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?
Despite claims that the Anglican Communion has around “80 million” members, one must take account of the fact that a stated membership of 25 million in the Church of England actually translates to only about 1 million in church on Sundays. Similarly with a number of other churches. Let’s say the real Communion number is around 65 million. Of these, over 30 million are from the provinces of Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda—churches whose alienation from TEC and now the Communion cannot credibly be questioned. It is clearly the case that the Primates present in Dublin represent substantially fewer than half of the active members of the Communion. Those staying away due to the crisis in the Communion probably represent two-thirds or more of the active members of the Communion.
Assuming a Communion membership of around 65 million, the following chart shows the proportion of Anglicans who are represented at the Primates’ current meeting (about 21 million) and those whose Primates are absent (45 million). By and large, the breakdown goes along Anglo vs. Global South lines. It is beyond time for questioning why Primates are not present or whether they should attend. At issue is the health of the Communion and the restoration of trust. Those present, if they wish to proceed as if this was a representative meeting of the Communion, need to ask what has gone wrong and determine how can it be righted.”
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
Written by: Rev. Dr. Philip Turner
Tuesday, January 4th, 2011
This is the third in a series of essays on the proposed Anglican Covenant.” The first, entitled “Communion, Order and Dissent,” attempted to present what might be called the inner logic of the covenant–a logic that rests upon a commitment by all the provinces to “mutual subjection within the body of Christ.” The second had [...]
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January 04 2011 | Articles
Written by: Rev. Dr. Philip Turner
Friday, December 10th, 2010
The purpose of this essay is to address a question to the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, The Anglican Communion Office (ACO) and to the upcoming Meeting of the Primates. How are they, and indeed how is the Anglican Communion as a whole, to address the question of dissent? The [...]
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December 10 2010 | Articles
Written by: Rev. Dr. Ephraim Radner
Wednesday, November 24th, 2010
Too much is being made, in the run up to the General Synod, of the fact that the Anglican Covenant’s future is tied to the Church of England’s vote on the matter: if the Synod does not vote to take the Covenant up for further diocesan approval, the Covenant’s own life, many say, will be over. Well and good, according to some, because the Covenant is a bad idea.
In fact, though, what is at stake in the upcoming Synod vote on the Covenant is the Church of England’s own future as part of the Anglican Communion: will she continue to be an integral part of a Christian common life and mission that has now encompassed the globe (due in no small part to the Church of England’s own past witness), and that represents one of the most adaptable forms of Christian life in a reordered world, or will she lapse further into the eddies of Western self-concern, diminished by the thousand cuts of her own identity politics?
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November 24 2010 | Articles
Written by: Rev. Dr. Andrew Goddard
Thursday, November 18th, 2010
In the church press on Friday 29th October, two Church of England groups, Inclusive Church (IC) and Modern Church (formerly, Modern Churchpeople’s Union, MCU), published a whole page advert headed ‘Who runs the Church?’. This explains why they believe the Anglican Covenant would be a change for the worse. Having offered an initial short critique of it, this offers a more detailed analysis of its claims. In the week leading to the Synod debate on the covenant and subsequent diocesan discussion, their seriously flawed case risks being given greater circulation and credibility through the wider international (though predominantly Western liberal) No Anglican Covenant Coalition and other publicity such as the recent similar leaflet sent to General Synod members.
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November 18 2010 | Articles
Written by: Rev. Dr. Ephraim Radner
Saturday, November 13th, 2010
The Bishop of Toronto recently issued a set of “Pastoral Guidelines for the Blessing of Same-Gender Commitments”. Some of the basic theological contradictions and destructive pastoral confusions involved in these guidelines have been pointedly disclosed by Catherine Sider Hamilton and F. Dean Mercer (see their “Response”, posted on the ACI website on November 9, 2010). In what follows I want to address a particular matter: where does the issuing of these Guidelines now place the Diocese of Toronto with respect to the Anglican Communion?
This question arises, obviously, because only recently and on the basis of a long string of official declarations by various Communion councils and groups – including the so-called Instruments of Communion – the formal adoption of rites of same-sex blessing has been declared to be incompatible with Communion teaching and discipline. In May of this year, representatives from The Episcopal Church (USA) were asked to withdraw from Communion groups dealing with matters of faith and order just on the basis of The Episcopal Church’s rejection of Communion teaching on matters of same-sexuality, including widespread and formally authorized use of such blessings. Since this requested withdrawal was viewed as a precedent, one must wonder if and how the new Toronto Guidelines might affect the diocese’s, and perhaps the Anglican Church of Canada’s standing on similar Communion councils.
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November 13 2010 | Articles
Written by: Catherine Sider Hamilton and F. Dean Mercer
Tuesday, November 9th, 2010
On September 14, 2010, Archbishop Colin Johnson ordained priest in the Diocese of Toronto a woman married (by civil law) to another woman. On November 3, the College of Bishops issued “Pastoral Guidelines” for the formal and liturgical blessing of same gender commitments in the Diocese of Toronto. These actions are problematic both in their [...]
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November 09 2010 | Articles
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