Whilst it is utterly inappropriate for anyone to go about apportioning blame when it comes to the events of 1977-82 that led to the original Anglican Church of North America (Episcopal) fragmenting into the ACC, APCK, and UECNA, it is appropriate is that we all pray for a reunion of these groups, and for the coming together of Continuing Anglicanism as a whole. However, this is not going to be achieved by harping upon old controversies and old injuries, but rather by looking forward and trying to recapture what Gfrey Rowell described in his book of the same title as "The Vision Glorious," which I read for the first time in the course of a four and half hour bus ride from Dublin to 'Derry. The vision glorious that Bishop Rowell describes is that of Catholic Anglicanism.
Whilst it is still fashion in some circles to describe the Oxford Movement as some sort of revolution, it did, in fact, draw on the pre-existing High Church and Non-Juring traditions. It was, first and foremost, a theological movement that exalted Sacrament, Scripture, Spirituality, and the quest for Personal Holiness over the dominant rationalism of the day. Some writers - for example Gfrey Faber in his "Oxford Apostles" and W S J Pickering in his "Anglo-Catholicism" - have attempted to define the Oxford Movement in terms of a Romantic reaction against the rationalism of the comparitively liberal Noetics and the Broad Churchmanship of the "Five Tutors." To do this ignores the theological focus of the movement, and attempts to make it largely cultural.
When asked in the 1840s what made a Tractarian, Pusey replied that a Tractarian had a high view of Holy Scripture, the three Creeds, the two Dominical Sacraments, the Apostolic Ministry, and the need for personal holiness. His answer was deliberately bland, but it also pointed out the fact that the Tractarians did not stand for anything new, but they express accepted truths in startling ways, so as provoke opposition from those who saw the Church of England as a "national, Protestant Church" rather than the English expression of the Church Catholic, reformed according to the teachings of Holy Scripture and the ancient Fathers and Councils of the Church.
By the 1970s, when it became necessary for faith Anglicans to "continue" the Faith in North America, the battle in favour of the Reformed Catholic understanding of Anglicanism that had been largely won, particularly in North America, was being lost in the face of an attack by the Mongol hoards of Revisionism. This desire to maintain the Reformed Catholic heritage of Anglicanism led to the "Affirmation of St Louis" which received an all but unanimous vote at the 1977 Congress. For those of us who wish to restore Continuing Anglican Unity, it should serve as a pattern as to what we need to conserve and promote, and also as a reminder of the issues we can safely leave to personal taste and good sense.
The first thing that the Affirmation is absolutely clear about is the deposit of Faith. The foundations of Anglican orthodoxy are:
Holy Scripture
The Apostles', Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds
The first Seven Ecumenical Councils
The writings and teachings of the Early Fathers
The St Louis Congress was also clear about embracing the mainstream of Anglican heritage, namely the following:
That within the perameters set above the Anglican Formularies; the BCP, the XXXIX Articles and the Homilies remain authoritative.
That the 1928 BCP (PECUSA) and the 1962 BCP (Canada), and by extension the last orthodox Prayer Book of the representatives of each Province that comes into the Continuum represents the standard of Faith.
A special, historical status is granted to the 1549 BCP.
This both places Anglicanism within Christendom as a reformed Catholic Church, but also sets the boundaries of what is theologically and liturgically important. Too many of our subsequent disagreements among ourselves have been due to arguments about matters of secondary, or even tertiary importance. It is therefore undesireable to erect any other standard of orthodoxy within the Continuum than the Affirmation of St Louis and the broad heritage of Anglican Faith and Practice to which it appeals. If one parish uses the Missal, and another the Book of Common Prayer that should not be a cause for internal wrangling because we are upholding and maintaining the same faith once delivered to the saints. All the "more Catholic than thou," and "more Anglican than thou" games that have been played over the last thirty years should cease because they distract us from making the vision glorious incarnate. One thing I know we all agree on - that the world needs the unequivocable witnesses to the Gospel of Jesus Christ as revealed to and through the one, holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.
So how does unity come about? I believe it was a Fr. Pearse, who made much use of the phrase "the family that prays together stays together" in his radio and TV campaigns of the 1940s and 50s. It is also a truth that Continuing Anglicans need to embrace that idea so that the clergy and laity of the various jurisdictions can meet together and lose their unarticulated fear that somehow that "other lot" are somehow stranger than we are. There is also a need for the clergy, especially bishops, to meet together to pray and talk honestly about the trifles that divide us with the absolute intention of finding our way past them. Unity is Our Lord's will for His Church, and I would hope that in the next decade Continuing Anglicans will recover theirs.
If the three churches directly descended from the St. Louis Congress were to come together, the position of the Continuing Anglican Church in the United States would be immeasurably strengthened because the energy we currently put into maintaining our denominational structures could be freed up for Mission and Evangelism. In addition to this we could rationalize our diocesan structures, establish more efficient seminaries and reading for orders programmes, etc..
There is a pressing need to do this. America is rapidly following much of Europe in becoming a post-Christian society. We need to be mindful that the Church needs to be ready to meet the challenges that preaching the Gospel in that unfriendly environment presents. So far in a largely, if inarticulately, Christian culture we have frequently been given a free pass for our unnecessary divisions, but that is not going to be case in the future. We need to remember that in order for humanity to reach its fullest potential it needs to hear, believe, embrace and live the one, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Faith.
