| Last updated at 8:02 AM on 18/11/07 |
-RH.jpg)
|
Retired anglican bishop Don Harvey is leading a conservative movement within the church that opposes a rising “liberal agenda,” including the blessing of same-sex marriages.
— Photo by Rhonda Hayward/The Telegram |
|
|
Anglican angst 
Retired Newfoundland bishop drawing attentionover criticism of church
PAUL BANKS
The Telegram
Retired bishop Don Harvey agrees his religious convictions are stronger than they’ve ever been. In fact, Harvey says they’re so strong he’s prepared to lead some Canadian Anglicans away from the national church, in which he’s worshipped and served as a clerical leader for decades, if it continues to steer away from the gospel.
Harvey, who retired as the bishop for the Anglican Diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador (Avalon and Labrador) three years ago, is a well-known orthodox Anglican senior in St. John’s who has been the subject of debate by active bishops, some concerned over his activities within the Anglican community.
In particular, he’s been vocal over the issue of same-sex union blessings in the church. In 2002, the Diocese of New Westminster in B.C. tacitly condoned the ceremonies with its parishes. Meanwhile, the national hierarchy voted that such blessings did not conflict with doctrines of the church.
Harvey, who was ordained 44 years ago, insists the same-sex issue debate was only a minor factor in his decision to officially retire as a bishop, and that it is only one of many concerns he has with the direction of the Anglican Church of Canada.
“It had something to do with it, … (but) I had accomplished most of what I could do,” he told The Telegram. “I sensed that the Anglican Church of Canada was going in a direction I didn’t like and that it would be more feasible to work against that direction from without than being part of the management within.”
Harvey, who served as bishop for 13 years, speaks of an overall “liberal agenda” within the church, and many being distressed over it.
He said he takes issue with new interpretations of the scriptures, and other directions of the church, but it’s the same-sex debate which has drawn the most attention and led many to feel disenchanted.
“(It’s) a general tendency to follow the dictates of the culture, rather than get the culture to follow the dictates of the scripture,” remarked Harvey, 68. “To what degree can you live with it? It’s a real dilemma at the time, and I’m afraid it’s going to be very, very messy before it’s resolved.
“If the same-sex issue was satisfactorily resolved tomorrow to all parties, which is quite unlikely, we would still have a major problem on our hands. … I do not like what some of the leaders … are now doing to (the church). They are diluting that faith, and doing their best to make it acceptable to a society, that, in the long run, won’t appreciate it anyway.”
Since his retirement, Harvey has served as the chairman and moderator of the Anglican Network in Canada, a group of Anglicans who describe themselves as “essentials” and say they are devoted to orthodoxy. In that role, he has travelled the country, and abroad, offering those Anglicans encouragement and what he calls an alternative if it reaches the stage where they can no longer in good conscience remain members of the national church.
“The network says the church has already crossed the line in the sand, and they either repent and reverse some of the decisions they’ve made or we will find it difficult to be able to follow them where they seem to be leading.
“If (that) means separating from the Anglican Church of Canada, we will go with the communion of the world.”
Split could come
Harvey added the network will unveil what he calls its “lifeboat” in an announcement in Burlington, Ont., this Thursday. While he wouldn’t get into details about what that means, he suggested it could be a historic moment.
It’s no coincidence that this weekend Canadian Anglican bishops have converged in the same city for their semi-annual meeting of the Council of General Synods, at which Harvey expects to be publicly admonished for his endeavours.
While he admits it’s semantics, he doesn’t consider what might happen as a breakaway, arguing it’s the national church that is deviating from the tenets of Anglicism, which to him and others is unacceptable.
“If the church goes otherwise, we’re not prepared to follow,” Harvey said bluntly. “If (the church) does not correct itself, that lifeboat can be launched and be a place where people can remain Anglican and still disassociate from the national church.
“We are retaining what was always there. It’s the leadership that’s doing any breaking away, … and trying to change standards. We are not leaving anything. We are staying with the Anglican church as we have known it.”
Earlier this month, some bishops expressed concern to the Anglican Journal, an independent national newspaper covering the Anglican Church of Canada, about Harvey.
They accused him of participating in irregular consecrations of conservative bishops for the U.S. and breaking other protocols as a retired bishop.
One bishop said he was frustrated with Harvey, and the church needed to deal with the potential of a schism.
The Telegram was unable to contact some of those bishops. The spokesperson for Bishop Michael Ingham, who presides over the New Westminster diocese, said Ingham was willing to speak on the issue, but The Telegram didn’t get a call from him.
Acted responsibly
Harvey insists he hasn’t done anything in any diocese without the permission of the bishop.
“I haven’t broken the letter of the law, though some accuse me of breaking the spirit of the law,” he said. “If that makes me a schismatic ... a schism has to happen on both ends.
“If (Ingham) was obeying the constitutions of the Anglican Church of Canada, not to mention scripture and worldwide faith, I could go and do what any retired person is supposed to do, and relax. It’s because he has unilaterally broken the official stand of the Anglican Church of Canada that it became necessary for people like me to rise up and protest.”
Meanwhile, Harvey said he feels it’s unfortunate that he’s had to go this far.
“I’m very saddened. Every day I feel saddened. I’m not at all happy about it. My enemies say I’m thriving on it — ‘Don Harvey is bringing glory on himself.’ I’m doing it because I feel called to do it.”
pbanks@thetelegram.com
|
