Once upon a time that recognition and authentication occurred through the meetings of the Primates, the Lambeth Conference of Bishops, churches of the Anglican Communion and resolutions of the Anglican Consultative Council \u201cwith the Primates assenting.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
But, the Archbishop of Canterbury never makes that decision alone.<\/p>\n
Tomorrow in Atlanta, Georgia, eight Primates and other bishops representing the majority of practicing Anglicans worldwide will gather around the new Archbishop of the ACNA to lay hands on him and recognize him as a fellow Primate, and reaffirm the ACNA as a full member of the Communion of Anglican Churches. Canterbury\u2019s absence from that future\u201d\u201dwithout even an official representative\u201d\u201dwill be noted.<\/p>\n
The Rev. Dr Mark Thompson of Sydney, Australia has written an excellent analysis of Canterbury\u2019s statements in the light of Anglican polity and history. I encourage you to read his analysis below. In it, Dr Thompson pinpoints a major concern with Archbishop Welby\u2019s interview. The Archbishop of Canterbury is assuming powers that rightfully belong to the Primates:<\/p>\n
\u201cACNA could be, and perhaps already is [according to ++Welby], an ecumenical partner with the Anglican Communion but it cannot be considered a member of the Anglican Communion because (and this last bit is the implication of what he said rather than his own words) it is not in communion with Canterbury, it has not been recognized by the Archbishop of Canterbury himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a gigantic slap in the face to the Primates who represent the vast bulk of practicing Anglicans around the world and who, meeting in London in April 2009, recognized the Anglican Church in North America \u201d\u02dcas genuinely Anglican\u2019\u201d\u00a6\u201d\u009d (Emphasis added)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
That \u201cslap in the face\u201d\u009d stings worse when those who have already recognized the ACNA read more of what the Archbishop of Canterbury had to say:<\/p>\n
\u201cVirtually everywhere I\u2019ve gone, the analysis is that the definition of being part of the Anglican Communion is being in communion with Canterbury. And I haven\u2019t prompted that. I was quite surprised to hear that.\u201d\u009d \u201d\u201c Archbishop of Canterbury, Church of Ireland Gazette<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
It has always been the role of the Primates to decide who is in the Communion of Anglican Churches\u201d\u201c working together in their Primates\u2019 meetings, through their Provinces[1], at the decennial Lambeth Conference of Bishops, and by prior assent to resolutions of the Anglican Consultative Council[2]. This authority is recognized in Section 7.2 of the Constitution of the Anglican Consultative Council (revised 2010), which provides that the \u201cMember Churches of the [Anglican Consultative] Council shall be those bodies listed in the Schedule\u201d\u00a6 with the assent of two-thirds of the Primates of the Anglican Communion.\u201d\u009d (Emphasis added).<\/p>\n
How is it possible that the Archbishop of Canterbury overlooked the polity of the Anglican Communion, its Instruments, and its documented history in granting membership to Churches?<\/p>\n