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Covenant, Contract, and Communion: Reflections on a Post-Windsor Anglicanism

Anglican Theological Review, Fall 2005 by Lewis, Harold T

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At the parish level I have experienced firsthand the shifting sands of Anglicanism from covenant to contract. Calvary Church, Pittsburgh, is the flagship of those parishes representing a moderate theology in a diocese known (not least because of the presence of Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry) for its conservative bent. Our bishop, Robert Duncan, is also the Moderator of the Anglican Communion Network of Dioceses and Parishes. He has consistently maintained that through the actions taken at the 74th General Convention, the Episcopal Church has erred, has superseded its own jurisdiction, and has broken ranks with historic catholic faith and practice. He has likened the Episcopal Church to a lifeboat drifting about in perilous seas, while he and other members of the Network are staying with the mother ship of Anglicanism. His theological stance has led him to take actions, through the convention of the diocese, to (a) declare that in the event of any kind of secession or formation of a new entity (for example, a new province of Anglicanism) the parishes who made such a move would be entitled to their property, both in terms of real estate and financial assets; and (b) that on those occasions when the local diocese and the national church differed on matters of faith and doctrine, the local opinion would prevail. Calvary Church and St. Stephens Church, Wilkinsburg, another parish in the diocese, have challenged these positions in a pending lawsuit.

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In retaliation for our actions, the bishop has announced that he may invoke a canon which allows the convention to dissolve the relationship between itself and the two parishes by a two-thirds vote. He has maintained that the diocesan canon is intended to punish congregations who challenge the authority of the bishop and other officers of the diocese, although the language of that canon does not suggest that it was intended to be used for disciplinary purposes. I mention this because it allows our parish to identify, in some respects, with the American and Canadian delegations to the Anglican Consultative Council. No longer guided by a sense of covenant, which might lead to greater mutual understanding if not reconciliation, conservative forces within Anglicanism at the local or international level seem more inclined to resolve difficulties by removing from the fellowship of Christ's body those who disagree with them.

Richard Hooker, in a statement authoritatively attributed to him, expressed his vision of the church as "an inn where all are received joyously, rather than a cottage where some few friends of the family are to be received."7 Anglicanism today, with the specter of Donatism looming overhead, seems to be metamorphosing from commodious inn to cramped cottage.

I remember well our seminary dean telling the seniors, "If you insist on appealing to the canons to assert your authority as rector, you have already lost the battle, if not the war." In other words, any leader should command and not demand respect. People should respect a rector's leadership because they have trust and confidence in him or her, because they are engaged in a covenantal relationship with their pastor, not because they are told that certain inalienable rights inhere to the rectors office.

Covenant, Contract, and Communion: Reflections on a Post-Windsor Anglicanism

Anglican Theological Review, Fall 2005 by Lewis, Harold T

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