Bishop Anderson Goes Yard

Bishop David Anderson, President of the American Anglican Council, has posted a succinct and excellent summary of the current situation in the Anglican Communion. As his headline puts it, “All is not well in ‘Rowanland’.”

He notes that Rowan Williams is uniting people, but not in the way he intended. There had been a division amongst orthodox Global South primates over how to deal with His Grace. Back in 2008, when it was clear ++Rowan would indaba Lambeth, many orthodox bishops did not go and instead went to the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON). But not all orthodox took that course. ++Anis and ++Chew were among those orthodox who did not attend GAFCON and did attend Lambeth.

“Williams, however, abused this additional chance afforded him by some of the orthodox primates, and there is now probably little differentiation between the GAFCON primates and those bishops led by Chew and Anis.” Indeed, Chew and Anis are among the primates who boycotted the just ended Primates Meeting in Dublin.

Anderson goes to the heart of the current problems in the Communion, the failure of Rowan Williams’ leadership.

Many of the primates have made their reasons for being absent very clear in public and private correspondence to Dr. Williams, who is the convener. However, the Anglican Communion Office, headed by Canon Kenneth Kearon, has concocted reasons for some of them that are simply disingenuous. Most of the primates have made it clear to Dr. Williams why they are absent and why they are frustrated and disappointed in his leadership. With this fact in mind, there is a question that begs to be asked; "Is Dr. Williams competent to lead the Communion?" You would be surprised if you polled liberal revisionists and orthodox conservatives to find that many on both sides would answer NO. It is time to acknowledge before the world that the emperor has no clothes, and the Archbishop of Canterbury has no competency to lead the Communion. . . .

The Anglican Communion is a wonderful global family that has some real dysfunction, and as is often the case, the heart of the dysfunction sits in the center. The heart of the dysfunction is not TEC, nor Bishop V. Gene Robinson, nor Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori. That these have perpetrated grossly unbiblical misconduct and deserve to be severely punished is clear enough, but to posit the blame on all of them gives them entirely too much credit and feeds their sense of importance. The blame properly falls on the spiritual father who should have disciplined the miscreants and is now unable to act for the well being of both the miscreants and the rest of the family. To be effective, discipline needs to be clear, redemptive in nature, and prompt - all of which Dr. Williams is unwilling and unable to fulfill.

+Anderson does not put much hope in the UK Government to appoint someone who will fulfill needful church leadership and discipline. He suggests a new way forward will eventually be found for orthodox Anglicanism that does not rely on Canterbury. As he concludes, “God is still sovereign, and the church still belongs to him, and in time he will set right what man has over turned.”

Again, +Anderson captures the current situation well and in few words. Get thee hence.