Henham, Elsenham, & Ugley Churches
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Henham, Elsenham, & Ugley Churches |
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Most readers of this website will be aware that something is wrong in the Church of England. First in Canada, then here, then in America controversies have erupted over same-sex relationships. Then on October 16th the senior Archbishops issued a statement which acknowledged that the denomination is about to split when Gene Robinson is consecrated as bishop of New Hampshire at the beginning of November.
So what has been happening and what is the likely outcome?
When the Church of England first became a separate institution it saw itself as what the Prayer Book calls a ‘particular or national church’. The authority of the Pope was rejected in favour of that of Henry VIII, but the rules and regulations of the Church of England were seen as applying ‘to our own people only’. Everywhere else was left to make its own rules.
With the growth of the Empire, however, Anglicanism - the English way of doing church - spread to some very un-English places: North America, the Antipodes, Africa, India, in fact everywhere where the map was coloured pink. And even when these places no longer came under the rule of the English crown, the Churches stilled called themselves ‘Anglican’.
This ‘Anglican Communion’, however, has always avoided looking too closely at the question of authority. The Roman Catholic church has the ‘Curia’, providing a series of checks and balances on doctrinal interpretation and development. In the Church of England, however, although the Thirty-Nine ‘Articles of Religion’ were authorised ‘for the avoiding of diversities of opinions and for the establishing of consent touching true religion’, final authority lay with the monarch.
Over the centuries, however, the role of the monarch has diminished and at the same time Western Anglicanism has embraced an increasing diversity of theological opinions.
In this country, the climax came in 1962 with the publication of Honest to God by the then Bishop of Woolwich, John Robinson. This reflected the theological Liberalism widespread at the time, but it came as an immense shock to a public who assumed the clergy still believed the traditional teachings of the Bible and Prayer Book.
Meanwhile, the decline of the British Empire meant that Anglicans abroad were developing in directions of their own. With the single exception of the diocese of Sydney in Australia, the Western Provinces shared the Liberalism of England, whilst those in the Third World and the Far East retained a more Conservative character.
In the United States in particular, this theological Liberalism increasingly embraced the values of secular society. The widespread American acceptance of divorce found its way into the Church, to the extent that many American clergy are on their second or even third marriages. But this meant inevitably meant sidelining Jesus’ own teaching. Again, the rise of feminism in the 1960s led to the ordination of women priests in Philadelphia in 1974, even though it was against existing Church regulations.
Not surprisingly, therefore, it is ECUSA, the Episcopal Church of the USA, which has been at the forefront of the acceptance of same-sex relationships.
Even more than with divorce and the ordination of women, however, ECUSA has had to distance itself from previous Christian practice and the teaching of the Bible to enable it to accept this trend.
For Traditionalists, however, this has become the ‘last straw’ to break the camel’s back. Some have suggested it is only bigotry and prejudice which has motivated them to fight on this issue. But Traditionalists themselves argue that they are fighting for the survival of the Church. Their view is that what is permitted now will become compulsory in a few years’ time. They also feel that the theological compromises made to permit these new practices have weakened the Church and that morally people’s salvation is imperilled.
Although Revisionists can appeal to social changes and the demand for ‘fairness’, they have generally failed to refute the biblical and theological arguments of Traditionalists. However, Revisionists tend to be in powerful positions in the church, in this country as in America, and so Traditionalists have often appeared to be a strident minority, even though their own views probably reflect more closely those of churchgoers.
There are, however, far more Anglicans today in Africa and the Far East than in the West. Their churches are often thriving in spite of terrible problems of poverty, disease and threats from Islam. And it was bishops from these areas who drew the ‘line in the sand’ at the latest Primates’ meeting.
What, then, of the future? By the time this is printed, it is likely that Gene Robinson, a divorced man who now lives in a sexually active relationship with his male partner, will be the bishop of New Hampshire. In that case, several Anglican Provinces will have declared themselves ‘out of communion’ with ECUSA. A Commission will be set up to look at the practical and legal implications, but the reality is that no further progress can be made on theological agreement.
The only remaining question is what will happen in this country. Here, it seems our own bishops have turned indecision into a management strategy. During the ‘Jeffrey John affair’ in the summer there was a brief flurry of outspoken criticism from a handful of English bishops. Since then, however, all has gone quiet. The one clear thing is that there will be no clarity from that direction - indeed, how can there be, given the compromises that Anglican bishops have accepted for the last hundred years?
Instead, it will be up to individual clergy and parishes to make their own stand, at a time when the country desperately needs faithful shepherds and guides. Let us hope they will do it compassionately as well as clearly.
Revd John Richardson
Last updated 3rd November, 2003