tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post7105993822593900780..comments2024-03-29T06:58:28.383+13:00Comments on Anglican Down Under: The wounded spirit of our churchPeter Carrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535218286799156659noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-45854586495990271892009-12-02T11:47:13.236+13:002009-12-02T11:47:13.236+13:00Of course another possibility is envisaged inMatth...Of course another possibility is envisaged inMatthew 18 - "if they refuse to listen even to the church, let them be to you as a gentile of tax collector". Sincere as the reconciliation process must be, there are plenty of signs in the gospels of the possibility that reconciliation will not, cannot and should not be made.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-44542429075921409972009-12-01T07:21:32.495+13:002009-12-01T07:21:32.495+13:00Hi Kurt
I would like to think that if we were face...Hi Kurt<br />I would like to think that if we were faced with a schism then we would work on a negotiated settlement rather than recourse to courts; with that settlement acknowledging the nature of trusts held by our church at diocesan and at general synod level, various inherent values around "heritage", investment of parishioners in church plant, and the general well-being of Christianity in Aotearoa New Zealand.<br /><br />From a distance it is far from clear that on one or more "sides" of the schism(s) in North America there is a willingness to enter a negotiated settlement!Peter Carrellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09535218286799156659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-22793260383254346122009-12-01T04:24:14.506+13:002009-12-01T04:24:14.506+13:00PS
Spell Check is limited! I meant, of course, sc...PS<br />Spell Check is limited! I meant, of course, schismatics, not schematics.--khKurthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10032216707367304535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-38656797318502272892009-12-01T04:04:11.623+13:002009-12-01T04:04:11.623+13:00I basically agree with what Bishop Lee is saying. ...I basically agree with what Bishop Lee is saying. For years I have thought that, ultimately, a lot of the responses to current controversies have to do with the different historical periods in which Anglicanism was introduced into the various countries. Anglican Churches in many countries, including Australia, New Zealand and the Global South, were initiated during the previous period of Evangelical ascendancy in the CofE, and reflect this history---particularly the conflict with the emergent Catholic Revival. That tension is still very much present in some places (e.g., Sydney).<br /><br />A few provinces, such as the American Church, date from much earlier times, and therefore have had quite different experiences. When the “Flogging Parson” Samuel Marsden stepped ashore at Oihi, Rangihoua Bay in December 1814, the history of Anglicanism in America was already 235 years old. Traditions of Low Church Latitudinarianism and High Church Catholicism were very entrenched in American Episcopalianism by 1814---though Evangelicalism was growing (particularly in Virginia). In the American Church, then as now, the growth of Evangelicalism produced conflict rather than harmony, and the most rigid Calvinistic Evangelicals eventually departed 140 years ago in the Cummins schism. Today, the most rigid are departing with the ACNA. <br /><br />Nevertheless, we must deal with the present reality as we find it. To my knowledge, the New Zealand Church has yet to experience schisms. Imagine if there were organized elements in the New Zealand Church who not only challenged its historic ethos, but who also attempted to walk off with parish properties---including such historic buildings as Christ Church, Taita (1854) or St. Stephen’s Chapel, Parnell (1857). Would you folks be complacent if this were the case in New Zealand? I think not. Why, then, expect us Americans to allow the schematics to take our properties---including The Falls Church (1769) in Virginia? Of course we are going to fight to retain our properties---particularly those of historic association that have served Episcopalians for generations.<br /><br />Kurt Hill<br />Brooklyn USAKurthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10032216707367304535noreply@blogger.com