Observations from (and of) a Sinking Ship

BB NOTE: Please right-click on headline above to go to article's home at the St. Andrew's website. This is a must-see church!

by Steve Wood,
Rector, St. Andrews, Mt. Pleasant, SC

The Charleston Post & Courier ran a large feature story this past week on the sad state of affairs within the Anglican Communion/Episcopal Church. Its was lacking in many areas, particularly context.

This past summer the 75th General Convention of The Episcopal Church gathered bishops, clergy and laity in Columbus, Ohio. Central to the work of this triennial national gathering was the development and articulation of The Episcopal Church’s response to a document known as, “The Windsor Report.” This report issued in 2004 was the work of a panel of 17 scholars drawn from the breadth of the world-wide Anglican Communion at the behest of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual head of the Anglican Communion. The precipitating issue addressed by The Windsor Report was the 2003 decision of The General Convention of The Episcopal Church to embrace as a wholesome example those living in non-celibate non-marital relationships. The particular expression of this new sexual ethic was The Rev. V. Gene Robinson, who while living with his partner, was elected bishop by the Diocese of New Hampshire and confirmed The General Convention. Additionally, the same 2003 General Convention granted each diocese the “local option” of developing and implementing liturgical rites for the blessing of same-sex relationships. The Windsor Report concluded that these actions were outside the playing field of biblical, historical Christianity and enjoined The Episcopal Church to repent of its actions and express regret for breaching the bonds of affection with our sisters and brothers in the various provinces of the Anglican Communion. Furthermore, the Windsor Report directed that a moratorium on the elevation of persons living in non-celibate non-marital relationship be enacted. The stakes were high entering the 2006 General Convention.

It is now a matter of record that the just ended General Convention did not engage the central directives of The Windsor Report in a substantial manner. This reality was acknowledged by the Archbishop of Canterbury in his statement issued June 27, 2006 responding to the crisis initiated and reaffirmed by The Episcopal Church. The Archbishop of Canterbury further stated that the crisis raging within both The Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion is not primarily about human sexuality though he noted that the election of a non-celibate homosexual person as a bishop in 2003 was the trigger for much of the present conflict. The crisis facing the church is, in fact, much deeper and a confused teaching on human sexuality is merely a symptom of this conflict.

So, then, if human sexuality is merely a symptom of a greater problem, what are the issues at hand within The Episcopal Church? Where do the divisions run? I would assert that there are at least three major issues in conflict.

The first area of conflict revolves around the place and authority of Scripture. I believe and want to assert that Scripture is the touchstone of life, doctrine and practice for both the church and individual. Others in the wider church would articulate an appreciation of Scripture, however, they would regard Scripture primarily as a helpful record of God’s interaction with humanity. Implicit in latter understanding is a differing locus of authority. This conflict was evident in a recent Post & Courier article, June 11, 2006, quoting a local priest as saying, “The church has no business monkeying around in people’s private relationships.” However, the witness of both the Old and New Testaments is that God, through His Word, proclaimed in the community of the faithful, does specifically speak into the private areas of our lives. Speaking from personal experience, Scripture has hands and lays hold of me. It has feet and runs after me. It convicts me of my secret sin and offers hope, through the person of Jesus Christ, that by repentance and belief I can live a different life. In regard to the presenting issue of human sexuality the Bible portrays a very positive teaching centered on marriage. The Scriptural witness is that marriage is a relationship intended by God, and ordered in creation, to be a “one flesh” life-long, monogamous union embracing the complementarity of both sexes. From this positive understanding of human sexuality follows the teaching that every sexual relationship expressed outside of this context is a violation of God’s purpose for sex. Reflecting the conflict between these competing understandings of the authority of Scripture, our most recent General Convention failed to pass the following resolution: “Resolved, That the 75th General Convention acknowledges that the Bible has always been at the centre of Anglican belief and life, and declares its belief that Scripture is the Church’s supreme authority, and as such ought to be seen as a focus and means of unity.”

The second area of conflict existing within The Episcopal Church revolves around the issue of the authority of the church. The Rev. Dr. Kendall Harmon, the Canon Theologian for the Diocese of South Carolina, has helpfully defined the conciliar method of decision making found within Anglicanism. In a recent teaching Dr. Harmon wrote: “Anglicanism’s way of making decisions is conciliar, that is, it is focused on councils, whether vestries, or diocesan conventions, or General Conventions, or Lambeth meetings, or Primates meetings.” As a conciliar church, decisions of greater importance demand a wider circle of consultation. Within the Anglican Communion there exists four instruments of unity: The Archbishop of Canterbury, The Lambeth Conference (a once-a-decade meeting of every bishop within the Anglican Communion), the Archbishops and the Anglican Consultative Council. All four of these instruments advised The Episcopal Church in advance to refrain from the decision made at the 2003 General Convention. Compounding the problem was that the decisions made in General Convention were made without consulting these global bodies resulting in actions that have been described as unilateral, arrogant and the worst expression of American imperialism.

The third and most fundamentally basic issue in conflict in The Episcopal Church is the gospel message itself. The New Testament church did not invent the gospel story. St. Paul spoke repeatedly of faithfully passing on that which he received. Great care was taken to ensure that the gospel message would be entrusted to those who would not add to nor subtract from the story. In the two most recent General Conventions of The Episcopal Church the gospel message of a loving Father who seeks to draw all people unto himself through the cross of his Son has been replaced. Offered instead is a therapeutic gospel in which an amorphous God embraces people where they are offering affirmation rather than transformation. As evidence of the existing confusion over the basic message of the gospel as recently as two weeks ago, The General Convention of The Episcopal Church was unable or unwilling to even consider a resolution which reaffirmed the historic teaching of the church that Jesus Christ is the unique expression of God and that his substitutionary death upon the cross is the means whereby humanity finds salvation!

What is clear is that we have two entirely different religions now trying to exist under the same name. The Presiding Bishop-elect of The Episcopal Church, acknowledging this polarity, used as a positive analogy the image of “conjoined twins” to describe the church. The theological confusion within The Episcopal Church found further expression in these words of the newly elected Presiding Bishop “Our mother Jesus gives birth to a new creation – and you and I are his children.” The Episcopal Church as revealed at General Convention no longer even remotely resembles The Episcopal Church we once knew. Until these more fundamental issues are resolved clarity on a wide variety of important topics remains unattainable.

The Rev. Steve Wood, one of the nominees for bishop of South Carolina, is rector of St. Andrews (Episcopal), Mt. Pleasant, S.C.

BB NOTE: BB, a classic GenXer, went to elementary school in Mt. Pleasant back in the days when the Cooper River Bridge was the old two-laner and the "new bridge" was the one that was just torn down. And the bridge to Sullivan's Island hadn't been blasted into oblivion by Hurricane Hugo. The best place to eat (the only place to eat, beside Hardees), in those days was The Trawler on Shem Creek. And BB and her friends were sure that Shem Creek was actually the Dead Marshes so we never got too close. Great article, Steve. Mt. Pleasant has grown a lot, and St. Andrew's is a beacon.