At this point, why should we care about the Anglican Communion?

May 18, 2016 by

The Rev. Canon Phil Ashey, AAC:

I remember years ago when I was sworn in as a Deputy District Attorney (prosecutor) in California, and one of my first appearances was before a senior judge in Juvenile Court. I was fresh out of law school, eager and earnest to make my case against the juvenile whom I can’t even remember now. What I do remember is the judge’s reply. After I had made my case, he looked over his glasses and down his nose at me and said “Mr. Ashey, why do I care?”

I didn’t even know how to respond. Somehow I did, but it took some time to help the judge refocus on the facts and the law of this case. The bottom line is that he was just plain weary of hearing and judging such matters. He was tired of duplicity in fact and nuance in the law. He was discouraged that he wasn’t seeing any change or improvement in the community through the efforts of the court system. And as a result, he had lost any vision of justice, of what is good and right.

After the last two weeks or more in global Anglican affairs, I can sympathize with the judge’s feelings. I’ve heard the same feelings from others—bishops, clergy and lay leaders all across the Anglican Church in North America. Why should we care any longer about the Anglican Communion? The Archbishop of Canterbury calls the Primates together to discuss The Episcopal Church (TEC). The Primates decide at that gathering to discipline TEC, in the mildest possible way, for just one of many communion-breaking behaviors—changing the doctrine of marriage. Immediately the Archbishop of Canterbury denies these are “sanctions” and plays up the importance of “walking together.” Immediately, TEC leaders publicly defy the Primates, declare that they have no intention of turning back and trumpet that the Primates have no authority whatsoever to discipline them. The Archbishop of Canterbury makes no reply.

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