Observing the Anglicans
I am no stranger to church conventions and assemblies, but I must say, I don’t think I have seen or heard so many unhappy people as I have after this convention of the Episcopal Church (note: when dod people start referring to it as the TEC rather than the ECUSA? I never got that memo.)
Generally it has been my experience that one side of an issue is angry, but it seems to me that everyone is really pissed off over everything. And I have to admit, I am saddened by the covention, not so much because any decision made, or because of the new primate (though I would never want someone her theological leanings as our PB in the ELCA). No, I am little saddened by the way that the media is presenting the issues arising out of this. It seems to me that it reinforces the notion of pettiness and infighting among Christians.
Don’t get me wrong, I know that there are serious issues emerging and serious hurts and a very real rift that has arisen. Anglicanism has changed, plain and simple.
So what happens next? What will Anglicanism look like in the US in the coming years?
I continue to ask these questions of the ELCA as well. I am not so sure where we are going or what we are doing. I would like to think that we are living into the fullness of the Kingdom of God, but no one knows what that looks like any more. At our last synod assembly, we couldn’t get our assembly to say that the words “Father, Son and Holy Spirit” were preferred for referring to the Trinity. And we are a pretty conservative synod by all accounts.
So where will all the moderates go? Or will they stay? It definitely makes me think that we are for all intents and purposes really congregationalists. Even if we have Bishops. I have this theory that all of the controversies of the mainline are going to lead to the emergence of a new congregationalism in the US. I think it already exists, but I really think it is going to be strengthened.
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“We are a pretty conservative synod by all accounts” —
You do have a sense of humor.
The ELCA responds to Episcopal presiding bishop election
http://www.wfn.org/2006/06/msg00498.html
I don’t get it…seems as if the reaction is based on her being a woman. Or are the comments taken out of context????
As a woman, I know that there is more to us than our gender.
I don’t disagree with your theory of a new congregationalism. My wife (a pastor and PhD candidate) and I have wondered if most of what churches do - how they engage in ministry, how they do the liturgy, what language they use (literally and figuratively) - is really just up to the pastor. In this sense, it is even worse than a new, emerging congregationalism - it is a new clericalism in which the whims, wishes and wants of the pastor - no the congregation - determine the shape, color and style of ministry in a place.
Secondly, I too have looked at TEC (I missed the abreviation memo, too) with wonder and confusion. How can there be American dioceses that do not ordain women? Do those diocese even allow women ordained in other diocese to be called to their parishes? How can a denomination not be in agreement about such basic things (I’m not talking about the Anglican Communion, but The Episcopal Church)? And then when I read on Derek’s blog that some people are concerned about the sacramental validity of ordinations presided over by a woman presiding bishop - gosh, that it just nuts. In a sense, this is the kind of talk that the World Aloners feared when the ELCA was seeking Full Communion with the EC(USA) - an over-emphasis on Bishops rather than The Word in sacraments and ministry.
I have to run now, but I also want to touch on the idea that the ELCA, TEC and other denominations may be wayward in their position on liturgy, sexuality, etc.. Contrary to some, I’m not overly concerned (I’m more concerned about the poor state of preaching, teaching and discipleship than I am of any liturgical or sexuality concerns. . . .)
The brutal truth is that the shift from ECUSA to TEC happened when the leadershp realized that we had a really, really good chance of getting kicked out of the Anglican Communion. This way we aren’t just a *national* body but an international one in our own right. Apparently the flags of the various nations where we have dioceses outside the continental US were on very prominent display during convention to reinforce it.
We are at the beginning of a massive realignment in Protestant Christianity. I believe something on this level has happened before but don’t know my American religious history well enough to point y’all to it…LP? Basically, the liberal and conservative poles of the mainline denominations are fracturing. New bodies and new mergers may well come out of it. The way that the Gospel is proclaimed must change as global society absorbs new technligies and ways of being–especially forcedxc globalization caused by huge leaps in communication technology (internet, cell-phones, etc.) These realignments and splits are painful but I’m not sure that they aren’t part of a necessary process.
yah, you know no one gave me the memo on the whole ECUSA to TEC shift. I was very confused for a couple of days there. but what an interesting development.
what’s going on in TEC with respect to the anglican communion is actually a little bit bizarre because it keeps putting me in mind of the language around “we can’t let the UN tell us what to do” and yet, that kind of talk came from political conservatives and here we have left leaning clerics who couldn’t care less what the rest of the world’s anglicans think.
I think your observations about congregationalism are right on. but I think we’ve always been to some degree int his country. it’s just becoming more apparent.
I think derek is right. The last time this happened was the debate in between the Fundamentalists and Modernists at the beginning of the century (note I’m using technical terms, in both cases).
The question for me is, where do I fit in this realignment? I don’t seem to fit in either camp at the ends and feel quite mixed about things. I also think there may be more than two camps.
And I don’t think this is just an American phenom. I suspect we’re going to be seeing this in other parts of the world as well–England, Canada…
you missed my point entirely.