England is forcasting bleak days for her Church. It seems that one of the hindrances of growth for the Church of England is the fact that the Muslims implement an actual heritage within their belief, whereas Christianity’s heritage is now so shallow that it is laughable. David Voas, a professor of population studies at the Institute for Social Change at the University of Manchester, said:
“The difficulty is in retaining the children who have churchgoing parents. So long as churchgoing is something that gets you laughed at, so long as there is a social stigma attached to being a churchgoing young person, it will be difficult to reverse the trend.” He said that young Muslims operated in a different environment. “Being religious is a way that you show you are different, that you are proud of your heritage. One of the ways young Muslims assert their identity is by being more observant than their parents.“
In order to grow the kingdom to the extent of finally overcoming Islam, it is clear that we must begin to emphasis the visible Church and her call to take dominion over all spiritual realms, as the book of Genesis clearly commands. Enough with the Gnostic notions of piety and doctrinal prestige! We need the faith of our fathers that once proclaimed a realistic “religion.” Here is an example of our current downward spiral within the realm of spiritual dominion and religion as well our leanings toward Evangelicalism (site):
“People who don’t go to church may be turned off by a recent trend toward more utilitarian church buildings. By a nearly 2-to-1 ratio over any other option, unchurched Americans prefer churches that look more like a medieval cathedral than what most think of as a more contemporary church building.”
The first article I quoted moves on to state that Evangelicalism is obsorbing much of the Church growth. This explains much of the loss of cultural identity within England (America, likewise). Christians that adhere to the more Evangelical worldview can not be dignified in the culture, because they simply do not have one. To them, the Christian faith is about the invisible but not the visible, which in turn brings us to a Gnostic faith that is not true to the Lord’s Prayer of having God’s “kingdom come… on earth as it is in heaven.” God wills for us to take action in every area of our faith and life. There is no neutrality! There is no aspect of life that is off limits to God’s will; be it liturgy, architecture, music, art, or overall vocation.
To build a Christian heritage, and pass this heritage down to children that can be dignified through it, means embracing a faith that actually makes itself known here on earth. The early Church helps us to understand just what this looks like, and the medieval Church helps us understand what has developed from the early Church. But the modern Church is no longer drinking from this well, and insists on creating new traditions of multiculturalism and relativism. No longer is the Anglo-Catholic culture meaningful to today’s Christian; the very tradition that founded America itself.
This reluctance to administrate the Anglican culture may very well be due to the fear of it being rejected by more third-world types of culture. But countries such as Africa and Mexico are completely eager to embrace the Anglican culture. Neutral Evangelicalism seeks to be the answer to this pre-fabricated fear of man! But not only is Evangelicalism fighting its own arson, but the deterrent they are using is also a phoney - it is not nearly as neutral as they think! They are not neutral but rather they are modernists, embracing nearly every post-Christendom culture that they possible can in order to supposedly be “all things to all people.” When St. Paul made this statement, he was not referring to our faith at large, but rather his apologetic (theological tactics to persuade) as well as his overall demeanor.
O Gracious Father, we humbly beseech thee for thy holy Catholic Church; that thou wouldest be pleased to fill it with all truth, in all peace. Where it is corrupt, purify it; where in any thing it is amiss, reform it. Where it is right, establish it; where it is in want, provide for it; where it is divided, reunite it; for the sake of him who died and rose again, and ever liveth to make intercession for us, Jesus Christ, thy Son, our Lord. Amen
Rome is now pressing the Anglican Church to “make a decision.” It seems that they are saying that we can no longer serve two masters:
“Does it belong more to the churches of the first millennium -Catholic and Orthodox - or does it belong more to the Protestant churches of the 16th century? At the moment it is somewhere in between, but it must clarify its identity now and that will not be possible without certain difficult decisions.”
This should be an interesting conference! I would love to hear back from anyone that attends.
Notice the correlation of each…
I choose the 1928 Book of Common Prayer for my authority of worship. I do this for a number of reasons, some of which support the use of the 1662:
- 1. The 1928 Book of Common Prayer represents the Anglican Church in America as it was in its orthodox state; the last official Prayer Book to be received by the entire American Anglican union prior to the modern division of the church. It was also a revision that was authorized by both the American bishops as well as the Archbishop of Canterbury (1789). The 1928 is also more ecumenical to the East, which, to me, is an important part of the future of Christendom.
- 2. Because of the statement above, the 1928, to me, represents the unity of the Anglican church of America. I think that the new revised Prayer Book put out by Rev. Toon, is a bold attempt for a new type of unified Prayer Book (as was the REC Prayer Book), but only time will tell if it will be able to sustain. If it was to become the leading Prayer Book, I would likely use it, but with some reluctance.
- 3. The 1928 has maintained the Elizabethan language, which is important for a number of reasons: It prevents the standard of worship from drifting into “ghetto” formats of language, as time within America has proven itself to drag various liturgies into; it brings the Christian to the linguistic roots of the Prayer Book, which in turn opens the door for great appreciation for the Reformation; and finally the Elizabethan language is a very “poetic” language, and so enables the Christian to separate themselves from the loose language of everyday life and take up a language that is rich in meaning and melody, exemplifying ones worship experience.
- 4. The 1928 contains the Apocrypha within the liturgical calendar. This is important for a variety of reasons, one being that Article 6 states that the Apocrypha is to continue as a part of the Church, as opposed to what the Anabaptist believed. The Article states: “the Church doth read [the Apocrypha] for example of life and instruction of manners…”
- 5. The 1928 Book of Common Prayer, in the Holy Communion, begins with the Our Father. This, to me, is a very “biblical” way of beginning a service. Also the latter part of the Holy Communion is placed nearer to the end of the service, with a greater anticipation and building up to the distribution. In the 1662, it seems as though the distribution is done a bit too prematurely, with the Our Father and Oblation done after, rather than before. Although there is a short type of Oblation and Invocation within the Prayer of Consecration, it does not seem to make the impact that the extended version of the 1928 makes.
- The differences between the 1928 and the 1979 are far too many to list in this page. Overall, the 1928 is more Reformed in character/doctrine, confronting the Christian with their sin and depravity, whereas the 79 is much softer on sin and depravity. Many Anglicans believe the 1979 Prayer Book to be unorthodox.
This article shows how restaurants are now losing money due to more women doing what women have traditionally done in pre-liberal times: manage their homes!
According to the article, more women are staying at home and cooking for their families, which has in turn caused restaurants to lose revenue. No offense to anyone that works within the restaurant industry, but let’s face it, this industry, along with many other modern industries (see industrial revolution) has created a narcissistic culture and ethic in America (in particular) that leads to nothing but schism within the family and the Church.
Not only is the American economy based on this “capitalistic” framework, but much of the Christian ministry - especially within Evangelicalism - is built on this same framework. The essence of this model includes the basic tendency and motive to capitalize on the overall desires and weaknesses of the people! Yet the ethic of Christ involves selfless and sacrificial love for one another, as Christ clearly demonstrated to us in His lifetime. This means that one may actually need to repent and serve those that Christ calls us to serve, rather than fleeing from the difficult service in order to build our own, more monetarily gainful, business or ministry.
Western economics and ministry is simply out of control! Take, for instance, much of the American youth ministry. Because parents are too wrapped up in hedonism, insisting on living a life of materialism and social acceptance, thus fleeing from the traditional model/ethic of the family, they ignore training their children in the Lord properly. The child is then given over to the youth ministry in hopes of spiritual conversion. If the Church would simply instruct the parents on proper Christian ethics of the family, the child would not need or even want to be a part of ministries outside the home and the Church (the youth pastor is not an office of the Church according to the Scriptures). Ministries such as the youth ministry should be for the children that have no parents or whom have non-Christian parents - the legal, as well as spiritual orphans. To capitalize on the sins of the parents is very sinful; ”growing” the ministry to accommodate the children that are not orphans, thus ultimately stealing them from their God-given mentors - their parents, all the while neglecting the true orphans.
The overcorrection to modern capitalism would be the pursuit of idealistic notions (idealism - the creation and belief of ideals that are impossible to manage). The Puritans fell into this shortly after they settled in America. Imposing laws and theologies that had never been fully embraced in all of history, the Puritans believed that God had called them to be the new Jerusalem. They were wrong! God does not want an overnight make-shift Jerusalem erected. God simply wants us to do what is right and just within our own lives, and teach those same principles to our pupils. If our pupils do not want to learn and live the ways of Christ, then they have chosen to live as peasants (there is nothing sinful about a society with poor people. When Christ says to give to the poor, He is certainly not commanding us to instantly make them wealthy). Typically, the idealist would want both classes of peasant and elitist to become abolished, and this is generally called liberalism. Liberalism is not the answer to capitalism! The answer to secular capitalism is… well, I am not sure there is a proper “ism” to place here, at least not one that would be understood by most Christians. Though, I can say this: The “biblical” model of Christian economy is not found in one particular frame of history, but likely, a combination of historical frames, coupled with a combination of historical theologies.
It’s great to see many of the conservative bodies breaking away from ECUSA to find another Bishop to align under. But my question is: What is so wrong with the Continuing Anglican movement that these break-offs cannot seem to submit to a Continuing Bishop? Wasn’t it the continuing Anglicans that first recognized the error of the ECUSA church, back in the 60s and even as far back (concerning the REC) as the late 1800s? The Continuing churches such as the REC, APA, ACA, etc., already have bishops with apostolic succession, that are more than capable of being an Archbishop of a unified Anglican church in America.
It appears that we are beginning to align with Bishop Akinola, of Africa, which is great news. But what does this convey to others about the Continuing movement, as well as America as the Christian country that it was supposedly destined to be? Will the Continuing churches eventually dissolve and become absorbed by the Third World movement? And, will America itself be swallowed up by one of the Third World countries after we align with a Third World Bishop? Do not underestimate the influence of the Church!
God may indeed use one of the more liberal, future presidents like Clinton or McCain to continue to merge us with other countries through trade and military, and maybe even immigration. Meanwhile, we are aligning ourselves with a Bishop in another country.
Please don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying the direction we are headed is in some way disastrous. I’m just attempting to sort the confusion out. If the Continuing Anglican church needs a Bishop outside America, then that’s what she needs. And if America needs to be absorbed by another country to remain conservative, then that is what she needs. But if we are to remain an independent country, we will eventually need a Bishop that resides in our country. Otherwise, we will be looking at some of the same problems that the Anglican settlers had in the 1700s with the Church of England and the Archbishop of Canterbury.
At first glance, the title of this post should seem oxymoronic. After all, Anglicanism is by definition the shape the Church of England took after the Reformation (and later its sister churches in the British Colonies) and the primate of the Church of England is the Archbishop of Canterbury. Hence, how could something even be considered “Anglican” without Canterbury? My answer to this question is that Anglicanism is not a bureaucracy, but a tradition. It had its roots in the experience of the English Church throughout history and was expressed most definitively in the period after the Reformation in the development of the Book of Common Prayer. If the current elite at Canterbury wishes to overthrow the developed tradition of the Church of England in the matter of a few decades, that does not mean Anglicanism has changed, but that they are no longer truly Anglican at all.The problem we see with Canterbury is that the Rt. Rev. Rowan Williams, the current occupant of the office of Archbishop of Canterbury, does not see defending the faith once delivered to the saints as his primary function, but rather the preservation of union within the Anglican Communion. That is, it is not the beliefs of the Church that matter, but the institution. His ultimate goal is simply the preservation of unity at all costs.
It is fairly clear from his writings that ++Rowan would like to side with the revisionists but thinks their powerplay tactics are ill advised. He does not object to the apostasy of the Episcopal Church because it is wrong, but rather that it is against the will of the communion. With the will of God not being part of his decision making equation, it seems the Archbishop hopes to bide time until his views become the received view of the Communion as a whole.
From the way things are moving, he may not have long to wait. The Anglican Churches in the Global South have had far their fill of Western apostasy and now have called their own conference - the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) - shortly before the Lambeth Conference where Anglican leadership traditionally meets. Many bishops from the Global South are choosing GAFCON over Lambeth and it is likely the bishops attending will represent a far greater percentage of the communion than those attending Lambeth. Many see this not only as a rejection of the apostate teachings of Western Anglican leadership, but also of the leadership of Canterbury during the current crisis.
With such an obvious slap in the face of the Archbishop imminent, a future split in the Anglican Communion seems likely. The departure of so many churches would only leave Anglicanism with a group of dying Western apostates and others who have not the courage to take a firm stand. Eventually, the obvious decline of vitality within the remnants of the Anglican Communion would cause many fence sitters to depart as well. Canterbury would then be relegated to the leadership of apostate caretakers of architecturally interesting but increasingly empty buildings.
For the vibrant Churches of the Global South, they have little to fear. They will continue to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ and continue to make converts. As they also grow in strongholds of Islam, they will also give up martyrs for the cause of Christ. It is they, and not their decadent Western peers, who are the true Anglicans and the true Christians. As the Rt. Rev. Peter Akinola, Archbishop of Nigeria (the largest church in the communion) has stated, “You do not need to go through Canterbury to get to Jesus.”
Nor do you need to go through Canterbury to be an Anglican. We have a rich tradition that expresses the Holy Scriptures through the collected wisdom of the Church through her history. This tradition certainly has always had Canterbury at its theological center, but when this center veers from the revealed Word of God we must choose Scripture over geography no matter how sentimental our feelings may be for that location.
On the surface, the forces behind the spread of secularism and Islam would appear to have little in common. Secularism is essentially a movement against a place for religious belief in public life, while Islam holds the complete subservience of the public sphere to Islam through the imposition of Sharia law. But, as Richarad Bastein points out in an article at Mercator.net, things may not always be as they seem. Just as similarities were notable between the seemingly opposed forces of Nazism and Marxism, so links can also be seen between Islam and secularism.
Read the rest of this entry »
By request, we have added a new website to the sidebar, that is well worth noting: Christ Church Anglican of Phoenix, AZ. I recently visited this church on Good Friday and can personally attest to its soundness. A breakaway from the fallen ECUSA, Christ Church Anglican has done what many are frightened to do, but what many are yet to do in the future: seek unity through godly bishops and parishioners whom adore the Christ of the Bible and not the christ of modernity.
Systematic doctrine is almost never enough. Here is a poetic stance on the crucifixion, sent by our Cantor, Jeff Holston.
___________________________________
Philosophers have measured mountains,
Fathomed the depth of seas, of states, of kings,
Walked with a staff to heaven, and traced fountains:
But there are two vast, spacious things,
The which to measure it doth more behove:
Yet few there are that sound them: Sin and Love.
Who would know Sin, let him repair
Unto Mount Olivet; there shall he see
A man so wrung with pains, that all his hair,
His skin, his garments bloody be.
Sin is that press and vice, which forceth pain
To hunt his cruel food through every vein.
And taste that juice, which on the cross a pike
Did set again abroach; then let him say
If ever he did taste the like.
Love is that liquor sweet and most divine,
Which my God feels as blood; but I, as wine.
Finally, one of the greatest books ever written, Dr. Greg Bahnsen’s By This Standard, is being reprinted in hardback…and with a very nice cover, if I might add!
There is no neutrality within the spiritual realm, and this includes the use of clerical attire and liturgical vestments. If one does not choose to wear, say, an alb, to minister in, why does he choose a suit or a polo shirt? A modern pastor may say that he is attempting to “become all things to all people,” as if St. Paul used that statement for a license of some sort. And where does this philosophy end? If the majority of the culture is, for instance, wearing bathing suits, does this mean that the pastor should do the same? Or is there an actual moral standard to be met? If there is, then what should this standard be? Has the all-things-to-all-people concept really done the Church much good? Is it effective for creating a conscience within society? Does the more modern concept demonstrate modesty and sobriety?
I am “high church” in my choosing of vestments and I currently wear what my current priest requires me to wear, which is the white alb, as a postulant. As an ordained Anglican, my priest uses a black cassock with a surplice. I understand that the black cassock is traditional to the Church of England, but I prefer the alb with either a stole or a chasuble, depending on the Eucharistic duties, of course. Early writings of the fathers show that the priests were required to wear all white, signifying the purity of Christ. The white alb also seems to be more accepted by today’s culture - not that that is the standard, but it is always nice when we can be traditional and accepted! The alb is a little sleeker than the cassock - with the thin white surplice, and the alb, to me, seems to make a bolder statement.
Jesus Wore Clerical Attire
If it is such a noble thing for a pastor to compromise his standard of dress to appease the modern culture, then one has to wonder why Christ did not do such a thing.
Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” - John 1:38
As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” - Mark 10:17
The question that arises from these passages is just how the people knew that Jesus was a Rabbi. It can safely be assumed that they knew he was a Rabbi due to his rabbinical attire!
The following verses show that people did not immediately recognize Jesus as a Rabbi, but this was due to his need to go to the feast “in secret.”
However, after his brothers had left for the Feast, he went also, not publicly, but in secret. Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, “He is a good man.” Others replied, “No, he deceives the people.” But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the Jews. Not until halfway through the Feast did Jesus go up to the Temple courts and begin to teach. The Jews were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having studied?” - John 7:10-15
Clerical attire, such as the collar, sets a man apart for his service, and keeps him accountable to the public. One of the very problems with the Church today is that they refuse to take dominion - as commanded by God - of the culture. When a priest or deacon wears his collar in public he makes a statement to the public that the Church is alive and well, and the Church is available for their needs. Not wearing clerical attire, for a pastor, is like not wearing a uniform for a police officer. No one can reach out for help if they do not know whom to reach out to.
The clerical collar, as well as the liturgical vestments, prevent the people from judging the pastor according to his style; whether or not he is fashionable or “cool.” Clerical attire can also help set a conservative tone within the church. However the pastor dresses, the congregants will dress a step or two below. For example, if the pastor wears jeans and a Hawaiian shirt, the congregants will likely wear shorts and flip-flops. Clerical attire sets standards, and sinful man needs standards to be set, especially from the clergy.
Clerical attire is apostolic. The apostles dressed in robes. This is an important standard to follow, not because robes are holy in and of themselves, but it is important because the apostolic standard, which was in place for hundreds of years, prevents the Church from fully embracing modernity, which is a slippery slope to liberalism and other New Age heresies. Clerical attire can help prevent apostasy.
I will conclude this discussion by mentioning the fact that the future of the Church, according to the Bible, involves the wearing of robes, the attire we use to anticipate this glorious state of the Church:
Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads. - Revelation 4:4 Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed. - Revelation 6:11 [ A Multitude from the Great Tribulation ] After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands…” - Revelation 7:9Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?” - Revelation 7:13And I said to him, “Sir, you know.” So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. - Revelation 7:14
He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. - Revelation 19:13
And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. - Revelation 19:16
Something that I have noticed within many Protestant circles is that theological discussion - especially in the “Bible only” camps - can sometimes actually be an hindrance for the Christian’s sanctification. Yes, that’s right! What happens is that the groups of Christians thrive on reinventing the wheel, becoming preoccupied with “wrestling with the Scriptures,” and such, rather than living and believing the Scriptures. It becomes a sort of legalism, where one feels sanctified because they are “in the Word.” I hate to say this, but you are not in the Word just because you are in a wrestling match with the Bible. The Word is the logos, the living being of Christ that involves the spiritual formation of souls. The Word is not God reduced to the English or even Greek and Hebrew vocabulary. The Word of God is His revelatory will for mankind found within the Scriptures, but as they illuminate themselves through the authority of His Church, not as they illuminate themselves through Nelson Printing Press, or any other schmo that takes his own authority to become the standard-bearer.
The Word of God is what the Bible is saying and doing, not just what the Bible said or once said. Some theology-buffs may now be howling outside their windows through the authority of what their seminary teacher taught them about hermeneutics, so please allow me to qualify: Certainly there is a place for what is called The Grammatical-Historical Hermeneutic, but what happens is that this form of studying the Bible is often not properly embraced, even by seminarians, and one suddenly becomes a theologian overnight from proof-texting verses; then goes to his friends and spreads this germ, and born is a Bible study.
This sounds like your typical overzealous Baptist/Evangelical, right? Yes, but it is within the higher churches, also, just on a more sophisticated level. What happens here is that rather than wrestling with Bible verses, they wrestle with theological positions that have not yet blossomed. They create false dichotomies of argumentation by splitting a traditional doctrine in two and then pitching them against each other. One perfect example of this would be the “Law and Gospel” debate; as if the Gospel does not include Law and the Law does not include Gospel. Or how about this one: The Five Points of Calvinism; not that the Five Points are heretical, but the five points cannot be understood very easily outside the context of many other biblical concepts; and after one understands these concepts, the Five Points begin to look like unreasonable dichotomies. Yes, that is right. When something so powerful like the Gospel is reduced to five propositions, mass friction is bound to happen, resulting in explosion.
If you are looking for dogma, as you should be, then look no further than the ancient creeds, as well as the catechism and Canons of the Church, which will lead you to all sorts of ethical and soteriological standards, including standards of worship. But, if you are not looking for dogma, and you simply want to feel like a theologian, then there is always a divisive debate-circle or modern/independent church, just waiting to suck you in.
This website has acquired tens of thousands of hits over the past year and so it is time to place it at the top of the web searches for Anglicanism in Phoenix, Arizona. This is done by typing the words Anglican and Phoenix, Arizona as many times possible in order for the search engines to catch the site. The Continuing Anglican Church is alive and well in Phoenix Arizona, but so is the liberal “Anglican” church. We must rise above the liberals on the search engines by creating Anglican sites such as this one, right here in Phoenix, Arizona, so that when an enquirer punches in the words Anglican Phoenix, AnglicanThought pulls right up. This will prevent the Anglican (Episcopal) enquirer from thinking that the only Anglican/Episcopal churches in Arizona are liberal. Phoenix, Arizona is primed for new Anglican movement. One can find a variety of Continuing Anglican churches in the valley simply by typing the words Anglican/Episcopal and Phoenix into a search bar. One day all the conservatives will leave the Episcopal Church of the United States and will be in need of a conservative Anglican/Episcopal church. Hopefully those conservatives - or would be conservatives - here in Phoenix, Arizona, will find this site on Google, and will discover the riches of the historic Anglican faith.
For all of you who are uncomfortable about kneeling while praying to and worshiping God, here is an article by a well known pastor - whose name I will not mention, in order not to stumble the weak hearted. Great clip! Hope you enjoy.
I love the way St. Paul describes Christians as “bondservants.” Other translations besides the NKJ use the word slave, but bondservant seems much more appropriate since it is not associated with modern slavery. To be a bondservant of Christ means that we are indeed bound to our servant-hood. We are not slaves in the modern sense of not having freedom, but we are slaves in the spiritual sense of having freedom yet under the certain care and tutelage of Christ.
The doctrine of purgatory has fueled some of the most passionate division amongst Catholics and Protestants ever since the Reformation. But with a closer look at the doctrine and its different latitudes of dogma within the history of the Church, we may be able to put to rest the two extremes that continue to battle against each other.