The Shriveling Anglican Communion
COMMENTARY
By David W. Virtue, DD
www.virtueonline.org
April 24, 2024
WHEN the Archbishop of Canterbury meets with his bishops in Rome next week, the most obvious feature of the event will be the absence of the orthodox wing of the Anglican Communion.
Notably absent will be the GAFCON bishops and, presumably, the majority of the GSFA bishops who will meet later in Cairo in June to plot their own way forward, sans the leadership of Justin Welby. Together they represent more than 75% of the Anglican Communion.
The terrifying aspect in all this is that the ABC feels no shame at the absence of the largest, most well-attended provinces of the communion, and that he is the cause of their absence.
Fudging human sexuality has not been a winning ticket for him or the communion, with his own church, the Church of England in total disarray over the blessings of same sex unions. The Church of England has twisted it's knickers so much over this that it has turned into a pretzel, once bent it becomes baked-in rigid.
Terms like "generous orthodoxy" invented by the late PB Frank Griswold, and a Windsor Report have failed to turn the tide of "why can't we all just get along," with Lambeth resolution 1:10 still hanging like a Sword of Damocles over the Communion.
That the tide of homosexual behavior rolled over The Episcopal Church resulting in a split, seems not to move the needle in the Church of England. The CofE pansexualists are as determined as their American counterpart to push and push till they win. That has been the history of the last 40 years, and all the lofty analysis by orthodox theologians has failed to stop the homosexual steamroller.
The American Episcopal Church now has a raft of homoerotically practicing bishops of both persuasions, with the church ready to embrace its first transgender bishop when the first potential occupant
camouflaging a penis while wearing 6" heels arises from the ecclesiastical gutter. A miter on such an aberration will be the mirth of Tik Tok.
We will be told of course that God has updated Himself leaving behind the old fundamentalist teaching of "thou shalt not" in favor of "thou shalt" because love trumps and triumphs over all, according to Bishop Michael Curry, even though eight of the Ten Commandments expressly begin with "thou shalt not."
Why Moses has not been summoned back from the dead, reprimanded for his lack of inclusion and diversity, and sent packing to the other place of eternal darkness must forever remain a mystery.
Whoever digs a pit may fall into it; whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake, noted the writer to the Ecclesiastes, perhaps King Solomon. The Episcopal Church has been pierced with enough snake bites that the venom of heresy now coursing through its ecclesiastical veins will see its demise within two decades.
The archbishops of Canterbury and York are watching as the drip of sexual heresy slowly enters the veins of its priests and bishops dragging them into the cultural wilderness of certain spiritual death.
God is not mocked; we reap what we sow. It is only the graciousness of the GSFA bishops and their hope and belief that Welby will repent that keeps them from pulling the plug. They are long suffering gentlemen. One can only have admiration for their patience.
But a de jure split may well follow from a de facto split. Perhaps amidst the ancient ruins of Egypt, a new day will dawn as God pours out His Spirit. We shall see.
(If you would like to sign up for my biweekly scribblings on Anglican issues you can do so here. www.virtueonline.org there is no paywall.)
END