The Anglican Communion that once was.
Somewhere tucked away in my attic I have a complete set of Anglican World. This was a flashy magazine published in the 60's that presented the Anglican Communion in a way that made us all feel good about being Anglican. There were lots of pictures, it was very colorful, and stories of what Anglicans were doing all over the world drew us together with a great sense of solidarity. It was all non controversial. The issues which Anglicans are struggling with today did not exist. There were no women priests. There were no gays. It was all about evangelism and growth, especially in the third world. It was also about the remarkable ecumenical encounters of the era. Archbishops Geoffrey Fisher and Michael Ramsey brought the Anglican Communion to the attention of the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church in a way which led to the remarkable theological encounters which caused many of us to dare to hope for a reconciliation between these three great communions of the Christian Church: Roman, Orthodox, and Anglican.
That was then; this is now. In the wake of the Episcopal Church's 2006 General Convention, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has issued a reflection entitled The Anglican Communion: a Church in Crisis? I would say that the answer to his posed question is clearly, "Yes!" In my previous blog I predicted that the Episcopal Church would not be expelled from the Anglican Communion. I still think this is true, but what may have to happen is for the Anglican Communion to change in order to be able to accommodate The Episcopal Church. We have seen the Anglican Communion change in order to accommodate women priests and bishops, why not expect it to change in order to accommodate things like lay presidency at the Eucharist and gay marriage?
Indeed, that is what the Archbishop seems to be anticipating in his reflection. He envisions a communion with two classes of member churches: covenant and associate. Churches that subscribe to the covenant would refrain from doing things that might upset other churches in the communion. Churches that do not subscribe would be associates, and they would have observer status in Anglican Communion meetings like the Lambeth Conference. Presumably there would exist a wide degree of sacramental communion and cooperation between all of the members.
Up until now, the Anglican Communion could be looked at as something like the Catholic Church or the Orthodox Church, and this is the picture one might have gathered from reading Anglican World, but no more. The Archbishop points out that the Anglican Communion is nothing at all like the universal church that the Catholic Church is. Instead it is a very loose affair and it is only now struggling to define the basis of its own unity. As cultural and social changes in society evolve, it becomes more and more difficult to maintain unity in the traditional sense. What is most amazing to me is the Archbishop's own sense of inevitability in this process.
The history of the Church is entirely different from this picture. The Church has always believed that the Holy Spirit would confirm the Church in the truth. Those who dissented from the orthodox teaching of the Catholic church were termed heretics. When the Reformation occurred, those who felt they could not remain in the Catholic Church formed their own organizations. Even though Anglicanism could be classed with this latter group, they strongly affirmed that they held no faith of their own, but only the faith of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. Only the Unitarian movement looks like the kind of picture of unity that the Archbishop of Canterbury is now painting for Anglicanism. Our two great partners in ecumenical dialogue, the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church must be wondering about who they have been talking with. An Anglican Communion as the Archbishop of Canterbury now envisions it could not by any stretch of the imagination be united with Rome or with Orthodoxy. What a sell out!
When I was confirmed in the Episcopal Church, I was assured that the church was catholic, that it had bishops in apostolic succession, and that its doctrine was none other than the faith of the undivided Church. This was a great claim, and even if the Roman Catholics and the Orthodox didn't agree with it, there was still a great basis for making the claim. Now that all has changed.
While I still think the Anglican Communion will continue to hold together in some way, I am very clear about the fact that it is no longer what it once was, and it is rapidly becoming something very different. It may be fine for some, but for anyone concerned about orthodoxy it is unsatisfactory.
C. David Burt
Somewhere tucked away in my attic I have a complete set of Anglican World. This was a flashy magazine published in the 60's that presented the Anglican Communion in a way that made us all feel good about being Anglican. There were lots of pictures, it was very colorful, and stories of what Anglicans were doing all over the world drew us together with a great sense of solidarity. It was all non controversial. The issues which Anglicans are struggling with today did not exist. There were no women priests. There were no gays. It was all about evangelism and growth, especially in the third world. It was also about the remarkable ecumenical encounters of the era. Archbishops Geoffrey Fisher and Michael Ramsey brought the Anglican Communion to the attention of the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church in a way which led to the remarkable theological encounters which caused many of us to dare to hope for a reconciliation between these three great communions of the Christian Church: Roman, Orthodox, and Anglican.
That was then; this is now. In the wake of the Episcopal Church's 2006 General Convention, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has issued a reflection entitled The Anglican Communion: a Church in Crisis? I would say that the answer to his posed question is clearly, "Yes!" In my previous blog I predicted that the Episcopal Church would not be expelled from the Anglican Communion. I still think this is true, but what may have to happen is for the Anglican Communion to change in order to be able to accommodate The Episcopal Church. We have seen the Anglican Communion change in order to accommodate women priests and bishops, why not expect it to change in order to accommodate things like lay presidency at the Eucharist and gay marriage?
Indeed, that is what the Archbishop seems to be anticipating in his reflection. He envisions a communion with two classes of member churches: covenant and associate. Churches that subscribe to the covenant would refrain from doing things that might upset other churches in the communion. Churches that do not subscribe would be associates, and they would have observer status in Anglican Communion meetings like the Lambeth Conference. Presumably there would exist a wide degree of sacramental communion and cooperation between all of the members.
Up until now, the Anglican Communion could be looked at as something like the Catholic Church or the Orthodox Church, and this is the picture one might have gathered from reading Anglican World, but no more. The Archbishop points out that the Anglican Communion is nothing at all like the universal church that the Catholic Church is. Instead it is a very loose affair and it is only now struggling to define the basis of its own unity. As cultural and social changes in society evolve, it becomes more and more difficult to maintain unity in the traditional sense. What is most amazing to me is the Archbishop's own sense of inevitability in this process.
The history of the Church is entirely different from this picture. The Church has always believed that the Holy Spirit would confirm the Church in the truth. Those who dissented from the orthodox teaching of the Catholic church were termed heretics. When the Reformation occurred, those who felt they could not remain in the Catholic Church formed their own organizations. Even though Anglicanism could be classed with this latter group, they strongly affirmed that they held no faith of their own, but only the faith of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. Only the Unitarian movement looks like the kind of picture of unity that the Archbishop of Canterbury is now painting for Anglicanism. Our two great partners in ecumenical dialogue, the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church must be wondering about who they have been talking with. An Anglican Communion as the Archbishop of Canterbury now envisions it could not by any stretch of the imagination be united with Rome or with Orthodoxy. What a sell out!
When I was confirmed in the Episcopal Church, I was assured that the church was catholic, that it had bishops in apostolic succession, and that its doctrine was none other than the faith of the undivided Church. This was a great claim, and even if the Roman Catholics and the Orthodox didn't agree with it, there was still a great basis for making the claim. Now that all has changed.
While I still think the Anglican Communion will continue to hold together in some way, I am very clear about the fact that it is no longer what it once was, and it is rapidly becoming something very different. It may be fine for some, but for anyone concerned about orthodoxy it is unsatisfactory.
C. David Burt
posted by C. David Burt | 5:40 AM
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