Friday, January 02, 2009

Common Mission, Common Worship, Common Goverance

Those words appear at the bottom of a picture of Common Cause Bishops that is posted on the CANA website. The Convocation of Anglicans in North America is part of the Common Cause Partnership and it is the goal of the partnership to move forward united in a common mission, worship and governance. Contrast this with pecusa.

In pecusa there are several understandings of mission. The Presiding Bishop proclaims the Millenium Development Goals of the United Nations to be gospel work. Indeed, the MDGs are part of the gospel work - the PB leaves out the Great Commission in her understanding of what the gospel calls us to do. Others in pecusa are Great Commission oriented, others still seem to think that inclusion of all people no matter what their lifestyles or personal gospel commitments are is the mission of pecusa. There is no common understanding of mission in pecusa.

There can be no common worship in pecusa while there is not only a prayerbook but license in many dioceses to depart from the prayerbook. Some worship what my then pre-teen daughter described as "God as girl" theology. As has been observed for many years, there are two religions (at least) operative in pecusa, so there can be no common worship.

As for common governance, we see that while pecusa maintains strict diocesan boundaries (this is one of their objections to the new province for North America), what happens in those boundaries is anything but common. We have some bishops abiding by the Windsor standards and many deciding not to do so (including the bishop of Central NY). We have some bishops transferring priests who have left pecusa to other Anglican provinces and some who depose (defrock) those who leave pecusa for other Anglican provinces (this second practice is the one the bishop of the DCNY has adopted).

Whereas pecusa is splintering and declining, the Common Cause Partnership is uniting and growing. Is it any wonder that many of us see the judgement of God upon pecusa?

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