There is currently a struggle between two distinct Anglican ecclesiologies, each with its own camp, but the two need not be opposed, according to the Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold. The Presiding Bishop participated in a liturgical foot washing on Maundy Thursday, heard confession on Good Friday and performed confirmations on Holy Saturday this year at the historic Anglo-Catholic parish of St. Paul’s on K Street in Washington, D.C.

Speaking to adult baptismal candidates on Holy Saturday in response to a question about the state of the Anglican Communion, the Presiding Bishop said he defined the two different doctrines as: the ecclesiology of scripture (the Bible) and the ecclesiology of the sacraments. Those who adhere to the first doctrine pursue a “plain reading of the Bible,” he said. This doctrinal approach can give people “incredible courage and strength,” especially during times of civil war and strife, said Bishop Griswold. He cited Anglicans in Africa, who cope with civil discord and atrocities such as child soldiers, as examples of those holding an ecclesiology of scripture. While this approach to faith confers strength in times of war and strife, “it also means that some of the complexities…then become problematic,” he said.

The second doctrinal approach, the sacramental one, “takes its stance in baptism,” said the Presiding Bishop. This view, espoused by a number of Episcopalians, holds that “We are all the body of Christ; for the body to be complete, there has to be diversity,” he said. This second view also holds that “Truth has many facets to it, as opposed to the view that there is one truth.” Bishop Griswold added that adhering to this second doctrinal view means that “The body of Christ is the way we understand ourselves,” and that all differences among God’s people are transcended when they share in the Eucharist together.

“There is a shift going on” in the Anglican Communion, noted Bishop Griswold. Until recently the global Anglican Communion was dominated by the West and the North, but now “there’s a realignment of power,” he said. Anglicans in the global South no longer want to be beholden to Anglicans in the West and North, but “want to speak with their own voice,” he said.

While the two different Anglican ecclesiologies – that of the book and that of the sacraments – often clash on issues such as human sexuality, this need not be the case, according to Bishop Griswold.

Bishop Griswold observed the Triduum at St. Paul’s at the invitation of the rector, the Rev. Andrew Sloane. “I spend a lot of time in an office; it is a great privilege to share this liturgical moment with you,” he told the candidates for baptism prior to the Easter Vigil service. “Baptism is always God’s act; none of us is ever ready for God’s grace. God’s grace meets us when we are most vulnerable. The Easter Vigil is the liturgy of the year; I can think of no better context in which to be baptized than the Easter Vigil.”

Peggy Eastman