Quote:
Originally Posted by Galbally
Hi all, I'm not very religious as I'm sure a lot of you know, but I am a Catholic nonetheless. I have been watching the events in the Anglican church (or better known as the Church of England, and its associated churches worldwide) lately, and it seems to me that the church is splitting evenly along the lines drawn over the very controversial issue of gay clergy and to a lesser degree female clergy, predictably between conservatives who utterly disagree with these ideas, and liberals who embrace this move. Both of course are well able to quote their religious tracts to justify their positions.
So my questions are, what do any Anglicans think about this, or do you care? Also, what do you think the future is for the Anglican Church in general.
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The church to which I've been affiliated is merging back in with the Anglicans in around four years so I'm a sort-of Anglican.
The worldwide Anglican communion might well disintegrate into two confessions, London-centred liberal and African-centred Conservative. Each would promote roving Bishops with factional authority in the other's territory to provide pastoral oversight of parishes which break away from the preponderant local party. That's happening already, it's the reason I think the split's inevitable.
So, nationally the preponderant faction - in the UK that's the liberal wing - keeps all but a few parishes, a few break away to a new confession and retain Christ's commission by the laying on of hands of the roving Bishops. The idea of roving Bishops within the same confession is twenty years old and has no remaining mileage to it at all.
It'll probably involve a few evictions, a few parish councils going to the House of Lords about who can worship in the old parish church building. Small earthquake, not many dead.
I can pinpoint the one moment which existed in the 20th century for Anglicanism to re-enter communion with Rome and end up with no Women Priests much less Women Bishops, it's a turning point in world history and it happened fifty years ago five hundred yards from where I live. Would you like to hear me make it up as I go, bearing in mind that it's all true?