Anglican Communion: an imminent parting of the ways?

Will the Anglican Communion see an imminent parting of the ways? British newspapers have, on more than one occasion in the last few weeks, predicted that the worldwide Anglican Communion is moving closer to a break-up.

The Telegraph (London) said in early March that Anglicanism was edging ‘closer to disintegration’. This came in the context of their report of the Canadian General Synod announcement that their General Synod, to meet in Ontario next month, would debate a motion that affirmed there was no bar to Canadian dioceses authorising the blessing of ‘committed same-sex unions’.

While Canadian Anglican spokesmen said this motion, if passed, would merely recognise the status quo in their Church, conservative Anglican leaders from other provinces have again raised their voices in protest. Archbishop Gregory Venables, Primate of the Southern Cone (South America) said this Canadian move was another symptom of the schism that already exists in Anglicanism.

Referring to the reporting from the Archbishop of Canterbury’s specially appointed Lambeth Commission, Archbishop Venables said, “It is clear that the irreconcilable contradictions in … Anglicanism can no longer be disguised by the mask of inclusive language and jolly photo-calls.”

Close to the Canadian announcement last month, the Lambeth Commission (set up by the Archbishop of Canterbury after the special Primates’ Meeting in London last October) was meeting in Canterbury. This was followed almost immediately by the meeting of the Joint Standing Committee of the Primates’ Meeting and the Anglican Consultative Council.

Since Bishop Frank Griswold, Presiding Bishop of ECUSA was to be present at the Joint Standing Committee, the Nigerian Primate, Archbishop Peter Akinola refused to attend. He was also incensed at the presence of another ECUSA clergyman who had voted for the acceptance of Gene Robinson as a bishop in New Hampshire.

Under the heading ‘Primate’s snub points to Communion split’ The Church of England newspaper stated, “Archbishop Akinola’s absence reinforces the fact that the Anglican Communion has effectively broken up, in spite of the efforts of the Lambeth Commission, which has until September to come up with some sort of workable compromise to hold things together.” Archbishop Akinola is now an authoritative and persuasive Anglican voice on the African continent. While Primate of the Anglican Communion’s largest and fastest growing Province, he is also chairman of the Council of African Provinces in Africa. The General Secretary of the Church of Nigeria issued a statement on the Archbishop’s behalf that said, “Archbishop Akinola is baffled that the Anglican Communion Office continues to act as if what ECUSA did does not really matter.”

This seems to be reaffirmed by the invitation to presiding Bishop Griswold from ECUSA to preside at a Communion service in Canterbury Cathedral where the international Anglican committees were meeting. The executive committee of the group Anglican Mainstream have written to the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Dean of Canterbury protesting at this invitation. They also complained about the immediate publicity given to this service by the Anglican Communion News Service. They say, “a celebration of the Holy Communion should be an expression of the unity we are privileged to enjoy around the Lord’s table. It should not be used as a propaganda tool in church politics”. Adding further fuel to the talk of schism, the bishops of the Province of Central Africa (including Botswana, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe) issued a statement claiming that, by consecrating a practising gay bishop the American church had broken communion with them. Their Primate, Archbishop Bernard Malango of Malawi is a member of the Lambeth Commission.

After the meeting of his bishops in Gaborone, Archbishop Malango said that the ECUSA consecration “has inflicted a desperately grave wound to the church and the communion.” He also is reported as saying that “ECUSA has ignored the clear voice of God contained in the Bible”.

It is no wonder that Archbishop Rowan Williams told the UK Press Association on the first anniversary of his move to Canterbury in late February that it had been a year of hope and pain.

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FRiend, I remember that last year you predicted that things would get really serious around the next Easter time. You have a bad habit of being right....:)

Good Friday was "really serious." This stuff is just another instance of the vanities in Ecclesiastes.

That being said, I think the revisionists are really hurting themselves right now. Frank Griswold stuck his thumb in the Commision's eye with his smarmy letter to Bp. Eames, and now the Canadians are basically telling the Commission that it doesn't matter what they do.

I'm fairly certain, BTW, that the Eames Commission is interested in the sound advice and information coming from the orthodox side, whereas the revisionists are apparently in the mode of alternately schmoozing and body-slamming.

I think what will come of that, if we can be patient, is a rather aggressive strategy against the revisionists. Hard to say what will actually come of it, but it may offer a way to reclaim the church from within.

r9etb wrote: "rank Griswold stuck his thumb in the Commision's eye with his smarmy letter to Bp. Eames, and now the Canadians are basically telling the Commission that it doesn't matter what they do."

That's an important observation in and of itself. Both rowan the fuzzy and abp eames are left of center, but neither one of them takes kindly to the stuff they're getting from ecusa, and parts of Canada. ...neither will the Commission, for that matter. While I disagree with r9etb on the possibility of reforming ecusa from within (er, well short of God smiting some of the leadership), I do believe that the condescension demonstrated in frank the heretic's letter and some of the stuff coming from Canada make it fairly clear that there will be no going back to the former status quo.

While I disagree with r9etb on the possibility of reforming ecusa from within

Let's be clear on this, because it's important. I don't think that ECUSA is capable of cleaning up its own house. If the ECUSA is going to survive, and remain part of the Anglican Communion, the cleaning up will have to be initiated and enforced from outside, and it will have to remove the authority of the apostates in our midst.

Where I think our disagreement lies is in the timing and methods by which that outside intervention will take place. My side of our recent disagreement (over the events in Ohio) was that the actions were premature, and poorly considered. They did not help matters at all, but rather represented a case of conservatives sticking their thumbs in the Commission's eye by trying to force the issue.

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