Contending Anglican

Twice in the past six months, prominent Anglican theologians have written articles questioning the formularies of Global South entities: Gafcon and the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GFSA). Both…

Observing from across the Atlantic as the “Living in Love and Faith” process slouches toward its predetermined destination – the authorization of same-sex blessings (and later marriage) – I happened…

I began this essay one day after the announcement of the “Kigali Commitment,” the communiqué of the fourth Global Anglican Future Conference in Kigali, Rwanda. Many Anglicans are rejoicing in…

by the Rev. Dr. Stephen Noll For an onlne Commentary on the Fourteen Theses, see here. For a downloadable PDF, see here. I was glad when they said to me,…

Text and Commentary by the Rev. Dr. Stephen Noll For a downloadable PDF copy of this essay, click here. For the Fourteen Theses alone, see here. I was glad when…

The Rev. Dr. Stephen Noll I have been reading postings from respected theologians in the Church of England arguing that the addition of “clause (g)” to the General Synod Resolution…

I happen to like three-way light bulbs. They make it possible to have background light for casual conversations and bright light for reading at night. Unfortunately the bulbs and sockets…

Lambeth 1998 was last Conference to attempt to resolve anything of substance as a council of bishops.

As I see it, this latest move is hypocrisy squared: shameful and shameless.

General Synod Questions November 2020 (HT: Anglican Mainstream) A Question about Bishop Bill Love Mrs Sarah Finch (London) to ask the Chair of the House of Bishops: Q45 Has the…

Any “Commonwealth” model will be weak tea and not worthy of the name “Communion,” because ultimately fellowship in Christ must be based on the mighty Truth of the Gospel (Galatians…

I’ll utter another prophecy: the time will come when the 1986 definition will be restored and the transformed definition will be as ludicrous as the Emperor’s New Clothes. How many…

The Archbishops’ apology presages a future time when bubbly babble about inclusivity and diversity will not suffice and will be replaced by the grim gruel of political correctness.

In the previous post, I described the recent Pastoral Statement on Marriage of the Church of England House of Bishops of the Church of England as the sound of one…

In December 2019, the House of Bishops of the Church of England published a “Pastoral Statement” regarding same-sex and opposite-sex civil partnerships. Many conservatives rejoiced, and many progressives snarled, at…

Preface: A Reply to the Global South Anglicans In a recent “Anglican Perspectives” video, Canon Phil Ashey of the American Anglican Council announces an “historic” development: the publication of a…

In September 2019, Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, shared some reflections with clergy and laity in the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles on the state of the Anglican…

I received the following comment on my Contending Anglican blog from a clergyman in the Church of England with regard to my post on Jerusalem Declaration clause 13. I am…

“Walking together” as proposed by the Bishop Smooth-it-away's of the Anglican Church of Canada and the Anglican Communion is a deadly ruse. Disciples of Jesus will stick to the hard…

The paradigm of disagreement, as he poses it, is a matter of moral equivalence. “Some say this, some say that.” “Some say God made sex for marriage, some say love…

This past week I received an email and video from Archbishops Ben Kwashi and Foley Beach, commending the observance of “Gafcon Sunday” on 30 June. I hope many bishops and…

At the end of April (2019) two church bodies met, the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC-17) in Hong Kong and the Gafcon Primates in Sydney. The Gafcon Primates published a Communiqué…

As I see it, the question “Was 2008 the last Lambeth Conference?” misses the target. The last authoritative council of Anglican bishops worldwide occurred in 1998. That was not so…

BREAKING NEWS (26 February 2019). The United Methodist General Conference voted by a 55% to 45% margin to maintain its stance that “the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.”…

On 12 February, Dr. Ephraim Radner sought to “clean up the playing field” with “Six Resolutions” for Lambeth” in 2020. As one who has written extensively on the state of…

So let’s remember that the Lambeth Conference was not conceived as a garden party or a photo op but rather as a solemn assembly of bishops who have vowed to…

I doubt the final Living in Love and Faith Report will be lively, lovely, or faithful. I suspect it may function more like the billboard in Ogden Nash’s "Song of…

When all is said and done, why don’t the Communion Partner bishops simply agree to officiate the same-sex services themselves.

Rest assured, friends, Nicholas Okoh, like Peter Akinola before him and Ben Kwashi after him, are girded with the whole armor of God. I am not sure how many other…

I can hardly imagine what it might mean to walk away not only from the property but the heritage of a thousand-year-old parish church. And if there comes a genuine…

Following Gafcon 2018, Fulcrum – “Renewing the Evangelical Centre” – published a “Response to GAFCON 2018” to the Conference and its “Letter to the Churches.” In a spirit of theological…

The Gafcon movement is standing firm on the Gospel side of the Rubicon and saying “No, we won’t go with you.” This obstinacy, especially in light of Gafcon 2018, is…

And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see an almond (Heb. shaqed) branch.” 12 Then the LORD said…

“What’s in a name?” Shakespeare’s doubting Juliet asks. So why title a book “The Global Anglican Communion” when I could have chosen otherwise? Juliet is tragically mistaken – names matter…

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the photo of the Toronto “marriage” says it all. Anyone who is not appalled at the idea of a bishop of…

Recently, Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was asked whether he was warning people away from this year’s Global Anglican Future Conference (Gafcon) in Jerusalem. His reply was: “where Gafcon…

Here is a tale that you can only appreciate if you are old enough to remember the days when cars had a bench front seat. It goes like this: a…

By pressing the “Track Changes” button, I can strike through anything and then at my leisure [delete it] altogether. And that is what the Episcopal Church USA (TEC) is doing…

Two hallowed principles lie behind my question. The first is the principle that praying shapes believing (lex orandi lex credendi). Here is an example of this principle. When we pray…

The Episcopal Church USA (TEC) is hoping for a welcome response to its new doctrine and practice of same-sex marriage. The reply from England is, however, neither thumbs-up nor thumbs-down…

What does Justin Welby think about same-sex marriage? The answer seems to be, in the words of Herman Melville’s fictional character Bartleby the Scrivener: “I would prefer not to…”

There is a riddle at the heart of Martin Luther’s hymn “A Mighty Fortress.” The hymn poses a spiritual battle between God and the Devil (the Deceiver): The Prince of…

The year 1998 was the last time the Lambeth Conference spoke plainly. That it did so was something of a miracle. The Communion Establishment had carefully prepared an agenda whereby…

This is a blog about Anglicanism, the historic witness of Christian faith which took its distinctive form at the English Reformation and which has now spread worldwide to become Global…

By the Rt. Rev. John H. Rodgers, Jr. Note from the Rev. Dr. Stephen Noll: On November 23, 2022, my colleague and dear friend John Rodgers died at age 92.…

This Statement was authorized by the Council of African Provinces in Africa (CAPA). Its drafters are the Most Rev. Nicholas Dike Okoh, Bishop of Asaba and Archbishop of the ecclesiastical…

The Rev. Dr. Stephen Noll NOTE: I attended my second ever (and last ever) General Convention in Minneapolis and wrote this as a farewell reflection on leaving for Uganda in…

Is it permissible in the will of God for two persons to enter into a sexual relationship outside the bond of Holy Matrimony? What is the official position (de jure)…

NOTE: I wrote this essay in 1998 just prior to the Lambeth Conference and it was published in a booklet titled The Handwriting on the Wall: A Plea to the…

This essay is a revised version of a paper read at the “Anglican Life and Witness” conference in Dallas, Texas, on September 23, 1997. It also appears in Transformation (Winter…