Defending the Faith
Conservatives face huge obstacles in putting Anglicanism back together.
Timothy C. Morgan in Canterbury and Jerusalem | posted 10/13/2008 08:20AM

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Typically optimistic, Venables realizes Anglicanism can never be the same. "I hope there is a way we can remain as Anglicans together," he told Anglicantv.org. "Whatever is coming up will look very different. The toothpaste has been squeezed out of the tube and I don't think we can put it back. We are not going to be able to put Humpty Dumpty back together again."
As global Anglicanism has fractured, four major divisions, each having one or more subdivisions, have emerged:
• Liberals: The Left views normalizing homosexuality in the church as part of its global "prophetic witness for full inclusion." But liberals have subdivided into a moderate group that is willing to abide by the three prohibitions for the time being, and another, more hard-line group that wishes to press forward with more gay ordinations and same-sex blessings.
• Evangelicals: Globally, evangelicals represent the largest segment of active churchgoers in the Anglican Communion. The two most distinctive subgroups are the charismatic movement and the confessing movement. Charismatic leaders invoke the East African Revival as a model for renewal and often affirm the ordination of women. The confessing movement focuses on doc-trinal renewal, drawing on the English Reformation. Many Reformed Anglicans do not support women's ordination, but they are typically willing to be in communion with evangelicals who support it.
• Anglo-Catholics: These leaders are most evident in the Church of England. Earlier this year, 1,400 or more priests and bishops resisted the Church of England's vote to permit women bishops. The most significant division between Anglo-Catholics concerns relations with the Roman Catholic Church. Many, but not all, Anglo-Catholics support full communion with Rome.
• Institutional loyalists: Also described as pragmatic traditionalists, loyalists compose the smallest group. They are scholars, bishops, and agency leaders who often hold high-ranking positions in seminaries, commissions, and councils. Some lean left; others lean right. But they are very attached to Anglican traditions and middle-of-the-road, process-driven decision making.
In working with these different groups, Archbishop Williams faces a politically impossible task. All but the loyalists are dissatisfied with his leadership. Williams personally supports inclusion of monogamous homosexual couples, as recently revealed in private correspondence leaked by a therapist to the British media and written before Williams became archbishop. But as a global leader, he affirms the church's historic doctrine. During the Church of England's summer synod, Williams attempted, but failed, to create safeguards for traditionalists who support an all-male priesthood. At the end of Lambeth, Williams cheered evangelicals with his public criticism of the church's left wing. Yet he has not called for a specific penalty for bishops or priests who ordain gays or bless same-sex unions.
The Next 12 Months
Throughout the next 12 months, conservative Anglicans will face many tests of strength as they attempt to rebuild Anglican identity on the authority of Scripture and Anglicanism's historic creeds and teachings. The biggest division between conservatives concerns strategy. Inside strategists favor using the so-called Windsor Process. Outside strategists support creating new structures to reform Anglicanism.
A key test occurs this month when Episcopal Church bishops are likely to initiate the removal of Robert Duncan as Bishop of Pittsburgh. Along with four other conservative bishops, Duncan is seeking to remove his diocese from the Episcopal Church. Outside strategists hope to create a new orthodox Anglican province for North America. The two-fold goal for conservatives is to preserve orthodoxy within their dioceses and to isolate the Episcopal Left.