Because of weaknesses of ACC, Donald Coggan called first meeting of Primates. This has been crucial in helping people understand one another and work on issues facing Anglican Communion. It has no legislative power ”” it is a consultation.
Anglican Communion is facing many things, many challenges, growing in some places, declining in others, making decisions which offend some parts of Anglican Communion and lacking opportunities to dialogue.
Who is an Anglican? Answer, “Does the ABC recognize you?” He only recognizes bishops, by inviting them to Lambeth. Problem for ABC, if he doesn’t invite a bishop, what does it say about the people in that diocese?
ABC has lots of influence, but no power. If a Bishop is behaving notoriously, he cannot remove that person. He can only talk with ABp or Primate of that area and plead with them.
ACC is in same situation. It has influence but no power.
Lambeth Conference is the same. It has influence, but it has no power.
The Primates’ Meeting is in the same situation.
Read it carefully. A couple of comments. First, I prefer very much the category of authority rather than power. Second, it is NOT true to say that the Lambeth Conference, for example, has no authority, it does have authority, the question is what kind of authority does it have. Again, my preference is to talk in terms of personal and moral authority rather than legislative authority. But this is all a matter for further prayerful reflection–KSH.
That should be Christina not Christian.
Corrected – thankyou Simon
One of the problems in the Anglican Communion is that there is no final authority to say that a province no longer fits the description of “Anglican.” The Covenant (God willing) will set up procedures for doing that.
YBIC,
Phil Snyder
The Church is among other things a human society and all human societies necessarily require human laws if they are to be rightly ordered. If men were angels moral authority would be sufficient. Members of the AC may be angles, but they’re not angels. The AC is currently involved in an experiment in order to discover whether it’s end is to be a society or not. When people say they don’t have a problem with authority, it’s just legal authority with which they have a problem; I suspect that they have a problem with authority.