Bruce Robison put a note on our ‘Upcoming Events’ page that deserves wider circulation:
2012 is of course in the rear view mirror now, but I wonder if it’s too late to talk about some kind of gathering in the Fall of 2013. VTS would be fine, though there’s an Evangelical seminary in the Anglican tradition just a little downriver from Pittsburgh. Might be an interesting location for Evangelicals in the Episcopal Church to gather.
I second Bruce’s suggestion, and would like to hear what other Evangelicals in the Episcopal Church think. Is there a theme or speaker who would be particularly helpful? Our last gathering was at VTS in 2010, so we are definitely overdue.
Still an Evangelical in the Episcopal Church 
February 2, 2013 at 1:40 pm
I think I can quite safely say on behalf of the Trinity community that we would very much enjoy the opportunity to host the Assembly. Don’t hesitate to contact Justyn Terry or Leander Harding about the possibility.
February 2, 2013 at 2:14 pm
I very much enjoyed the session at VTS and would love to go to Trinity (where I studied one January term) for something similar. I would hope we could avoid or downplay the homosexuality issue, which I’m afraid is in danger of shaping others’ opinions of what we are about, and really was the wedge that split our diocese. Fulcrum, an English evangelical blog, for example, has now come down squarely against the blessing of same sex relationships, etc. –Richardson’s book had much good in it, but part of being evangelical, for him, seemed to be opposition to women bishops in the C of E. I know the homosexuality issue is still open and painful in the US (also women in the ordained clergy, although much less so, it seems, than in the C of E). On the other hand, I thought RIchardson’s advice for working with one’s diocese was excellent, and the way we could follow it here would be to avoid condemnation of TEC and figure out ways to work within it and strengthen it. Trinity can help us in that regard, I think.
February 3, 2013 at 2:43 pm
We had a wonderful study of John Wesley today in Adult Study. It was from the book _Glorious Companions_. and the author did a good job, I thought, of putting together various things I knew about JW in an organized way. I had forgotten, for example, that his Aldersgate experience (“my heart was strangely warmed”) came after the disastrous years in Georgia. Also the influence of the Moravians. (Nice to know TEC is in communion with them). Anyway, my husband asked “why didn’t the C of E just make Wesley a bishop if more ministers were needed”? The answer given by our rector, of course, had to do with the facts of the church hierarchy then, its values, etc. and the conclusion was that “we missed the boat.”
A parallel was drawn with the disapproval of many in the TEC hierarchy of the renewal movement of the 70s and 80s, fear of “enthusiasm,” etc. Is there someone who could do a history of “enthusiasm” (sometimes linked with the emphasis on felt conversion) in Anglicanism? Some of the reasons for the fear have been valid, some not, but it certainly does seem sometimes as though the baby gets thrown out with the bathwater when it’s discouraged in general. And it’s Evangelicals, I think, who have recognized its value–really that it’s essential. Would be good to have ways to explain the Evangelical emphasis to people which would reach them.
February 8, 2013 at 9:55 am
Hi Phillip,
As a board member of the Secker Society (seckersociety.com), I’d wholly support this Assembly.
Jordan Lavender
February 9, 2013 at 11:55 am
I’m using the NIV (as well as other sources) for a study of Leviticus, and just read that Edwin H. Palmer, who “laid most of the plans for the Study Bible,” wrote a book on Calvinism defending its “five points,” TULIP, in which L stands for “limited atonement.” Reference is made to the first five books of Leviticus, prefiguring Christian concepts of Christ’s death in atonement for our sins; the argument is made that since the author of Leviticus refers only to the community of Israel, Christ’s death was only for the “elect.” (Many authors, of course, object to this and give their reasons at length). The NIV has always slightly irritated me (partly because it really isn’t “international”–it was so called because scholars from other parts of the English speaking world contributed, unlike the Jerusalem Bible, which has a broader group of scholars at base), but maybe it’s this particular Calvinist emphasis which somehow shines through. (Maybe I’m being unduly prejudiced). ANYWAY: to what extent do Evangelicals subscribe to TULIP? (Maybe there’s no answer to this question?)
February 9, 2013 at 6:12 pm
John Richardson makes an interesting point on his blog, after referring to the definitions of evangelicalism put forward by Martyn Lloyd-Jones and John Stott: ‘The sheer fact that the question has been asked so often, and that answers by such erudite contributors have apparently failed to settle the issue, forces us to acknowledge that evangelicalism is not a set of commonly-held, narrowly-defined, doctrines’ (http://ugleyvicar.blogspot.com/2009/08/what-is-evangelical.html).
February 10, 2013 at 7:19 am
Philip’s observation is helpful. I’ve long concluded that the ‘evangelistic’ impulse in evangelicalism has prompted the movement over its long history to be rather accommodating to contemporary culture. This would explain some of its diffuseness and diversity. Even so, we can identify what Lloyd-Jones and Stott recognize as a kind of classic definition that has distinct golden ages and threads. This discrete set of theological and practical convictions is sufficiently potent that it is periodically rediscovered, and always with generative (and regenerative!) value to the Church. I am comfortable with viewing the subject as both a popular movement and a recognizable theological trajectory stemming from English Puritanism and, before that, the English Reformers.
February 9, 2013 at 6:32 pm
Thanks–that is a relief.
February 10, 2013 at 8:27 am
The relief I expressed in #6 above had to do with the issue not being settled, there being both Arminian (Wesleyan) and Calvinist threads in Evangelicalism. Much that the English Puritans and Reformers did was very helpful to the church, gave it new life, but doctrines such as Limited Atonement have too much scripture that contradicts it to be convincing (despite Calvinists’ vigorous arguments to the contrary) and lead to despair. If TULIP is the “golden thread” in what it means to be Evangelical, and if the contributions of Anglo-Catholicism are treated as opposites rather than complements in our faith, I think we are not really building up the church, but dividing it in a way that contradicts the Gospel. I hope I misunderstand what Phil Harrold is saying above.
February 11, 2013 at 3:21 pm
Celindascott– I did not mean to take issue with your comments, nor was I addressing the issue of how Reformed and Anglo-Catholic theologies relate in Anglican history. I was focused more on Philip Wainwright’s comments on Richardson concerning how evangelicalism is defined. Apologies if I contributed to any confusion there.
February 17, 2013 at 5:11 pm
Well so far I’d say that there doesn’t seem to be enough support for the idea of another evangelical gathering to justify the work involved in organising one. Perhaps it would be possible to invite an Evangelical to speak on some subject that will be of interest even to those who don’t think of themselves as evangelical, and those Evangelicals who attend can have a ‘fringe’ event. Something of the sort may well come out of the study of evangelism that will begin in Pittsburgh on the 26th (https://barnabasproject.wordpress.com/2013/01/15/pittsburgh-puts-evangelism-back-on-the-agenda/). Watch this space.
February 17, 2013 at 8:25 pm
I think if would be of great interest, especially to those of us who think of ourselves as being involved in “evangelical” lay ministries, although we don’t see ourselves as being in opposition to anglo-catholics. I’m thinking of people who have been and are active in Cursillo (evangelism is the number one purpose: make a friend, have a friend, and bring a friend to Christ), Daughters of the King (our goals are prayer, service, and evangelism), and the Anglican Fellowship of Prayer, all of which are active in this diocese.