Building Planes, The Titanic, Strange Bedfellows, Rivers and Streams

One of the most quoted metaphors in the early days of the ACNA was that we were “flying the plane while building it.” Apt—and dangerous. Circumstances in those first months demanded urgency. We “ready–fired–aimed” the Province into existence, united in our goal: the restoration and renewal of biblical Anglicanism in North America.

Another favorite image came from the maritime world. In those tense days, TEC was likened to the Titanic, already struck by the iceberg of modern secular liberalism. The ship of the church was taking on water and would soon sink. Those who could launch lifeboats or lashed together the flotsam and jetsam into makeshift rafts. Out in open water, people could jump from lifeboat to lifeboat while waiting for rescue from our Global South friends—our ecclesial Carpathian.

It was all very compelling.

And then there was Shakespeare’s line from The Tempest: “Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.” Anglo-Catholics, charismatics, and evangelicals agreed to be strange bedfellows—if only for the sake of getting off the runway—to mix our metaphors.

Since “bedfellows” isn’t the most appealing picture—who really wants to sleep together anyway?—we borrowed a gentler idea from Psalm 46:4: There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God. One river, three streams. Many clergy and bishops even claimed to be “all three.”

But the reality was more fragile than the slogans. Compromises were stamped with a large “TBD.” Let’s get along for now so we can get going.

The Problems We Now Face

Overlapping Jurisdictions

Returning to the lifeboats and bedfellows metaphors, we now have areas of the country where two or three—sometimes I’ve counted seven—jurisdictions have staked a flag in the same region. That is confusing, to say the least.

Take the Dallas–Fort Worth area. We have the Diocese of Fort Worth, C4SO, the Reformed Episcopal Church, CANA West, the Diocese of Christ Our Hope, and a newly forming Missionary District. Oy vey! For those keeping score at home, that’s six ACNA jurisdictions in the same metro area—not to mention the Anglican Mission in America, which has its cathedral here as well. (Oh, there is also the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas and the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth.)

Bedfellows Drift Apart

Only fifteen years later, the bedfellows hardly recognize each other. The most glaring fault line—women’s ordination—was supposed to be handled with “dual integrity.” But dual integrity is an oxymoron. Can there be two opposing integrities on a matter so important, for such different reasons?

The result is a patchwork:

• Some dioceses say a firm no.
• Some bishops ordain women for other dioceses but don’t welcome them as priests inside their own.
• Others welcome women priests but will not ordain them.
• Others ordain women but restrict them from serving as rectors.
• And a few promote women in every leadership role to the point of requiring clergy to affirm the position or remain silent.

Two Added Pressures on the Province

Add to this the persistent challenge of human sexuality in our Western culture. The ACNA has affirmed marriage as between a man and a woman. Period. But the surrounding culture has not stopped pressing—redefining marriage, gender, and identity in ways we could not have imagined in 2009.

Then there is the ongoing Bishop Ruch drama. It has dragged on far too long. I don’t believe incompetence is the reason. It can’t be. But I honestly can’t figure out what’s what. Legal complexities, confidentiality, and documentation have tangled even our most capable leaders in a sticky thornbush.

In Texas, we’d call it “snake-bit.” And tragically, the victims of abuse have had to wait, reliving their trauma, while the process plays out.

In my younger years, I would have thrown stones and felt outraged. I don’t feel less passionate about the challenges we face, but I know the leaders who are leading us. I have known them for years—Duncan, Beach and now Wood.

My take-away is that the assignment they have must be very difficult. They are the brightest and best leaders, but sometimes I feel it must be hard to find is bright and best about their role today. It is a hard, hard assignment.

That’s why they need our prayers and our patience.

Recurring Predictions of Doom

Against this backdrop, every few months, someone announces the ACNA is on the edge. Older Anglicans remember the battles that birthed the Province. Newer Anglicans from more conservative traditions revel in the wide open roominess they find here. And this makes some wonder why we left the Episcopal Church at all. Indeed, some currents in the ACNA seem to mirror what we left.

Burying the Good News

I grew up in the Episcopal Church and was often embarrassed by how we made news with our dirty laundry. Good news was often forgotten in favor of the lastest statement by a rebel bishop or errant priest.

The ACNA seems to have inherited that same habit of public quarrels. When the archbishop says in June that the ACNA is growing—that we grew by 10–15% overall—that is amazingly great news.

I can imagine that if that were to happen in another denomination, they’d call for a church-wide conference, highlight the churches that grew, write books, produce podcasts, and platform the leaders who were leading the growth. But as I see it, the great news about our growth was buried within days.

Factionalism on Full Display

A few weeks ago, I was reminded just how deep our rivalries run. I’m serving in an Anglo-Catholic parish in the Diocese of Fort Worth and loving it. And readers of The Anglican know how much I’ve written on Thomas Cranmer—my series on his top ten prayers and collects was among our most popular. He has achieved hero status in my mind.

So imagine my surprise when I received an unsolicited text from a friend about the legacy of the first Archbishop of Canterbury. He believed Cranmer had done more harm than good, even hurting the church’s mission. Then he went on to acknowledge and bewail the manifold sins of Cranmerian Christians!

And I thought: our factions—evangelicals, charismatics, Anglo-Catholics, progressives—often behave less like theological movements and more like political parties. If we keep acting like rival parties, we’ll get what politics has given America: endless division, no forward motion.

Who Can Fix This?

The College of Bishops bears the responsibility to fix this situation. They have to. They are the only ones who can.

Read it all at The Anglican