The third reason I believe that orthodox Anglicans must take the lead in overcoming our divisions and manifesting the unity of the Church is that our disunity impairs our witness. It is only a united witness to the truth of the Gospel that can reach a world that is slipping into post-Christianity precisely through the compromise of the message of the Gospel by the western Church in the face of challenges from materialism and secularism on the one hand, and militant Islam and other world religions on the other hand.
To accomplish unity for the sake of the Gospel will entail a healing in our spirits, a working out of theological differences, and a renewed commitment to the integrity of our witness.
To achieve this unity will mean laying aside much of the baggage that characterizes the various parties in Anglicanism. It will require a methodology that enables us to recognize and hold fast to what is essentially Christian. It will call for passions of equal intensity for unity and truth. And it will demand a greater love for God and our brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ.
Thanks for this very important and helpful piece.
I do wonder, Robert, if it is time for Trinity School for Ministry and Nashotah House to call for a theological ‘summit’ wherein we revisit the classic points of departure between evangelicals and anglo-catholics… with the intention of discerning which points can, indeed, be properly understood as non-essentials in our own day and time. This would be a tremendous service to both those who are in an exodus-mode from TEC as well as those who remain. More importantly, it would fire the imaginations and stir the hearts of those who pray for a mission-minded renewal of Anglicanism. A joint statement from these fine institutions could go a very long way right now.
Phil Harrold
TSM
I celebrated Mass at a RC monastery today. Admittedly, those who received were Anglicans (with two who are, I suppose, also RCs who attend my parish church). However, it was extremely kind and very open and tolerant of our RC brethren to allow us to use their altar, quite literally.