Communion in Crisis - an Appraisal

Commentary by Robin G. Jordan

The US and Canadian bishops have so far expressed no regret for the actions of the their respective churches in consecrating a non-celibate homosexual as a bishop and in sanctioning the blessing of same sex unions. They have expressed only regret over the reaction of orthodox Anglicans around the world to these actions. They have displayed great reluctance to impose an actual functioning moratorium on the blessing of same sex unions and to discipline those who violate it. Rather than place a moratorium upon the consecration of more non-celibate homosexuals to the episcopate, the US bishops have imposed a moratorium upon the consecration of all new bishops until the 2006 General Convention – a move that has angered orthodox Anglicans in the Episcopal Church. A number of orthodox Anglican bishops in the Episcopal Church are approaching the mandatory retirement age. The Executive Council of the Episcopal Church has reluctantly agreed to withdraw the ECUSA’s representatives from the Anglican Consultative Council as requested by the Primates. The Executive Committee has decided, however, to send the representatives as non-participating observers to the upcoming ACC meeting in Nottingham, England in June. The General Council of the Anglican Church of Canada’s General Synod has adopted the same course of action.

Liberal bishops in the Episcopal Church continue to persecute orthodox Anglican clergy and congregations that are protesting the consecration of Gene Robinson. In recent months six orthodox Anglican clergy in the Diocese of Connecticut have been threatened with inhibition and deposition. An orthodox Anglican congregation in the Diocese of West Texas has been told to leave the Episcopal Church. A Nigerian Anglican priest has been stripped of his license in the Diocese of New York. ECUSA Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold publically and privately has blamed orthodox Anglican leaders in the Episcopal Church for the opposition of the global South Primates to ECUSA’s sanctioning of same sex union blessings and the consecration of a non-celibate homosexual bishop. He claims that the opposition of the global South Primates is the work of a right wing conspiracy to engineer the ouster of the Episcopal Church from the Anglican Communion and its replacement by a more conservative Anglican province. He has gone as far as accusing a number of orthodox Anglican leaders in the Episcopal Church and leading orthodox Anglican bishops from the global South of being in league with the devil. A steady trickle of orthodox Anglican clergy and congregations have been leaving the Episcopal Church and seeking the oversight of a global South bishop or joining the Anglican Mission in America.

The new Secretary General of the Anglican Consultative Council, Canon Kenneth Kearon, attended a recent meeting of the US and Canadian bishops. After the meeting he issued a public statement in which he said that the ACC would respect any decision reached by General Council of the Anglican Church of Canada’s General Synod in regards to the Primates’ request that the Anglican Church of Canada withdraw from the ACC. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Archbishop Williams had been invited to this meeting. As in the case of the African Anglican Bishops Conference, Williams told the meeting’s organizers that he was unable to attend due to previous commitments. Canon Kearon was sent in his place. Is the view that he expressed shared by Williams?

Williams only this week begun to appoint the Panel of Reference requested by the Primates. All Williams has done up to now is issue public statements praising the US and Canadian bishops for the half measures that they adopted in response to the Windsor Report recommendations and the Primates Communiqué. Williams has invited Archbishop of Australia Peter Carnley to chair the panel. Archbishop Carnley, an outspoken liberal, was recently involved in the removal of an orthodox Australian priest who was consecrated a bishop in the Traditional Anglican Communion. He has expressed sympathy for the views of liberals in the Episcopal Church USA and the Anglican Church of Canada.

If the delegations from the North American churches are seated at the upcoming Anglican Consultative Council meeting, the representatives of the global South provinces have no choice other than walk out of the meeting. To tolerate the presence of these delegations after the North American churches were asked to withdraw from the ACC will embolden the liberal leaders of the North American churches, whose actions appear to be intended to test the resolve of the global South Primates. The North American churches want to dictate their own conditions for membership in the Anglican Communion. If the global South Primates do not send a unmistakable message to the Episcopal Church USA and the Anglican Church of Canada that they are serious and they are not going to put up with the maneuvering and stalling of the North American churches’ liberal leadership we cannot expect to see any resolution to the present crisis in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion any time in the near future. At this stage the Primates must take a firm stand in their dealings with the Episcopal Church USA and the Anglican Church of Canada. Serious consideration should be given to a second extraordinary Primates Meeting with the withdrawal of both North American churches from the Anglican Communion as the main item on the agenda. It must be made clear to both churches that continued membership in the Anglican Communion is contingent upon their acceptance of the authority of the Bible and a historical orthodox understanding of Biblical Christianity and their rejection of the ordination and licensing of clergy involved in sexual activity outside of marriage between a man and a woman and the blessing of same sex unions. The Episcopal Church USA and the Anglican Church of Canada should be asked to decide at their next General Convention or General Synod whether they wish to remain part of the Anglican Communion or go their separate way. The Primates would also be well advised to establish their own Panel of Reference to keep tabs on the one appointed by Williams.