not too much

Theo Hobson writes in The Tablet (19 Feb) that "the question of the ordination of homosexuals" is the "bull in the china shop of Anglican ecclesiology; and it is still on the loose." Perhaps, most obviously," he continues, "it has exposed the communion as ungovernable."

To which I reply, "Good!" We do not need international government in the church. International government serves to frustrate and deny the diversity and freedom of God's Spirit, and the maturity that we acquire through responding to the Spirit's guidance.

"Anglicanism must decide whether it is a Church made up of various provinces, or a communion made up of various Churches. If it is the former, then there must be centralised authority. But the Archbishop of Canterbury cannot bring American and Nigerian Anglicans into a common line (he cannot even bring English Anglicans into a common line)."

Hobson's views are more complex that this short extract allows. But it seems to me that in an episcopal church, government rests with each local Bishop and any local convention, synod, etc. that offers 'advice and consent'. At any 'wider' level, what we need is not 'government', but fellowship, sharing, mutual acceptance in love, and yes, debate. And above all, we need simply to behave as civilised mature people with a child-like faith in the goodness of God.

Thus, I greatly appreciate the words of Bishop Stacy F. Sauls in an address to the annual Convention of his diocese on 18 February. He emphasises that maturity and the mutual respect that accompanies it, is the way forward for the church when confronted by disagreement about homosexuality (or anything else).

We are now at a point in which the controversy around homosexuality has occupied an enormous amount of my time as your bishop, and a great deal of our time as a diocese. I pledge to you that I will do everything in my power to make that less the case. It is time that this issue cease to distract us from mission. We must not succumb to the ungodly forces of polarization. [. . .]
I am an Episcopalian because my understanding of the Episcopal Church is that freedom of thought is not only accepted but valued, and debate is not only tolerated but encouraged. Both, I believe, are ultimately the best way to pursue the truth. The truth of the Gospel is not so fragile that it need fear a little honest debate, even a little conflict. Our fear of that is more a reflection on our faith than on anything else. "Do not be anxious," Jesus said. [. . . ]
Just as we all wish to seek God in a church that allows us to think for ourselves, so we must respect the right of others to do the same. The nature of our new humanity in Christ is not that we have to be right. It is that we need each other to help correct our errors as we seek God's truth. It is not necessary to have all the answers to all the questions. It is only necessary to be seeking them. The Episcopal Church, as long as I can help it, will be safe for those who seek because it is in seeking, after all, that we find. It is not necessary to agree with the bishop or anyone else to belong here. It is only necessary to seek.
The greatest danger to our Anglican heritage that we face is not from those in error. It is from those who have no need to seek truth because they are content with the truth they think they already possess, as if truth is something subject to personal possession. It is from those who claim fidelity to the Bible but ignore the parts of it that do not suit them, like the part about not remarrying after divorce (Mt. 19:9; Mk. 10:12) or the part about how wrong it is for one part of the body to say to another part, "I have no need of you" (1 Cor. 12:21). It is from those who ignore the sacramental reality of Holy Baptism as a way of protecting the sacramental reality of Holy Matrimony. It is from those who would break their ordination vows and at the very same time claim their authority from that very same ordination. What we have to fear most as Anglicans at this point is not really so much heresy as it is hypocrisy. [. . .]
I am making a simple proposal. Dearest people of God, we have work to do. Let us get on with it. Keep talking to each other. Keep arguing with each other. That is what Anglicans do. But stop trying to hurt each other. That is not what Christians do.
The truth is that this controversy is not about the Bible. [. . .] Nor is theology the issue. [. . .] The issue of living together is not the Bible. It is not theology. It is not the Anglican Communion. It is maturity. Mature people can stay in relationship with those who disagree with them, neither yielding their own opinions nor requiring others to do so. Mature people do not make conformity a condition of love. A healthy and mature family can stay together despite difference and even conflict and stress. The same is so in a healthy and mature church.
[. . .] Spiritual maturity is the only antidote to schism, and not only that, it is the best and perhaps only way to pursue the truth, which is the only antidote to heresy. Truth, for Anglicans, is a relational issue. It is not an individual issue. That is why it requires maturity. Truth cannot be found independently of one another. Truth, for Anglicans, grows out of relationship, out of being in community with others, not out of being imposed from the top down. Anglicans read the Bible together, which leads invariably to Anglicans arguing about the Bible together.
[. . .] So, whatever our opinion on how best to love homosexual persons, which in truth is the only thing we [in the Diocese of Lexington] have a serious disagreement about, let us be about what Jesus told us to be about -- the task of welcoming God's people, all of them, the task of radical hospitality. To that end, I am asking the Evangelism Commission to take the Parable of the Great Dinner as its inspiration. We will remember the parable Jesus told in Luke chapter 14 that God's house is to be filled with guests, the unexpected guests, the poor and crippled and outcast, the ones no one ever thought they would want to sit down at table with. I respect that that may make all of us mildly uncomfortable, but if you think it isn't scriptural, you need to go back and look again.
[. . .] We are not going to let the current controversies in the Episcopal Church distract us from our mission. It is way past time that we stopped being distracted by homosexuality, heterosexuality, or any sexuality. Enough already! You would think we were all in high school. Is anyone else out there tired of talking about this issue year after year? The one and only issue that we are going to concentrate on is how best to love the people God has given us to love. Could we please, please, please, God, find something else to talk about? Could it possibly be mission?