The Anglican Communion is still a work in process, and one that is at a critical point in its development, according to the Most Rev. Maurice W. Sinclair.

"Our Anglican opportunity could be easily missed," he said. "We could miss our opportunity by eroding the essentials of our tradition or by dividing over non-essentials."

On the eve of his retirement, the Presiding Bishop of the Southern Cone of America was the featured speaker at an academic convocation at Nashotah House Oct. 26. During more than 40 years as a "professional in mission," Bishop Sinclair has been in a unique position to observe the growth of the Anglican Communion.

"There has been a tendency toward self-congratulation over our growth across the world," Bishop Sinclair said. "What is needed most urgently is self-examination."

Bishop Sinclair described two contrasting visions for the future of the Communion: one a minimalist view based largely on fraternal bonds and the other based on what he called a growing oneness of heart and mind.

"All aspects of fellowship or communion must hold together," he said. "We cannot have fellowship in the cause of Christ, his mission, without following the apostolic teaching and example. Christian mission, as we know, is difficult, demanding and very costly. For people to engage in it there needs to be that closeness and conformity to the mind of Christ and to one another, which Paul portrayed so movingly."

He said the controversies of the last 30 years have caused the Anglican Communion to look more closely at the bonds that hold it together and to ask if those bonds are sufficient in a time of accelerating change.

The Anglican Communion can only become truly international, according to Bishop Sinclair, if and when it develops an inter-cultural theology.

"As Anglicans we have a rich mission experience," he said, "but this is still an undigested experience. The older churches have not learned sufficiently from the newer churches. The proportion of our leadership and membership with an in-depth involvement with cross-cultural mission is still too small. One result of this is that the assumptions of the dominant Western and globalizing culture are too easily accepted and the values of the traditional cultures too easily dismissed."