A New Version of the Gatekeeper

Katharine Jefferts-Schori, Presiding Bishop, Episcopal Church

VANCOUVER, BC: Apostolic Gospel Must be at Core of our Beliefs, says Priest Theologian

By David W. Virtue in Vancouver
www.virtueonline.org
4/27/2008

Read this last paragraph first:

The evangelical cleric told VOL that St. John's Shaughnessy, a parish valued at some $16 million is under 24/7 watch by guards just in case Bishop Ingham makes a lightning strike to change the locks on the doors. He did that once before with a parish in North Vancouver.

The priest of the largest Anglican parish in Canada, who is under ecclesiastical siege from revisionist New Westminster Bishop Michael Ingham, says his denomination has lost faith in the gospel. This is evidently revealed in the diocesan newspaper, which gives the impression that the gospel is about being nice, being compassionate, recycling "and we will even bless your pets."

"The eternal gospel of redemption through the sacrifice of Jesus' death and the power of his resurrection has been replaced with a gospel which is about approval, affirmation and acceptance. The apostolic gospel of sins forgiven, of rescue from eternal punishment has been smoothed and soothed to be more acceptable and relevant," said the Rev. Dr. David Short, pastor of St. John's, Shaughnessy in Vancouver.

Addressing some 400 members of the Anglican Network in Canada, Anglicans who have broken away from the mother church, Short blasted the denomination's Anglican seminaries saying that the gods of our culture have taken up residence in the seminaries of Canada. "They have spokesmen and spokeswomen in the House of Bishops who have managed to rewrite the gospel and to promote their worship."

Short said the three central myths of Canadian culture include pluralism which translates into thinking that there is one right and true faith; that one religion cannot be right, one gospel cannot be true and thus all religions have part of the truth. The second myth is tolerance, which used to mean I accept you, but not your view. It now translates into meaning I must accept you and your view and if I do not accept your view, I cannot really accept you.

In the area of human rights, Short said that originally human rights were based on the fact that we are made in the image of God. "Our charter recognizes the supremacy of God as the basis of rights. That has shifted. Now it is my personal rights and freedoms, which have been cut free from any religious foundation.

The supremacy of God has been replaced by the supremacy of my rights. "We cannot overthrow the gods and idols of our culture, but the gospel can. We do not have the power or brains to depose these idols, but the gospel is the power of God for salvation." The evangelical rector said the gospel is characterized as Christological, that is, Christ centered. It is not a vague idea about the love of God or general belief that god exists. It is fully biblical including both Old and New Testaments; the Gospel is theological, it is more than just historical events. It is the interpretation of those events. It is about Jesus as Lord; it is cosmic that is to say it is universal and eternal and it is personal.

The Gospel is above all the news that in the death and resurrection of Jesus, God has worked out our salvation. He offers us new life and new hope. Everything we do, based on the gospel, will last forever. Repentance is the basis of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He is Lord of all, said Short.

The evangelical cleric told VOL that St. John's Shaughnessy, a parish valued at some $16 million is under 24/7 watch by guards just in case Bishop Ingham makes a lightning strike to change the locks on the doors. He did that once before with a parish in North Vancouver.

***
GJ - Confidential to Paul McCain, MDiv - It is customary to spell names correctly, especially church leaders. The head of the Episcopal Church is Katharine Jefferts-Schori, not "Catherine Schori." I noticed how you borrowed my idea of having fun with her rainbow garments, so I borrowed one of your pictures.

When James Crumley was elected president of the LCA, various publications kept spelling his name as Crumbley. They were in shock that the nearly invisible man was elected. I thought he had a good chance at the time. That was my first electoral prediction.

May Day! May Day! All Engines On Fire! Emergency Landing! May Day!

May Day Announcement

United Methodist Church Adopts Full Communion Proposal with ELCA



FORT WORTH, Texas (ELCA) -- By a vote of 864-19, the General Conference of the United Methodist Church (UMC) adopted an implementing resolution April 28 that will establish full communion with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Full communion will be fully realized by both churches should the same proposal be adopted at the next ELCA Churchwide Assembly, which meets Aug. 17-23, 2009, in Minneapolis.

The UMC General Conference, meeting here April 23-May 2, is the Methodist's chief legislative body and meets every four years. The ELCA Churchwide Assembly is the ELCA's chief legislative authority, meeting every two years.

The ELCA and UMC have been in formal theological dialogue since 1977, which led to beginning a relationship of "Interim Eucharistic Sharing" in 2005. That relationship called for members to pray for and support each other, to study Scripture together and to learn about each other's traditions in anticipation of achieving full communion.

Full communion means the churches will work for visible unity in Jesus Christ, recognize each other's ministries, work together on a variety of ministry initiatives, and, under certain circumstances, provide for the interchangeability of ordained clergy.

April 28 was "a banner day" because of the UMC General Conference vote on full communion, said the Rev. William Oden, ecumenical officer, UMC Council of Bishops, at an April 29 news conference. "This has been a long time coming. A lot of careful work has been done," he said. Oden emphasized that the proposal is a relationship between the two church bodies and not a "church union."

The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, Chicago, said he eagerly awaits the ELCA Churchwide Assembly vote in 2009 and hopes that it, too, will be a strong affirmation of full communion with the UMC. Hanson also preached at an April 29 worship service at the UMC General Conference.

"This is about revival of two church bodies that are deeply committed to re-presenting themselves in a pluralistic, dynamic changing culture for the sake of mission," Hanson said.

The two church bodies must consider what they can do together as full communion partners that was not possible before, Hanson said. He suggested possible cooperative ministries in campus ministry, global mission, advocacy for justice and peace, to name only a few. He also agreed with Oden's assertion that full communion cannot be successful if it is considered to be a "top down" action. Full communion should be a relationship in which mission initiatives should "bubble up" in the two churches, Hanson said.

"I always think of full communion as merely a step along the way toward a new, possible future because of the relationship," Hanson said. "That new, possible future is the for the sake of the world. It's for the sake of mission. Full communion calls for ecumenical, missional imagination."

Full communion also gives "formal expression" to what is happening in both churches already, said the Rev. Greg Palmer, president, UMC Council of Bishops. "In one way we're leading, and in another way, we're following. We are catching up with people on the ground who are doing things in partnership, in mission and in ministry," he said.

Christians "must find meaningful, significant and substantive ways of honoring the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ in one another and together, living that before the world. We must live before the world what God intends for the world," Palmer added.

Assuming the full communion proposal is adopted by the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in 2009, a coordinating council with representatives of both churches will be appointed, said the Rev. Donald J. McCoid, executive, ELCA Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Relations, Chicago. That council will coordinate how the two churches will plan for mission together and consider practical matters such as interchangeability of ordained ministers, he said.

The ELCA's five full communion partners are the Episcopal Church, the Moravian Church in America, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Reformed Church in America and United Church of Christ.

While the ELCA has successful cooperative ministries with its full communion partners, it must improve how it receives and implements full communion agreements, McCoid said. "We need to do better with how we are able to be intentional (in) sharing ministry. Grassroots sharing is really very critical, and I'll just echo that again and again and again. The best way we can do that is by giving people permission and encouragement."

If adopted by both churches, this will be the UMC's first full communion agreement outside of the Methodist tradition.

The ELCA is one of 140 churches in the Lutheran World Federation and is the third-largest Lutheran church in the world with 4.8 million members. The United Methodist Church is a worldwide church with nearly 8 million members in the United States.

***

GJ - Who is more desperate - the United Methodists or the ELCA? No denomination is more anti-confessional than the Methodists. Their chief doctrinal book is Wesley's Sermons. The UMC bragging point has been this: repeated mergers have sent the more conservative followers off to create more traditional Methodist groups: Nazarenes, Wesleyans, etc. Each split has made the UMC more radical or wishy-washy. Just like ELCA. Now I get it.

The UMC pioneers were behind the Federal Council of Churches and the Social Gospel Movement. They were big supporters of abortion as a woman's religious right. Yes, a religious right. No one knows when unborn life is a baby, they reason. Everyone is different, they argue. QED, abortion is a religious right.

The UMC is more ecumenical than James and Paul Tiefel put together. That also suits ELCA, which partners with every hue of the doctrinal rainbow.

Update on Kieschnick Folly

Synodical Pope Kieschnick watches as the AALC submits to his infallibility.

Here is a good link on the Kieschnick clobbering of the radio show, Issues Etc.

The Augsburg 1530 blog seems to be worthwhile. Keep an eye on it.