LAODICEANS

from Midwest Conservative Journal by The Editor

Rowan Williams is holding Jack/2 off-suited and he’s on the short stack. So of course my gracious lord of Canterbury pushes all-in:

The Archbishop of Canterbury has proposed suspending the Primates Meeting—the fourth ‘instrument of unity’ in the Anglican Communion—in favour of holding multiple small group gatherings of like minded archbishops.

In a letter to the primates dated Oct 7, Dr. Rowan Williams suggested that given the “number of difficult conversations” and the threat of a boycott of its meetings, a regime of separate but equal facilitated small groups sessions might better serve the primates’ “diverse” perspectives and forestall the substantial “damage” to the communion a full-fledged boycott would entail.

Dr. Williams also called for a reform of the structure of the meetings, suggesting that an elected standing committee be created and the powers and responsibility of the meeting of the communion’s 38 archbishops, presiding bishops and moderators be delineated.

Lambeth Palace did not respond to a request for clarification about the Oct 7 letter, while a spokesman for the Anglican Consultative Council said it could not address the question of a potential boycott as “the content of correspondence between the Primates and the Archbishop of Canterbury is private.”

They’re bitching about this over at Naughton’s so obviously the idea has some merit. But the African primates reminded Dr. Williams that he’s ignoring the elephant in the room.

The African primates attending the All African Bishops meeting in Entebbe on Aug 24 told Dr. Williams they would not attend future primates meeting if US Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and Archbishop Hiltz were there. The African primates voiced their concern over unilateral actions taken by the North American churches and also upbraided Dr. Williams for what they saw as his pusillanimity in responding to the ensuing crisis of doctrine and discipline.

The Archbishop of Canterbury answered his critics in Entebbe by stating he did not have the authority to withhold invitations, CEN was told by those present at the meeting.

Where does it say that, Your Grace? According to George Conger, it sounds as though the Africans haven’t made up their minds about how to respond and that assuming the position one more time as a favor to Dr. Williams is still a possibility.

Subsequent meetings of the GAFCON primates in Oxford in October and a second meeting of the CAPA primates on Nov 8-9 in Nairobi have yielded a common resolve to oppose the North American block, but a common tactical response to the threat has yet to be decided, sources tell CEN. Suggestions under consideration range from a boycott of the Dublin meeting, the convening of a rival primates meeting, the withdrawal of the Global South from all pan-Anglican gatherings for a season, or accommodating Dr. Williams and his pleas for restraint one more time.

But, and this is key, a split is off the table.

What was certain, one primate told CEN, was the resolve of the Global South/Gafcon/CAPA coalition not to walk away from the Communion, but seek its reform and renewal.

Which makes this whole argument rather pointless. Dr. Williams’ continuing rhetorical efforts to avoid having to show Mrs. Schori the door as well as the continuing willingness of the Global South/GAFCON primates to let him get away with it are costing whatever’s left of the Anglican tradition far more than its custodians realize.

You call yourself a traditionalist Anglican primate. You attend the Dublin Primates Meeting. Mrs. Schori also attends the Dublin Primates Meeting but does her yammering in a different room than you do. I’ve got news for you; you didn’t stick it to the arrogant Americans. You attended the same meeting they did but met in different places.

And that’s exactly what traditionalist Anglican primates don’t seem to grasp. You can condemn Episcopal innovations until your voice gives out but if you insist on remaining in the same Communion with them, your condemnations are considerably undercut.

You refuse “to walk away from the Communion, but seek its reform and renewal?” Good luck with that. The odds are against you; the Episcopalians have a great many friend, the Canadians foremost among them, and more money in the bank than many countries.

Basically, you’ve just told the liberals that you’ll undertake that fight by giving up strongest weapon in your arsenal, the willingness to walk away. How else are you going to persuade Dr. Williams that you’re in earnest?

Theology? He theologically agrees with the Americans and you know it. Most of us figured out a long time ago that that was the only reason why Dr. Williams has spent so much time coming up with so many delaying actions since 2003. So apart from threatening a split, you can’t do much other than complain.

But that’s not your main problem. The few remaining conservative Anglicans want you to decide something. Hot or cold, up or down, just make the damned call. Because if you don’t, they will. They’ll be in other churches when they do, of course, but they will.

So if you ever do get around to making the break, you may find that when you ascend to the pulpit to deliver your sermon some Sunday, there are not all that many faces are looking back at you.