Melbourne’s Archbishop-elect Ric Thorpe wants Anglicans to engage with but also challenge the collective culture on matters that might be controversial both inside and outside the church, including same-sex marriage, gender identity and divorce.
Speaking ahead of his installation, Bishop Thorpe believed his involvement with the Church of England’s Living in Love and Faith process taught him what worked well and what didn’t in dealing with differences of view.
He stressed the importance of connecting with broader society, even if it meant wrestling with issues that sometimes provoked intense disagreement inside the church.
Bishop Thorpe said the Anglican church in particular was called to engage with, understand and connect with each generation in the world around it, and preach afresh the Gospel to them.
Being mission-focussed about this engagement enabled it to better answer Jesus’s call to disciple people, and encouraged unity in the church.
He said diversity in the church became its strength when people were on mission together.
“A lot of the arguments in the church are because we’re staying put rather than going on mission,” Bishop Thorpe said.
“Our focus is to go on mission together, and when we’re preaching gospel, when we’re talking about Jesus to others, when we’re hoping and praying and sharing our faith, that faith might come alive in other people, and that changes the dynamic.”
He said his involvement with the LLF conversation, an exploration of the nature of identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage within the Church, revealed how painful and difficult disagreement could be.
LLF included the Prayer of Love and Faith, a set of prayers aimed at enabling same sex couples to receive blessings in the church.
It drew support but also heavy criticism, including dissent from a group of bishops of which Bishop Thorpe was a member, miring the debate surrounding the prayers in disagreement.
Bishop Thorpe said those experiences taught him how important it was to listen, discuss, keep wrestling with, and work closely together on challenges.
“Disagreement is always hard, but if you brush it under the table, it’s not great. It requires a lot of love, a lot of grace, and it needs time,” he said.
“The important thing is to move away from attacking each other on disagreement, and more towards humanising our disagreements under God.”
Asked about his position on the recent Global Anglican Future Conference declaration that rejected the Instruments of Communion and proclaimed a reordered Anglican Communion, Bishop Thorpe perceived the announcement lacked consultation.
He believed ultimately the GAFCON announcement would not gain momentum for this reason and because it failed to take into account the Anglican Communion’s work on the Nairobi-Cairo Proposals.
“They’re proposing how to develop those Communion instruments in a way that is less Canterbury-centric and more collective. That is a huge step forward for the Communion,” Bishop Thorpe said.
“[The Nairobi-Cairo Proposals] also talks about degrees of disagreement, and this is a gift to the communion to wrestle with, because it gives a way for us to be in communion to different levels … and to think through some of the big rifts that we’ve got. It doesn’t necessarily solve them right now, but it provides a pathway for that.”
He said the GAFCON move saddened him, because he wanted to engage with all parts of the Church, and intended to stay part of the Anglican Communion.
“We’re not leaving. As the Diocese of Melbourne, as the Anglican church of Australia, as a Province, we have a key part to play in the whole,” Bishop Thorpe said
“By leaving, by excluding people, I think it’s just not part of being in communion.”
Bishop Thorpe, 60, will replace former archbishop Philip Freier who retired in February on his 70th birthday.
He said Bishop Freier’s close work with the city, Anglican institutions, and his emphasis on reconciliation with First People was extraordinary, and he hoped to build on this.
At the same time, Bishop Thorpe was excited about the next 10 years, and said it was a new season for the diocese.
“I love thinking about the bigger picture and asking what is God wanting us to do,” Bishop Thorpe said. “How can we see the Kingdom of God make a difference in this place?”
Outlining some of his vision for Melbourne, he hoped for a thriving Anglican church in every neighbourhood, stronger Anglican schools in the growth areas, and for great women and men leaders.
Bishop Thorpe also wanted the church to be a praying church that made a difference in Melbourne.
He said praying and interceding for the city, the state and all the various institutions within it, including health and justice, provided a foundation for God to bring a renewal of the church in the city, and “really good engagement.”
“Sometimes that will be supportive of the city, sometimes it will challenge the city,” Bishop Thorpe said.
“We are a counter culture movement, and … sometimes we will need to challenge the structures to see justice and righteousness prevail.
“We do that with great humility, because we haven’t always got it right ourselves … but I think doing that starts in prayer, and with learning to pray together in different ways.”
Bishop Thorpe will be installed at St Paul’s Cathedral on Sunday 30 November at 4pm.
The installation service can be viewed at: youtube.com/live/W957vtVI50Q