“With regret, the Archbishop and Bishops of the Diocese of Sydney have decided not to attend the Lambeth Conference in July.
They remain fully committed to the Anglican Communion, to which they continue to belong, but sense that attending the Conference at this time will not help heal its divisions.
They continue to pray for the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Lambeth Conference.”
Oh how sad that the Episcopoi of Sydney, committed as they are to the Reformed Catholic doctrine of the classic Anglican Formularies, will not be present to witness to this historic Foundation in the mixed company of Bishops at Lambeth, and to see it enter the proposed new Anglican Covenant.
Oh how sad that the Episcopoi of Sydney, committed as they are to the final authority of the Holy Scriptures in all matters of Faith and Conduct, will not be present to witness to the teaching of Scripture in these areas in the mixed company of Bishops, not a few of whom regrettably place the authority of either Tradition or Experience above that of the plain meaning of Scripture.
Oh how sad that the absence of the Episcopoi of Sydney, along with those of several African Provinces, will make it that much easier for the liberal elite of the West to cause the Conference to avoid facing up to, and speaking clearly on, matters of pressing importance in the church and in society.
Oh how sad that the absence of the Episcopoi of Sydney, along with those of several African Provinces, from Lambeth will make it that much easier for the Archbishop of Canterbury to continue his commitment to “process” and his hesitancy to reach real decisions on sexual morality and associated themes.
Oh how sad that the absence of the Episcopoi of Sydney, along with those of several African Provinces, from Lambeth will give to the watching churches and world the impression that there is a major schism or division in the Global Anglican Communion.
Oh how sad that the absence of the Episcopoi of Sydney, along with those of several African Provinces, from Lambeth will give the impression to many that there is a failure on their part to distinguish sufficiently clearly between the See (ancient archbishopric) of Canterbury as an ancient Christian center and the present (liberal!) incumbent thereof.
Oh how sad that the absence of the Episcopoi of Sydney, along with those of several African Provinces, from Lambeth, and their gathering in the Middle East (Cyprus-Jerusalem or Amman-Jerusalem) for their GAFCON (Global Anglican Conference) as an alternative instead in June 08, gives the impression that they have already decided that the Anglican Communion can and should exist in these post-colonial days, when the Church is most active outside the West, without any necessary relation to the See & Archbishop of Canterbury ( for they see him as the one who always makes the important decisions on matters that concern all).
Oh how sad that the absence of the Episcopoi of Sydney, along with those of several African Provinces, from Lambeth will cause the Lambeth Conference to lack in strength one of the major voices and witnesses of Global Anglicanism—a voice and witness that has emphasized and seen much missionary outreach and church planting in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Oh how very sad to see the Global Anglican Communion in such deep distress and division in 2008, the like of which it has never known before by Anglicans, and which, as a form of religious ethos, seems to come up to the pain and tribulation in divided and disobedient Judah & Israel in the period documented in the books of I & II Kings.
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