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Dr Jim Packer's inhibition

14/03/2008 16:30:00


From our news item in the paper this week Dr Jim Packer faces inhibition:

THE Evangelical theologian the Revd Dr Jim Packer has been issued with a formal notice removing his right to officiate in the Anglican Church of Canada.

Dr Packer, the 81-year-old British-born author of Knowing God, is Professor of Theology at Regent College in Vancouver, and a former Associate Principal of Trinity College in Bristol.

The notice relates to his position as an honorary assistant curate at St John’s, Shaughnessy, in Vancouver, in the diocese of New Westminster.

St John’s voted last month to leave the diocese and place itself under the oversight of the Presiding Bishop of the Southern Cone, the Most Revd Greg Venables. At issue is New Westminster’s decision to allow same-sex blessings.

Dr Jim Packer © not advert
Scholarly: Dr Jim Packer

The Revd Rod Thomas, Chairman of Reform, has written to the Church Times saying that the action by the Bishop of New Westminster has created "a huge sense of outrage across the Communion and especially among Evangelicals in the Church of England".

There is a recent series of videos on YouTube which give an idea as to Dr Jim Packer's views. The username of the videographer is wallyjo40 on whose page you can find the whole series. There are 10 videos lasting over an hour in all (so don't watch them all or you'll never get anything done). The first five involve a man with a flipchart - the interviews with Dr Packer start in video 6.

 


"Dr Packer said New Westminster’s decision to allow same-sex blessings was “a denial of something that’s integral to the Christian gospel. . .""

Ok, so not much of a New Testament scholar then?

(honestly! what guff)

Justin Lewis-Anthony | 14/03/2008 17:02:31

I'm intrigued that Rod Thomas is so upset that parishes may find paying for the Lambeth jaunt costly. If he was bothered about the difficulty of fundraising in smaller or poorer parishes maybe his organisation wouldn't be packed with churches which refuse to pay anything towards diocesan structures at all on the grounds that some other church in the deanery might not think girls are icky etc.

Jez Williams | 15/03/2008 11:24:40



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