A.S. Haley: On the Death of the Anglican Communion plus other reactions to Primates meeting

A.S. Haley: On the Death of the Anglican Communion  ...An agreement evolved that would require ECUSA’s suspension from Communion-related activities for three years. This would give ECUSA a sporting chance to decide in its General Convention (to be held in 2018) that it really did not mean to go against the majority of the Anglican provinces in approving same-sex church weddings that blasphemed the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and substituted same-sex love as a model for the relation between Christ and His Church.

With the primate of Canada (Archbishop Fred Hiltz) remonstrating that his church had not gone so far (at least, not until its next General Synod later this year), the primates decided to extend their sanction at this point only to ECUSA, and to leave the Anglican Church of Canada to its future deliberations.

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry protested that his church was trying only to be faithful to the Holy Scriptures as its leaders perceived them, but the clear voice of the Bible in opposition to same-sex concourse (whether in or out of so-called “marriage”) spoke louder than his protests. As a result, Presiding Bishop Curry will have to explain to his House of Bishops (and to General Convention in 2018) that they could face further sanctions—even permanent expulsion—from the Anglican Communion if ECUSA continues openly to contravene the sense of the Anglican Communion embodied in Resolution 1.10 of the 1998 Lambeth Conference.

The reaction to the Primates’ sanctions among Episcopalians committed to that church’s revisionist agenda was overwhelmingly negative, as might be expected. An announcement of the Primates’ Statement posted at Episcopal Café garnered more than 100 comments as of this writing—most of them derisive and derogatory. There were many calls to cut off the Episcopal Church (USA)‘s subsidy to the Anglican Communion Office—as though ECUSA should withhold its money from those who dissent from it, while expecting its own dissenting members to voluntarily surrender their churches and bank accounts in lieu of being sued for them. (The double standard of liberals—“one rule for me, another for thee”—marks them every time.)...

Albert Mohler: Anglican Communion sanctions Episcopal Church on homosexuality, reaffirms biblical marriage Play the podcast-it's the first story

Journalists must look to the left, as Anglican Communion goes into 'stoppage time'  ...When you look at the current events in the context of an accurate timeline, it's clear that (a) the Episcopal Church has merely been placed in "time out," (b) that the global primates really do think this dispute is about the Bible and marriage, (c) that the state of sacramental Communion among Anglican leaders remains as broken as ever and (d) that all Canterbury has really achieved, with this meeting, is send the contest into extra innings (or perhaps "stoppage time" is a better term among global Anglicans).

So where to start? There is no way to deal with all of the coverage and many publications have major holes in the timeline framing this event. Many journalists still think that this battle is primarily about the election of an openly gay, non-celibate bishop in a tiny U.S. diocese in 2003. As I have noted many times here at GetReligion, Communion among Anglican bishops and archbishops was already breaking down years before that and shepherds from the growing Anglican flocks in Africa, Asia and across the "Global South" were already taking steps to support traditionalists inside the Episcopal Church... GetReligion

Episcopal Church leader announces she will defy primates ban