Anglican Polity – how does it function?

A discussion Starter

In the world today there are two major examples of long-standing and well tried forms of Church Polity. There is the Roman Catholic, which is centralized in the Papacy & the Vatican, and there is the Orthodox, which is not centralized, but which is a fellowship of self-governing Churches.

When Anglican Bishops have thought seriously about the nature and characteristics of that Family of Churches, which is called “The Anglican Communion of Churches,” they have usually claimed that the model they follow is that of the Church of the early centuries (patristic era), the same model which has been maintained in general structure by the Orthodox Churches to this day. Anglicans have always rejected the Roman model, wherein supreme authority is placed in one Bishop, and theyhave said that, in contrast, the Archbishop of Canterbury has a primacy of honor and is the first amongst equals. The clearest account of the Anglican model (based on the Patristic and Orthodox models) that has been produced to date is that by the Lambeth Conference of 1930. (It is surprisingly relevant to concerns of 2003-4.)

Since 1930 a lot of thinking has gone into working out how this Anglican group of self-governing (and culturally very different) provinces maintains fellowship and communion. Historically the unity has been grounded in a common heritage, a common Faith, common Formularies (the classic BCP & Ordinal) and a common Ministry. But with the advent of new liturgies, the ordination of women and other innovations from 1970s onwards, there has been a search for new glue to bind the member churches together. So now we hear much talk of the Instruments of Unity – the See of Canterbury, the Lambeth Conference of Bishops, the Anglican Consultative Council & the Primates’ Meeting.

There is a growing tendency – especially from those who are frustrated by the extreme innovations in doctrine and practice in certain western provinces & dioceses in recent years – to be tempted (on pragmatic grounds) to move away from the Patristic & Orthodox Models and look for ways to strengthen the center -- by giving new authority & power to one or more of the Instruments of Unity. In other words, there is a move, howbeit minimal to date, towards the Roman Model, where an authoritative center has the right and power to discipline the perimeters.

BUT the fact of the matter is that the Instruments of Unity can only advise and their authority is at best a moral authority. What they decide does not automatically become the canon law of each province! However, each self-governing Province of the Anglican Family does decide for itself with which other Churches (e.g., the local Lutheran) and with which other Provinces (all 37 others or only 35 or 36) it wishes to be in eucharistic Communion with. Such a system, based on local self-governance, makes for untidiness at times and it is slow to come to a common mind on any matter. Yet we need to remember that even if there could be a Synod of all the 38 member churches, whatever was decided would have to be ratified wholly and completely by each of the churches locally. And further, neither the Archbishop of Canterbury nor any other Primate is a Chief Executive Office – not even in their own dioceses!

Presumably, all that the Commission recently appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury on the request of the Primates’ Meeting, can recommend are weighty means of intervening in the internal life of [erring or sick] provinces that are basically those of sophisticated moral suasion. For only the province as an individual entity has the power to declare itself out of communion with another church or diocese. Of course, several provinces in a region can coordinate their synodical action so that it appears as if a whole region is acting as one unit. However, it is in reality the actions of individual, autonomous provinces.

Right now the ECUSA is a self-governing autonomous province and it chooses to pay little or no heed to the moral suasion from, or to the declarations of broken communion by, other provinces. Apparently, therefore, the ONLY way the situation in the USA can be remedied – if both excommunication & moral suasion now and tomorrow do not work – is by those Americans who believe themselves to be truly doctrinal Anglicans to come together and to form the fellowship of churches and dioceses that can become the new Anglican Province in the USA.

www.american-anglican.fsnet.co.uk

The Rev’d Dr Peter Toon November 11, 2003