Saturday, August 30, 2008

The Lambeth Conference: A Lament

http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=8918

[VirtueOnline] 30 Aug 2008--GAFCON (Global Anglican Future Conference, reported on in late June) was a model of clarity. But the Lambeth Conference (the decennial gathering of Anglican bishops from around the world meeting in Canterbury from July 18 to August 3) was notable for, if anything, its unclarity.

By its very indecisiveness it may maintain the status quo in the Anglican Communion for a while. But it did little to resolve the issues that have so deeply divided the Communion-issues revolving ostensibly around sexuality but essentially around biblical authority and the nature of Anglicanism itself. And so one of two outcomes may be foreseen. Either the Communion will lapse into incoherence, with its members having only limited connections with each other, or a new center will emerge, in place of Canterbury and the West, around which it can again coalesce.

For Lambeth 2008 was Canterbury's last real opportunity for action decisive enough maintain the Communion's cohesion under its auspices. New leadership, at least de facto likely under the Global South and Gafcon, may be regarded as a net gain. At the same time it will involve serious losses. If the history of the 1930s affords a parallel, these might have been averted; herein lies the Lambeth tragedy. But the lessons they offer for the present ought not to be overlooked.

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