 | Sydney Anglicans: Encyclopedia II - Sydney Anglicans - Evangelical Distinctives
Sydney Anglicans - Evangelical Distinctives
Because of Sydney's commitment to Evangelical theology and practice, many non-Evangelical Anglicans within the diocese have felt threatened and isolated. These include not only churches that are committed to an Anglo-Catholic style of liturgical practice and more theologically liberal understandings of the Bible but also those churches which, while committed to Evangelical theology, continue to maintain robed priests, traditionally structured services and traditional hymns.
Sydney's relationship with other Australian Anglican Dioceses has always been problematic. The result of this has been a passive antagonism towards Sydney and a reluctance to allow Sydney-trained Priests into their own dioceses. This antagonism has been reciprocated by Sydney's own hard-line attitude towards any non-evangelical priest who wants to minister in Sydney.
Perhaps the most visible difference between Sydney and other Anglican dioceses has been its unwillingness to allow the ordination of women to the priesthood. This issue is an indicator of Sydney's difference in ecclesiology and theology to other Anglican dioceses. For many Anglicans outside Evangelical churches, the central act of worship is the celebration of the Eucharist. The Eucharist can only be presided over by an authorised priest. For many of those who, throughout the Anglican Communion, have opposed the ordination of women, the gender of the priest who presided at the Eucharist has been a major issue. But in The Sydney Diocese the gender of the person who presides at the Eucharist is of less significance. The matter is much more one of headship in the church and in the preaching and teaching which is central to Evangelical ministry.
In Sydney, Calvinist and Reformed theology places a much lower emphasis upon the Eucharist, which is celebrated far less often during church services than in other dioceses. Moreover, the whole system of Catholic order is in the process of being questioned within the Sydney diocese, with the three-fold order of Deacons, Priests and Bishops being largely ignored in practice. Because of this, Lay presidency is being seriously considered, whereby the Lord's Supper (an evangelical term for the Eucharist) could be celebrated by Deacons and even unordained church members.
The reason for Sydney's strong opposition towards the ordination of women is based mainly upon the teachings of The Apostle Paul in respect to the understanding of the Greek word kephale (κεφαλη) mentioned in Ephesians 5:23, as well as the prohibition given to female teachers in 1 Timothy 2:11. Sydney's continued stand on this issue has been a source of bitterness for a significant minority within the diocese, as well as a major cause of enmity between Sydney and the diocese in Melbourne. In the latter case, the Sydney Diocese attempted by litigation to prevent the diocese of Melbourne from ordaining women as priests, arguing that Melbourne was an "off-shoot church".
Sydney Anglicans have often been described as fundamentalist and sect-like by their opponents, but these terms are unhelpful in describing the differences. Fundamentalism, while taking the Bible at face value, has always been anti-intellectual. By contrast, Sydney Anglicans are encouraged to study and use their intellects so long as they continue to hold on to the central truths of the evangelical faith. Moore Theological College, the theological seminary for Sydney Anglicans, is staffed by evangelical academics who have completed post-graduate work at Oxford University, Cambridge University, Yale and Princeton among others.
Sydney Anglicans have also successfully resisted the influence of the charismatic and Pentecostal movements. Because evangelicals take the Bible, rather than personal experience, as the sole authority for faith and belief, charismatic and Pentecostal Christians have not always felt welcome within the church.
Other related archives1 Timothy 2:11, 1788, 2004, 20th century, Anglican Church of Australia, Anglicanism, Anglo-Catholic, Anglo-Catholicism, Archbishop, Batemans Bay, Bible, Biblical Theology, Billy Graham, Calvinism, Calvinist, Cambridge University, Cathedral, Catholic, Christians, Cursillo, Dean, Diocese, Ephesians 5:23, Eucharist, Evangelical, Evangelism, Evangelist, Family First, Focus on the Family, Fundamentalism, Hawkesbury River, Ireland, Jews, John Chapman, John Shelby Spong, John Stott, Lay presidency, Lithgow, Ministry Training Strategy, Modernism, Moore Theological College, New York, Oxford University, Pentecostal, Peter Jensen, Phillip Jensen, Princeton, Rector, Reformed, Royal Commission into the New South Wales Police Service, St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney, Sydney, Sydney Missionary and Bible College, Sydney Morning Herald, TC Hammond, The Apostle Paul, University of New South Wales, Wollongong, Yale, abortion, bishops, chaplain, charismatic, church planting, conservative, doctrine, ecclesiology, euthanasia, expository preaching, faith, fundamentalist, gospel, homosexuality, iconoclastic, liturgical, low church, missions, neoliberalism, nepotism, preacher, priests, radical, sect, secular, seminary, sermons, sexual abuse, theology
 Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Evangelical Distinctives", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki |
