Poles apart on Anglican crisis

I’ve just come back from GAFCON in Jerusalem (SC, July). Zac Veron and I represented Youthworks and were responsible for promoting our school curriculum to the world, distributing 750 bright red Youthworks bags (half of which are now in Nigeria).
There was one particular moment that will stay with me forever. We had a service on the southern steps of the old Temple. Here, 1200 were gathered – from Australia, Africa, the US and Canada, South America, Asia, England and the Middle East. Many had been persecuted for the faith – both from within and from outside the church.
Two Sudanese women stood to be arrested upon their return home, simply for having an Israeli stamp in their passports. I have a business card in my wallet from a Canadian priest who has been barred from his parish, that reads: Address: unknown. Telephone: unknown. Future: unknown. His wife, who printed the cards, has a dry sense of humour, he claims.
Thank you to everyone who kept GAFCON and us in your prayers.
Kenton Webb
Anglican Youthworks

One of the most striking things I found at GAFCON was just how good we have
it here in Australia. Perhaps that’s why for many of us here, GAFCON seems like a taking a sledge-hammer to crack a nut.
I was surprised by the spread of those who were facing open opposition from church hierarchies that did not believe the basic tenets of Christian faith (salvation in Christ alone, bodily resurrection of
Christ, etc). They were not just (as I’d expected) North Americans, but
also English, Irish, Brazilians and New Zealanders. They were not just evangelicals, but also Anglo-Catholics and charismatics.
We might not have these problems here in Australia (yet), but we have a responsibility to help those faithful brothers and sisters around the globe who are seeking to serve Christ and keen to remain Anglican, but are being frustrated at every turn.
Claire Smith
Chatswood, NSW

Boycotting the Lambeth Conference is not new. The first conference in 1867 was boycotted by a number of English bishops including the Archbishop of York. They objected to it on the grounds that the conference might make decisions which could affect the Church of England. 
The current boycott is because resolutions from the 1998 conference have not been enforced in North America. It is an ironic turnaround. But the Lambeth Conference has always said it was a purely consultative conference and not a decision-making body.
Peter Jensen says the current dispute is about whether we accept the authority of the Bible. But that is not really so. It is about how as Christians we are to relate to the society in which we live. That calls for discernment in the light of the Bible as the ultimate authority for Anglicans.  In this context it is not about accepting or rejecting a doctrine of ‘Scripture alone’. Scripture alone is held as a personal opinion by many, but it is nowhere to be found in the formularies, constitution or laws of the Anglican Church.
The question at issue is the place of homosexuality in the public life of the church. It does make a difference that homosexuality is a matter of civil liberties in the US, whereas in Nigeria it is illegal and gay and lesbian people are persecuted.  Cultural engagement is necessary for our witness and so we need to connect, critically.
It is a great pity that a decision has been made which does not allow Sydney to engage with difference on such a matter of judgement within the Christian community. 
The Rev Dr Bruce Kaye
Watsons Bay, NSW

Many of the Sydney Anglicans with whom I speak and worship believe they are not being adequately consulted or represented by their bishops. 
Our leaders appear to have put aside their once principal concerns regarding, for example, the ordination of women and communion with Anglo-Catholics to unite with them in an attempt to “rescue” the Anglican Communion.
While this apparent softening of their stance on these issues does give me cause to hope, I have yet to hear any Anglican clergy defending this position from the pulpit in our parish churches. 
Stephen Matthews
North Turramurra, NSW

No problems with the catholic faith

Every Sunday for many years, I and many Anglicans have said (and meant): “I believe in… the holy catholic church”.
On a few occasions I have affirmed: “This is the Catholick Faith, which except a man believe faithfully he cannot be saved”.
On pages 16, 17 and 18 of SC, writers have used “Catholic” where the context indicates they meant “Roman Catholic”. Please ensure as a matter of policy that the word “Catholic” is not used where “Roman Catholic” is intended.
I believe the late TC Hammond would reply, if a Roman Catholic said to him “I am a Catholic” – “So am I”.
Richard Lambert
Chatswood, NSW

I believe Mark Gilbert misses some important points of church history in “Which came first, the Bible or the Church?”. The Roman Catholic Church is not the ‘Catholic Church’ as it likes to call itself but a catholic church.
The Christian church started on Pentecost ten days after Jesus left us and went out in answer to the Great Commission.
The problem for Mark is that he thinks the Church of Rome has some prior rights to be thought of and called ‘Catholic’. This is not so. The original church has become three: The Roman, the Eastern Orthodox and the Anglican Church. The Anglican Church worldwide still holds to the faith of the church fathers and continues with the ‘catholic’ faith. 
Les Small
Redlynch, QLD

You have so got your backs up about Roman Catholicism’s monopoly on truth (SC, July) that you have been led into hypocrisy by throwing all Catholics into the same pot. Stop wasting time and resources fighting against WYD and embrace the opportunity to stand alongside our Christian brothers and sisters, as they witness to Sydney what it means to be part of a worldwide church. I am one Anglican reader who’s had enough of your drivel.
Clare Chambers
Meadowbank, NSW