Koinonia, AMiA & Continuers
[A friendly but urgent word to the Bishops of the AMiA, the Continuing
Anglican Jurisdictions and the Reformed Episcopal Church]
In this brief essay, which I shall expand and improve later, I want to begin
to lay a theological foundation upon which it will be possible for the
evangelical & charismatic leaders of the Anglican Mission in America (AMiA)
to work together with the more anglo-catholic leaders of the Continuing
Anglican Jurisdictions (CAJ) for the good of the Anglican Way in America.
Both these groupings have in common that they originated in secessions from
the Episcopal Church USA (ECUSA) – as also did the REC -- and that they want
to continue to be authentic Anglicans. In numerical terms we are speaking
of around 60,000 Anglicans and this number is increasing monthly.


Not selfish autonomy

It is so easy in the vast space that is North America and within the
well-stocked supermarket of American religions for a small or large
church/denomination/jurisdiction to do its own thing. That is, to act in all
practical matters as if it were THE ONLY church of God on earth in the space
and time and situation where it is placed.

The temptation to do its own thing and to be autonomous in word and deed is
faced by each of the Continuing Anglican Jurisdictions, by the Reformed
Episcopal Church [which seceded from the Episcopal Church in the 19th
Century] and by the Anglican Mission in America. The evidence of the last
twenty-five years seems to confirm that the temptation to exist and act
autonomously has not often been resisted. Thus in terms of being absorbed
by this selfish autonomy the people who came out of the ECUSA to form a
continuing church seem to have fared no better than the major American
denomination/church from which they came! We all know that the ECUSA has
claimed an autonomy to innovate in worship, doctrine and discipline to the
embarrassment of the Anglican Communion of Churches. Likewise most of the
[now circa 30] Continuing Churches have pursued isolationist policies and
programs with the result that the divisions within the Continuing Anglican
movement are an embarrassment to sensitive souls.

All will agree that selfish autonomy in the human soul, in the Christian
Church and in the Anglican section of it is wrong. This is easily
demonstrated by noting that all kinds of rational and practical arguments
can be offered to suggest that congregations and people who call themselves
Anglicans or Episcopalians, who claim to be orthodox in worship, doctrine
and discipline, and who have separated themselves from the ECUSA because its
unfaithfulness to revealed religion, ought to be joined together in some
coalition so that they can work together and not against each other for the
good of God’s kingdom.

Neither differences in churchmanship and style, nor the forcefulness of
ecclesiastical personalities pushing personal preferment and thus
isolationism, should keep members of the same Anglican Family apart. And
certainly these members should not be in hostile competition with each
other. They belong together even if, as in many families, there are basic
disagreements, lively tensions and profound problems to resolve. Further,
they belong together even though the experience of American society and
culture is that of centrifugal forces pushing people apart into alienation
and isolation. We need to remember that a particular quality of the Anglican
Way has been its ability as a Comprehensive Church to hold together people
of differing emphases and styles and to persuade them to walk together
toward the same Goal.

It would appear that only in the unifying and sanctifying grace of the Holy
Ghost is there a sufficiently powerful centripetal force to bring the
members of the one Family into active sharing and cooperation.

Koinonia

In addition to the practical, pragmatic and prudential arguments for a
coalition and co-operation amongst members of the Anglican Family who are
living together in one nation, there is a very powerful theological
principle to consider in this regard. And it is all contained in one Greek
word, koinonia.

In fact so powerful and profound is the truth contained in koinonia that
embraces all those baptized in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of
the Holy Ghost and who have been born anew/from above the Holy Ghost and
points to their unity in the Lord Jesus Christ in faith, hope and charity.
Since the blessed company of the redeemed in heaven is a unified people, and
since we pray, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” then the
people of God on earth are called to live in unity in Christ Jesus by His
Spirit.

Here we shall only explore the unity to which the Anglican Family in America
is called.

In using the concept and principle of koinonia, I am very much aware that
it has been used in recent ecumenical talks and documents and in recent
Anglican documents (e.g., the Eames Commission Reports and the Virginia
Report). But I am not following their lead but rather working afresh from
the use of the word koinonia in the sacred Scriptures and by the Early
Church (especially the Cappadocian theologians).

1. Koinonia [Communion/Fellowship] is grounded in the relationality of God
the Holy Trinity. God the Father is in koinonia with the Son and the Holy
Ghost in the internal, eternal and holy life of the Blessed, Holy and
Undivided Trinity. God as Three in One and One in Three is a Holy Communion
of Persons.

2. Koinonia becomes a human possibility because of (a) the Incarnation of
the Second Person of the Holy Trinity and because of His saving work in
Death, Resurrection and Exaltation, and (b) the sending of the Holy Ghost by
the Father in the Name of the ascended Lord Jesus Christ. Only in with and
through Christ Jesus is koinonia a reality for sinful human beings who are
being saved by grace.

3. Koinonia, as communion, is in its essence and fullness that which shall
be at the End when redemption is complete and when the faithful in their
resurrection bodies behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Then and only then they shall be in perfect communion and fellowship with
the Holy Trinity, with each other and with the holy angels.

4.Koinonia here on earth in terms of communion with God the Father through
the Son and in terms of fellowship within the Body of Christ, the Household
of God, though truly wonderful and glorious, is always partial even when it
seems to be deep and profound. Within the sinful and finite conditions of
life on earth, there cannot be perfect communion and fellowship. Perfection
of communion is a goal to work towards and hope for rather than something to
possess now in entirety.

5.in this world in the church of God, Koinonia is closely related to Word
and Sacraments and to the means of grace. Baptism (regeneration)
establishes the relation of koinonia with the Father through the Son, in the
Body of Christ. The Eucharist/Holy Communion strengthens this fellowship
with the Father and with each another in the Body of Christ. All other
means of grace and acts of Christian service and charity provide further
opportunities for the strengthening of koinonia with God and each other.

6. There is a basic, but necessarily limited and partial koinonia, that
unites all the baptized (regenerated) believers and this divine reality
exists whatever external names and titles we give to the congregations of
the baptized. Where the congregations enjoy eucharistic communion one with
another then there is a deeper, yet still limited and partial, experience of
koinonia.

7. Where congregations and jurisdictions have common origins (e.g.,
Anglicans from the Church of England) and where they are seeking to be
orthodox and faithful, then we may say that they are in koinonia with the
Lord and each other, even though that koinonia is partial and incomplete in
this sinful world. The very fact that they are joined in the very communion
that God in grace has provided, a communion which mirrors the internal life
of the Holy Trinity, points to their moral and bounden duty to live in such
a way as to reflect that communion practically in their mutual relations
and cooperative activity. Thus those who call themselves Anglican and who
aspire to orthodoxy and holiness before the Lord are already joined one to
another in the divine reality of koinonia and ought to arrange church life
to reflect that which they possess.

8. In the light of the above we need to be careful in the careless use of
such terms as “broken communion” or “impaired communion” or “full
communion.” To speak of “full communion” usually means that there is open
admittance to the Lord’s Table and to Holy Communion. But this is not
fullness of koinonia for such is only available and known at the End in the
life of the age to come. It is merely the state of fellowship that ought to
characterize the Body of Christ on a regular basis. “Broken communion”
usually means that there is no sharing at the Lord’s Table because of some
action by one group that is regarded as a serious error or heresy by the
other. However, what there probably is in this situation, in some if not
all of those involved, is that very basic taste and experience of koinonia
which belongs to all the baptized, if they have not wholly apostasized.
“Impaired Communion” usually means that Christians within one denominational
family are divided over a practice or doctrine (e.g., women’s ordination)
and are not wholly sure that they should come together to the Lord’s Table
for Holy Communion.

9. In terms of the AMiA and the CAJ and the REC it can be stated that their
clergy and laity are by the grace of God within the koinonia of God and thus
in relational communion with the Father through the Son by the Holy Ghost
and also with each other in the Household of God. This is an objective
reality whether they like it or not and whether they like each other or not!
It has nothing to do with being nice but has everything to do with being
people who have been baptized in the Triune Name. This being so, they have a
solemn duty, a duty intensified by their claim to belong to one historical
Family, the Anglican, to find ways to form a coalition and begin to
cooperate in such a way as to demonstrate that they participate in God’s
koinonia. To avoid this duty and to pursue selfish autonomy is to run the
risk of being rejected at the final judgment as being unfaithful servants.

10. Therefore let the work of reconciliation and cooperation begin within
the Anglican Family that is presently found in the AMiA, the REC and the CAJ
in order to recognize and experience the koinonia that already exists by the
presence of the Holy Ghost in our souls and in our relations.

The Rev’d Dr. Peter Toon July 8, 2001