At The Living Church we have paid frequent attention to the Archbishop of Canterbury in recent months and expect to continue to do so. One wag predicts that sometime in 2010 we will publish a “five-part ‘investigative report’ … describing the decisive strategy [by] which Archbishop Rowan Williams single-handedly rescued the Anglican Communion.”
 
The kernel of truth in this joke is that The Living Church respects the See of Canterbury. We also respect the Christian character and integrity—wisdom, courage, faithfulness, and patient perseverance — of Rowan Williams. We do not foresee any five-part series, however, for these reasons:
 
Basic Christian doctrine.We refer specifically to the Fall, which describes the reality of all human beings living in a state of sin and standing in need of redemption by God. A sober recognition of the Fall is the quickest antidote we know to any romantic notion that one person can single-handedly rescue (or destroy) the Anglican Communion.
 
Catholic ecclesiology. Because we believe that Christ himself established the Church, we are freed from checking the Church’s pulse each day to make sure it remains alive. Because we believe that the Anglican Communion is part of the one holy Catholic and apostolic Church, we can see Canterbury’s gradually developing authority as part of God’s economy for the Church.
 
Respect for Canterbury. Yes, we cite the same factor that prompted the joke. Proper respect for a church leader leads to a clear understanding of the office, uncluttered by the fickle emotions that drive toadyism or scapegoating. The inescapable reality of contemporary Anglicanism is that the Archbishop of Canterbury is the center and focus of the four instruments of communion.
 
One irony of contemporary Anglicanism is that the Archbishop of Canterbury is Rowan Williams, hailed by some as a conquering progressive hero upon his appointment but now reviled by impatient souls on the right and left alike.
 
Archbishop Williams will not be our savior, for we do not need one other than the Lord Jesus. The archbishop will moreover disappoint us, because we are all fallen creatures. We do believe, however, that God is sustaining — and will continue to sustain, renew, and otherwise salvage and rescue — Anglicanism in part through the instrumental labors of Archbishop Williams. In this respect, he is, quite simply, the man for the job at hand. God has placed him where he is; and under his watch many are laboring mightily to develop and defend the Catholic claim of Anglican ecclesiology.
 
Despite the doomsday fantasies of critics, the Anglican-Catholic claim will remain a realistic vision as long as Anglican Christians are willing to take up the cross of living in communion.
 
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