The Diocesan Dialogue
Current Issue
March 2007

Visioning Anglicanism

By Dick Snyder

Just what the Anglican Communion might look like in the future was examined and discussed by Episcopalians from around the country who gathered in late January for Epiphany West at Church Divinity School of the Pacific.

"Re-Visioning Anglicanism: Where do we go from here?" was the conference theme.

In his summary of the conference, Professor John Kater, lecturer in Anglican Studies at the seminary, noted that communion "happens between people, not between institutions."

He said that an idyllic vision of the Anglican Communion is a "myth that has held us together. It belongs in another time and place and simply doesn't work any more."

In earlier remarks during the conference, Kater noted several "moments in Anglican history" when conditions between members of the communion were less than irenic.

One of those times was following the action of the Scottish Episcopal Church in consecrating the first US bishop, Samuel Seabury, in 1784. It was not until 1864 that the churches of Scotland, England and the US were able to establish full communion.

Another occurred in this country in 1870s with the Reformed Episcopal Church in the US. The issues that divided Episcopalians then were "high church" vs. "low church" practices and beliefs.

The threat of schism, and the possibility of schism, are not new to the Anglican Communion, noted Kater.

He also noted that re-visioning of the Communion has occurred regularly, dating back to the Reformation.

One of those re-visionings was the first Lambeth Conference in 1867, which established a new authority and primacy to the Church of England as "mother church" of the new Communion.

More recent re-visionings have included emergency of increasingly indigenous evangelical churches in their formerly colonial states, and the development of liberation movements around the world, said Kater.

Another viewpoint, "The Wounds of Division: The Political Character of Fragmented Communion" was presented by the Rev. Dr. Ephraim Radner, rector of Church of the Ascension in Pueblo, Colo.

A member of the design committee for the Anglican Covenant, Radner drew from his missionary experience in Burundi and the transition from a military dictatorship to a new democracy.

He expressed disappointment with the current talk about breaks and schismatic actions. He expressed support for the rebuilding of trust and relationship within the Communion.

Regarding the work of the Covenant Design Group, Radner said that the sense of covenant is understood as being centered on trust and word keeping. The baptismal covenant is figuring prominently as a resource for the group, he added.

The Covenant that is being drafted will not address current disputes, but will instead provide suggestions for how future disputes may be addressed.

Another perspective came from Dr. Jenny Plane Te Paa, principal of Te Rau Kahikatea College of St. John the Evangelist in Auckland, New Zealand. She was a member of the Eames Commission which drafted the Windsor Report.

Her topic was "Guessing the Spirit of Global Anglicanism: Perspectives of an Indigenous Lay Woman."

She told the conference participants that many provinces in the Anglican Communion are supportive of how the Episcopal Church carries out its mission.

She added that several leaders have taken advantage of organization shortcomings within the church to develop their own agendas and to vilify the church leadership, especially the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori.

She also noted that the Windsor Report recommendations against cross-jurisdictional interference have been ignored.

In suggesting ways for the Anglican Communion to move forward, she suggested articulating our common faith and confronting in our relationship the racism, sexism and other prejudices that keep us apart.

She added that another component is recognizing that we are centered, and connected through baptism.

Her presentation was greeted as good news by Professor Bill Countryman of CDSP, who noted that she was "in communication with many people within the Communion."

The final presenter was The Rev. Carlos Eduardo Calvani, director of the Anglican Center of Studies in the Anglican Church of Brazil, whose paper was actually read by the Rev. Francisco de Assis da Silva.

Calvani encountered difficulty in obtaining a visa to participate in the conference. Da Silva is provincial secretary general of the Igreja Episcopal Anglicana in Brazil.

Calvani said in part that "Generally, discussions defending theological unity in the Anglican Communion and in other churches are based on an erroneous and superficial reading of the Bible, which does not delve into historical issues due to either fear or incompetence."

He added that "a process of dissent in not unique to the Communion" and that "Anglicans are used to living with a difference of opinion that leads to tension."

Calvani—and da Silva concurred with the assessment—said that reaction by members of the church in Brazil to the consecration of the Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson "did not affect their Christian faith."

Speaking of the Lambeth Conference, Calvani said that "Unity does come from this, but through this."

Participants in the conference from the Diocese of Utah included the Rev. Lyn Briggs, Susan Fischer, Mary Janda and Skip Montgomery.

Writing of her reaction to the conference, Janda said that in press reports, it may be easy to read of splits in the church, but "there is another side to this, however. There is hope as long as we focus on our Lord and Savior and continue to be in communion with God's people."

The Rev Dick Snyder is editor of the Dialogue and attended Epiphany West.

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