Lord Carey clarifies his reference to Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans
Letter to the Church of England Newspaper October 7
Sir,
We were very surprised to read the following sentence in the article by George Carey in the CEN (Oct 30): “Many evangelicals are now hiving off to the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans and refusing to have anything to do with the rest of the church.”
We do not know the evidence on which this observation is based. The Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans was formed by bishops, clergy and people representing 40 million Anglicans at Jerusalem in June 2008. It represents an alliance of orthodox Anglicans, both evangelical and Anglo- Catholic and a coming together of these traditions as has not been seen for many years. This alliance was repeated in the London launch of FCA-UK and Ireland on July 6. FCA (UK and Ireland) is accountable to the Primates Council of the FCA and thus is seeking to keep good order.
Of course members of the Fellowship have grave concerns about the decisions and direction of TEC in the USA and its allies and suppor ters in the UK, and find it hard to recognise in them “the faith once delivered to the saints.” Lord Carey himself has voiced the same concerns. The perception may be that evangelicals do not want to talk to liberals. This is not true. We are ready and willing provided the nature of our conversation is theological. We see that unlike even the recent past many liberals do not take theology seriously and privilege cultural and political ideas and arguments over biblical/theological ones.
We have said ‘We are standing and staying’ on many occasions. What else needs to be done to show our commitment to the Anglican Communion and the historic Anglican tradition?
The Rev Paul Perkin (Chair)
Canon Dr Chris Sugden (Secretary)
Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (UK and Ireland)
Editor’s note: Lord Carey wanted to clarify his remarks made about FCA in his October 30 article. “I’m sorry that I described the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans as refusing to have anything to do with the rest of the Church. As people know, I have been supportive of the launch of this organisation because of its commitment for traditional and biblical values in the Anglican Communion. However, I have also pointed out that it needs to balance this emphasis on truth and doctrine with a concern for the unity of the Church. I hope that this continues to be a main priority of its leadership.”
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