Archive for the 'Articles' Category
Written by: Rev. Dr. Philip Turner
Friday, April 15th, 2011
For many years I studied in England or worked within the British sphere of influence; and during that time I learned to look forward to Alastair Cooke’s, “Letter from America.” I enjoyed his broadcasts immensely because of their positive presentation of American life. I was surrounded by the British media that portrayed America as a cautionary tale warning the British people that, if they were not careful, they might become like their American cousins. A positive word about my “homeland” provided a welcome antidote to compliments from my English friends that were in truth insults. “You’re so nice,” they would say. “You don’t seem like an American at all”
I am tempted to entitle this essay also “A Letter from America.” This time, however, the letter would comment on how these fears have been realized. From afar, Britons look increasingly like their American cousins, and the change in appearance has not been for the better. How is this so? The difference in English usage remains and increases daily. Public manners remain (marginally) more civil in England, and the English Bobby still provides a welcome alternative to “The Wire.”
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April 15 2011 | Articles
Written by: The Anglican Communion Institute, Inc.
Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011
In our previous papers we have shown that the new Title IV is unconstitutional in two key respects: it usurps the exclusive constitutional authority given to dioceses for the trial of priests and deacons and it gives the Presiding Bishop unprecedented and unconstitutional authority over diocesan bishops. These conclusions continue to be disputed, both publicly and privately, by those primarily responsible for drafting the revised Title IV even as these issues are under review by others throughout the church. Given the purposes of our previous papers, we have presented only the highlights of the extensive historical analysis that supports our conclusions. In light of the continued defense of the constitutionality of these revisions, however, we think it is important to present the full analysis. We begin with this review of the historical background of Article IX of the Constitution, the article that commits clergy discipline to the exclusive authority of the dioceses. We submit that this review demonstrates conclusively that Title IV as enacted is unconstitutional.
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March 23 2011 | Articles
Written by: The Anglican Communion Institute, Inc.
Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011
In September 2010, we published an article demonstrating that the new Title IV disciplinary canons enacted at the last General Convention are unconstitutional and unwise: unconstitutional because they infringe on the exclusive rights of dioceses to institute courts for the discipline of clergy and give the Presiding Bishop metropolitical authority over other bishops; and unwise because they deny basic due process rights to diocesan clergy.1 Now, five months after our article was published, three participants on the task force that drafted the new title have published a paper responding to our analysis.2 Our critics address only the constitutional questions in the two parts of their paper. No response is offered to our concerns about the abrogation of basic due process rights in the new canons.3 Those concerns remain, but this reply addresses only the arguments made by our critics.
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February 23 2011 | Articles
Written by: Rev. Dr. Philip Turner
Saturday, February 19th, 2011
The Meeting of the Primates of the Anglican Communion just concluded in Dublin might well mark the breakdown and consequent breakup of what has been the Anglican Communion. Up to a dozen Primates who come from the most populous areas of the Anglican Communion refused to attend. They did so because the Archbishop of Canterbury, ignoring his pledge that there would be “consequences” resulting from the actions of The Episcopal Church (TEC), insisted nonetheless on inviting its Presiding Bishop. From an ecclesiological perspective, the meeting itself proved vacuous, producing little more than points gathered on newsprint by a facilitor. If Dublin is linked with the obvious failure of both the last Lambeth Conference and the last meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council, one is forced to conclude that none of the supposed “Instruments of Communion” have been able to address the divisions in the Communion in a satisfactory manner. This series of failures has left the Anglican Communion with no effective means to sustain unity among its autonomous provinces.
Sadly, as things now stand, the Archbishop of Canterbury has lost his ability to serve as an effective symbol and focus for the unity of Anglicans. In effect, he now presides over a vastly reduced grouping of Provinces dominated by native English speakers who represent the liberal edge of what is a dominantly conservative body of churches. It is simply the case that the Provinces that contain the majority of the world’s Anglicans do not feel that they are adequately represented and respected in the councils of the church. They have chosen not to participate until this situation is remedied.
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February 19 2011 | Articles
Written by: Rev. Dr. Philip Turner
Wednesday, February 9th, 2011
Paul Bagshaw has published an essay entitled “End Game” that requires a response. (http://notthesamestream.blogspot.com/2011/02/end-game.html) Citing a report by George Conger, he agrees that we are at the “end of the Communion we once thought we knew;” and he has provided a very credible sketch of what Anglicanism will look like going forward. What he has not done is point out what a disaster this ending and this future are. Indeed, there is something almost surreal about his failure to make clear the true import of the likely course of events he presents. Hence the title of this response “It’s Time to Get Real.” The purpose behind this title is to present the full extent of the disaster and the bleak prospects for the future signaled by this end.
First, however, in what sense are we, as Bagshaw rightly says, at an end? Among other signs of the end Bagshaw lists these changes that follow from the Dublin meeting.
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February 09 2011 | Articles
Written by: The Anglican Communion Institute, Inc.
Friday, February 4th, 2011
Much has already been written about the Primates’ Meeting that concluded last Sunday. From our perspective, the most important evaluation of this gathering is one that assesses its place in the ecclesiology of the Anglican Communion that has been developed with considerable effort, thought and consensus over the last century. That ecclesiology can be summarized as defining the Anglican Communion as a communion of autonomous churches bound together by a common faith—in the words of TEC’s constitution, the “historic faith and order as set forth in the Book of Common Prayer”—and linked institutionally by four “Instruments of Communion” that, in the words of the Covenant, “assist in the discernment, articulation and exercise of our shared faith and common life and mission.” Sadly, the Dublin meeting constituted a repudiation of this well developed Communion ecclesiology.
First, as we and others have already noted, the Dublin meeting represented only a small fraction of the Communion’s active members. Thus, from the very outset it lacked one of the defining criteria of a Communion Instrument, the ability to function as a body that “interprets and articulates the common faith of the Church’s members (consensus fidelium)”. (Covenant 3.1.4.) Last week, the consensus fidelium was to be found elsewhere with those who did not attend.
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February 04 2011 | Articles
Written by: The Anglican Communion Institute, Inc.
Wednesday, January 26th, 2011
It has been reported that on two occasions Primates of the Global South advised the Archbishop of Canterbury that they would not attend the current Primates’ Meeting if the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church were present. Of the fourteen Primates who made this representation, it appears that only one will be attending any part of the meeting. In this light, the defensive explanations of why Primates are not attending offered by the Secretary General and the Communion Office (e.g. visa problems, diary conflicts, etc.) must raise eyebrows. Why should we think that those who publicly stated two months ago why they were not planning to attend now really wanted to come, but forgot they had another appointment?
A little candor by those in attendance would be nice: there is a problem, and it is a major problem. Are the Primates who have gathered in Dublin facing it, or are they still pretending that everybody has “moved beyond” the resolute disrespect of TEC and The Anglican Church of Canada towards their previous commitments and the commitments of the Communion at large?
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January 26 2011 | Articles
Written by: Rev. Dr. Andrew Goddard
Wednesday, January 26th, 2011
Reflecting on Fulcrum’s call not to invite the Presiding Bishop to the Primates’ Meeting in Ireland, the consequences of inviting her are highlighted: the widespread principled absence of many Global South primates. As it is still unclear why the Presiding Bishop was invited after the breach of the moratorium and the Pentecost Letter, three possible scenarios are outlined in the hope that the rationale for this decision may be made clear. Then, drawing on past Primates’ statements and statements from TEC, three justifications for non-invitation and grounds for non-attendance are outlined: developments in TEC are now indisputably a breach of the moratoria, TEC has displayed a lack of integrity in its dealings with the Communion and its own stance reveals a lack of coherence in teaching and practice while increasingly signalling a determination to re-define the Christian doctrine of marriage. After exploring some of the challenges of holding a meeting to address key issues in the Communion but with the leaders of most of the world’s Anglicans not present, possible future paths for the Communion are outlined in relation to both the need for serious theological discussion about sexuality and the need to reform the Instruments, all of which have seen their authority eroded through this crisis. The conclusion notes that various actions and inactions in recent years have had serious damaging consequences and highlights the need to pray that, while nothing said or done this week can be painless, the actions of this gathering of Primates may have positive consequences for the Communion’s future unity.
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January 26 2011 | Articles
Written by: The Anglican Communion Institute, Inc.
Friday, January 14th, 2011
The Dublin gathering of Primates—is it a “Primates’ Meeting” when so many are not attending?—is soon to happen. Many are the views on whether conservative Primates should attend, and the reasons pro and con equally many. We hold a range of views among ourselves, but we are unanimous in our hope that the Primates of the Global South will be united in their response.
Moreover, opinions of others are irrelevant at this point: it will be the case that a major block of the Communion will not be represented at the Meeting. To say it is ‘only ten’; or to argue that the Primates don’t represent their Provinces; or to say it should be more; or to question whether the Primates’ Meeting is a bona fide gathering at all – all of this simply shows how degenerated has become the very basic life of the Communion, as measured against what has been a tacit fellowship in charity and mission not all that long ago. One ought properly to conclude that just one Primate not appearing is a terrible thing.
Reasonable people may and do disagree about attendance at this meeting. Still, we are seeing a tragic development and a public scandal, which by now many have become accustomed to if they have not simply turned away.
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January 14 2011 | Articles
Written by: Rev. Dr. Ephraim Radner
Tuesday, January 4th, 2011
As we move into a new year, there is a special spur to pose the question, “what hope is there for the future of the Anglican Communion?”. To which I would answer: “from God, there is much hope indeed; but not from women and men”. With mortals, it is impossible, but with God all things [...]
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January 04 2011 | Articles
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