http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=16383
Many Anglicans around the world are wondering: "Will the appointment of a new Archbishop of Canterbury provide new leadership that effectively addresses the crisis in the Anglican Communion?" "Now that the proposed Anglican Covenant is dead-eviscerated of its disciplinary provisions and unsupported by the Church of England- what will a new Archbishop of Canterbury do to address the crisis precipitated by The Episcopal Church (TEC) and Anglican Church of Canada's (ACoC) violation of Lambeth Resolution 1.10?"
"What will the new Archbishop of Canterbury do to preserve the faith and order of the Anglican Communion over and against the continuing election of non-celibate gays and lesbians as bishops in TEC, the permission for same sex blessings in certain ACoC dioceses, and now the approval of provisional rites for same sex blessings in TEC?"
"Will the new Archbishop of Canterbury work with the Primates of the Communion together to preserve faith and order-or will he continue to dialogue it to death through phony "continuing Indaba?"
The prognosis is not good for effective Communion leadership through Canterbury, for the following reasons:
1. The process for appointing a new Archbishop of Canterbury is a vestige of British colonialism.
The Church of England has a unique process for selecting the Archbishop of Canterbury. Let me say that were the Archbishop of Canterbury only the leader of the Church of England and not the leader of the Anglican Communion there would be fewer concerns about the selection process.
As it is, each communion province is an independent province with its own unique processes for selecting its leadership. However, the Archbishop of Canterbury is not only the leader of the Church of England but is also, for all intents and purposes, the leader of the Anglican Communion.
With that in mind I think it appropriate to call in to question the process by which he next ABC will be selected. The appointment of a new Archbishop of Canterbury is not by the Provinces of the Communion. It is not by his peers, Primates/Archbishops whom he is empowered to call together.
No; the Archbishop of Canterbury, due to his primary role as head of the Church of England, is selected through a complex and political process.
The Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) is a commission of the Church of England with 12 members. But it's Chair for the Nomination of the next Archbishop of Canterbury is appointed by the British government.
The CNC interviews candidates and then proposes two names, in order, to the British Prime Minister-in this case, Mr. David Cameron. Mr. Cameron will then select the top name and propose that person to the Queen.
You can see a summary of the whole process here. http://tinyurl.com/6t8lgmc
But even the British Commonwealth of Nations-whose members were formerly under direct British rule-now vote from among themselves a Secretary General to lead the Commonwealth.
The "peers" they have elected as Secretary General have been from Guyana, Nigeria and India.
With this and other considerations in mind, the GAFCON Primates issued a statement recently in London at the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans Leaders Conference calling for a reduced leadership role for the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Specifically, they suggested that the ABC no longer be the default chair of the primate's meetings. Instead, they called for the primates themselves to elect their own chair.
2. The Crown Nominations Commission response to Global Anglicans' request for representation is not promising.
The Crown Nominations Commission is made of bishops from the Church of England, members of the CofE General Synod and from the Diocese of Canterbury. Additionally, the commission includes a spot for a primate of the communion.
"Finally, a chance to add some balance to this commission" you might say. Not so. The group that selects the Primate representative was the Standing Committee of the Anglican Communion.
However, instead of selecting someone that represents the majority of Anglicans outside of England, Archbishop Barry Morgan of Wales was chosen.
But Wales is also a part of the United Kingdom and Archbishop Morgan is well known for his liberal stance on issues of sexuality that have divided the Communion.
The Crown Nominations Commission could hardly have gotten a person more unrepresentative of the majority of Anglicans than Archbishop Morgan of Wales.
As Presiding Bishop Mouneer Anis of Jerusalem and the Middle East summed it up, "Sadly, this gives the impression that the voice of the Anglican Communion outside England is not counted as being important."
For these reasons and more, some have observed that the governance structures of the Anglican Communion as currently constituted-and especially the appointment of the Archbishop of Canterbury - are the last vestige of the British Empire.
3. Primates/Archbishops of provinces representing the majority of Anglicans worldwide are working effectively without the facilitation or leadership of Canterbury
The Primates Council of the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (FCA) represents the provinces of Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, West Africa, The Southern Cone and now The Anglican Church in North America and has been meeting at least twice a year since the 2008 GAFCON gathering in Jerusalem.
At their last meeting, in conjunction with the FCA Leaders Conference in London, inter-provincial networks were established in the areas of theological education, economic empowerment and development, cross-cultural ministry and more.
The Archbishop of Canterbury did not attend this gathering of over 200 Anglican leaders-Archbishops, bishops, clergy and lay leaders-from at least 8 provinces. Instead he sent a brief letter of greeting and a representative.
Leaders of the vast majority of the world's Anglicans met in London and the Archbishop of Canterbury and the "instruments of communion" we're not needed or present. Likewise, the 4th Global "South to South" Encounter of Archbishops, bishops, clergy and lay leaders in 2010 in Singapore produced a clear communiqué [link] that confronted the crisis in the Anglican Communion, the dysfunction of the current instruments of unity, the need to reform faith and order, and the need for economic empowerment and development within the Global South.
The Archbishop of Canterbury did not facilitate or attend this meeting. The recently concluded meeting in Bangkok produced great work on new paradigms and strategies for evangelism within the Global South. Representatives of 17 provinces, the majority of Anglicans worldwide, signed this communiqué. But the Archbishop of Canterbury played little to no role in this meeting either.
In light of all this, perhaps we should reframe the questions I posed at the beginning of this letter: What role should the Archbishop of Canterbury play in leading the Anglican Communion? Yes, let us pray for a new Archbishop of Canterbury who is committed to restoring faith and order within the Anglican Communion, in keeping with the Holy Scriptures, creeds and councils of the Church. But even if such an Archbishop could be selected through the current processes, to what degree will he be committed to enhancing the role of the Primates and the majority of Anglicans worldwide who reject the innovations of TEC and the ACoC? And how will he empower their leadership at every level of the Communion?
The Rev. Canon Phil Ashey is COO of the American Anglican Council
Will a new Archbishop of Canterbury change the status quo?
By Canon Phil Ashey
American Anglican Councilhttp://www.americananglican.org
August 5, 2012
By Canon Phil Ashey
American Anglican Councilhttp://www.americananglican.org
August 5, 2012
Many Anglicans around the world are wondering: "Will the appointment of a new Archbishop of Canterbury provide new leadership that effectively addresses the crisis in the Anglican Communion?" "Now that the proposed Anglican Covenant is dead-eviscerated of its disciplinary provisions and unsupported by the Church of England- what will a new Archbishop of Canterbury do to address the crisis precipitated by The Episcopal Church (TEC) and Anglican Church of Canada's (ACoC) violation of Lambeth Resolution 1.10?" "What will the new Archbishop of Canterbury do to preserve the faith and order of the Anglican Communion over and against the continuing election of non-celibate gays and lesbians as bishops in TEC, the permission for same sex blessings in certain ACoC dioceses, and now the approval of provisional rites for same sex blessings in TEC?"
"Will the new Archbishop of Canterbury work with the Primates of the Communion together to preserve faith and order-or will he continue to dialogue it to death through phony "continuing Indaba?"
The prognosis is not good for effective Communion leadership through Canterbury, for the following reasons:
1. The process for appointing a new Archbishop of Canterbury is a vestige of British colonialism.
The Church of England has a unique process for selecting the Archbishop of Canterbury. Let me say that were the Archbishop of Canterbury only the leader of the Church of England and not the leader of the Anglican Communion there would be fewer concerns about the selection process.
As it is, each communion province is an independent province with its own unique processes for selecting its leadership. However, the Archbishop of Canterbury is not only the leader of the Church of England but is also, for all intents and purposes, the leader of the Anglican Communion.
With that in mind I think it appropriate to call in to question the process by which he next ABC will be selected. The appointment of a new Archbishop of Canterbury is not by the Provinces of the Communion. It is not by his peers, Primates/Archbishops whom he is empowered to call together.
No; the Archbishop of Canterbury, due to his primary role as head of the Church of England, is selected through a complex and political process.
The Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) is a commission of the Church of England with 12 members. But it's Chair for the Nomination of the next Archbishop of Canterbury is appointed by the British government.
The CNC interviews candidates and then proposes two names, in order, to the British Prime Minister-in this case, Mr. David Cameron. Mr. Cameron will then select the top name and propose that person to the Queen.
You can see a summary of the whole process here. http://tinyurl.com/6t8lgmc
But even the British Commonwealth of Nations-whose members were formerly under direct British rule-now vote from among themselves a Secretary General to lead the Commonwealth.
The "peers" they have elected as Secretary General have been from Guyana, Nigeria and India.
With this and other considerations in mind, the GAFCON Primates issued a statement recently in London at the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans Leaders Conference calling for a reduced leadership role for the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Specifically, they suggested that the ABC no longer be the default chair of the primate's meetings. Instead, they called for the primates themselves to elect their own chair.
2. The Crown Nominations Commission response to Global Anglicans' request for representation is not promising.
The Crown Nominations Commission is made of bishops from the Church of England, members of the CofE General Synod and from the Diocese of Canterbury. Additionally, the commission includes a spot for a primate of the communion.
"Finally, a chance to add some balance to this commission" you might say. Not so. The group that selects the Primate representative was the Standing Committee of the Anglican Communion.
However, instead of selecting someone that represents the majority of Anglicans outside of England, Archbishop Barry Morgan of Wales was chosen.
But Wales is also a part of the United Kingdom and Archbishop Morgan is well known for his liberal stance on issues of sexuality that have divided the Communion.
The Crown Nominations Commission could hardly have gotten a person more unrepresentative of the majority of Anglicans than Archbishop Morgan of Wales.
As Presiding Bishop Mouneer Anis of Jerusalem and the Middle East summed it up, "Sadly, this gives the impression that the voice of the Anglican Communion outside England is not counted as being important."
For these reasons and more, some have observed that the governance structures of the Anglican Communion as currently constituted-and especially the appointment of the Archbishop of Canterbury - are the last vestige of the British Empire.
3. Primates/Archbishops of provinces representing the majority of Anglicans worldwide are working effectively without the facilitation or leadership of Canterbury
The Primates Council of the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (FCA) represents the provinces of Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, West Africa, The Southern Cone and now The Anglican Church in North America and has been meeting at least twice a year since the 2008 GAFCON gathering in Jerusalem.
At their last meeting, in conjunction with the FCA Leaders Conference in London, inter-provincial networks were established in the areas of theological education, economic empowerment and development, cross-cultural ministry and more.
The Archbishop of Canterbury did not attend this gathering of over 200 Anglican leaders-Archbishops, bishops, clergy and lay leaders-from at least 8 provinces. Instead he sent a brief letter of greeting and a representative.
Leaders of the vast majority of the world's Anglicans met in London and the Archbishop of Canterbury and the "instruments of communion" we're not needed or present. Likewise, the 4th Global "South to South" Encounter of Archbishops, bishops, clergy and lay leaders in 2010 in Singapore produced a clear communiqué [link] that confronted the crisis in the Anglican Communion, the dysfunction of the current instruments of unity, the need to reform faith and order, and the need for economic empowerment and development within the Global South.
The Archbishop of Canterbury did not facilitate or attend this meeting. The recently concluded meeting in Bangkok produced great work on new paradigms and strategies for evangelism within the Global South. Representatives of 17 provinces, the majority of Anglicans worldwide, signed this communiqué. But the Archbishop of Canterbury played little to no role in this meeting either.
In light of all this, perhaps we should reframe the questions I posed at the beginning of this letter: What role should the Archbishop of Canterbury play in leading the Anglican Communion? Yes, let us pray for a new Archbishop of Canterbury who is committed to restoring faith and order within the Anglican Communion, in keeping with the Holy Scriptures, creeds and councils of the Church. But even if such an Archbishop could be selected through the current processes, to what degree will he be committed to enhancing the role of the Primates and the majority of Anglicans worldwide who reject the innovations of TEC and the ACoC? And how will he empower their leadership at every level of the Communion?
The Rev. Canon Phil Ashey is COO of the American Anglican Council
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