The Anglican Communion At A Crossroads

Worldwide debates over issues of sexuality and gender have come to a head in recent years in mainline and evangelical churches, with the Anglican Communion—a worldwide network of churches that trace their practice to Canterbury and claim some 85 million members—among the most publicly visible sites of contestation. This thorough and compelling analysis of the conflicts within the Communion argues that they are symptoms of long-simmering issues that must be addressed when Anglican bishops and archbishops meet at the 2020 Lambeth Conference. To many, the disagreements over such issues as LGBTQ clergy, same-sex marriage, and women’s ordination suggest an insurmountable crisis facing Anglicans, one that may ultimately end the Communion. Christopher Craig Brittain and Andrew McKinnon argue otherwise. Drawing on extensive empirical research and interviews with influential Anglican leaders, they show how these struggles stem from a complex interplay of factors, notably the forces and effects of globalization, new communications technology, and previous decisions made by the Communion. In clarifying both the theological arguments and social forces at play as the bishops and primates of the Anglican Communion prepare to set the Church’s course for the next decade, Brittain and McKinnon combine sociological and theological methodologies to provide both a nuanced portrait of Anglicanism in a transnational age and a primer on the issues with which the Lambeth Conference will wrestle. Insightful, informative, and thought-provoking, The Anglican Communion at a Crossroads is an invaluable resource for understanding the debates taking place in this worldwide community. Those interested in Anglicanism, sexuality and the Christian tradition, the sociology of religion, and the evolving relationship between World Christianity and churches in the Global North will find it indispensable.

The Anglican Communion is at a crossroads. A tipping point has been reached on the fulcrum, where things can no longer be kept in balance. A choice must be made between two competing worldviews, which are at heart radically different. The time has come to decide which set of beliefs and practices will be adhered to and taught in the church, and which vision will be offered to the world as the Christian faith. Are we sinners brought back into relationship with God through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, or, are all made in the image of God and therefore inherently good? Is Jesus Christ the only means of salvation, or, is salvation available through a plurality of religions that lead us to the knowledge of the divine presence within each person? The time for re-formation is at hand. The calling of the Anglican reformers of the twenty-first century goes beyond setting their own house in order. The famous "Via Media" of Anglicanism brings it close to every other expression of the church. A revived and restructured fellowship of Anglican Churches could readily become a model and a catalyst for the re-formation of the various Christian fellowships worldwide.

As a new century approaches, the Anglican Communion continues to expand and mature. What began as a series of colonial chaplaincy outposts has become a worldwide family of autonomous churches with a common heritage amid remarkable diversity. Until now, most of the published material about Anglicanism has reflected the perspective of the United States and the United Kingdom. In response to this dearth of genuinely global resources, England's Center for Anglican Communion Studies initiated the process that has resulted in this remarkable volume. In Anglicanism:A Global Communion the editors have brought together men and women, lay and ordained, from all over the world, to demonstrate the breadth of experience, spirituality, and thinking that exists within the worldwide Anglican family. This is a collection of essays by 81 contributors from all parts of the Anglican Communion. Essays deal with issues of faith; worship, spirituality and theology; the Church and ministry; mission within a diversity of faiths and cultures; Church and society; and Anglican identity. This is a joint publication of Church Publishing and Cassell's, London. Above all, these accounts taken together say an emphatic No! to the myth of Anglicanism as a privileged club for white Anglo-Saxons who live in the northern hemisphere but presume to speak for their southern neighbors. Here at last is a book stating unequivocally that in the Anglican Communion there are many gifts, many voices. (384 pp)

Capturing the essence of the faith and practice of the worldwide Anglican Communion, this brief but comprehensive guide includes sermons, essays, historical information, hymns, and listings. It is an essential tool for all those interested in Anglicanism.

The proposed Anglican Covenant impinges not only upon the future of the Anglican Communion but upon global Christianity as well. Pro Communione: Theological Essays on the Anglican Covenant is the first volume that considers the completed text of the Covenant and its congruity with the Anglican tradition. Contributors across the Anglo-American world appraise the Covenant within a holistic framework defined by liturgical, historical, and ecumenical perspectives. These essays transcend current debates by illuminating abiding theological themes within Anglicanism. Creative and edifying, rigorous and hopeful, Pro Communione envisions a revival of the Anglican imagination within the context of a covenanted Anglican Communion. Contributors: Jeff Boldt, Neil Dhingra, Andrew Goddard, Benjamin M. Guyer, N. J. A. Humphrey, Nathan G. Jennings, Evan Kuehn, Edmund Newey, Matthew S. C. Olver, Ephraim Radner, and Christopher Wells

Author Mark Harris, an Episcopal priest, says that Anglicans mostly define themselves by reflecting on their experience rather than by defining distinct theology or doctrine. Anglicans feel that their reason for being is bound up not with being Anglicans

Current debates over a host of issues, particularly those relating to homosexuality, have left the 70-million-member Anglican Communion straining to understand what it means to be a communion -- and even wondering whether life as a communion is possible. In this timely book two priest-scholars, Ephraim Radner and Philip Turner, examine the future of the concept of "communion" as a viable church structure, tracing its historical development as a self-conscious Anglican third way between Protestant congregationalism and Catholic centralism. In examining this essential issue, Radner and Turner relate the specific challenges of the U.S. Episcopal Church to the unity of the worldwide communion, touching on such divisive subjects as the place of Scripture, liberal theology, and episcopal authority. Their discussion is at once measured and impassioned, erudite and practical. Compelling reading for Episcopalians and those in other traditions who are searching for a truly Christian approach to these thorny topics, The Fate of Communion is a forthright, direct examination of a church in turmoil.