Archbishop of Canterbury Explores Unity Issues in Post-Lambeth Climate
Episcopal News Service. April 15, 1999 [99-047]
(ENS) Speaking at a theological conference in South Carolina, Archbishop of Canterbury George L. Carey explored the threats to unity of the Anglican Communion in the climate created by last summer's Lambeth Conference of about 750 Anglican/Episcopal bishops from all over the world.
Pointing out that "division continues," Carey said that "there seems to be a growing tendency to retreat every time we face disagreement into smaller and smaller groups, each more certain that they hold the truth, and more determinedly aggressive in their stance against those with whom they disagree."
Taking the Lambeth Conference as a clue to the health of the Anglican Communion, Carey said in his April 8 keynote address at the Scholarly Engagement with Anglican Doctrine (SEAD) that it "showed us that in many different ways the Communion is in excellent heart," growing in many parts of the world despite "facing the most awful conditions." While individual provinces of the Communion have developed different ways "to meet the particular needs of people in different areas," Carey wondered if "we failed to see the inherent dangers of such diversity of growth." The question that confronts the Communion now is "what are the fundamental characteristics of Anglicanism which continue to demand our loyalty, regardless of the particular elements of our church identity which have grown from the local context?"
Carey said that it was clear to him that "we are faced with a number of challenges which threaten our unity as a Communion." He cited the tension between diversity and unity in matters of doctrine and the Anglican theological methodology, especially around the interpretation of Scripture for our time. And he said that the Communion must address "the question of corporate responsibility," maintaining the "bonds of peace whilst the serious issues are considered carefully and prayerfully by us all."
Anglicans have always wrestled with attempts to "map some boundaries within which legitimate diversity could be held in a time of fierce theological and political debate." As heirs of the Reformation as well as Catholic tradition, "we have prided ourselves on being able to hold together evangelicals, catholics and liberals in one household even at times when the tensions between traditions have been very high." Even though that tension seems "unruly" at times, "It is an admission and recognition that no one of the disparate traditions in the family conveys the whole truth of God. We need each tradition to enrich the whole."
"If the only thing we can say about our Communion is that it is diverse, we are in serious trouble," Carey argued. It is one thing to recognize the validity of everyone's search for truth but that "does not mean that all views or propositions are acceptable, that anything is tolerated, that there are no cardinal doctrines, beliefs and limits to orthodoxy."
Carey also questioned the argument of Dean William Franklin of Berkeley at Yale Divinity School that Lambeth 1998 represented a "shift from former concerns of structure to life and growth," with an emphasis on freer styles of worship and a biblically based moral code as a guide to public and private life.
In stressing the need for "the propagation of reasonable dialogue" following the divisiveness of Lambeth, Carey asked, "How may our Communion see these current difficulties as an opportunity, not for deepening divisions, but for their healing?" He answered his own question by suggesting that "the church needs love to be as generous and as inclusive as the Gospel; the church needs truth to keep in step with Scripture and God's will; the church needs holiness for the sake of its integrity."
Using the ordination of women in some provinces as an example, Carey said that those who accept and those who are opposed must be treated with respect. "I welcome and encourage efforts to maintain full communion between those of different views and urge that we resist the temptation to sideline them," Carey said. He also defended the use of so-called "flying bishops" to provide oversight for parishes in the Church of England who are opposed to women in the priesthood. In opposing attempts to rescind the provision, Carey said that the British bishops "saw the importance of holding the church together and believed that some 'untidiness' of theology was preferable to the bitterness of division."
In comments that seem aimed at the American church, Carey said that the Anglican Communion "is hurt and weakened" when some of its members "act without proper consultation," and that provinces themselves are damaged when "a few dioceses act unilaterally." He said that "it is easy to fragment" and that, once that process begins, it is "immensely difficult" to rebuild unity. "No one has the right to take decisions which affect the whole... No diocese should take unilateral action, which impairs the life of the whole province. No province should take unilateral actions which affect and impair the whole Communion," he said.
"In matters which are demonstrably controversial and divisive, we must deepen the dialogue across the cultures and provinces," he contended. "We must not intimidate one another, misrepresent one another or despise one another." In an obvious reference to an exchange of letters between Bishop Ron Haines of Washington and Bishop Eliphaz Maasri of Uganda, Carey said that linking aid to the vote on the Lambeth resolution against the ordination of non-celibate homosexuals or blessing of homosexual relationships is "immoral and deeply un-Christian and certainly has no place in the Anglican way."
Carey applauded efforts by Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold to build more unity in the Episcopal Church's House of Bishops. "Church history tells us that when bishops disagree, disunity and heresy are usually the fruit."
In his closing comments, Carey said that he had seen the best and the worst of the Communion in his travels but has concluded that "we are still seeking the full richness of being a Communion of churches... we are still on the way to being a Communion and we shall in reality be a Communion -- great, growing and strong -- when we truly learn to share, when we truly start to build bridges across the cultures and when we truly start to take mission seriously."