THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION
& THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
WHERE ARE WE HEADED? REFLECTIONS OF THE
REV. DR. WARREN E. CREWS
COMPOSITION OF
THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION
Africa
 Asia
 Central &
S. America
 Europe
 N. America
 Pacific
Total

34,725,000
4,533,000
162,000
26,566,000
3,935,000
4,630,000
76,650,000
HISTORY OF THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION
In the beginning there were the Church of
England (incl. churches in the colonies), the
Church of Ireland, & the Scottish
Episcopalians—all in communion with each
other through the Archbishop of Canterbury.
 After the American Revolution, we formed the
Episcopal Church in such a way as to remain
in full communion with the Archbishop of
Canterbury.

HISTORY OF THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION
Soon the British gave the C of E mission
churches limited autonomy as provinces.
 In 1863 controversy erupted in South Africa
over new methods of interpreting the Bible.
The British government intervened. The
Canadian bishops asked the Abp. of
Canterbury to call a meeting of all bishops
of the Anglican Communion to consult on this
& other matters. [This term first used in
1851.]

HISTORY OF THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION
Archbishop Longley rejected the idea of an
international body with judicial powers, but
instead called all the bishops to come to
Lambeth Palace to confer on issues of
concern.
 In 1867 the first Lambeth Conference
gathered in London, and has met roughly
every ten years since then.

HISTORY OF THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION

Most famous gathering was 1888 when it
developed the “Lambeth Quadrilateral” to
guide Anglicans in ecumenical
negotiations:
◦ Scripture as the rule & ultimate
standard of the faith & containing
everything necessary for salvation
◦ Apostles’ & Nicene Creed as sufficient
statement of the Christian faith
◦ Baptism & Supper of the Lord
◦ Historic Episcopate locally adapted
HISTORY OF THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION

That first meeting did not solve the issues in S.
Africa:
◦ the conservative evangelicals withdrew &
formed their own separate Anglican church
with bishops provided by the Diocese of
Sydney;
◦ they have never been recognized as part of the
Anglican Communionby the Abp. of Canterbury,
who has always been the judge of who is part
of the Anglican Communion.
STRUCTURE OF
THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION


After the British shed most of their colonies
beginning in 1940s, Anglicanism exploded in
growth.
The Lambeth Conferences recognized the need
for a more a more developed structure in addition
to the Archbishop of Canterbury & the Lambeth
Conference to deal with “issues”:
◦ An Anglican Consultative Council (1968)
◦ A Primates Council (1978)
STRUCTURE OF
THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION

Anglican Consultative Council
includes a bishop, a priest or deacon, and a lay
person from each of the 38 Anglican provinces,
 meets every three years,
 has a constitution, which was then ratified by all
the provinces—this is the only document voted
on by clergy and laity, &
 voted in 2005 to include primates in the ACC, but
this has not been ratified by the provinces.

STRUCTURE OF
THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION

The Primates, as the highest ranking bishop of
each of the 38 provinces (archbishop or
presiding bishop):.
 have met every year since 1979,
 are a council of advice to Archbishop of
Canterbury, &
 since 1998 have sought to take on greater
authority to settle disputes & to discipline
those provinces not responding to their
directives.
THE ISSUES
Part of the motive behind the formation of
the ACC was the growing concern about
division over the ordination of women. In
1970 the ACC narrowly approved the
ordination of women.
 After the United States began to ordain
women in 1977 the 1978 Lambeth
Conference ruled that each province was free
to move ahead on this, & in 1988 asked that
everyone’s decision should be respected.

THE ISSUES


In 1978 & again in 1988 Lambeth Conference
affirmed traditional view of marriage, but called
for a dispassionate study of new research on
homosexuality & how to provide pastoral care
for this group.
At Lambeth 1998 a large group of bishops (200)
hammered out a balanced position, but it was
overruled and a resolution simply condemning
homosexuality as immoral was substituted.
(I.10)
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
In 2003 the Primates asked General
Convention not to confirm the election of
Gene Robinson as Bp. of New Hampshire.
Many of them felt that the Presiding Bishop
misled/betrayed them when the Convention
did confirm him.
 The Archbishop then set up a Lambeth
Commission, which produced the Windsor
Report, which the Primates & the ACC
adopted.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

The Windsor Report asked for:
◦ an American & Canadian apology for acting
contrary to I.10 without consultation within
the Communion,
◦ a moratorium on consents to gay
consecrations & same-sex blessing rites,
◦ those who consecrated Robinson to absent
themselves from Anglican gatherings such as
the upcoming ACC meeting,
◦ Americans & Canadians to explain their
rationale for such consecrations & blessings, &
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
◦ the development of an Anglican Covenant
 to outline the basic theological principles that unite
Anglicans;
 to develop a Communion structure that could rule
on whether a particular concept or practice is
consonant with the Covenant; &
 to require subscription to the Covenant for
membership within the Communion.
◦ Abp. Williams suggested that those accepting it would
be the “constituent” members, those who do not
would only be “associate” members.
RESPONSES TO THE WINDSOR REPORT
The American delegation at the ACC meeting
at Nottingham presented a defense, but that
was not persuasive to many in the “Global
South.”
 In 2005 the House of Bishops covenanted
among themselves not to consent to the
election of any bishop until the General
Convention of 2006. No bishops in a samerelationship were confirmed at the
Convention (because none were elected).

RESPONSES TO THE WINDSOR REPORT

The General Convention of 2006 voted:
◦ to participate in the development of a
covenant that would help preserve the unity
of the Anglican Communion,
◦ to request that bishops & standing
committees do their best not to consent to
the election of anyone whose life-style is
offensive to the rest of the Communion (B033), &
RESPONSES TO THE WINDSOR REPORT
◦ to remind the Communion that we have
not authorized any public rites of blessings
of same-sex relationships, but that private
pastoral care of gay persons is legitimate
(including blessings).
◦ GC elected Katherine Jefferts-Shori as PB, a
supporter in the past of gay blessings &
ordinations.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
Following GC 2006 several dioceses asked
Canterbury for “alternative primatial oversight”
[visitations, consecrations, discipline] due to PB
Jefferts-Shori’s views.
 Global South bishops have begun consecrating
American bishops as members of their
provinces, but for service in the USA with
congregations that have withdrawn from
ECUSA.
 That has led to a flurry of lawsuits.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

The Primates met in February 2007 in Dar es
Salaam, Tanzania to receive a report from the a
special committee chaired by Rowan Williams
◦ that said that in their opinion General
Convention 2006 had adequately responded
to the Windsor report, but that some further
clarifications were necessary;
◦ this was rejected by the majority of the
primates.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

The Primates voted to:
◦ ask the American bishops to accept a
Primatial Vicar system that would be put
into place by a special primates’ council; &
◦ ask the American bishops to state clearly
that they will not consent to any more gay
bishops or to same-sex blessing rituals, and
to do so by September 30th.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

The House of Bishops met in March 2007 to
respond to the Tanzania Communiqué:
◦ rejected the Primatial Vicar system as
contrary to our constitution and canons & a
step towards internationalization;
◦ said that re B-033 only General Convention
can interpret it; &
◦ did not act on the issues of consents and
blessings.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
◦ was generally negative concerning the
proposed covenant in the Communiqué,
especially its enforcement mechanisms,
which put ultimate authority in the
primates; &
◦ asked Canterbury & the Primates’ & ACC’s
standing committees to join the HOB’s
September meeting.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
Over the summer the consecrations by
outside bishops intensified (Nigeria, Uganda,
Kenya, Rwanda).
 Several dioceses have begun to remove any
reference to the Episcopal Church in their
constitutions (Fort Worth, Pittsburgh, Quincy,
San Jaquin, others to follow).
 Several retired bishops have joined the African
groups; several have become Roman
Catholics.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

The House of Bishops met in New Orleans
September 20-25 together with Abp. Williams
& primates. They voted:
◦ to reaffirm our strong desire to remain as
constituent members of the Communion,
◦ to accept the PB’s plan to delegate her
primatial responsibilities to conservative
bishops for any diocese requesting
alternative oversight,
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
to reaffirm B033 to exercise great
restraint in consecrating anyone whose
life style is offensive to the rest of the
Communion,
 to promise not to authorize public, official
blessing rites (did not outlaw private,
pastoral blessings), &
 to reaffirm our commitment to the full
inclusion of gay & lesbian persons in the
life of our Church

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

Immediate reactions to New Orleans
Communiqué:
◦ liberal bishops can live with it, but will
continue their current practices.
◦ moderates feel progress has been made,
but will push for separate recognition if
the Communiqué is found inadequate.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
◦ Very conservative bishops & key African
primates immediately rejected it because:
 no stated repentance & acceptance of
Lambeth I.10
 no agreement to ban all blessings
 no iron-clad agreement to prohibit new gay
consecrations.
 refusal to accept Tanzania primatial vicar
plan.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

51 bishops from 13 groups that comprise
Common Cause met in Pittsburgh under the
leadership of Bp. Duncan from September
25-28. They voted to:
◦ organize themselves as a college of bishops
which will meet every 6 months
◦ promise to work together at local &
regional levels, & to achieve clergy
interchangeability.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
Follow a timeline of 15 months to call a “founding
constitutional convention” for a new Anglican
province in North America in consultation with
supportive Anglican primates
 Meanwhile they will have to figure out what to do
with 51 bishops for 600 congregations.
 They also will have to determine worship
standards & what to do about the ordination of
women.
 Finally, they have to prepare for major court
battles for the 5 Episcopal dioceses involved.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

On October 3rd the majority of both the Standing
Committees of the Anglican Consultative Council &
of the Primates gave their response to the New
Orleans Communiqué:
◦ that our Bishops’ response to the Primates’ two
questions of clarification is adequate,
◦ that the PB’s proposed primatial vicar system &
offer to consult with the Communion about them
is adequate, &
◦ that “foreign interventions” by primates stop.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

The African primates met on Oct. 5th:
◦ Asked for a special meeting of the primates to:
 evaluate the sufficiency of the American
response to the Windsor Report;
 To complete the Anglican Covenant to be
submitted to the provinces for ratification;
 For Lambeth Conference 2008 to be
postponed until ratification is completed;
 Only those accepting the Covenant be invited.
THE FUTURE???
Having received the report from the joint
standing committees who were in New
Orleans, Abp. Williams will confer with the
primates by telephone before issuing his own
judgment of whether we adequately
responded to the Primate’s recent
Communiqué’s request for clarification
regarding our response to the Windsor
Report.
 Respond to the African bishops’ demands.

THE FUTURE???

Options open for the Archbishop:
◦ Declare that we have sufficiently complied with the
Windsor Report to remain invited to Lambeth
2008. Significant portion of the African bishops
would then boycott it.
◦ Withdraw our invitations because of insufficient
response. Smaller numbers of bishops who
disagree with that might boycott.
◦ Postpone Lambeth until 2010 and proceed ahead
with developing the Covenant & make its
acceptance a prerequisite for attendance.
THE FUTURE???

My guesses:
◦ The Abp. will go with the first option,
following his previous judgment & having
spoken against postponement.
◦ The conservative African primates will not
officially break, but will proceed ahead with
a new province & with the threat to form an
alternative Anglican Communion based on
doctrinal agreement rather than on
Canterbury.
THE FUTURE???
Lambeth 2008 will produce some sort of
Covenant that we may not be able to sign.
 Abp. Williams would then attempt to institute the
constituent & associate membership categories
down to individual bishops, which would could
create havoc in many places with many dioceses &
parishes wanting oversight by alternative primates
or bishops.
 This proposal will not fly with most provinces.

THE FUTURE???

Good chance that no compromise will work &
we will end up with two Anglican Communions
roughly the same size:
 One centered around the Archbishop of
Canterbury & more loosely structured around
autonomous provinces
 One centered in Africa & more tightly
structured with the primates being a final
authority on any controversial matter.