After the recent Lambeth Conference, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has said the Anglican Communion can help solve its present conflicts by observing three moratoria upon the blessing of same-sex unions, the consecration of openly homosexual bishops, and the consecration of bishops who cross province boundaries to minister to evangelical congregations in liberal dioceses. He said the “pieces are on the board” to overcome Anglican controversies which include concerns surrounding theology, biblical authority, and sexual ethics. Advocating a “global Church of interdependent communities,” he said there was still much work to do to overcome the disputes.
However, it is believed that conservative bishops will continue to consecrate boundary-crossing bishops.
Bishop Gregory Venables, the Primate of the Southern Cone, has taken an entire US diocese into his province and is expected to continue attracting parishes and dioceses from the Episcopal Church.
Meanwhile, homosexual lobbyists in the US-based group, Integrity, said they would fight the moratoria forbidding the ordination of homosexual clergy and the blessing of same-sex unions.
"We bless same-sex relationships and will continue to do so,” said Reverend Susan Russell, a member of Integrity.
The majority of English bishops believe that it has been a good conference. There has been real listening and real hearing,” said Christopher Hill, Bishop of Guildford. "There are no instant solutions to the big difficulties but there is a commitment to stay together and work on it.”
Other prelates are less optimistic, saying the Archbishop of Canterbury’s plan will not work.
“The Lambeth Conference is required to do something rather than live down to the worst expectations of the bishops who stayed away,” stated Bishop of Winchester Michael Scott-Joynt.
“We need to negotiate a separation in the Communion sooner rather than later, to leave the strongest possibility of remaining in some kind of fellowship.”
Bishop of Exeter Michael Langrish voiced similar views, accusing the US Episcopal Church of being selfish and establishing a rival church.
“The vast majority want to take steps towards restoring Communion, but a smaller group base the language of Communion on feelings — what it means to me, what can I get from it,” Bishop Langrish claimed, arguing that more permissive Churches should be pushed to the margins.
The Anglican Communion is a voluntary confederation of national churches that have a shared heritage of worship and tradition from the Church of England. Its geographical makeup reflects the British Empire, as English missionaries went out to the colonies and established churches.
They did not establish a Church with canonical and formal links with the Church of England. Each national Anglican Church enjoyed independence and autonomy of governance. No one has overall authority over anyone else. Each national province has its own rules, its own hierarchy, and its own particular character.
Added to this is the theological complexity of Anglicanism. Since the Act of Settlement under the reign of Elizabeth I, Anglicans have agreed to disagree about matters of theology.
They can be subdivided into three basic groups, with three very different theological perspectives:
The Evangelicals are the heirs of the Protestant Reformation. Their perspectives and practices are Protestant.
The Anglo-Catholics are the product of the 19th-century Oxford Movement, which sought to return the Anglican Church to her catholic and apostolic roots. Their beliefs and practices are very "catholic." They use the Roman liturgy, venerate the Blessed Virgin, practice confession, and profess to be "catholic within the Anglican Church."
The Liberals are essentially modernistic. They believe the Church needs to adapt to the age and culture in order to be relevant.
For historical reasons the three theological groups have geographical territories throughout the communion mainly due to the missionaries that evangelized them – for example, Evangelicals in certain African provinces, Anglo-Catholic in Papua New Guinea and the Liberals in the old established churches in Great Britain, Canada, and the United States.+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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