Having been on a mission trip for the last week, I've had a lot of time to think, without a lot of time to write. This isn't such a bad thing. I've been rolling all the documents from the HOB meeting and blog responses around in my head.
The two most haunting documents have been a post from AKMA and the presentation to the HOB by Kathy Grieb.
AKMA believes that the current situation actually points to a dissatisfaction on the part of reasserters and Global South Anglicans with our basic polity in The Episcopal Church (TEC hereafter). He points out that our bishops act in a role more like state governors than their traditional role in Anglican polity. "States Rights" language is a part of our tradition in a way that is similar to no other provincial church. This polity makes it difficult for us as a national church to respond to an ecclesial crisis. The situation with the 1966 trial of Bishop Pike is a case in point, and I share in his frustration that ever since then, reappraisers have been associated with heterodoxy. (The terms "Reaffirmers" and "Reappraisers" is now in common use to refer to what might be more commonly known as "conservatives" and "liberals." The terms are less stringent and carry less baggage.)
However, I am less critical of our polity than AKMA is. I tend to think of it in similar terms to the Elizabethan Settlement. The settlement was a major ecclesial change fueled mainly by politics. The positive theological implications of it were worked out later by Richard Hooker.
The polity of TEC was one designed during the period of intense distrust of the British model of the Episcopate following the Revolutionary War. Other Anglican provinces had our example to look to and were not quite as hostile to the traditional model as they formed. But there is, IMHO, a theological value in our polity - that of the laity being a full and equal order of ministry. Through General Convention, laity have a voice in our governance that is unheard of in other parts of the Communion. Laity have a role in liturgy and ministry in TEC that is rare. Sure, this was not the stated intention of our Episcopal founding fathers, but the Via Media was not Elizabeth's direct intention either. Does our polity have problems? Sure, but this is largely due to a historically apathetic majority, not to the system itself. Signs are that the majority is beginning to pay attention and demand accountability - a good thing in any democratic process.
So my gleaning from AKMA is that TEC IS different and that this difference is a major part of the conflict. Is this difference good, bad or indifferent? AKMA tends towards bad. I tend towards good, but I suspect we both would want to articulate a hermenutic of humility here.
Drawing on AKMA's argument and moving on into Kathy Grieb's presentation, the question needs to be, 'Is what is envisioned in an Anglican Covenant by the rest of the Communion anything that can be truly embraced considering our polity, or would it put us constantly at odds just by our nature?' Grieb and Ephraim Radner have different impressions of that.
What Grieb suggests is that we 'fast' for five years from legislative participation in the Communion, giving the rest of the Communion time to consider what it is they really want in a covenant. At the same time, we would continue support for mission and for Communion administration. While I understand where she's coming from, I think this divides things between "us" and "The Communion" a little too neatly. Would Scotland or New Zealand really want us absent from covenant discussions? I do think Grieb is correct that the implicit assumption in the communque that the Primates have disciplinary power tends to short-circuit the covenant process, but I tend to think we need to continue to participate. Complete disengagement would only lead to further estrangement.
Grieb's idea of continuing mission support even while not participating seems to strike a chord with me. What is communion? The technical definition usually has to do with complete sacramental interchangabilty. But in truth, that has not existed in the Communion since the advent of the ordination of women. Communion in reality has to do with worship of the Holy Trinity and mission - unified service in Christ's name rather than working against one another.
This week at Camp Coast Care, I met another associate of the Order of Julian of Norwich. This is pretty rare - there are only around 200 of us. After discussion, it was apparent that we were of different minds in methods of scriptural interpretation. She was a "reaffirmer" and I a "reappraiser." But that really didn't matter - we were 'in communion.' We were one in our love of our Lord Jesus Christ and we were one in our love of the church and our order, although our visions differed somewhat. Most importantly, we were one in the fact that we had each taken a week off to travel to Mississippi and serve the world in Christ's name. After serving those devastated by Katrina, the "note-passing" in the Communion seems somewhat disconnected from reality.
Maybe Camp Coast Care is a better example of what communion is all about than the decisions of General Convention. Maybe our commitment to the Millenium Development Goals is a better indication of our true status in the Communion than whether our bishops get invited to a tea party with Rowan Williams. I continue to pray for a solution that encompasses the political, but after my last week, I feel myself becoming increasingly less concerned about the institution, and more concerned with mission. Our exact political status in the Communion is an important question, but is it as all-consuming as some of us make it out to be?
David+
Technorati Tags: anglican, christianity, ecclesiology, Elizabethan Settlement, episcopal, Millenium Development Goals, religion, Richard Hooker
It looks like they have internet access here at Camp Coast Care, so I'll be doing periodic updates here! We arrived at around 5:00 CDT with 10 people. Since its Sunday, nothing is going on. Work begins at earnest at 8 PM in the morning and appears to consist of mainly construction work, which makes me very happy! I've begun a photo album 
a very creative chat log for what the forming of the Fellowship might look like if it took place on a MMORPG like World of Warcraft.....
