Today has been a roller coaster for Anglicans around the world—and everyone else watching the primates’ meeting in Tanzania. The first thing this morning, Jonathan Petre reported in the Daily Telegraph that the worldwide Anglican Communion was on the verge of schism as acrimonious disagreements threatened to scuttle a joint communiqué.
Then came the news that TEC Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has been elected to the Primates’ Standing Committee. Far from being marginalised within the Communion, the liberal PeeBee has been elevated to an important policy-making body. This turns out to be not as significant as it appears at first glance because the Standing Committee has five representatives from different parts of the world, and she was chosen by the Americas.
Then, the Covenant Design Group presented its Draft Text for an Anglican Covenant, together with supporting materials. Most commenters at Stand Firm did not view the draft favourably, calling it toothless and pointless.
So far, the day was not going well for traditional orthodox Anglicans. Then, a bombshell landed when the unanimous final communiqué was released, calling The Episcopal Church to explain itself and even specifying a deadline by which TEC must clarify its response to The Windsor Report by providing concrete assurances that it will not ordain non-celibate homosexuals. Here’s a key bit:
[T]he Primates request, through the Presiding Bishop, that the House of Bishops of The Episcopal Church
1. make an unequivocal common covenant that the bishops will not authorise any Rite of Blessing for same-sex unions in their dioceses or through General Convention; and
2. confirm that the passing of Resolution B033 of the 75th General Convention means that a candidate for episcopal orders living in a same-sex union shall not receive the necessary consent;
unless some new consensus on these matters emerges across the Communion.
The Primates request that the answer of the House of Bishops is conveyed to the Primates by the Presiding Bishop by 30th September 2007.
If the reassurances requested of the House of Bishops cannot in good conscience be given, the relationship between The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion as a whole remains damaged at best, and this has consequences for the full participation of the Church in the life of the Communion. [references omitted]
Many liberal Episcopalians will not be pleased that Bp Jefferts Schori agreed to sign that.
There is a lot of meat in the communiqué, and much more to be said by way of commentary and analysis. I leave that to others (e.g., Kendall Harmon, Ruth Gledhill, and many others) but my question now is: What does this mean for the Anglican Church of Canada?
Even though the ACC has allowed same-sex blessings in many of its churches, it escapes direct disapproval in the communiqué (except for two passing references to criticisms in previous Anglican documents). That is because TEC gave its official response to The Windsor Report at last summer's General Convention, whereas the ACC is yet to provide its response. That will take place at General Synod in June of this year.
Nevertheless, the writing would appear to be on the wall for the ACC.
General Synod can see what is set to come against the ACC if their response to Windsor is as half-hearted and ambiguous as that of TEC. Also, paying lip service to Windsor is easy; doing what it says is another matter entirely. Lip service is not enough to gain the primates’ approval, as TEC found out in today’s communiqué.
I’m going to go away out on a limb and sketch possible scenarios. I’ve never entered the realm of prognosticating speculating about the future of Anglicanism, but I can do that now that I’m the rector’s warden. (That's a joke.)
First of all, the primates’ deadline for TEC to state its commitment is 30 September 2007; General Synod is in June. If TEC makes the commitment requested by the primates by June, ACC’s options would be severely limited. General Synod would come under very heavy pressure to do as TEC had done, or risk standing alone as the bad guy in the Anglican Communion.
But I don’t see TEC acting that fast. I would not be surprised if TEC does not provide the requested reassurances by the end of September. (It’s also unlikely that TEC will explicitly decline. Another possibility is a mealy-mouthed statement like Resolution B033.)
In any case, I doubt that TEC will have made the required unambiguous commitment by the time General Synod rolls around. What, then, are the Canadians to do? The majority at General Synod will, I think, effectively ignore today’s communiqué. They will see that TEC has waffled on The Windsor Report for years and the sky hasn’t fallen. I suspect General Synod will pass a Canadian counterpart to Resolution B033, expressing regret that everyone is upset and proclaiming support of The Windsor Report, while doing nothing concrete to enact its provisions.
If that comes to pass, there would probably be yet another anguished primates’ meeting in a year or so, focusing on Canada this time.
The Anglican Church of Canada still has a chance to do the right thing. Call me a pessimist, but I wouldn’t bet the family farm on the ACC actually doing it.
Finally, it would appear that Archbishop Hutchison’s hope that Canada could mediate among the primates came to naught.
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