Archbishop of Pork

I sometimes wonder if His Grace, the Archbishop of York, lives on a different planet to me. He campaigned for the Church of England to renege on its own teachings by saying marriage was still only for two heterosexuals while also blessing homosexual marriages and civil partnerships. Anglicans in the Developing World are already drawing up plans to leave the communion (‘Global South Anglicans no longer recognize Canterbury’, Anglican Link headline, Feb 21, 2023) and individual Anglicans at home are looking to leave. And his response? The Church is in a "in a better place today" as a result of the vote. He went on:

"I'm really pleased that we now will be able to bless same-sex couples who are faithfully living in a civil marriage or a civil partnership, in church…But at the same time, I'm glad that we believe there is a way forward to hold together in the Church those who in good conscience will not be able to offer such services. It won't be easy but we are committed to it."

That isn’t the way the leaders of the growing and vibrant southern hemisphere Anglican Church sees it:

“[as] the Church of England has departed from the historic faith passed down from the Apostles by this innovation in the liturgies of the Church and her pastoral practice [contravening her own Canon A5iv], she has disqualified herself from leading the Communion as the historic ‘Mother’ Church.

“Indeed, the Church of England has chosen to break communion with those provinces who remain faithful to the historic biblical faith… As much as the GSFA Primates also want to keep the unity of the visible Church and the fabric of the Anglican Communion, our calling to be ‘a holy remnant’ does not allow us be ‘in communion’ with those provinces that have departed from the historic faith and taken the path of false teaching. This breaks our hearts and we pray for the revisionist provinces to return to ‘the faith once delivered’ [Jude 3] and to us.” (Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches)

The Archbishop of Sydney, Kanishka Raffel, said in a statement that the vote rejected the clear teaching of Scripture:

“It is the opposite of loving care for people to deny, distort or downplay the life-giving truth of Scripture on matters of vital importance to understanding ourselves and God’s good plans for our lives, including matters of human sexuality and marriage. We must lament the decision of the Church of England General Synod.”

The Province of York is led by a King Ahab; we need an Archbishop Raffel’s integrity and faithfulness in our cold, bitter north. It is time for God-fearing and faithful members of the Church of England to consider shaking the dust off their feet and walking away; the apostates have taken over the asylum.