Christian Research Journal Reads Episode 128: Despair and Hope in the Anglican Communion

This is Episode 128 of Christian Research Journal Reads. This is an audio version of the CHRISTIAN RESEARCH JOURNAL article, “Despair and Hope in the Anglican Communion” by Anne Kennedy.  This article was published exclusively online in the Christian Research Journal, Volume 46, number 03 (2023). https://www.equip.org/articles/to-all-who-truly-turn-to-him-despair-and-hope-in-the-anglican-communion/

 It was accompanied by Postmodern Realities Episode 348 Despair and Hope in the Anglican Communion.


This podcast presents audio versions of Christian Research Journal articles. As the flagship publication of the Christian Research Institute, the Journal seeks to equip followers of Christ to think and to live Christianly—to exercise truth and experience life. Truth, especially essential Christian doctrine, forms the basis for how we live our lives in Christ. As the apostle Paul instructed Timothy in 1 Tim. 4:16, “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.”The Christian Research Journal enjoyed a print incarnation of almost 45 years. Now exclusively an online publication, the Journal consists of thousands of free articles. We hope that through these audio articles you are not only equipped to proclaim and defend your faith but that as a disciple you also draw closer to Christ in your walk with Him.  You can find the written version of each article that is an episode of Christian Research Journal Reads at the website of the Christian Research Institute, equip.org. All Christian Research Journal articles at equip.org are completely free and do not require a subscription and are not under a paywall.All episodes will be available at the following podcast platforms with more being added daily! You can help spread the word about this new podcast by giving us a rating and review from the other channels we are listed on and telling others!You can view off our Website at the at this link and off our Journal main page. 



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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
This is episode one hundred and twenty eight of the
Christian Research Journal Reads Podcast, Despair and Hope in the
Anglican Communion by Anne Kennedy. This article was published exclusively
online in the Christian Research Journal, Volume forty six, number

(00:28):
three in twenty twenty three. The Christian Research Journal Reads
Podcast presents audio versions of Christian Research Journal articles. To
read the full text of this article and its documentation,
please go to equip dot org. That's e qu ip

(00:54):
dot o r G.

Speaker 2 (00:58):
Despair and Hope in the Anglican Communion by Anne Kennedy,
read by Christina Winterstellar. Quote the glory of God is
to love the unworthy unquote Ashley Null was nearing the
conclusion of his plenary addressed during the fourth Global Anglican
Futures Conference. Quote the glory of God is to relieve

(01:20):
the burdens that we bear, even when we don't understand
why we bear them. The nature of God is to
love his creation, even though we have made such a
mess of it unquote. Quote that is a great comfort. Unquote,
I whispered to the person sitting next to me. Making
a mess of things is something Anglicans in every age

(01:41):
seem particularly adept at doing ours is an ancient tradition.
Its roots go much farther back than the Reformation. The
see of Canterbury was founded by Saint Augustine, not the
famous one from North Africa, but the one commissioned by
Pope Gregory to evangulize the English. He was the first

(02:01):
in an unbroken line of archbishops of Canterbury since five
ninety seven. Many call the English Reformation the via media,
not the midway between Roman Protestantism, but the middle path
between Luther and Calvin, with the curiosity of the Elizabethan settlement,
preserving the candles, incense, kneelers, and lace that give Anglicanism

(02:23):
its antiquated some might say fusty esthetic. Anglicans are the
most peculiar of all Christians. I think they manage to
agree on very little, yet their prayers form a well
worn way down which so many tread on their way
to Jesus. Not being able to agree on very many things,
but worshiping together anyway is nevertheless one source of our

(02:47):
current malady. The way between conformity to doctrine and practice
on one side, and letting everyone have their own conscience
on the other meant that progressivism found its way into
the Anglican world a lot more quickly than in other denominations.
To understand the lay of the land, it will be
helpful to chronicle some of the history of what is

(03:07):
called quote global unquote Anglicanism, because it's not true that
Anglicans don't agree on anything. By the power and grace
of God. In Kegali, Rwanda, in April twenty twenty three,
representatives of over eighty five percent of the world's Anglicans
came together and agreed that the question of homosexuality that

(03:30):
is so divided the Church for twenty five years, is
an essential issue, and that those churches, including the very
heart of the church, the See of Canterbury itself, that
deny the Scripture's teaching on human sexuality, have ceased to
hold their place and position in the communion, the Anglican Communion.

(03:51):
The sun never set, so the saying goes on the
British Empire, because it reached into every corner of the globe.
While twilight was fading on English churches in India and Africa,
fresh rays crept over Christ Church, Alexandria, where George Washington
had his family Pew everywhere the English went, they built churches,

(04:12):
both as centers for mission and evangelism and because many
colonial settlers like to hear a homily on a Sunday
if they felt like it. Gradually those churches, as England
granted her colony's independence, gained local control. What is now
called the Global South is represented by primates for churches
in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Rwanda, and even as far

(04:37):
north as Ghana. That's in Africa alone, India, Southeast Asia, Tasmania, Singapore, Argentina.
A few minutes viewing the Anglican Communion website maintained by
Canterbury shows a vast, linguistic and culturally diverse network of
churches around the world whose bishop's gathering council, whose worship

(04:58):
is shaped by the sixteen six sexty two Prayer Book,
and whose doctrine, to one degree or another conforms to
the thirty nine Articles of Religion. All these churches or
quote provinces unquote share communion with Canterbury, including the American version.
Why wasn't the American Church called the Anglican Church of
America Because at the time of the American Revolution, those

(05:22):
Americans who still wanted to be quote Anglican unquote became uncomfortable,
as you can imagine with the quote Anglo unquote part.
When the revolutionary dust began to settle, American clerics appealed
to the Episcopal Church of Scotland for bishops to make
the journey to consecrate American bishops. Thus the version of

(05:43):
Anglicanism in the US was called. For many decades the
Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States of America pec USA,
and then sometime in the late nineteen nineties, the Episcopal
Church TECs Church. But PECUSA and then tec were almost

(06:05):
immediately infected by the Enlightenment and then Progressivism. Through the
twentieth century, heterodox views about the authority of the Bible
and core tenants of Orthodox faith, such as the virgin
birth and the Resurrection began to fall out of fashion.
Some women were secretly and irregularly ordained in nineteen seventy four,

(06:27):
and the Book of Common Prayer was revised in nineteen
seventy nine. In the nineteen eighty some bishops began ordaining
practicing gay men as priests. These innovations began to trouble
the rest of the world, since eighteen sixty seven, the
Archbishop of Canterbury had been calling and convening a meeting

(06:48):
of all, or as many who desired to attend bishops
of the worldwide Communion to Lambeth at least once a decade.
The Lambeth Conference became one of four instruments of Communion. Unquote,
the Archbishop of Canterbury himself is one of the instruments.
The Primates meeting is another, and the final is called

(07:11):
the Anglican Consultative Council, a group of clergy and lay
people from around the world of the Communion as a whole.
In nineteen ninety eight, at the Lambeth Conference, the growing
division between TEC and the rest of the Communion became
embarrassingly clear. My own bishop returned from England and led

(07:32):
the adult forum at the small Episcopal college Chaplaincy. I
attended a missionary kid from West Africa. I wasn't up
on inter provincial politics. Still, Episcopalians at the time prided
themselves on their pluralism and tolerance. I was therefore shocked
by the belittling and patronizing tone with which my American

(07:54):
bishop described bishops from Africa and Asia there quote backward
unquotquote end quote unenlightened unquote views he intimated begat the
adoption by the whole Conference of Resolution one point one zero,
which could not quote advise the legitimizing or blessing of
same sex unions nor ordaining those involved in same gender

(08:18):
unions unquote. Further, Lambeth one point one zero upheld quote
faithfulness in marriage between a man and a woman in
lifelong union unquote, and exhorted that quote abstinence unquote would
be quote right for those who are not called to
marriage unquote. American bishops came home from Lambeth hurt and angry.

(08:43):
The global South naively believed that the problem had been solved,
and so a mere five years later, in June two
thousand three, the fabric of the communion was torn asunder
when the Diocese of New Hampshire elected Jean Robinson, a
man in an open same sex relationship, to be their
diocesan bishop. TEC's general convention ratified that election, and later

(09:08):
in the year Robinson was consecrated by his fellow bishops.
Quote why did you vote for the consecration of Gene
Robinson unquote, My husband Matt, asked our own bishop in
a tense and painful conversation over a Bible opened to Romans.
One quote the Jesus I know in my heart unquote,
he responded, quote, wouldn't say that kind of thing, unquote.

(09:33):
The Global Anglican Futures Conference. We weren't going to be
able to travel together, but somehow, by a last minute miracle,
I was shoving sun hats into a suitcase and writing
out directions for our friends who agreed to watch our
three children while Matt and I and the baby flew
to Jerusalem for the first ever Global Anglican Futures Conference,

(09:54):
or gaf CON two thousand and eight. It was June again.
For a another five interminable years. The Communion had disputed
what to do about the ordination of Robinson. The consecration
had come and gone. TEC's General Convention recommitted to its
path rather than obeying the Communion call to repent. The

(10:17):
Archbishop of Canterbury, then Rowan Williams, had promised the primates
that he would certainly deal with the American Church, And
yet there they were at every Communion meeting. TEC's presiding Bishop,
Catharine Jefford's scory was adopting a scorched earth policy toward
congregations departing tec Where were all of these parishes going.

(10:41):
Anglicans can't just move next door and set up as
independent churches. This is why the consecration of Robinson was
so tragic. No Anglican congregation or diocese is spiritually or
ecclesiastically autonomous. Bishops are ordained for the whole church, not
to their own diocese. The whole communion therefore was entangled

(11:04):
in heresy by the actions of one member province. In response,
African bishops began to rescue American congregations, providing episcopal oversight
and accepting the orders of American clergy onto their own roles.
My church was sheltered by the Anglican Church of Kenya, Rwanda, Nigeria, Tanzania,

(11:26):
the Southern Cone, and Southeast Asia each accepted American clergy
and congregations. A patchwork Anglican network of faithful Anglicans spread
across the US and Canada. These congregations lost their buildings
and endowments, searching for worship space wherever it could be found.
Then in Jerusalem in two thousand and eight, the gaf

(11:49):
con bishops who gathered adopted the Jerusalem Declaration and formed
the Anglican Church in North America. The patchwork was stitched together,
and we were given an archbishop and began the work
of adopting our own constitution and canons. While not ourselves
quote in communion unquote with Canterbury, we were quote in

(12:12):
communion unquote with some global selth bishops who continued to
participate in Anglican Communion meetings. My husband and I got
back on the plain and went home to our children,
grateful for the provision of Anglicans around the world and
a global commitment to the scriptures, the Kagali Commitment. What

(12:33):
does it mean to be an Anglican? For millennia, it
meant quote responding to God's revelation through Jesus Christ unquote
in communion with the See of Canterbury, the center of
a Christian faith grounded in the Word of God, the sacraments,
and common prayer. Is it possible to be an Anglican
Christian in communion with a church that denies the basic

(12:55):
elements of the Christian faith. What if the church itself
ceases to be discernibly Christian. What sort of ecclesial identity
does that entail? In February of twenty twenty three, after
nearly two decades of more and more Western Anglican provinces
adopting the heretical view of human sexuality, the Bishops of

(13:17):
the Church of England, prodded by Penny Mordaunt and other
members of Parliament, accepted in advance of the full Synod
quote Prayers for Love and Faith unquote. The bishops didn't
want to overtly affirm same sex marriage, knowing such a
move would further divide a fractured church. Rather, they wanted

(13:37):
to find a way to both affirm and not affirm
such relationships. They therefore wrote prayers that would bless both
members and such relationships without blessing the relationships themselves. The
Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, promoted these prayers and admonished
the Synod to adopt them. Gaf Con four convened a

(14:01):
little over a month later, and I found myself in
a room with nine other Anglicans from around the world,
preparing for a long night and then a long week
of writing. Each gaf Con releases some kind of statement
or letter to the church. After the Jerusalem Declaration in
two thousand and eight successive conferences have addressed relevant issues

(14:23):
for global Anglicans. This conference was different. Responding to heresy
at the very heart of the communion the Archbishop of
Canterbury himself was painful and being a cradle Anglican personal
the Kigali Commitment is longer than other gaf con statements.

(14:44):
It rehearses some of the history I've outlined here. It
rearticulates the doctrine of scripture that has shaped Anglican worship
for more than five hundred years. Most of all, however,
it redefines Anglican identity and definitively classifies the question of
sexuality as a first order communion dividing heresy, The Kigawley

(15:05):
Commitment resets the whole communion on its biblical foundation. Without
this causes every Anglican to take a hard swallow. The
Archbishop of Canterbury quote, we have no confidence that the
Archbishop of Canterbury, nor the other instruments of communion led
by him, the Lambeth Conference, the Anglican Consultative Council and

(15:27):
the Primates meetings are able to provide a godly way
forward that will be acceptable to those who are committed
to the truthfulness, clarity, sufficiency, and authority of Scripture. The
instruments of communion have failed to maintain true communion based
on the Word of God and shared faith in Christ.
All four instruments propose that the way ahead for the

(15:49):
Anglican Communion is to learn to walk together in good disagreement. However,
we reject the claim that two contradictory positions can both
be valid in matters effect salvation. We cannot walk together
in good disagreement with those who have deliberately chosen to
walk away from the faith once for all delivered to

(16:09):
the Saints Jude three. The people of God walk in
His ways, walk in the truth, and walk in the light,
all of which require that we do not walk in
Christian fellowship with those in darkness. Deuteronomy eight six, Second
John four, First John one seven. Successive archbishops of Canterbury

(16:32):
have failed to guard the faith by inviting bishops to
Lambeth who have embraced or promoted practices contrary to Scripture.
This failure of church discipline has been compounded by the
current Archbishop of Canterbury, who has himself welcomed the provision
of liturgical resources to bless these practices contrary to scripture.

(16:53):
This renders his leadership role in the Anglican Communion entirely indefensible.
While I was on the plain trying to sleep after
so many late nights, Lambeth Palace issued a press statement
asserting that gaf co o N wasn't allowed to take
such a decision, appealing to a statement made by Archbishop

(17:15):
Welby earlier in the year, The office wrote, quote, no
changes to the formal structures of the Anglican Communion can
be made unless they are agreed upon by the instruments
of Communion unquote. Later, Archbishop Welby scolded the Anglican Church
of Uganda for supporting the Ugandan Parliament's law regarding homosexuality.

(17:36):
He wrote, quote to express his grief and dismay at
the Church of Uganda's support for the Anti Homosexuality Act unquote.
He went on to say that he made quote this
public statement with sorrow and with continuing prayers for reconciliation
between our churches and across the Anglican Communion. He wasn't

(17:57):
intending to impose quote Western value use on our Ugandan
Anglican sisters and brothers. Unquote. He insisted rather he wanted
only to remind quote them of the commitments we have
made as Anglicans to treat every person with the care
and respect they deserve as children of God. Unquote. The
new chairman of the gaf CON Primates Council, Archbishop Menda,

(18:21):
shot back swiftly quote we in gaf CON and GSFA
Global Self Fellowship of Anglican Churches had earlier declared unequivocally
that we no longer recognize the Archbishop of Canterbury as
the head leader or spokesperson of the Anglican Communion. He
has lost every power and authority to dictate to or

(18:44):
advise other primates and provinces of the Communion, who oversee
eighty five percent of the global Communion. It is pertinent
to remind Archbishop Wellby that Africa is no longer a
colony of the British Empire and the Church of England
has no jurisdiction over the Anglican provinces on the continent
of Africa. As such, he should stop meddling with the

(19:07):
internal affairs of the Anglicans on the continent of Africa. Unquote.
The way we live now Ashleigh null sat on a
stool and spoke slowly during his plenary address. Null is
fond of leading congregations through the comfortable words. The four
lines of scripture Thomas Cranmer placed after the confession of

(19:28):
sin and the absolution quote hear the word of God
to all who truly turn to him unquote. They begin,
and then each verse is declared over the stooped and
exhausted congregation. Quote, come to me, all who labor and
are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Matthew
eleven twenty eight. God so loved the world that he

(19:51):
gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him
should not perish, but have eternal life. John three point sixteen.
The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. One
Timothy one five. If anyone sins, we have an advocate

(20:11):
with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous. He is the
propitiation of our sins, and not for ours only, but
also for the sins of the whole world. First John
two one through two. The four verses are meant to
be read every time the absolution is said. They are
the perfect undoing of the tangled mess of human sin,

(20:34):
the way the heart, mind, and will turn in on
themselves to draw the creature away from the creator. They
draw the worshiper inexorably towards Jesus, who steps into the
mess and draws the sinner's gaze up to himself to
stop the endless death spiral of self justification. It is
for this reason, for these precious words, that Anglicans around

(20:57):
the world must say no to any person, be he
even the Archbishop of Canterbury, who undoes their power by
blessing something that the Lord calls sin. No rest is
possible for the one who is confused about the source
of all blessing. Anglicans around the world today need not
fear for the fate of their communion. Though bishops rise

(21:17):
and fall, though national lines are drawn and redrawn, the
Word of God never changes, never fades away, will never
be corrupted by self serving human institutions. If you happen
by any Anglican congregation in any part of the world,
however large or small, you can be sure to find
ordinary people submitting their stubborn wills, arrant hearts and confused

(21:41):
minds to apprehend the very glory of God. Many of
them are praying even now for the Archbishop of Cannaburry
himself to crack open one of our two favorite books,
the Bible and the Prayer Book and rediscover the riches
of God's grace.

Speaker 3 (21:58):
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