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A Note on the Role of North America in the Evolution of Anglicanism

Anglican Theological Review, Fall 2005 by Marshall, Paul V

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These observations are offered in service of a larger point: much of what we value about the character of the Anglican Communion grew up in the vacuum created by a lack of interest in things American on the part of the English church and its leaders. Further, for good or ill, the North American churches have had the peculiar ministry of leading change in the Communion in ways that cannot be erased when a new prompting surfaces. This is not to assert that all things emanating from North America are good or progressive; they are not. From the Mayflower expedition on, however, necessity and circumstances have created a vocation to religious creativity in America.6 The fruit of this wilderness has been received throughout much of Anglicanism as a gift to the entire church, a matter that the Windsor Report disregards to our common peril, if our communion-wide vocation is to hear the Spirit of God.

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Robert Bosher, professor of ecclesiastical history at The General Theological Seminary, delivered a lecture series at Seabury-Western Theological Seminary on just our subject. "The American Church and the Formation of the Anglican Communion, 1823-1853" rewards the reader with both data and a view of Anglican Communion origins that is not centered in the English church and its ways. ' Bosher reminds the reader that at the time of the American Revolution, Anglican meant English, and it was inconceivable for Anglicanism to exist outside of the United Kingdom. It was the organization of the Episcopal Church in 1789 that first suggested a wider meaning for the word.

There were significant departures from English church life in the new world. The election of bishops by the clergy and laity whom they would serve was a radical shift.8 Representative government (with laity having a voice in all measures), voluntary financial support, and the abandonment of the subordination of diocesan bishops to archbishops have also had worldwide impact.

But even though Bishop White was grateful to Archbishop Moore for his consecration and said so, White reported that "the primate's reply had a valedictory tone-'that he bore a great affection for our Church; and that he should always be glad to hear of her prosperity.'" Bosher adds "For the next thirty years I can discover virtually no friendly intercourse between church leaders on the two sides of the Atlantic," reporting that in 1822 the Presiding Bishop of the American church had to turn down the request for a letter of introduction for a clergyman visiting the mother country because he did not have a single correspondent in England.9 That is, the English church was not always in what we would call full communion with the Episcopal Church. The 1786 law that made possible the consecration of White, Provoost, and Madison also stipulated that neither they nor any priest or deacon whom they ordained could perform any clerical act in territory subject to the British crown. American clergy visiting England were treated as laypeople and they felt the humiliation keenly.

A Note on the Role of North America in the Evolution of Anglicanism

Anglican Theological Review, Fall 2005 by Marshall, Paul V

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