A Reader Asks an Important Question
Embryo Parson Posted on Sunday, July 31, 2016 at 06:02PM My good friend Peter Yancy chimed in with a response to this 2014 article , entitled ". I reproduce his comment here with my reply:
Very well written, and a thoughtful article. I agree with your conclusions, Christopher, but I was wondering: Is it possible that a High Church Anglicanism could serve more to unify than a strictly Anglo-Catholic model? What I mean by that is the High Church model of the Caroline Divines, as opposed to many in the Anglo-Catholic community who seem to ape Rome. At times it amazes me to see certain Anglo-Catholics using missals, wearing Roman Catholic vestments of post-18th century design, and commemorating the feast days of post-Reformation Roman Catholic saints such as Bernadette of Lourdes. The use of the rosary and sacred heart images is another issue as well. The Laudians had no desire to replace the Prayer Book with a missal, or to pray the rosary, to wear chasubles and birettas, or decorate the churches with images. I am not trying to sound overly harsh towards those Anglo-Catholics who engage in such things, but do you see my point? A large number of Anglo-Catholics come across more like Old Catholics than Anglicans. Perhaps a more traditional High Church model such as that advocated by the High Churchmen of the 17th century would offer a better model of Classical Anglicanism than what many are offering now.
My reply:
I do indeed see your point, Peter. There is no need for Anglicans to ape Roman practices in order to be genuinely Catholic, though disagree on whether or not certain Anglo-Catholic practices, such as the use of a missal, is inherently Roman. But I do think that both Caroline and *Tractarian* divinity (as opposed to later Ritualist and Anglo-papalist movements) have things to teach us all about being genuinely Catholic. Canon Middleton argues, and I tend to agree with him, that all of orthodox Anglican divinity, from the Reformers to the Tractarians, have aspired to represent the Catholic faith in its purity, nothing more and nothing less. He cautions, however, that each of these strains of Anglican theology might have so aspired with certain Anglican "agendas" lying at the core, and that the best way to rid ourselves of these agendas is to seek to conform fully to the minds of the Fathers and Doctors of the undivided Church of the first milllennium. I believe we can do so, on the one hand ridding ourselves of those agendas but at the same time maintaining distinctive English Catholic contributions to both theology and spirituality. We're not Romans, and we're not Orthodox. But we are Catholic.
Reader Comments (7)
Part of it is that the continuing churches were birthed by Anglo-Catholics and thus promoted Anglo-Catholic practices and theology. I think Bp. Doren specifically separated the UECNA for that very reason seeing the handwriting on the wall for classical and broad church members.
Yep. But I fear for the future of UECNA if it doesn't reach out and merge with SOMEONE in the Continuum. I think Peter Robinson's+ the bomb when it comes to Old High Church Anglicanism, and I want to see UEC survive. God grant it.
Best shot is to merge with some of the smaller groups like the AOC. And maybe form smaller house church type parishes.
AEC and Diocese of the Great Lakes have merged into UECNA along with a dozen OAC parishes. They are on the right path of forming an old high church and classical Anglican jurisdiction. I wish a parish was nearby. Spiky APCK Anglo-papalism (not Anglo-Catholicism) and neo-Anglican parishes are my only options, sigh.
I'd forgotten about AEC and DGL, AAA. I was not aware that UEC picked up some OAC parishes. That doesn't surprise me, as it appears OAC is going in a more Anglo-Catholic direction. I recently made the acquaintance of the OAC's primate Thomas Gordon, who is also a Facebook friend. He's a good man and bishop. He invited me to read the Epistle at a recent incardination service. The priest who was incardinated is also a good friend. He comes from a Baptist background but is now (like me) pretty AC. So I surmise from this that maybe OAC is headed in that direction. If it is, I wonder if it will ever make a move toward the other AC jurisdictions that are now in the process of coming together. I'd ask Abp. Gordon, but he's probably not at liberty to say. And bishops are wise not to tip their hands to loudmouth bloggers like me. ;)
Sounds like the OAC parishes merged with UECNA around 2011. I hope the OAC does progress towards union with other Continuers and that UECNA becomes the uniting force for Central and Low churchmen who are classical Anglicans. Perhaps then a union of all traditional Anglican churchmen will then be possible with two larger Continuing jurisdictions.
Let us so pray. At the very least, Continuing churches, whatever their churchmanship, should maintain federative relationships with each other. We need a "united" witness over against the neo-Anglicans, with a view to, please God, coax them toward traditional Anglicanism, whether Protestant or Catholic. Then, over time, perhaps the Protestant/Catholic divide will be obliterated.