On June 8, 2017, The Scottish Episcopal Church (SEC) voted officially to discard Jesus’ teaching that marriage is a lifelong union between one man and one woman. Canon 31 was officially replaced by a new rule which permits same-sex “marriages.” Anticipating this development, GAFCON (Global African Future Conference), after the vote, today appointed its own bishop to the United Kingdom (UK), Andy Lines.
The Anglican, i.e., Episcopal Church, for hundreds of years has deferred to the archbishop of Canterbury as the “first among equals,” as being the bishop uniting the Anglican Church. However, current archbishop Justin Welby has alienated the majority of Anglicans by refusing to seriously discipline TEC (The Episcopal Church in the USA) and other sections of the Church which have departed from Christian principles of marriage. In 2003 TEC appointed Gene Robinson, a practicing homosexual, as bishop. In 2015 TEC approved same-sx “marriage” rules, and in 2016 received an inconsequential slap on the wrist from Welby.
The Anglican Church numbers some 70 million members worldwide. Between 50-60 million are African. GAFCON, in appointing its own bishop to the UK, Justin Welby’s home turf, signals to all that his episcopal oversight is considered compromised. On June 30 Andy Lines will be consecrated as bishop. Anglicans in Europe will have the option of accepting Andy Lines as overseer rather than Welby. In a concrete way, today’s developments demonstrate the depth of schism in the Anglican Church.
More detail can be had at the following links:
Scottish Episcopal Church approves Gay Marriage http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-40190204
EDINBURGH: Rev. Canon Andy Lines Named GAFCON Missionary Bishop to Europe
http://virtueonline.org/edinburgh-rev-canon-andy-lines-named-gafcon-missionary-bishop-europe
Missionary Bishop Introduced by Archbishop Foley Beach
https://www.gafcon.org/news/missionary-bishop-introduced-by-archbishop-foley-beach
Month: June 2017
Two large local United Methodist congregations in the Mississippi Annual Conference recently voted to leave the United Methodist denomination. According to Walter Fenton, “Ninety six percent of the parishioners at Getwell Road UM Church in Southaven and 99 percent at The Orchard UM Church in Tupelo supported separation on Sunday, February 5.” Getwell church averages over 800 people in worship. The Orchard church on average sees an attendance of over 2,700 people to its weekend services.
The churches and their staff have been considering taking the step for some time. Church members were invited to consider the possibility of departure. Most notable is what Fenton says about how those congregations arrived in this place where thousands of members are now leaving the United Methodist church. According to Fenton,
Both pastors cited their congregations’ frustration with the denomination’s long and acrimonious debate over the church’s sexual ethics and teachings on marriage. Going forward, they said their congregations want to focus on kingdom matters so they are removing themselves from unproductive battles that distract them from their larger missions. Collier cited the Judicial Council’s (essentially the denomination’s “Supreme Court”) impending decision regarding the validity of the Western Jurisdiction’s July election of the Rev. Karen Oliveto as the denomination’s first openly gay bishop. “Either way, the Council’s decision is just going to prolong a bitter and divisive debate,” Collier said. “We don’t want to be part of the argument anymore. We have more important things we need to do in the Tupelo community and well beyond it.”
Other churches in the Mississippi Annual Conference are contemplating similar action.
The decisions at Getwell and Orchard came before the judicial Council decision regarding Western Jurisdiction-appointed lesbian bishop Karen Oliveto. In the April 28 decision, the United Methodist Church’s high court ruled 6-3 that while her lesbian status was in violation of the Church’s policies governed by the Book of Discipline, she could still retain her position as Bishop and the Church’s Western Jurisdiction would handle the matter. The Western Jurisdiction includes virtually every United Methodist church in the Western half of the United States. It issued the short video response above reacting to the April 28 decision. For more information, see Fenton’s original article at Largest Congregation in Mississippi Parts Ways with UM Church.
The UMC recently commissioned a “non-binary” person who uses “they” pronouns as deacon: Transgender person commissioned as deacon.