A MODEST PROPOSAL
If an Anglican Covenent actually does see the light of day, Adrian Worsfold suggests a course of action:
I imagine that I am going to make a proposal to General Assemblies and equivalent bodies of Unitarian denominations worldwide (no limit to my worldwide ambition) if the Anglican Communion Covenant comes into being and Anglican liberals and progressives become thoroughly marginalised.
It will be to set up Unitarian based Liberal Anglican Ordinariates, in other words congregations that can be run by Anglicans and peopled by Anglicans using Anglican liturgies, although some in their new freedoms may wish to revise these (which they will be welcome to do at whatever pace wished).
An Ordinariate should be one congregation at a time; however, there may be occasions when they might consist of more than one congregation. The new congregations and their trusts will be independent, and sorry but Bishops who join will have the same status as any minister. In a generous offer, these will automatically join the ministerial roll of the General Assembly, and lay readers will become recognised Lay Preachers and Lay Leaders too. Practices such as ordination can continue. The only conditions are that promises regarding doctrine and practice cannot be made, and the Ordinariates will be expected to be fully inclusive and without discrimination. Otherwise the Anglicans can run these units as they wish.
Ordinariates would be welcome to use the Flaming Chalice symbol, and use their own related symbol which would be similar to the symbol of the Anglican Communion Lambeth Conference. This would be in a bizarre recognition of the work of Archbishop Rowan Williams, who brought about such tolerant bodies by defective intention.
Thanks to the Prof for the heads-up.
I have no problem with any of this; indeed, I’m surprised that something like it has never been seriously proposed before. The Anglican left has been functionally universalist for decades so I doubt that anyone in the pews would notice any difference in preaching, liturgy, the quality of the coffee hour coffee and Danish or anything else.
I can see one possible drawback, one reason for hesitation. Taking such a step would force liberal Anglicans to admit something about themselves that most of us have known for a very long time. They are no longer Christian in any meaningful sense of that term.
I imagine that I am going to make a proposal to General Assemblies and equivalent bodies of Unitarian denominations worldwide (no limit to my worldwide ambition) if the Anglican Communion Covenant comes into being and Anglican liberals and progressives become thoroughly marginalised.
It will be to set up Unitarian based Liberal Anglican Ordinariates, in other words congregations that can be run by Anglicans and peopled by Anglicans using Anglican liturgies, although some in their new freedoms may wish to revise these (which they will be welcome to do at whatever pace wished).
An Ordinariate should be one congregation at a time; however, there may be occasions when they might consist of more than one congregation. The new congregations and their trusts will be independent, and sorry but Bishops who join will have the same status as any minister. In a generous offer, these will automatically join the ministerial roll of the General Assembly, and lay readers will become recognised Lay Preachers and Lay Leaders too. Practices such as ordination can continue. The only conditions are that promises regarding doctrine and practice cannot be made, and the Ordinariates will be expected to be fully inclusive and without discrimination. Otherwise the Anglicans can run these units as they wish.
Ordinariates would be welcome to use the Flaming Chalice symbol, and use their own related symbol which would be similar to the symbol of the Anglican Communion Lambeth Conference. This would be in a bizarre recognition of the work of Archbishop Rowan Williams, who brought about such tolerant bodies by defective intention.
Thanks to the Prof for the heads-up.
I have no problem with any of this; indeed, I’m surprised that something like it has never been seriously proposed before. The Anglican left has been functionally universalist for decades so I doubt that anyone in the pews would notice any difference in preaching, liturgy, the quality of the coffee hour coffee and Danish or anything else.
I can see one possible drawback, one reason for hesitation. Taking such a step would force liberal Anglicans to admit something about themselves that most of us have known for a very long time. They are no longer Christian in any meaningful sense of that term.
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