THE END IS NIGH?

 

I have been compiling the Anglican Prayer Cycle for the Parish Magazine and Newsletter for many years now – certainly I started it during Archdeacon Harold Fielding’s incumbency.  I have consequently noticed the growth of the Anglican Church throughout the world, with the establishment of many new independent Provinces during that period – Brazil, Burundi, Hong Kong, Mexico, Rwanda, South-East Asia and Southern America, not to mention the division of the Church of Nigeria into ten Provinces and almost one hundred dioceses.

 

It is therefore extremely dispiriting to be witnessing what appears to be the seemingly inevitable break up of the Communion. 2008 is the year of the Lambeth Conference, which should see the meeting together of over 700 diocesan bishops and a large number of suffragan and assistant bishops, but already, the Primate of All Nigeria has said his church will not be attending, and some other African Provinces have followed his example, along with the diocese of Sydney in Australia.  This is because of the perceived failure of the Archbishop of Canterbury to censure the American Episcopal Church for permitting the consecration of an openly gay man as Bishop of the diocese of New Hampshire.  The Archbishop of Canterbury is not some kind of Anglican Pope, and does not in fact have the power to do any such thing, but he has not withdrawn invitations to the American bishops to attend the Lambeth Conference.  (He did forbid the Bishop of New Hampshire to take part in any service while on a visit to the U.K., but that censure did not receive much publicity.)

 

Some parishes in the USA, which claim to be “traditionalist”, have sought alternative oversight to distance themselves from the mainstream Episcopal Church: indeed, the Bishop of San Joaquin in California has declared that his diocese is now part of the Province of Southern America!   Others have objected to the election of a woman as Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church.  (Dr Katherine Jefferts-Schori was previously Bishop of Nevada, and a prominent scientist before taking holy orders.)   One hopeful sign is that other Anglican churches in Africa will be attending the Lambeth Conference.  The Bishop of Botswana in Central Africa said last week that he also expected that some bishops from Nigeria and other dissenting Provinces would attend, though no doubt any Nigerian bishop will have to face the wrath of Archbishop Akinola on his return!  The Archbishop of Sydney has faced considerable criticism in the local press for his decision not to attend.  (The diocese of Sydney is unlike other Australian dioceses: it wants to introduce priest-less celebrations of the communion service and states that Anglican churches do not have altars.  The Archbishop of Sydney is not Primate of the Australian Church – that post is currently held by the Archbishop of Brisbane – but he is the most outspoken of the Australian bishops.)

 

Whether the Lambeth Conference will find any resolution to this problem remains to be seen.  Will any English diocese leave the Church of England, and declare itself to be part of the Church of Uganda, for example?  That is unlikely, but a split worldwide seems inevitable, and it is not something which the Archbishop of Canterbury (either the present incumbent, or any of his predecessors) could avoid.  Part of the problem is the fact that many overseas clergy (and even some in this country) fail to accept modern progress in theological thought and developments in biblical understanding.  As a former Professor of Divinity in the University of Oxford, Dr Williams must find this very frustrating. 

     

GAD