last Voyage with Newton and Pascal
As the orthodox Anglican alternatives to the TEC grow in strength, it has become pretty clear that the #1 division--in addition to the proliferation of purple shirts--that looms is the Anglo/Catholic vs. Evangelical divide. A little history needs to be told to put this in perspective. When Parliament passed the Act of Supremacy, the control …
Continue reading "Anglo-Catholicism and the Role of the Church"
In our posting on the "contract on the Episcopalians," we referenced a comment by the new Presiding Bishop about her disparagement of the importance of eternal life. It's probably worthwhile to reproduce that particular dialogue (ADG is the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette; KJS is of course Katherine Jefferts-Schori): ADG: That reminds me of something else you said. …
In the agony that the slow separation of the Anglican Communion has become, one issue that has come up has been the business of the "baptismal covenant" that appears in TEC's 1979 prayer book. This problem was discussed in an excellent article by Peter Toon, but it seems that there are broader issues here to …
Continue reading "The Baptismal Covenant: The Contract on the Episcopalians"
The Archbishops of Canterbury and York participated in a much publicised "guilt march" across the UK about the evil of slavery. But there's an easier and more substantial way to even the score: just let the Africans and their allies, including the descendants of slaves in the West Indies, take the lead in the Communion. …
Continue reading "Forget About the Guilt March. Just Give Them the Communion."
The rather plaintive letter from the Rev. Mark Lawrence trying to explain why his departure from California to take his post as the new Bishop of South Carolina is being delayed is a sad commentary both on TEC and the left-wing boomers that presently dominate its leadership. His explanation of the process is about as …
A little over a week ago, we called for a new "instrument of unity" by suggeting that the orthodox Anglican groups put together a "new" prayer book for their own use. In the interest of balance, this week we're going to look a an "instrument of division" by showing how you can create your own …
Continue reading "Create Your Own Anglican Communion Network"
We noted last year that the great challenge of Orthodox Anglicans in North America was to find a way to coalesce into some kind of organic unity, which is necessary if we are serious about establishing an additional province in the Anglican Communion. This is trickier than it looks. Beyond the obvious problems of women's …
Continue reading "The First Step to Unity: A New Prayer Book"
Later this year, this website will celebrate its tenth anniversary. A decade is an eternity on the Internet, especially when we've spent a good deal of it following the agony of the Anglican Communion's struggle between its liberal West and conservative Global South. One of the first pieces we posted was When Church Becomes Pointless, …
The back and forth in the Church of England over the new "covenant" Evangelicals have proposed highlights the central problem that reforming or renewing any church has: without the explicit support of its hierarchy or other leadership, the effort is doomed to fail. It's a story that has been repeated too many times in chuch …
Continue reading "The Basic Problem with Reforming a Church"
Recently at my church we had an event take place that was so horrific it's hard to write about. One of our more esteemed members, with an active lay ministry, shot and killed himself in front on his wife on Christmas Eve after losing his job. For a long list of reasons (not the least …
Positive Infinity 