George Sumner on What Happened at General Synod 2010

An excellent take on General Synod 2010 by George Sumner, principal of Wycliffe College in which he writes, among other things:

traditional parishes, dioceses, and groups, be they catholic or evangelical, need to invest their energies in becoming a vigorous and distinct fellowship of witness, locally and jointly, within the Anglican Church of Canada. In some cases the structures may perceive how much they need this minority for the revitalization they seek. In other cases they will not. At the local level, they need to pray for the welfare of the larger Church, and find in its midst a future and a hope. A number of younger, more traditional bishops, recently elected, are in this regard a source of encouragement.

H/T The Living Church News Service. All here.

Accountability, Autonomy, Canada and the Anglican Communion

In commenting on Presiding Bishop Jefferts-Shori's Mitre adventures in England, the most excellent Anglican Down Under has done an insightful piece on accountability vs autonomy in the Anglican Communion in which he writes:

It would have been most helpful if Canada in its recent Synod had followed up its protestations of closeness to TEC with a signal action that it too was more committed to internal dynamics around homosexuality than to uninhibited membership of the Communion. It did not, and that, surely, is something more important to think about at this time than being mitreless at communion in Southwark.

Most helpful to TEC, I think he means. Affirming the Sexuality Discernment statement, even with all it's "diverse pastoral practices," "local contexts" and "different local discernment," nuances and qualifications, can be interpreted as more about continuing full membership in the Communion and accountability rather than autonomy. I appreciate that.

Anglican Down Under goes on:

It is very clear that some member churches such as Canada value their membership of the Communion highly and will not imperil it if they can help it.

I'll drink to that.

And more:

If the colonial days of the Communion are over then so are the pioneering days. What is counting for the future is accountability not autonomy. If the Spirit is moving in the Communion today then it is in building coherency among the majority of Anglicans. Unchecked diversity is yesterday's news. In unity is our strength; the centre cannot hold if things fall apart. The question of our relationships as member churches is not whether our rights for autonomous action will be respected under the Covenant. The important question is whether we understand the blessing accountability brings: the unbreakable strength of true union in the body of Christ.

May we Anglicans be so blessed.

Read it all here.

General Synod 2010: St Paul's

General Synod 2010: a Detail in the Cathedral Last Night