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 PrintableVersion Anglicans discipline liberalsA crisis summit of worldwide Anglican leaders, which moved towards disciplining liberal American churches, has been welcomed by evangelicals.The meeting in mid-February in Newry, Northern Ireland, attended by 35 of the 38 top bishops from across the globe, asked the US and Canadian churches to ‘voluntarily withdraw’ from a key ecclesiastical body for the next three years and to ‘consider their place in the Anglican communion’. Some orthodox leaders had wanted tougher action to be taken, but the primates were advised by lawyers that there was no legal process by which any of the Anglican Communion’s 38 provinces could be suspended. Deeply alarmedThe crisis erupted after the Anglican church in the US chose as bishop a practising homosexual who had left his wife and daughter to live with another man. The Canadian church also generated controversy by authorising ‘same-sex blessings’. At their meeting, the archbishops issued a statement saying that many of them were ‘deeply alarmed that the standard of Christian teaching on matters of human sexuality’ set out at the last gathering of worldwide Anglican bishops, and upholding heterosexual marriage as the only place for sexual activity, had ‘been seriously undermined by the recent developments in North America.’ It went on: ‘While there remains a very real question about whether the North American churches are willing to accept the same teaching on matters of sexual morality as is generally accepted elsewhere in the Communion, the underlying reality of our communion in God the Holy Trinity is obscured, and the effectiveness of our common mission severely hindered.’ Asked to withdrawThe primates said there should be ‘a moratorium on public rites of blessing for same-sex unions, and on the consecration of any bishop living in a sexual relationship outside Christian marriage’, and they asked the American and Canadian churches to withdraw their members from the Anglican Consultative Council, an important elected governing body within the 77-million worldwide church, for the next three years. ‘Time needs to be given to the Episcopal Church (USA) and the Anglican Church of Canada for consideration of these recommendations according to their constitutional process’, the statement said. During that time. both churches should ‘consider their place within the Anglican Communion’. The primates also recommended part of a recent Anglican report which speaks ‘of the central place Anglicans accord to the authority of Scripture’, and affirmed that they ‘continue unreservedly to be committed to the pastoral support and care of homosexual people.’ And while they committed themselves ‘neither to encourage not initiate cross-boundary interventions’ (for example, when evangelical bishops intervene to support evangelical parishes in liberal church areas), they also asked the Archbishop of Canterbury to appoint ‘as a matter of urgency’, a panel of reference to ensure proper pastoral provision for those in dispute with their bishops. In responseReaction to the crisis summit was generally positive from orthodox groups within Anglicanism. Philip Giddings, UK convenor of the umbrella group Anglican Mainstream, said: ‘We are grateful to God and to the primates for the prayerful and considered way in which they addressed the serious issues facing the Anglican Communion.’ The Archbishop of Sydney, Peter Jensen, said: ‘We must cautiously welcome this decision and communique from the primates of the Anglican Communion. It should be seen as a victory for the Archbishop of Canterbury in that it buys time for a full resolution of this serious theological and pastoral problem in the life of churches and congregations of the Anglican communion. I am pleased to note that the primates have taken disciplinary action against those who have transgressed the Scriptural teaching. I am also pleased that they have asked for urgent action to ensure the continuing place in the life of the Communion and the pastoral care of those churches and church leaders in Canada and North America who have stood firm for the clear Scriptural teaching on matters of sexuality. Everything now depends on how effective and speedy this action is’, he concluded. The Rev. David Anderson, president of the American Anglican Council, which represents orthodox believers, said: ‘It is very clear, but at the same time is very graceful’. He said the US and Canadian churches had been ‘given the time, but the choice before them is very clear’. Simon Vibert, chairman of the Fellowship of Word and Spirit, an Anglican evangelical group, commented: ‘Under the circumstances, the response made by the primates is as good as we can hope for. I appreciate the fact that the primates have stepped back from the brink and reaffirmed their desire to have the Anglican Communion act upon biblical convictions, rather than the prevailing views of Western culture.’ The pressure group Reform was quoted in The Times as saying: ‘The primates have acted to preserve unity. If no action had been taken, the Anglican Communion would have been irreparably divided.’ And Fulcrum, which claims to ‘represent the centre ground of evangelical Anglicanism’, said the primates’ statement provided ‘sensible provision for voluntary discipline’. But another group, Church Society, was more cautious. ‘We recognise that the present proposals do mark a step forward in the process of protecting the Communion from error and upholding the honour of Christ’s name in the face of the ungodly agenda of the revisionists’, it said. But added that it was ‘alarmed’ that the primates had ‘stopped far short’ of all it thought necessary. Speaking after the meeting, Rowan Williams said: ‘Any lasting solution will require people to say, somewhere along the line, that they were wrong, wrong about something. What, I do not know. That is for them to determine.’ But the liberal presiding bishop of the American Episcopal Church, Frank Griswold, said later: ‘I cannot imagine a conversation saying, “We got it wrong”.’ The full statement by the archbishops can be read by going to http://www.anglicanmainstream.net/ and clicking on ‘official communique’ under ‘primates meeting resources’. The Guardian newspaper described it as ‘a victory for those demanding that the church should stick to its agreed, Bible-based line on homosexuality’. David Baker,
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