Pictured: The Lambeth Conference
Blog 4/6 by Bishop Glenn Davies
Dear brothers and sisters of our shared faith,
We are delighted to share with you the fourth in a series of blogs from one talk given by Bishop of the Diocese of the Southern Cross, Glenn Davies at the recent G26 conference.
To recap, what will the series of blogs be covering?
- Introduction and first point, ‘Good order in the Church: Why constitutions matter.’
- Second point, ‘The growing independence of the colonial churches (including in Australia).’
- Third point, ‘When institutions fail.’
- (This blog) Fourth, ‘Why you can reject the Instruments of Communion and still be authentically Anglican.’
- Fifth, ‘Why separating from Canterbury matters.’
- Conclusion, ‘The Way Ahead: Guarding authentic Anglicanism.’
We encourage you to review these at your own pace.
Over to you, Glenn!
“As we have seen, the so-called Instruments of Communion have failed to uphold orthodox, classic Anglican doctrine. At the Lambeth Conference of 2022, bishops from the Global South sought to reassert Resolution I.10 as the normative doctrine for the Anglican Communion. Despite their valiant efforts, they were thwarted by the majority of bishops who effectively declared Resolution I.10 to be optional, rather than normative, as noted by the Lambeth Call 2.3 on Human Dignity.
Many Provinces continue to affirm that same gender marriage is not permissible. Lambeth Resolution I.10 (1998) states that the “legitimizing or blessing of same sex unions” cannot be advised. Other Provinces have blessed and welcomed same sex union/marriage after careful theological reflection and a process of reception. As Bishops we remain committed to listening and walking together to the maximum possible degree, despite our deep disagreement on these issues.
Yet how can two walk together unless they are agreed (Amos 3:3)? How can two opposing doctrines be held in the metaphor of ‘walking together’. Moreover, Lambeth Call 2.3 on Anglican Identity states:
Member Churches of the Anglican Communion are defined in relation to their fellowship with each other and with the Instruments of Communion.
We cannot walk together nor share communion with revisionists, for they preach another gospel.
Although the Church of England has wound back the LGBT Agenda in the proposals of Living in Love and Faith at its recent General Synod, it has not abandoned its revisionist trajectory. The decision in 2023 of the General Synod to authorise prayers for same-sex couples, in defiance of Resolution I.10, is nothing short of purporting to bless sin. This only sealed the fate of the Church of England as the Mother who abandoned her children around the globe.
The Global Anglican Communion is the true inheritor of the doctrine of the Church of England forged in blood at the time of the Reformation. It is those who are aligned with Canterbury and promote the revisionist agenda who have forfeited their right to be called Anglicans.
Despite their declining numbers, the revisionist provinces within the Canterbury Communion claim to be Anglican, like many of the Jews falsely claimed to be children of Abraham in Jesus’ day (John 8:39-47; cf Matthew 3:9). Yet the revisionists’ teaching and practice are far from expressing the theology of the Reformation. If we may paraphrase Paul’s words to the saints at Rome, when he said: ‘not all Israel are of Israel (Romans 9:6); ‘not all Anglicans are Anglicans’. Claiming to be Anglican and not adhering to Anglican doctrine is a contradiction in terms.
The charge of schism was frequently applied to the Church of England but clearly refuted by Bishop John Jewell in the sixteenth century as well as Bishop Ashly Null in the twenty-first century.
The English Reformers did not see themselves as Protestants, i.e., as a second, different branch of Christianity. There was only one catholic and apostolic church. There could be none other. And they, the reformers of England, were amongst its true members, but the pope and his corrupt hierarchy weren’t. The purpose of the Reformation was to restore the catholic apostolic character of the church, not to replace it with something new.
Let me say this clearly. We are not leaving the Anglican Communion. We are reforming it, re-ordering it, resetting it on its historical roots. It is neither Canterbury nor communion with Canterbury that defines an Anglican, but it is our common heritage, our submission to Holy Scripture and our commitment to the Reformation Formularies, as Archbishop Longly stated 150 years ago. We are the Anglican Communion.”
Pictured: The Global Anglican Communion recently met in Abuja, Nigeria for the G26 conference.
Please continue reading at your own pace the remainder of this talk.
Next, ‘Why separating from Canterbury matters.‘ Click to read on.