March 2008

By SUE CARELESS

The Mere Anglicanism Conference held in Charleston, South Carolina is developing a reputation for presenting a slate of speakers with a mix of erudition and popular appeal. And certainly the warm charm of the Low Country is an added perk for the mid-winter event. 

The third annual conference (Jan. 31-Feb 2) drew about 250 attendees from primarily the eastern seaboard although some came from the southwest along with a smattering of Canadians.     

South Carolina is the fastest growing diocese in the Episcopal Church. It is one of the few where the church is actually growing faster than the population. (In all too many dioceses—such as Nevada from which the current Presiding Bishop hails--the Episcopal Church is shrinking, even where the population is growing.)

On Jan. 26 the Cathedral Church of St. Luke and St. Paul had been packed for the jubilant consecration of Mark Lawrence. The theologically conservative priest had first been elected in Sept. 2006 but his election narrowly missed approval by a majority of bishops and standing committees in the predominantly liberal Episcopal Church, so the Presiding Bishop declared his first election “null and void.” This, however, did not stop the determined Diocese from electing Lawrence a second time and this time he obtained the consent needed.  

The Charleston Mercury observed: “Apparently the Diocese of South Carolina was darn well ready to receive this gentle and powerful man as bishop after well-known trials on his path. Who would have thought that a solemn, formal ceremony could be characterized throughout by palpable excitement and joy?”

The conference agenda still listed “Bishop (God willing) Mark Lawrence” but now all who attended knew Deus volt, “God wills.” 

Bob Duncan, Bishop of Pittsburgh, gave the most political address analyzing developments in the Anglican Communion since Sept. 30th. Certainly much has happened since the Episcopal House of Bishops met in New Orleans. Duncan himself has been threatened with inhibition by the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church.

He also examined the current situation in light of the Elizabethan Settlement of 1559:

“First Anglicanism was agreed to be under the Word. Are we there now? No. We use these words sometimes but they no longer have the same meaning. The Settlement was that the Church was to be under the Word.

“The second thing that was true is that the Settlement was under the Prayer Book. We don’t have that anymore. There is nothing in terms of our prayer that is common. There is nothing that might lead us to believe that what we pray is really what we believe. We no longer pray the same things so we no longer believe the same things. The book has collapsed. The book was our magisterium. We did not have a Roman Magisterium. We had a book. It was our articulation of doctrine. It was the theological construct in which we prayed. But just like the Word that we believed judged us rather that us it, the book has collapsed.

“Third: the Settlement exchanged an international leader for a local leader (pope to king). All this took place under British systems. These systems were remarkable. Even after the collapse of the Empire everyone was still under the systems. Who calls the primates together? Who gives the mandate to the ACC and who appoints the General Secretary?

“The Settlement has worked for 400 years, but the agreement that authority rests in the Bible, in the Prayer Book and the English church system…all of that is collapsing. What I am suggesting is that sustaining a Mere Anglicanism that is catholic, evangelical, pentecostal, and reasonable is not working under the old settlement.

“The Elizabethan Settlement has served us well but no longer are we white, western or British; a new settlement must emerge with systems and structures that will sustain and protect Anglicanism.”

Duncan claims that in history the Church “moves from consensus to disintegration to consensus again.” He was encouraged that “The disintegration means that a new consensus is on the way.”

There were five other major addresses, one by Canadian Dr. Robert Crouse, a noted Patristic and Medieval scholar, who spoke on “Sacramental Anglicanism” (see the complete paper).  Dr. Crouse maintains that “Tradition is the Church’s memory.” He said that “In this time of disruption and fragmentation we need to recollect and remember whence we have come and live afresh in that tradition.” Just as Israel is only faithful to God when she remembers his goodness towards her, so we as a Church must avoid suffering from “crippling amnesia.”

One of the strongest addresses was delivered by probably the youngest theologian invited, Dr. Paul Moser, Professor and Chair of Philosophy at Loyola University in Chicago. He spoke on “Jesus: God’s Trustworthy Word.” Here is a sample:

“A filial relationship with God involves non-coercive perfectly authoritative and loving ownership of a child on God’s part and willingly being owned by God on the child’s part. Paul thus remarks that followers of Jesus under God as Father are not their own but ‘have been bought with a price’ and thus belong to God (1 Cor. 6:19-20; cf. Rom. 14:7-9). He would say, accordingly, that the urgent question for a human is not so much ‘Who am I?’ as ‘Whose am I?’ John’s Gospel follows suit: ‘The one who is of  [that is, belongs to] God hears the words of God; on account of this, you do not hear them, because you are not of [that is, do not belong to] God’ (8:47).”

Moser then asked, “By whose power am I living: by the lasting power of God’s Spirit of authoritative unselfish love, or by my own short-lived, largely selfish power? The presence of one’s selfishness, particularly in regard to outsiders and enemies, is a litmus test for one’s being motivated by dying human power antithetical to the lasting unselfish power of a perfectly loving God.”

Prolific writer and Christian apologist Canon Michael Green spoke on “Marching Orders for a New Reformation.” When describing Old Testament prophecy he noted how “such predictions of such proliferation over thousands of years were precisely fulfilled in a single person.” He also spoke of how Christian resurgence was evident in officially atheistic nations: the former Soviet Union, Cuba and China. He said that the liberal brand of Christianity “offers inclusiveness without transformation.”

Other speakers included Dr. Jerry Root on “C.S. Lewis and the Word of God” and Dr. Ashley Null on “Thomas Cranmer for Today.”

Noted Canadian theologian Edith Humphrey of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary spoke on a panel on theological education. Jack Iker, Bishop of Fort Worth, and the Rev. Matt Kennedy, a frequent contributor to the website Stand Firm, both moderated two other panel discussions. 

The conference chaplain, Dr. Leander Harding, preached on patience, noting that God shows astounding patience towards us. He said that Tyndale when translating the “love” of God translated it as “longsuffering love.” Dr. Harding said that in our impatience we can too easily do “the right thing at the wrong time” or “the right thing at the right time but with the wrong spirit” and that any crisis requires “good judgment and trust in the Providence of God.”

The Retired Bishop of South Carolina, Fitzsimmons Allison, gave a summation of the talks. As a learned scholar in his own right and author of The Cruelty of Heresy, much of the impetus for the conference should probably be credited to him.