This new reporting of Alphabet Soup among Anglicans reinforces that, once the via media, this classification of churches is now all over the map. No longer are Anglican aligned on any middle ground, they stand at different places with respect to traditional faith and classical Anglicanism.<\/p>\n
The question then comes, what is it that now constitutes an Anglican identity? This will be the work of these churches for decades to come. It would seem that this work would come by making some dramatic shifts in ethos and core identity.<\/p>\n
Anglicanism, in terms of a movement, can no longer defined by communion with Canterbury, since all who lay claim to a jurisdiction are not. Further, it cannot be defined by its name alone, since Anglicanism can sweep the breadth of theological conviction, authority of Scripture, and Ecclesiology, along with many other issues.<\/p>\n
From the eyes of this commentator, it would seem that the work of Anglicanism is to re-discover its own patrimony. One must gaze far beyond the upheavals of the 20th century, earlier Victorian cultures, or even the Reformation-enhanced antics of Henry VIII and look upon the heritage that is theirs. The English church existed much earlier than any of those epochs in church history and much was established prior to those times.<\/p>\n
The Church must also re-engage with the things held in common through Holy Scripture, the Historic Creeds, and Apostolic roots.<\/p>\n