Justin Welby doesn’t want to hold another Lambeth conference only to discover a large number of bishops absenting themselves because they are upset with the presence of the Anglican Church of Canada and TEC; both provinces have wandered away from received Christian truth according to Primates from the Global South. As a result, Justin Welby is meeting with the Primates, ostensibly to listen to their concerns, and, no doubt, to try and convince them to show up.
Fred Hiltz thinks this is “okay”; anyone adept at reading between the lines will notice a concealed “just” in front of the “okay”. Hiltz isn’t very happy about it: it isn’t “okay” at all. The reason is simple enough: the Global South Primates have little use for the obfuscating tactics of Western Anglicanism: Indabas, the listening process, holy listening, facilitated conversations and other such claptrap. They will tell Welby exactly what they think of TEC’s and the ACoC’s elevation of homo-erotic gratification to the status of holy – and it won’t be pretty.
Reading what Hiltz said gives the impression that Welby and Hiltz are simpatico – I hesitate to imply that Welby is in the pocket of the North American Primates. The Global South and Hiltz are, of course, antipathetic, if not downright mutually hostile.
Hiltz said that sort of consultation is “okay,” but noted that it is a change from the way the meeting has been called in the past. “He may want to style it so that it is the Archbishop of Canterbury in consultation with and support of the primates, but historically it is the Archbishop that convenes a Lambeth Conference, and then people decide whether they will come or not, including some primates.”
The Diocese is the basic unit of the Anglican Communion. Resolutions passed at any Lambeth Conferences are without legal effect. Do we really need a Lambeth Conference every ten years?
I disagree with you about this. If the diocese is the basic unit, that means a Bishop is a type of King, and the diocese is his turf. So, here in Canada, the diocese of New Westminster wants to bless gay relationships. It also wants to allow openly gay ministers. So, while it tried to get General Synod to go along, it was determined to do what it wanted anyway. Bishop Ingham, and his diocese, claimed to have authority to act alone. So, I think your analysis is too individualistic. It allows the bishops to disagree, and not bother too much with working things out. Also, the Primate goes along, allowing each Bishop to act according to his or her conscience. So, we are heading towards a mosaic Christianity, where standards don’t matter. While in other matters, such as liturgy, or which hymn book to use, this might be okay. But occassionally a real theological matter arises, which requires someone to take courageous leadership. Presently, here in Canada, it seems very difficult for any Bishop to publically take a clear stand for traditional Christianity.
The evidence definitely shows the Anglican Communion is completely shredded with the ACoC and the TEC having turned from the Gospel to the worship of “political correctness” – a deceptive term in itself. Until that situation is rectified there is no common ground for any such conference. The ABC, the ACoC and the TEC want members to worship the church and accept their false teachings. As such they are turning people away from the Gospel.
We can only pray for the conversion and repentance of the so-called bishops and also for the ABC to stand up for the Gospel and not to simply fall in line with the civil government.
Sad thing is that the Worldwide Anglican Communion (WAC) is not one Church, but a collection of Churches that have a common origin (that being the Church of England throughout the world). Since the Lambeth Conference and its resolutions have no real authority over the various member Churches (referred to as “Provinces” within the WAC) it is a rather meaningless exercise.
What is needed is a WAC House of Bishops that has real authority over the member Provinces. By that I mean that the WAC HoB would have the right to say who can and who cannot be elevated to Bishop anywhere within the WAC. I envision that a person may be nominated, but before that person’s nomination is accepted it would first have to be approved of by the WAC HoB. The same should also be true for any matters of Doctrine (i.e. the “Blessing” of certain types of relationships).
But I doubt that this shall ever happen.
The Orthodox/Biblical Lambeth Walk-away:
because,
“Everything’s free and easy,
Do as you darn well pleasey…
Every little Lambeth gal
With her little Lambeth gal
(or, pal,pal, in the alternative).