From The Right Rev Stuart Lawson, Sale, Anglican Episcopal Church International:
ARCHDEACON Macleod-Miller’s letter rather reminded me of the famous quote attributed to Benjamin Disraeli, “There are three kinds of lies; lies, damned lies, and statistics” and his letter falls neatly into the third category as he is almost correct when he states that there are only two ministers in the AECI.
However, he neglects to state that that is only in Australia.
Our denomination has a far wider following throughout the world, with some 200 ministers and pastors.
And in addition, the AECI is also part of the wider Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (FCA), which currently provides an umbrella organisation for about 250 dioceses throughout the world.
What I can’t understand is why he is concerned that numbers count — maybe he believes that might is right?
The reality is this.
On one hand, we have an increasingly secular, mainstream Anglicanism that sees its main function as supporting worldly values, rather than advocating Christian values.
And of course, an increasingly secularwestern society which no longer derives its public morality from the Judeo-Christian tradition, but rather from an obligation to protect the individualistic expression of self.
On the other hand, we have a renewed Biblical Anglicanism, in which evangelicals, Anglo-Catholics and charismatics are united by a common belief in the power of the Gospel to forgive our sins, reconciling us to God through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ so as to unite us to him and to fellow Christians now and forever.
This gains its formal expression through the Jerusalem Statement — a basic statement of Christian values which is at the core of FCA membership.
I would invite the Mr Macleod-Miller to read that document and be prepared to stand up and agree with it.
I do, and will continue my outrage at those church leaders who would want to change the very basis of our faith.
