Global South Anglican

An encouraging report and some photos can be viewed here and here.

The Archbishops of Canterbury and York have today issued a joint statement in support of the strong voice of fellow bishops in Zimbabwe.

As a global battle pits senior Anglicans against each other, more than 300 conservative Christians who have broken from the Anglican Church of Canada will gather at an evangelical church in Delta on Friday to welcome their new leader, South American Anglican Archbishop Gregory Venables.

The meeting takes place the same week 11 Anglican Church of Canada clergy in Greater Vancouver resigned from the denomination to serve under the authority of the South American primate, who was asked this week by Canadian Primate Fred Hiltz not to intervene in his jurisdiction.

ONE OF THE GRAVEST weaknesses of contemporary Christianity is the little attention paid to the wrath of God. We have become sentimental and have so stressed the love of God as to become unwilling to talk about his wrath. In part this is because the culture will not let us do so. There is an outcry whenever the clear teaching of the Bible is given in public. Church members have to live in this world. They do not want their minister to talk about unpopular or divisive subjects. The minister is aware of this and he is tempted to soft-peddle on matters which are scriptural. Among them is the subject of God’s wrath.

The Chung Hua Sheng Kung Hui ("Chinese Anglican") official publication The Chinese Churchmen (圣 公会报) ceased publication after the political changes in China in 1949. On 2 January 1955 Chinese Churchmen (圣工), literally meaning “sacred work”, was launched. It appeared more or less a quarterly magazine until the end of 1957, the eve of the “Great Leap Forward” in China.

This publication is not widely known nor available in public, however. Copies still survive in the China East (Huadong) Seminary in Shanghai, and in the Shanghai Municipal Library. It offers important insight on the life and work of the Chinese Anglicans in the beginnings of the post-denominational period in Chinese Christianity.

We are grateful to Miss Li Cuixiang for compiling the index. The (unofficial) English translation is provided by Michael Poon.

Sheng Gong (圣工）Index (1955-1957)

See also CSCA Chung Hua Sheng Kung Hui Source Documents.

A note from Dr Michael Nai-Chiu Poon, Director, Centre for the Study of Christianity in Asia

Now online at Fulcrum. Addresses from Fulcrum Conference Islington, 12 April 2008

Tom Wright, ’Conflict and Covenant in the Bible‘

Andrew Goddard, ’Conflict and Covenant in the Communion‘.

“We urge our friends in the Diocese of Virginia and The Episcopal Church to respect the court’s ruling and join with us to begin a process of healing.  These are also the wishes of the worldwide Anglican Communion, as prolonging this process – pitting Christian against Christian in court – does nothing to save one soul, strengthen one family, or help one person in need.  Let us choose healing over litigation and peaceful co-existence over lawsuits, and let us devote all our resources to serving Christ and helping others around the world.”

Archbishop Peter Akinola presided over a remarkable meeting of the Standing Committee of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), but nobody from the world media noticed. It wasn’t that it was a closed or secret meeting – it’s hard to keep a gathering of a thousand church leaders quiet, and preparations had been public for months.

An informative article which is relevant to the on-going interfaith work.

“...Human beings have never lacked for things to fight over, but for the last two millennia, they have fought the most over ideas involving the divine. Politics, technology, military capacity, and diseases have all played decisive roles in shaping history, yet it is impossible to understand the rise and fall of empires, the clash of civilizations, and the evolving balance of power without appreciating the unique fervor that religion inspires, and the speed with which new religions can spread...”

Read it all here