By Robin G. Jordan
When the doctrines and practices of the Anglican Church in
North America as mandated or sanctioned in its formularies, its Constitution,
Canons, Ordinal, Catechism, and proposed Prayer Book, are compare with those of
Roman Catholicism and historic Anglicanism, it is quite evident that the ACNA
is far closer to Roman Catholicism in what it officially mandates or sanctions
than it is to biblical Anglicanism. This makes GAFCON’s support of the ACNA
surprising since GAFCON ostensibly is committed to the restoration of the Bible
and the historic Anglican formularies to a central place in the life of the
Anglican Communion and the renewal of confessional Anglicanism in the Communion.
Please note that I am using historic Anglicanism, biblical
Anglicanism, and confessional Anglicanism interchangeably as these three terms
refer to the “Protestant Reformed religion” of what its nineteenth century
champions sometimes described as “Old Anglicanism,” the Anglicanism of the
English Reformation, the Protestant Elizabethan Settlement, and to a certain
extent the Restoration—the Anglicanism of the Homilies, the Thirty-Nine
Articles of Religion, the Canons of 1604, and The Book of Common Prayer and
Ordinal of 1662.
Those in the ACNA who adhere to these doctrines and
practices are nominally Anglican but they are not convictionally Anglican. They
do not stand in continuity with the English Reformers, the Elizabethan divines,
and the Anglican Reformed bishops and theologians from the reign of Charles II
to George I.
From a historical perspective they represent a foreign
element in the Anglican Church despite their attempts to appropriate as their
forerunners the Carolinian High Churchmen along with the description of
themselves as “Anglican.” As scholars
from the nineteenth century on have shown, their claim is not a credible one. Based
upon their strong unreformed Catholic leanings a better description for them
would be “independent Catholics.”
Having occupied the place of power in the Anglican Church in
North America, they have shown no willingness to share that jurisdiction with those
who are not only Anglican in name but also in conviction. At most they for the
time being tolerate the convictional Anglicans in their midst as it suits their
purposes. As it becomes increasingly evident to them that they have nothing to
fear from the GAFCON Primates if they show less tolerance toward convictional
Anglicans, that tolerance will gradually disappear. After all, the GAFCON
Primates at last month’s gathering only succeeded in giving the Episcopal
Church in the USA a slap on the wrist. I do not believe that this lesson was
lost on the occupants of the place of power in the ACNA. They can be expected
to further entrench their views while denying official standing to those of
convictional Anglicans. They can be expected to press for further accommodation
and conformity by this segment of the ACNA.
From the recent Anglican Connection Update I gather that
elements of this segment of the Anglican Church in North America and
like-minded Anglicans and other Christians outside the ACNA are forming
informal ties with each other. 2016 is the year to make these connections more
concrete and to hold a series of gatherings for the purpose of organizing a new
province. I realize that some parties may be reluctant to take this step,
having invested in the ACNA. But I believe that much is to be gained from all
parties gathering to envision a future together under one roof, as a province that
stands in the Anglican Church’s Reformation heritage and is fully committed to
the renewal of biblical Anglicanism.
Right now the members of this segment of the Anglican Church
in North America are in the position of unwanted guests in a house of which
those occupying the place of power in the ACNA act as if they are the sole
owners. The occupants of the place of power in the ACNA do not recognize them in
any way as part-owners of the house. They have been given a small room in the
attic while those occupying the place of power in the ACNA decide what to do
with them. The wise thing is to make plans to live elsewhere before they are
turned out in the cold.
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