August 30, 2022 at 3:50 p.m.
OUR NEIGHBORS' FAITH
OUR NEIGHBORS' FAITH
As the British Empire grew, the Church of England grew as well, particularly during the 19th century and particularly in Africa and Asia, as the result of vigorous missionary societies. These daughter churches in the Global South have nourished their own missionary spirit and the current estimate of the size of the Anglican Communion is 85 million members in 165 countries with 883 bishops.
The Anglican Communion was brought into existence by the American Revolution. After the revolution, which decimated what is now the Episcopal Church, it was impossible to call the church in this country, the Church of England. In the United States even the word Anglican, which simply means of the tribe of the Angles or English, was impossible to use. How was the Archbishop of Canterbury to relate to a church that used the Book of Common Prayer but could not pray for the English king as head of state? The Archbishop of Canterbury was acknowledged as a first among equals whose only authority was the power of persuasion and spiritual leadership. As more and more English colonies gained independence and as the church grew rapidly in the former colonies, there was a need to nurture the bonds of unity and faith in this far-flung Christian family.
As a result of requests by bishops in former colonies, including the Bishop of Vermont and decisively, the Bishops of Canada, the first conference of all the bishops in the Anglican Communion was called in 1867 to meet at Lambeth Palace, the London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Since then, the Lambeth meetings have been called every 10 years by the Archbishop of Canterbury who has the sole right of invitation.
From the beginning, it was made clear that this meeting was not a synod and had no jurisdictional authority. Nevertheless, subsequent conferences, which now are mostly held on the grounds of Canterbury Cathedral, have issued resolutions which have been taken with great seriousness by the churches of the Communion as representing the consensus of the Anglican bishops. The most famous of these is the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral.
This resolution, originated in a meeting of the House of Bishops of the U.S. Episcopal Church meeting in Chicago and was adopted by the Lambeth Conference in 1888, lists four principles essential for ecumenical reunion. They are: the Holy Scriptures as containing all things necessary for salvation; the Nicene and Apostles Creeds as sufficient statements of Christian faith; the dominical sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion; and the historic episcopate as locally adapted.
The Lambeth Conference of 2020 was delayed for two years because of COVID. The conference considered statements about evangelism, the environment, global poverty and violence, including the persecution of Christian minorities. The most controversial issue discussed was the reaffirmation of a resolution affirming the sacrament of marriage as a union of one man and one woman for life.
Several churches in the West have officially embraced same-sex marriage. As a result, bishops representing about one-third of the membership of the communion have boycotted this conference. During the conference Eucharists, many Global South and theological conservative bishops who did attend, stayed in their seats during Communion. The Archbishop of Canterbury made a statement that this resolution was still in the mind of the majority of the bishops in the communion representing the majority of the people, but that the communion was divided on the issue. Global South bishops issued a statement of their own pledging to stay in the communion but without compromising Biblical standards and issued a call for the repentance of the Western churches.
Leander Harding has been Dean of the Cathedral of All Saints for five years and is an archdeacon of the Episcopal Diocese of Albany. He has been ordained for 41 years and served mostly as a parish priest. For eight years, he taught pastoral theology in a seminary. He is the author of “In the Breaking of the Bread: A User’s Guide to a Service of Holy Communion in the Anglican Tradition” and a book on the priesthood, “To Persevere in Love.” He and his wife have been married for 51 years and have three sons.
250 X 250 AD
250 X 250 AD
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250 X 250 AD
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