The one that got away

If I were to describe the heart of Anglicanism, I would always start with Christ, for he is the head of the Church. But looking at more human structures, I would go back to Augustine, who did not bring Christianity to our shores, but did bring Catholic order and was installed as the first Archbishop of Canterbury. There is an unbroken continuity between those times and ours. True, under Henry VIII the English Church did break with Rome, but in many parishes the same people and their priests continued as the English Church. The Reformation brought considerable change and the settlement, under Elizabeth I, sought to establish the Church as being both Catholic and Reformed. A key figure, often quoted as the epitome of the Anglican Way is Richard Hooker, who placed great emphasis on the interplay between scripture, tradition and reason. In fact the three are deeply intertwined. Scripture is part of the tradition of the Church and St.Paul, for example, in reasoning out what it means to be a follower of Christ, was laying down words which came to be accepted as scripture. But an ongoing emphasis on scripture, tradition and reason leads us to a place of wrestling with truth in which we are open to where the Spirit is leading us in the present moment of our lives. Some have criticised Anglicanism as being less than clear and too middle of the road, but it seems to me that being prepared to move beyond what appears to be simple scriptural certainly, and into a place in which we grapple with the message of God, opens us to be led by the Spirit in a way that is thoroughly healthy and dares to face challenge and engage in debate.

In the recent meeting of Anglican Primates at Canterbury, the Archbishop of Uganda slipped quietly away from the gathering, apparently unnoticed. It was only when he wrote on his website that he had left, that people noticed the fact. He had come to Canterbury determined not to engage in any discussion. Either the Episcopal Church of the USA repented or it must withdraw from the Anglican Communion. And if this was not to happen, then he would go. There was no leeway here, no room for compromise. There was to be no wrestling with the questions over human sexuality, for in his mind his position was right. Despite the final communique that the Archbishops were committed to walking together, one, at least, got away and refused to walk in this company.

Little has been made of this one who got away, but his explanation ought to warn us of things to come. He spoke of never being more proud and happy to be part of the Church of Uganda. He also made it clear that he and his church are not leaving the Anglican Communion, for ‘we ARE the Anglican Communion and the future is bright’. It is clear than the children we gave birth to, as we laid down Anglicanism as a strand of the British Empire, have grown up and are making their own way in the world. It is not a colour of Anglicanism that I recognise, except from being one strand of a richly twisted flow of church life in which living with different was something to be celebrated. One strand, making a stand for its perspective of truth, is a far cry from what has been the tradition of Anglicanism and time will surely tell whether this very one-eyed version of what was a rich tradition does win its claim to be the Anglican Church of the future.