“Whatsoever is spoken of God, or things appertaining to God, otherwise than as the truth is, though it seems an honour, it is an injury. And as incredible praises given unto men do often abate and impair the credit of their deserved commendation; so we must likewise take great heed, lest, in attributing unto Scripture more than it can have, the incredibility of that do cause even those things which it hath most abundantly, to be less reverently esteemed.” – Richard Hooker, “Laws of ecclesiastical polity”.

Let me translate: “Claim too much, and you may lose everything, even the most valuable and vital that you have to give.”

To many people the disagreements within the Anglican Church will seem as obscure and irrelevant as the quotation. But what I love about this passage is that it summarises for me the strength of the Anglican way of Christian believing. It is written out of great faith and devotion to the Bible, but with a sense of reason and good judgement. Some may say that it lacks passion; but I say that it has the passion and the power of inspired good sense. In a world that is driven by passionate extremes, whether of society or religion, the need for a Christian middle way to steer us through the storms and conflicts that our passions bring; is not only desirable: but essential.

If the Anglican Communion is in crisis that is not surprising, given that we have always been in crisis. Consider our history: Born out of a sexual scandal and the need for a royal divorce; used by a succession of politicians to underwrite their power; exploited as an arm of the Establishment;
carried across continents by colonial expansion; subject from time to time to internal theological division; the whipping boy of radicals and conservatives; compromised through involvement with elite education; maintaining a parish system in the 21st century that was devised in the tenth;
the wonder is that we have survived this long!

The fact that we have is partly due to our adaptability, partly to our diversity, partly to our common sense; and wholly to the will of God. We should not be afraid of conflicting views, only of conflict.

The Church of England benefits from a world-wide perspective in that we can share with Christians trying to live a Christian life in very different conditions. For example, the Church in Nigeria and Archbishop Peter Akinola’s stand against homosexuality and liberal theology cannot be appreciated until we understand the history of the Nigerian Anglican church, its foundation through CMS by Bishop Crowther, the influence of evangelical teaching through the Niger Mission and Keswick Convention; its oppression, its poverty and struggle with the direct challenge of Islam.

Katharine Jefferts Schori, his archiepiscopal rival from the USA is, for a start, a woman, a scientist, air pilot, an oceanographer, and a convert from a Roman Catholic Family in Florida. She has been Bishop in Nevada, a state with an 8 billion dollar turnover, the fastest growing ethnic population in America, and embracing the gambling capital of the world, Las Vegas. With its foundation in the social gospel movement of the 20th century and open attitudes to sexuality little wonder that there has been no meeting of minds between these two leaders.

I hope and pray that we Anglicans will continue to stay together as a rag-bag of saints and sinners, flawed and often misguided; and that we shall never claim too much for ourselves, lest we lose everything, even the valuable things we have to offer.

Chris Boulton