It Is About Love: A Commentary on the Anglican Condition
by Anne Kennedy, Patheos:
Yesterday was a raucously interesting day in the Anglican world, though perhaps for reasons of no consequence to the average American Christian. Nevertheless I wanted to just say one or two things, because I’m Anglican, and sometimes it’s nice to have a little ‘inside baseball’–which expression seems completely strange to me. I would not want anyone to play baseball inside. That seems like a very poor idea.
So for some while, the Rev. Tory Baucum has had a friendly affinity with the episcopal Bishop of Virginia, Shannon Johnson. This wouldn’t make you blink except that Tori is part of the church that left the episcopal group in the last decade, and is part of the Anglican Brand in America that is not in communion with the Anglican Brand in England (you probably don’t want to know why this matters). Confused? Of course you are because both Tory and Shannon are not gorgeous female members of that cool 90s show where all the young people live around a square in soap operatic fascination, they are actually two middle aged men. Although, I suppose I shouldn’t notice this oppressive socially constructed cis-normative detail.
Where was I? Let’s see, Tory and Shannon got on well together. They wanted to smooth over the terrible trouble caused by the unfortunate theology of the break away Anglican Church–theology that unhappily gives primacy to the scripture as being true and understandable, to a biblical worldview about human sexuality, to the culturally insensitive conviction that the best way to love people is by letting the plain word of God take place about the human condition, about our proclivities, our sin nature, our need for a savior. These are surely important matters, but Tory and Shannon thought they were not so insurmountable that each couldn’t support the ministry of the other.
And so they did. And, even after being told not to, they continued to, and now they are joining together in a project of Reconciliation. Here is the Archbishop of my church, the ACNA, wishing that they had really not gone ahead when they were asked not to. And Tory’s own bishop.
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