The 20 th Century: The Anglican Communion

Transcription

1 The 20 th Century: The Anglican Communion I. The Liturgical Movement The Liturgical Movement sought to restore the active participation of the people in the official worship of the Church, to make baptism full initiation into the Church, and to have the Holy Eucharist as the principal and central act of the Church s worship. 1. A. G. Hebert Liturgy and Society (1935) The Parish Communion Movement (1937) 2. Dom Gregory Dix The Shape of the Liturgy (1945) The Eucharist is an action which has a fourfold shape corresponding to the actions of Jesus at the Last Supper: taking, blessing, breaking and giving the bread and cup. His book is a strong attack on Cranmer. 3. Grove Booklets on Liturgy and Worship Trevor Lloyd Michael Vasey Colin Buchanan 4. A proliferation of liturgical texts in modern Anglicanism 1979 American BCP 1980 ASB of the Church of England 1985 BAS of the Anglican Church of Canada 1984 Prayer Book of the Church of Ireland 1989 South African Prayer Book 1989 Prayer Book of the Episcopal Church of Scotland 1989 New Zealand Prayer Book 1994 Prayer Book of the Church of Wales 2000 Common Worship of the Church of England 5. Common elements of Anglican liturgical worship as declared by the 1988 Lambeth Conference: The public reading of the Scriptures in the language of the people, and instruction based on them. The use of the two sacraments, Baptism and Holy Communion. Episcopal ordination of all three Orders of Ministry deacon, priest and bishop with the laying on of hands. Public recitation and teaching of the Apostles and Nicene Creeds.

2 The use of other liturgical expressions of unity in faith and life, which nurture the people of God and reflect awareness of ecumenical liturgical developments. II. Ecumenism The 20 th century saw a movement in the Church towards the recovery of the unity of all believers in Christ, transcending differences of creed, ritual and polity. 1. Bishop G.K.A. Bell ( ) A supporter of the Confessing Church in Germany and a friend of Dietrich Bonhoeffer Committed to Anglican-Lutheran unity as well as Anglican-Methodist unity in the U.K. 2. Archbishop Geoffrey Fisher ( ) Chaired World Council of Churches inauguration at Amsterdam in Became the first Archbishop of Canterbury to visit the Vatican since 1397, when he traveled to Rome to meet Pope John XXIII. Initiated a dialogue with the Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople. 3. Anglicans today are in full communion with: Church of Sweden Old Catholic Churches Baltic Lutheran Churches Evangelical Lutheran Churches in Canada and the United States 4. In some countries Anglicans have merged with other churches for the sake of unity and effective mission work. Church of South India (1946): Anglican, Methodist, Reformed Church of North India & Pakistan (1970) Church of Bangladesh (1971) 5. At present there are four international bilateral dialogues involving the Anglican Communion: Roman Catholic Orthodox Lutheran Reformed III. The Structure of the Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is a fellowship of Churches throughout the world united by bonds of affection, common roots in liturgy and doctrine, and by

3 their communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Anglican Communion presently exists in 160 countries and consists of 32 provinces. 1. The Archbishop of Canterbury is a symbol of the worldwide Anglican Communion. For a church to be Anglican, it must be in communion with the See of Canterbury. 2. The Lambeth Conference is an historic gathering of all the Anglican Communion bishops. The Archbishop of Canterbury has called a Lambeth Conference roughly every decade since The last one was in 2008 with about 500 bishops in attendance. The 1998 conference had over 800 bishops. 3. Pan-Anglican Congresses have been called twice, which include priests, deacons and laity in deliberations Minneapolis 1963 Toronto 4. Secretary-General of the Anglican Communion (1958) a chief operating officer of the communion under the Anglican Consultative Council and Archbishop of Canterbury. 5. Anglican Consultative Council (1968) a deliberative body of bishops, clergy and laity that meets in between the Lambeth Conferences. 6. Primates Meeting (1979) The chief bishops of the 32 provinces in the communion meets once or twice a year. 7. An Anglican Covenant This covenant has been proposed but not yet ratified or implemented by any province. It would tighten the bonds of communion and provide for a system of accountability among churches. There is much debate and controversy about this covenant, and how it would affect the autonomy of each church in the communion. IV. Anglican Diversity 1. Evangelical With doctrine rooted in the Reformation, Evangelicals affirm sola scriptura (by Scripture only), solo Christo (by Christ only), sola fide (by faith only), sola gratis (by grace only), and soli Deo Gloria (glory to God only). Key evangelical tenets include: The supremacy of Holy Scripture

4 The majesty of Jesus Christ The lordship of the Holy Spirit The necessity of conversion The priority of evangelism The importance of fellowship 2. Liberal Liberals take the world very seriously, using reason to try to discern the mind of God. The central theological motif for liberals is the kingdom of God, which makes them aware of the activity of God in the world and not just in the Church. They think of Christ primarily as servant, and they stress that the Church s mission is to be understood in terms of serving the wider community, rather than in terms of converting non- Christians. Liberal tenets include: An open discovery to truth wherever it may be found A commitment to Christian faith that is committed to new thought, new knowledge and to the challenges of our culture A tradition broad enough to include a questioning spirit, which is not content with narrowness of thought The importance of conscience Involvement in social and political issues 3. Catholic Anglican Catholics are concerned to stress the Church s catholic heritage over 2,000 years from the time of the apostles to the present. The incarnation of Jesus Christ is fundamental because through Christ God is present in the world, in every human being, and, in a special way, in the consecrated bread and wine of Holy Communion. Anglo- Catholic tents include: The development of Christian doctrine Bishops in the apostolic succession as signs of continuity with the past The importance of the Holy Eucharist as a present sacrifice in which each communicant identifies with Christ s broken body and poured out blood Devotional practices such as the use of silence, retreats, making the sign of the cross, use of icons and holy pictures, incense in worship, holy water, contemplative prayer and elaborate ceremonial 4. Charismatic Charismatic or Pentecostal Anglicans focus on a theology of the Holy Spirit active in the church and a power for living, which in some ways, is a reaction to the overly formal and intellectual expressions of Christianity. Charismatic tenets include: An experiential relationship with God An emphasis on sign, wonders and healing Greater freedom in worship with a strong sense of freshness and spontaneity

5 Modern worship songs which address God personally An emphasis on the priesthood of all believers and every member ministry The exercise of one s spiritual gifts Strong supernatural content, including healings, speaking in tongues, visions and prophecies An emphasis on spiritual deliverance and spiritual warfare V. What Anglicans Have in Common 1. A Scriptural Church All are agreed that the Anglican Church is a scriptural church, and that prominence should be given to the public reading of the Bible, and that its interpretation should be open and not manipulated or controlled by some official or church authority. 2. A Catholic Church All are agreed that the Anglican Church seeks to maintain a balance between the local church and the universal Catholic Church of which the national or local church congregation is a particular manifestation. 3. An Apostolic Church All are agreed on a common adherence to the sacraments and to the apostolic orders of bishops, priests and deacons. 4. A Balanced Church All are agreed that the Anglican clergy should be pastors working in partnership with the laity and not be a separate priestly caste. 5. A Reformed Church All are agreed that the truth expressed by the Anglican Church is incomplete and provisional; the church is not perfect but is in constant need of reform; the meaning of the scriptures is never exhausted, for the Lord has yet more light and truth to break forth from his word (John Robinson); and the conclusions arrived at by human reason are always open to amendment. 6. A Comprehensive Church All are agreed that comprehensiveness is a good thing: where the distinctive insights of each tradition are held with humility and modesty, they can inform and complement each other to produce an unrivalled richness in ways of understanding and expressing the grace of God.