Two leading Anglo-Catholic bishops presented differing visions for regaining Anglican unity at “The Hope and Future of Orthodoxy in the Anglican Communion,” a festival of faith conference, held Sept. 13 at St. Luke’s Church, Bladensburg, Md.
The Most Rev. Drexel Gomez, Archbishop of the West Indies, and the Rt. Rev. Keith Ackerman, Bishop of Quincy, were the featured speakers at St. Luke’s, an Anglo-Catholic parish in the Diocese of Washington.
The bishops agreed that Anglican unity remains torn, just as the primates said it would be, by the consecration of the Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson as the Bishop of New Hampshire—and by the deeper theological divisions evident in The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada.
Archbishop Gomez stressed the importance of a Communion-wide covenant being drafted by an international panel that he leads. “There is nothing on the horizon that offers reasonable hope of holding the Communion together, other than the covenant,” he said.
Bishop Ackerman referred to building unity not only with Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christians, but also with churches that have Anglican roots but are not in communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury.
“Some of those calling themselves Anglicans may not be sending all their mail to Canterbury, but I have difficulty not believing that they are part of the Anglican Communion,” Bishop Ackerman said.
About 100 people attended the daylong meeting, which included two addresses by Archbishop Gomez, an address by Bishop Ackerman, a sermon by each, and a question-and-answer period with the archbishop. Bishop Ackerman declined to participate in the question-and-answer period or in the press conference after the festival.
Bishop Ackerman said he has long admired Archbishop Gomez, adding that although the archbishop will retire at the end of 2008, “there is nothing retiring about him” in speaking up for Anglo-Catholic orthodoxy.
Bishop Ackerman spent much of his talk on “Anglicanism and her future with other Christians.” He quoted from Roman Catholic and Orthodox leaders, such as Cormac Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor and Archbishop Kallistos Ware. Those leaders’ remarks leave Bishop Ackerman believing that they may no longer consider serious dialogue with Anglicanism possible.
“I fear one day that what we have been treating as a nice concept will become a lost opportunity,” he said.
Archbishop Gomez said he believes Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox leaders are still open to ecumenical dialogue, but with greater caution and diminished expectations.
During the discussion period, two lay people and an Anglican nun questioned whether the proposed covenant will be enough to bring real resolution to The Episcopal Church’s conflicts. Archbishop Gomez expressed sympathy for conservatives’ frustrations and agreed that some prominent bishops are unlikely ever to feel bound by a covenant.
Nevertheless, he urged participants to practice what he believes will be the keys to a revived Anglicanism of the future: forbearance and mutual restraint.
“It is God’s church, and in God’s own time God’s purposes are going to be worked out,” he said. “It is not an if. In the end, God’s will is going to triumph.”
Archbishop Gomez said he will soon travel to Singapore for a meeting of the Covenant Design Group on Sept. 22. The group will review comments made by bishops attending this year’s Lambeth Conference. The group will meet again in April to complete a third draft of the covenant, which it intends to then present to the Anglican Consultative Council, which meets in May.
“It is our hope and our prayer that the ACC will take what we do, give it a strong steer, and send it to the provinces,” the archbishop told reporters.
Douglas LeBlanc
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3 Comments
Your coverage of the Festival of Faith is greatly appreciated, and seems to be an accurate account of the days festivities. However, the lead into the story "Two leading Anglo-Catholic bishops presented differing visions for regaining Anglican unity," is very misleading. It leads one to believe there is a conflicting message between the two Bishops. Such is not the case. As your reporting indicates, Bishop Ackerman addressed ecumenism. He never addressed the issue of Anglican unity, or his vision of how that unity may take place.
Furthermore, The Christian Challenge reports that when asked at the press conference following the event how his approach to the crisis in the communion differed from that of Bishop Ackerman's, the Archbishop responded, "My emphasis is on the Communion first and not on the more immediate and that's where the difference [between myself and Bishop Ackerman] will be. But [it is] not contradictory. Because I understand what [the need to focus on the immediate] means."
The issue of Anglican unity was only addressed by Archbishop Gomez; no differing views on Anglican unity were presented during the Festival of Faith. One leading Anglo-Catholic bishop spoke of the need for an Anglican Covenant to bring about Anglican unity, while another leading Anglo-Catholic bishop spoke to the relationship of the Anglican Communion to other Christian bodies, especially those of Rome and Orthodoxy, by urging us to return to our catholic identity.
The Rev. Mark W. Lewis
Rector, St. Luke's Parish
Obviously, the so called Archbishop needs to read his bible and love everyone. I can not believe he personally demaened gay people as "lower that the beast". I think Jesus is looking sad on him right now. Who is he to judge other people. God is the only person to judge such actions. Jesus talked, ate and drank with sinners. I am really thinking about the anglican communion. especailly the Church of Nigeria.
I have written directly to Father Lewis to thank him for his response, and to say the print version of this article will carry a more precise opening.
As for Gill Frierson's comment, I wish it had something to do with what Archbishop Gomez said. At no time did he compare gay people to animals or beasts. Indeed, the "lower than the beasts" remark came from Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe.