Ladies & Gentlemen,
I offer these five statements for serious consideration. They reflect what I see and thus are limited by my creaturelines and weaknesses.
1. If the present Dallas-headed (October 7) movement of 5000 plus has basically the same mindset as pre-August 2003 conservative Episcopalianism together with an added, committed opposition to the innovation of the blessing of "gay" partnerships, then it is NOT likely to see or experience any reform or renewal that are worth the names or is especially blessed by heaven, and this will be so even if a viable, working federation of dioceses separate from the "national church" is formed with the approval of some primates on or after October 7.
2. Genuine Reform & Renewal of the Church have both inward and outwards aspects (two sides of the divine coin, as it were). (a) The reformers are those who earnestly seek God until they find him, constantly knock at the door of heaven until it is opened, and continually ask/petition until their requests are granted. They open their hearts and lives to the searching light of the Word of the Lord and the Spirit of the Lord. They are penitent, repentant and yet filled with faith, hope and love. They are prepared to give up anything and everything for the Lord Jesus whose love and grace they experience. (b) The reformers know that the Word of God written must be central to their whole activity and commitment. They realize that they must use English translations that are true to its literal rather than supposed dynamic sense; further, to interpret that Word they need the best help of the long tradition of the Church in reading and meditating upon the Bible - thus the importance of Creeds, Formularies, classic Commentaries, the underlying doctrines of ancient canon law and so on. What they have to avoid at all costs is insulated private judgment, following only modern exegetes and allowing dominant themes of modern life (human rights for example) to guide their interpreting of the Bible. Thus they need in place the classic Creeds (three) and the Anglican Formularies from the 16th Century - the latter as a signpost to where reformed catholic doctrine is to be found & what it is, and the former as a guide to the central verities of the Bible.
3. A time of Crisis (which seems to be the case now for many Anglicans) is a unique opportunity not to fire darts at the enemy (lesbigay movement and supporting bishops) but rather to examine ourselves, our tradition and our position and to seek under God's guidance to plot a way forward that is true to HIM, to HIS WORD and to the best Anglican Forms of Worship, Doctrine & Discipline.
4. This time is most certainly a time (as the Psalms often tell us) not to put our trust in princes or the sons of men - i.e., in Primates or in local bishops or in organizations. It is pre-eminently a time truly and really, fully and clearly, to trust in the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. If He uses Primates to help the ECUSA or its remnant then that it is His choice.
5. There is much to learn by studying the origins of the Continuing Anglican Church movement from the late 1970s and its history to the present - its aims and hopes, it successes and failures, its attempts to shake off its back and out of its bloodstream the ECUSA it left behind, its internal divisions and the cause of them, and so on.
The Rev'd Dr. Peter Toon M.A., D.Phil. (Oxon.)
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