Trying to stop the meltdown of the Anglican Communion, the Archbishop of Canterbury has produced an agreement that promises peace in our time…
UPDATE: The Africans aren’t happy. Halting homosexual ordinations isn’t enough. They want the Episcopalians to repent. Whaat? Don’t the Africans understand? These are Episcopalians. ‘Repentance’ isn’t a word they like to use. Perhaps, “We accept that our actions have been misunderstood by some of our brothers and sisters, and we are sorry that they are upset…” There. Will that do?
Actually, the Archbishop of Canterbury didn’t produce that. The House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church did. Note the Telegraph’s interesting prediction-masquerading-as-reporting “[The HoB statement] will be seized on by the archbishop of Canterbury …” (emphasis mine).What Canterbury will do now remains to be seen, of course. I agree with you, however, that this latest statement is basically useless for promoting unity among the Anglican Communion. The Episcopal Church is convinced—despite Scripture, tradition, reason, and the counsel of an overwhelming majority of present-day Anglicans worldwide—that its stance is correct, and it’s neither interested in dissenting opinions nor honest enough to say so in so many words.I realize I may sound harsh, and I’d like to be proven wrong—but I lived in that church for over forty years, and that’s the track record I’ve seen.Peace,–Peter
The unfortunate fact of the matter is that the Anglican Communion as it has been is gone. The Episcopal Church has done yeoman’s work in exploding it from the inside out. One can either be bitter about it, accusing pride and vanity in all directions, or one can simply move on to where God is calling is them as a result. It’s all over but the crying.