Anglicans in Crisis
Canada: What was the Fallout and Who are the Players?This is the fourth in a series of articles on the looming crisis in the Anglican Church brought on by attempts to promote homosexual clergy into the upper reaches of the Anglican hierarchy.
The first article described both the specific and general issues at the heart of the crisis and three recent events from around the world that are precipitating a confrontation. The second article elaborated the crisis in England and its resolution by examining the players involved.
The third article identified a different, yet equally divisive issue to that in England: the decision to grant a rite to bless same sex cohabitants by a Canadian Diocese. The current article examines that decision in terms of its fallout and the players involved.
Bishop Michael Ingham & Company In the previous article, the crisis in the Anglican Church in Canada was described and some background presented. The central figures in that crisis are Bishop Michael Ingham and his Diocese of New Westminster in British Columbia. In May of this year, Bishop Ingham granted a rite to bless homosexual cohabitants to six of his parishes and almost immediately, a same-sex �marriage� was performed at St. Margaret's Cedar Cottage in Vancouver.
The action of Bishop Ingham represents one aspect of efforts over the last 25 years in the Anglican Communion to normalize homosexuality and bring more homosexuals into the Church. It was a realization, in part, of a dream of numerous liberal Anglicans, and their powerful church leaders who are in full agreement with Bishop Ingham, although comparatively few have been ready to admit it.
The Primate of Canada, Michael Peers, seems to have been complicit in promoting the blessing of same-gender cohabitants. Following a recent meeting in Brazil, Archbishop Peers was handily criticized for his duplicity in signing a strong statement rejecting blessings for homosexual cohabitants, while being fully aware that Bishop Ingham was in the process of granting a rite to such blessings. There have been calls for sanctions against both Peers and Ingham; Ingham at least has begun to experience the consequences of his action.
The recently retired Archbishop of Edinburgh and Scottish Primate, Richard Holloway, was a strong supporter of Bishop Ingham�s position and encouraged him and his Diocese in their efforts. Similar encouragement has come from Frank Griswold, Primate and Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the U.S. In 2000, when he was asked by the American Anglican Council �to denounce [the Cathedral of] All Souls' decision [to bless homosexual cohabitants] and warn other churches not to follow its example�, he failed to act. A year later, he brought the 38 Anglican Primates for a meeting to a location near to the Cathedral of All Souls, perhaps in the hope of influencing the group�s more conservative members.
Even the Archbishop of Canterbury is known to be sympathetic to normalizing homosexuality within the Church, although he has said he will abide by the 1998 Lambeth resolutions and has recognized the deep divisions over the issue. He cannot be counted on, however, by the evangelicals and other conservatives in the Church to reaffirm the Lambeth resolutions in any strong, committed way. Indeed, he only intervened with Cannon John after the Queen had expressed her concern and when it became clear that evangelicals in the Church were prepared to act.
Primates, Parishes and the Bishop of the Yukon Even before Bishop Ingham granted a rite to same-sex blessings, seven parishes left the Diocese and sought oversight by Terrence Buckle, Bishop of the Yukon. Once that rite had been granted, an eighth parish joined the other seven and, most recently a ninth has joined. There are 80 parishes in the Diocese.
In addition, the Primates in 17 of the 38 world-wide Anglican Provinces have denounced Bishop Ingham�s action and declared a state of impaired union:
Bishop Ingham, by deliberately and intentionally abandoning the established Anglican consensus, has placed himself and his diocese in an automatic state of impaired communion with the majority within the Anglican Communion.
Bishop Ingham�s action has brought the Anglican Communion to a defining moment in which the clear choice has to be made between remaining a communion or disintegrating into a federation of churches.
In addition, the Primates offered the following support for the parishes in the Diocese of New Westminster that have broken with Bishop Ingham:
Meanwhile, we strongly encourage the members of the Diocese of New Westminster who have remained faithful to the witness of Scripture and tradition in respect of same-sex blessings, to persevere in their faith in the knowledge that they are not standing alone.
Canadian Clergy, the EFAC and US Episcopal Bishops Although the Canadian House of Bishops seems poised to do nothing, 40 Canadian clergy have announced their extreme displeasure at Bishop Ingham�s action and called for disciplinary action by the House of Bishops:
We are profoundly disturbed by this action which is in violation of the clear teaching of Scripture. It is also in violation of your decision as the House of Bishops in 1979 and confirmed in 1997, refusing to give permission for the ordination of non-celibate homosexual people and refusing to give permission for the blessing of same-sex unions.
...
We are concerned that, unless disciplinary action is taken by our House of Bishops, the rest of the Anglican Communion may interpret inaction as an implicit approval or at least a benevolent toleration of the action of the Bishop of New Westminster. In such circumstances it is not inconceivable that other provinces in the Anglican Communion would declare themselves out of Communion with the Province of Canada.
Other reactions came from the Evangelical Fellowship in the Anglican Communion (EFAC) meeting in Limuru, Kenya in July of this year, which affirmed the stand by the 17 Anglican Primates and urged the Synod and Bishop of New Westminster to reverse their decision to bless homosexual cohabitants.
In an open letter to the 17 Primates who had declared themselves in impaired union with New Westminster, 24 Episcopal Bishops from the US made a similar declaration:
We begin by stating that we utterly repudiate the recent actions of the Synod and the Bishop of the Diocese of New Westminster in authorizing liturgies for blessing same-sex partnerships�. We now join in your declaration of impaired communion with the Bishop and Diocese of New Westminster.
While specific statements about Bishop Ingham�s action by individual leaders in the Anglican Communion are worthy of repeating, space is limited and the quotes above should give a good sense of the disquiet and even outrage that many Anglican leaders feel. The two incidents discussed so far and the one to come illustrate the growing divergence in the Anglican Communion. That broader picture is described in a recent article that goes some way in explaining the two sides who are gathering along an increasingly visible fault line.
Two Kinds of Christians? There is a well-known parody that says, �There are two kinds of people: those who divide the world into two kinds of people and the rest of us.�
Although such a sorting oversimplifies many complex issues in human relationships, the exercise at times has a way of clarifying and crystallizing important differences. On occasion, it captures part of the truth in a useful way, such as when people find circumstances driving them to one side of an issue or the other.
In a recent article, Dr. Uwe Siemon-Netto, religion editor of United Press International in Washington, discusses two kinds of Christianity that have emerged over several generations. There is what he calls �anthropocentric Christianity,� prevalent in North America and Western Europe, with a theology �rooted in 19th-century German liberalism and the social gospel of American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr�. That brand of Christianity seeks solutions to human problems through an understanding of the human condition.
In contrast, there is �a Christ-centred orthodox theology� that seeks solutions to human problems through understanding and pursuing the word of God as it is revealed to the faithful. That type of Christianity, at one time prevalent in North America, is now more characteristic of Africa, Asia, Latin and South America. Having been exporters of that kind of Christianity, it is more than a little ironic to see it coming back to Europe and North America with a distinctly missionary tone.
Dr. Siemon-Netto says a clear line dividing these two brands of Christianity runs through all the Protestant denominations, and even to a degree, Roman Catholicism. It is clear, however, who is winning the battle: �Christ-centred orthodoxy is growing robustly, including in the United States, while anthropocentric liberalism is shriveling.�
In another decade or two, he claims, the latter will be reduced to a sect, which, as measured by one definition, is a religious group with membership of less than one per cent of the population.
By that standard, Episcopalians in the United States already qualify and Anglicans in the Canada and England are not far behind. Projections based on current population growth and decline of Anglican membership suggests that, within a generation, that may be the case in Canada. In England, the trend is clearly in the same direction, combined with what promises to be a major shift in culture in that country, with the number of Muslims set to exceed Anglicans within a decade. Of course, if the current crisis is not resolved, the anglican sect may become a reality a lot sooner than current projections indicate. Dr. Jack L. Edwards, President
Canadian Communications Coalition, Inc.
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
August 5, 2003
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