The Primates Meeting: A few cautionary thoughts

Anglican Land, at least the Internet community thereof, is about to have a spike in its on- line life. The Primates of the Anglican Communion churches are meeting in Alexandria, Egypt, February 1-5. There will be all sorts of mutterings going on about what they do and say. So, just a few notes on perspective:

(i) The Primates only have as much power as we (the member churches of the Anglican Communion) give them. In some of our churches it is clear that among the favorite Articles of Religion is the one that says, "The Bishop of Rome hath no jurisdiction in this Realm of England." (XXXVII) We find it applicable to any bishop foreign to the church in our particular place (i.e. The Episcopal Church, the Church of England, the Church of Nigeria, etc). So the Primates of the Churches of the Anglican Communion have no jurisdiction or power here, unless we give it to them.

Some have argued that that is precisely what the augmented role of the Primates was meant to address - unity as a fellowship in the diversity of church life. When the discussions about the four "instruments" of communion was first begun the idea was that the Primates might provide moral or theological guidance in the communion and that their collective opinions might carry significant weight. Unfortunately how that opinion was to be obtained was not made clear and the calm and deliberated conversations among equals quickly became party contention. The American realignment group in particular exercised considerable pressure and gave advice to the Primates who believed that The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada had gone too far. Whatever the hope, the actuality is that the Primates have become a venue for voicing differences, not finding consensus.

(ii) The "communique" as a concluding statement of a Primates Meeting as been give status that does not face the test of reality. It has never been what some expected of it - a definitive statement on this or that matter to which all the primates were bound. At the most a communique can report out what the Primates did, levels of consensus on various matters, and requests they might make of member churches or of the Anglican Consultative Council and what sort of advice they give the Archbishop of Canterbury.

No communique can commit member churches to any recommendations until such time as that church takes those recommendations and enables them. It is always appropriate to step back from recommendations, or to enable them in part rather than in whole. If it were not they would not be recommendations but orders.

At the close of this Primates Meeting there will be some sort of statement, probably called a communique. It will report out on the discussions of the group and their concerns. It may or may not issue in matters to be considered by the churches. But it cannot issue directives to the churches.

George Conger in his piece for The Church of England Newspaper writes,

"In organizing the agenda, Dr Williams solicited the views of his fellow archbishops, presiding bishops and moderators, asking what topics they wished to discuss. From these responses he developed a lesson plan that will include a session on global warming, international finance,co-ordination of development work among church agencies, and theCommunion’s theological working group. Time has also been set aside for a discussion of the May agenda of ACC-14 in Kingston,Jamaica, the Anglican Covenant, and a presentation from the Windsor Continuation Group.

Five primates: Uganda, the Episcopal Church, Canada, Pakistan and South Africa have been asked to prepare briefings on issues facing their churches, while leaders of the Gafcon movement have been asked to present a paper on the third province movement in North America."

This agenda opens the possibility for a venting of opinions on matters in The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada as well as the incursions by other provinces in the jurisdictions of these two churches.

There is every possibility that the split in the Anglican Communion will only become wider at this meeting. Ruth Gledhill reports in the London Times that "one source said there will be no formal joint eucharist at the meeting, to avoid Primates the public embarrassment of former meetings where conservatives have refused to go to the communion table with liberals." If that is true it is yet another sign that de facto intercommunion, mutual responsibility, interdependence and such, at its deepest level, is gone. Table fellowship has become an embarrassment and I would suspect the closing photo fellowship may go the same way it went in Tanzania - Primates will have wandered off rather than group together for a photograph. No common meal, no family photo. But perhaps this is too gloomy a tale.

Still, we might remember that difficult as all of this is, the Anglican Communion does not rest on the Primates being in fellowship. The Anglican Communion is about churches in relation, in relation about real concerns and hopes for mission. Common action around the "five marks of mission" is a better plumb line by which to measure the health of the Communion than any measure of consensus among the Primates.

(iii) There are mutterings around the Internet that the press for a new province in North America overlaying TEC and the Anglican Church of Canada will come to this meeting and that the Primates may at that point request the Anglican Consultative Council to admit the Anglican Church in North America to the Anglican Communion. The most recent is from Ruth Gledhill, London Times, which can be read HERE.

She reports, " A new traditionalist grouping from North America, led by deposed Pittsburgh bishop Bob Duncan who now styles himself as their Archbishop, will also present a new constitution and canons to the Primates in an attempt to secure recognition as the 39th province of the 77-million strong Church." It is not clear from this that Ruth understands that Moderator Duncan will be present at or near-by the meeting. It may be that Primates supporting this effort (GAFCON Primates) will present the materials on the emerging Anglican Church in North America for them. In any event she believes that the move will be made at the Primates meeting.

It is certain that a number of Primates will not associate with this effort and it may be that enough will push back so that nothing will go forward from the Primates to the Anglican Consultative Council. If some recommendation does come forward it will not be with anything like unanimity. The Archbishop of Canterbury's office has indicated in the past that the process of admission to the Anglican Communion on a formal level takes some time. And, of course, there is the additional problem that there is no case where a province overlaps others with the clear intention of presenting itself as the carrier of the faith which it claims has been lost to the provinces with which it overlaps.

ACNA rejects the churches and leaders of TEC and the Anglican Church of Canada and they, and others who have signed the Jerusalem Declaration, are proposing a different sort of thing than multiple provinces in North America. The Primates will not, I believe, send this recommendation forward. If they do it will carry only recommendatory weight and that from only some of the Primates.

So where does that leave the Primates Meeting? It is an important element in the struggle to keep the Anglican Communion together. The Agenda is filled with important elements of common work and struggle. If the Primates focus on them the Anglican Communion will be well served. If they are sent on the path of a "third province movement" in North America there will be blood on the floor and grinding of teeth. The notion of a third province is a polity nightmare and the product of not very clever innovation. If the Primates get sucked into this one, and we with it, the fellowship that is the Anglican Communion will cease and what will be left are some church people seeking yet another world wide patriarchy with just a touch of English liturgical sensibilities and others still willing to be united at the table and in the world of service even if with differences.

The Primates matter, but not nearly as much as the lowliest parson whose sacramental and pastoral ministry reaches all sorts and conditions of people yearning for the sense of God's presence.

It's a matter of perspective.