The Americans at GAFCON really wanted a Christendom-based solution which would have split the Anglican Communion and called for the formation of an alternative Communion.
An alternative Christendom solution would have been the formation of a network of like-minded dioceses and provinces wholly within the Anglican Communion. This “network within a Communion” is what the Anglican Communion Network and the more recently proposed Communion Partners have called for.
Instead of the Christendom solution calling for a “you’re either in or out but not both,” the Jerusalem Communiqué says “you can be in and out, yet still in relationship, and we will still recognize your holy orders.”
Some have said that Anglicanism is now, in effect, a federation. I don’t thinks so. A federation still has Christendom writ large over it. Under a federation, all those in the federation agree that they are all a part of a federation. Under the auspices of the Jerusalem communiqué, not all of these Anglicans even want to be a part of the Anglican Communion (federation) if it means that the Americans and Canadians are a part.
The Jerusalem Communiqué changes Anglicanism from a Communion to a series of networks, or a series of relationships….
This is well worth reading in full, as well as the comments on Neal’s blog. An interesting exchange of views.
The way that “ordaining” a practicing homosexual bishop DOESN’T change the Anglican Communion, Hopper. See? Now wasn’t that easy?!