Anglicanism reshaped: Prelude

Much, but hardly all, of the distinctive character of historic Anglicanism derives from its rootage in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century English culture and religious practice. As the Elizabethan settlement of English religion shaped the mediating character of the early Anglicanism between Catholic and Reformed Christianity, a distinctive form of the Reformation emerged. The English Reformation has taken its place alongside of the other "Reformations" of the sixteenth century, in such a way that we now understand subsequent developments in western Christianity in the plural, recognizing the diversity of faith communities that have issued in the wake of the sixteenth century. Pluralism and diversity in religious practice and culture constitute a post-Reformations historic norm.

This movement towards pluralism and diversity continues unabated both within and beyond the present-day Anglican Communion, a confederation of autonomous national churches that acknowledges the primacy of the Archbishop of Canterbury but which has no binding confessional or constitutional agreements about authority, religious practice or belief. These churches are drawn together by heritage, history and their own commitments to join in a consensual union to chart the norms of Anglican religious practice. The Anglican Communion itself, now expanded beyond the former domains of English colonization, is no longer predominantly English in historical and cultural origin, a fact recognized and widely noted at Lambeth 1998. Anglicanism's reach, particularly into the continents and cultures of Asia and Africa, raises unprecedented questions about authority and consensus in a global communion whose constituents no longer share the cultural heritage of western Christianity-the Enlightenment and economies shaped by a democratic capitalist spirit. In this "reshaping" of the contexts in which Anglicanism is practiced, important new challenges arise about the interpretation of tradition and the sanctioning of innovation. While much of the attention at Lambeth 1998 focused on questions of homosexuality, that debate anticipates other kinds of debates likely to occur in the future about the ways in which the undogmatic consensus that binds the Anglican communion is likely to be tested in years to come.

Theological consensus in Anglicanism, following the pattern and the metaphor of the three-legged stool, has been grounded in scripture, tradition, and reason. In the exercise of reason, Anglicans have consistently sought to reflect on the ways in which experience, the unfolding work of creation itself, provides "new occasions to teach new duties." The dilemma we face, the pressure of a global communion no longer rooted in a shared historical and cultural matrix, is how to sustain Anglicanism's mediating theological pattern when its constituent communions bring such different cultural and historic experiences to the task of theological reflection and religious practice. The Anglican Communion faces now the force of compounding "pluralisms," as well as profound differences in the economic resources of the nations of its member churches. Arguably, the same sorts of characteristics that have made it feasible for Anglican Christianity to be embraced in the diverse cultures of Asia and Africa-namely its openness to the diversity of human experience and its lack of confessional precision-also make it very difficult to resolve disputes about matters of church policy and practice. At Lambeth, the powerful witness of bishops from the churches of Asia and Africa highlighted the vulnerability of Anglican theological method-based on a consensus about scripture, tradition, and reason-when the participants in the discussion represent such widely varying cultural contexts.

The Fellows Forum of the Episcopal Church Foundation is pleased to present the results of its initial gathering held in February 2000 at the House of the Redeemer in New York City to the wider community of the Church. We hope to stimulate and advance a conversation about theological development and responsibility in a global communion. We are particularly concerned to address how theological innovation occurs and how tradition is interpreted, under the prevailing conditions of cultural pluralism in Anglicanism. Anglicanism has been reshaped: it is no longer only an extension and expression of English religious culture. How do we stabilize the three-legged stool if the status of "reasoned experience" cannot be resolved, because there is so much less common experience about which to reason across the diversity of the Anglican Communion?

The essays that follow seek to construct, in the light of our contemporary experiences of pluralism, a platform that can support the kind of conversations that must be developed as we go forward. The papers are ordered with the intention of raising questions from the standpoint of some newer forms of Anglicanism that enable us to revisit and reflect on scripture and tradition. Recognizing that our experience is a development rooted in our history, and that the history we share is replete with diversity and ambiguity, is an important step. But it is only a first step.