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On September 14, 2010, Archbishop Colin Johnson ordained priest in the Diocese of Toronto a woman married (by civil law) to another woman. On November 3, the College of Bishops issued "Pastoral Guidelines" for the formal and liturgical blessing of same gender commitments in the Diocese of Toronto. These actions are problematic both in their content and in their form. The first action contradicts the doctrine, discipline and worship of the church and disregards its marriage canon. The second does one of two things. In one case, it gives the church's formal blessing to a civilly married same...
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The Bishop of Toronto recently issued a set of "Pastoral Guidelines for the Blessing of Same-Gender Commitments". Some of the basic theological contradictions and destructive pastoral confusions involved in these guidelines have been pointedly disclosed by Catherine Sider Hamilton and F. Dean Mercer (see their "Response", posted on the ACI website on November 9, 2010). In what follows I want to address a particular matter: where does the issuing of these Guidelines now place the Diocese of Toronto with respect to the Anglican Communion? This question arises, obviously, because only recently...
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Too much is being made, in the run up to the General Synod, of the fact that the Anglican Covenant's future is tied to the Church of England's vote on the matter: if the Synod does not vote to take the Covenant up for further diocesan approval, the Covenant's own life, many say, will be over. Well and good, according to some, because the Covenant is a bad idea. In fact, though, what is at stake in the upcoming Synod vote on the Covenant is the Church of England's own future as part of the Anglican Communion: will she continue to be an integral part of a Christian common life and mission that...
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The purpose of this essay is to address a question to the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, The Anglican Communion Office (ACO) and to the upcoming Meeting of the Primates. How are they, and indeed how is the Anglican Communion as a whole, to address the question of dissent? The issue has become important for Anglicans because of the crisis that has been brought on by the recent innovations in sexual ethics in both The Episcopal Church (TEC) and the Anglican Church of Canada (ACoC). Anyone viewing the internal struggles brought on by these innovations is...
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This is the third in a series of essays on the proposed Anglican Covenant." The first, entitled "Communion, Order and Dissent," attempted to present what might be called the inner logic of the covenant--a logic that rests upon a commitment by all the provinces to "mutual subjection within the body of Christ." The second had the subtitle "On How To Dissent within a Communion of Churches." Its purpose was to show that communion, as understood by Anglicans, must have as a part of its ideation an understanding of how to dissent from common belief and practice. Apart from such an understanding...
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As we move into a new year, there is a special spur to pose the question, "what hope is there for the future of the Anglican Communion?". To which I would answer: "from God, there is much hope indeed; but not from women and men". With mortals, it is impossible, but with God all things are possible (cf. Mark 10: 27). "Put not your trust in any child of earth, for there is no help in them When they breathe their last, they return to earth, and in that day their thoughts perish. Happy are they who have the God of Jacob for their help!" (Ps. 146:2-4). November of 2010 was an illuminating moment...
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The Reverend Canon Professor Christopher Seitz The Reverend Dr. Philip Turner The Reverend Dr. Ephraim Radner Mark McCall, Esq. The Dublin gathering of Primates"”is it a "Primates' Meeting" when so many are not attending?"”is soon to happen. Many are the views on whether conservative Primates should attend, and the reasons pro and con equally many. We hold a range of views among ourselves, but we are unanimous in our hope that the Primates of the Global South will be united in their response. Moreover, opinions of others are irrelevant at this point: it will be the case that a major block of...
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Co-published with Fulcrum Summary: Reflecting on Fulcrum's call not to invite the Presiding Bishop to the Primates' Meeting in Ireland, the consequences of inviting her are highlighted: the widespread principled absence of many Global South primates. As it is still unclear why the Presiding Bishop was invited after the breach of the moratorium and the Pentecost Letter, three possible scenarios are outlined in the hope that the rationale for this decision may be made clear. Then, drawing on past Primates' statements and statements from TEC, three justifications for non-invitation and grounds...
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It has been reported that on two occasions Primates of the Global South advised the Archbishop of Canterbury that they would not attend the current Primates' Meeting if the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church were present. Of the fourteen Primates who made this representation, it appears that only one will be attending any part of the meeting. In this light, the defensive explanations of why Primates are not attending offered by the Secretary General and the Communion Office (e.g. visa problems, diary conflicts, etc.) must raise eyebrows. Why should we think that those who publicly stated...
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By The Reverend Canon Professor Christopher Seitz The Reverend Dr. Philip Turner The Reverend Dr. Ephraim Radner Mark McCall, Esq. Much has already been written about the Primates' Meeting that concluded last Sunday. From our perspective, the most important evaluation of this gathering is one that assesses its place in the ecclesiology of the Anglican Communion that has been developed with considerable effort, thought and consensus over the last century. That ecclesiology can be summarized as defining the Anglican Communion as a communion of autonomous churches bound together by a common faith...
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