{"id":66881,"date":"2018-01-03T16:20:09","date_gmt":"2018-01-03T21:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=66881"},"modified":"2018-01-03T18:32:53","modified_gmt":"2018-01-03T23:32:53","slug":"stephen-noll-fisking-bishop-fearon-the-lambeth-establishment-takes-on-the-global-south","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=66881","title":{"rendered":"Stephen Noll–Fisking Bishop Fearon: The Lambeth Establishment Takes on the Global South"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bishop Fearon continues:\u00a0The See of Canterbury is one of the unique features which binds us together. At the Primates\u2019 Meeting in October it was clear just how much Canterbury meant to those who came. For Anglicans, communion with the See of Canterbury \u2013 and with its Archbishop \u2013 is the visible expression of our communion with one another.<\/em><\/p>\n

A deep respect for the Church of England and the Archbishop of Canterbury has existed among global Anglicans, who have been grateful for rather than resentful of the colonial heritage. This deference is in no small part because they received the gospel of salvation thereby; but in recent decades, this deference has been wearing thin. Fearon\u2019s roseate picture of the recent Primates\u2019 meeting is delusional, especially considering that three Primates from the largest African Provinces had refused to attend and seven others have now signed the Global South Network letter, which contradicts the (unsigned) Canterbury Primates\u2019 Communiqu\u00e9.<\/p>\n

Bishop Fearon now comes to the point concerning Anglican identity. Contrary to Archbishop Okoh, he asserts:\u00a0the relationship with the See of Canterbury is essential for Anglicans. You cannot be in the Anglican Communion without it<\/em>.<\/p>\n

This assertion represents an extreme interpretation of \u201cprimacy,\u201d edging toward papalism. In fact, it suggests that Canterbury is not just\u00a0a<\/em>\u00a0unique feature of Anglicanism but\u00a0the<\/em>\u00a0unique feature. Note the use here of the word\u00a0essential<\/em>. Being in communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury is not only required for formal recognition as a Province of the Anglican Communion, but it is required to call oneself an Anglican, a point I shall return to later.<\/p>\n

Bishop Fearon supports his claim by reference to the Lambeth Conference:\u00a0The fundamental character of this relationship was spelled out by\u00a0<\/em>the 1930 Lambeth Conference<\/em><\/a>\u00a0which refers to the Anglican Communion as<\/em>\u00a0\u201ca fellowship, within the one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, of those duly constituted dioceses, provinces or regional Churches in communion with the See of Canterbury…<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Resolution 49 from the Lambeth Conference in 1930<\/a>\u00a0is indeed an important statement concerning member churches of the Anglican Communion. The Resolution goes on to say of those churches:<\/p>\n