Thursday, February 05, 2009

Bishop Martyn Minns issues statement on Primates' Alexandria Commuinque

via e-mail.

The Rt. Rev'd Martyn Minns, CANA Missionary Bishop Martyn Minns, has issued the following statement on the Alexandria Communique issued earlier today by the Anglican Primates:
We are grateful for the hard work of the Primates who met this week in Alexandria, Egypt, in tackling not only important global issues such as the crises in Gaza, Zimbabwe and Sudan but also the brokenness in the Communion brought about by The Episcopal Church.

We applaud their consistent stand for biblical truth and the importance of reconciliation between all peoples and their Creator.

We welcome the Primates’ unanimous reaffirmation of the entirety of Lambeth 1:10 as the Church’s teaching on human sexuality although we are disappointed that they were not unanimous in their call to repentance for those who continue to defy this teaching.

“We also welcome a period of gracious restraint as the Primates describe it but are distressed by the reality that The Episcopal Church continues to initiate punitive litigation on a massive scale. To date, there are at least 56 lawsuits initiated by The Episcopal Church, or its dioceses, against individual churches, clergy and vestries across the country.

We are saddened to read that within hours of agreeing to this statement Presiding Bishop Schori is already questioning whether the Primates’ call for gracious restraint is something to which The Episcopal Church wants to make a commitment …’the long-term impact of ‘gracious restraint’ is a matter for General Convention,’ she said in a statement.

We appreciate the encouragement for those of us connected with the Anglican Church in North America to continue to move forward as faithful Anglicans and to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ.

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