Great Message from the Presiding Bishop 1821 |
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Written by Calvin Fox
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Thursday, 16 July 2009 08:49 |
In downtown Hartford, CT is a most beautiful, worshipful House of God. It is the Cathedral of the Diocese of Connecticut and was consecrated as such in 1829. The Bishop at the time was Rev Thomas Brownell who would go on to become the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. Very instructive and inspiring is a sermon the Bishop preached to all the clergy of his Diocese in 1821 (quoted below). It is valuable in its own right and I recommend it, especially to Priests of our day. It also illuminates very clearly how different TEC and its Faith now is from the Church of Bp and PBp Brownell and the Faith once proclaimed in this Cathedral.
Dr Brownell (who founded Trinity College in Hartford) began and ended his speech to the Clergy present, saying,
keep constantly in view the great object and end of your ministry--to persuade sinful men to embrace the way of salvation by Jesus Christ, and to build up his Church in the most holy faith.
He also insisted,
You are preachers of the Gospel. It should be your principal object then, to lay before your people its distinctive principles. These are briefly, the natural depravity of man, the atonement of the Saviour, the renovation of the heart by the graces of the Holy Spirit, and the necessity of a living faith, a sincere repentance, and a willing obedience to the divine commands. And in inculcating these doctrines, you will do well to follow the simplicity of the Gospel;
These doctrines;--the natural depravity of man, and the way of salvation by the atonement of the Redeemer, and the influences of the Holy Spirit, constitute the foundation of the Christian system. To preach them as they are contained in the Scriptures, and set forth by the Church, must be the leading object of your ministry.
http://anglicanhistory.org/usa/tcbrownell/charge1821.html |
Last Updated on Monday, 03 August 2009 08:33 |
UBUNTU and the Presiding Bishop 2009 |
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Written by Calvin Fox
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Thursday, 16 July 2009 08:38 |
Like many others, I was greatly disturbed by the remarks made last week by the Presiding Bishop Katharine Schori of the Episcopal Church at the General Convention, including repudiation of what she called, "the great Western heresy: that we can be saved as individuals, that any of us alone can be in right relationship with God.' She continued, "That heresy is one reason for the theme of this Convention. Ubuntu. That word doesn't have any 'I' in it."
Many outraged evangelicals were quick to denounce the PB and her remarks. But I think there is more involved here than meets the eye. She continued, "That heresy is one reason for the theme of this Convention. Ubuntu. That word doesn't have any 'I' in it." Her critics (and supporters) need to take "Ubuntu" seriously. "Ubuntu" is the key to what she said and to much else happening in many churches today, including Evangelical ones and it is the "true" Heresy".
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 03 March 2010 16:03 |
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Written by Calvin Fox
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Monday, 15 June 2009 18:36 |
In my Study, on a wall, is a framed "Certificate of Ordination" given to me on November 26th,1961. It is signed by the Moderator of the Ordaining Council, Clerk of that Council and Clerk of the sponsoring local church. There were 18 Messengers from 6 local churches in the Council, including their Pastors. They listened to three papers I wrote: Statement of Christian Experience (Conversion), Call to the Ministry and my Statement of Faith (Theology). My own Pastor had prepared me for the occsaion. The Messengers, all Fundamentalists, "grilled" me on these matters thoroughly and then voted to recommend me for Ordination, which took place later in the day at Bethel Baptist Church in Hartford, Connecticut. All of this was "according to the usage within the Baptist General Conference".
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 01 July 2009 11:00 |
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What is "emerging" at evangelical seminaries? |
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Written by Calvin Fox
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Monday, 11 May 2009 09:20 |
We have faithfully supported Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry (TESM). It was the only evangelical Seminary associated with the Episcopal Church (another Seminary, Nashotah House is also conservative and orthodox, but is best described as Anglo-Catholic). We thought that as long as there was TESM and its graduates serving as faithful ministers of the Word, such as our son Loren, there was hope for the future of the Episcopal Church (TEC) But last year, TESM began an complete make-over. It is now Trinity School for Ministry (TSM). It is no longer affiliated with TEC, but is now simply "an evangelical Seminary in the Anglican Tradition". It is increasingly training students and serving the wider Church around the world, especially in the Global South. It remains a good school, but I have concerns for its future derived from its plans to continue its make-over. It is sponsoring a Conference this Summer, exploring connections with the Emergent Church movement. In its current school magazine, Seed and Harvest, very far reaching changes are forecast, including a complete overhaul of its curriculum- all with the objective of better reaching the emergent and future generation with new ways of doing ministry. This could be good or it could be a very serious mistake. Here is a description of Fuller Seminary and its collaboration with the same Emergent Church Movement. http://www.ryanbolger.com/?p=136#more-136 |
Last Updated on Wednesday, 03 March 2010 15:57 |
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