The Problem of Communion: Disaster for ACNA & the REC

Bishop Ray Sutton withdraws his license from Fr. Calvin Robinson

Late yesterday, the Presiding Bishop of the Reformed Episcopal Church (REC), Ray Sutton, withdrew his license of Fr. Calvin Robinson. He emailed Robinson:

After much prayer and counsel from fellow bishops, who have not required me to revoke licensure, I have decided that I must withdraw it effective this day…. Thank you for your kind and obedient service in the short time you’ve been under my licensure. I wish you every best in the service of our Lord.

For those catching up, my last two posts cover previous developments in this matter pretty well.

In short, what could have been and should have been a praiseworthy moment for the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) and the REC has turned into disaster.

I wish I was overstating this. Maybe I am for all I know. But good people are already looking for the exit of ACNA after the past three days. As for some who might have considered entering ACNA or the REC, those two jurisdictions might as well have put up a flashing red DO NOT ENTER sign. And the smoldering divisions within ACNA, which were becoming more manageable, just had gasoline thrown on them.

A week ago in this Problem of Communion series, I wrote on church parties.

I had no idea how timely that would be. Now I will go into some of the problems of the church parties model of dealing with differences while maintaining organizational unity.

For church parties to coexist in a church jurisdiction for the long term can require persistent, even dogged, commitment to said church. That is the case (at least until recent decades) in the Church of England where national and Anglican identities hardwired CofE churchmen to remain. And that is the case in the Roman Catholic Church where ecclesiology hardwires people to remain.

But most non-RC Americans do not have such dogged commitment. Even being a die-hard Anglican like me does not necessarily mean I will remain in ACNA or the REC until I die. This is why various small Anglican jurisdictions do better in the U. S. than in the U. K. Being Anglican in the U. K. means being in the Church of England 99% of the time. Being Anglican in the U. S. could mean being in TEC, ACNA, REC, ACC, EMC, APA and so on. That goes for parishes as well. A parish I love began in the APA (Anglican Province of America) and is now in the EMC (Episcopal Missionary Church).

This makes it that much more important that parties have enough tolerance and mutual respect to get along somewhat under the same tent. People in a typical American church context are much less likely to put up with actions like a prelate suppressing a beloved liturgy (as Pope Francis did the Traditional Latin Mass) or a party even taking legal action against opponents (the jailing of a few ritualist CofE priests in the 19th century) or an Archbishop using his office to rubbish a beloved traditionalist priest as ACNA Archbishop Wood did this week. The typical American Christian may just look for another church, even if he might be Anglican, if he sees his church party being that disrespected. And, yes, the treatment of Calvin Robinson this week by ACNA sends a strong message of disrespect and disregard towards based traditionalists.

A related problem with parties is that one party can repel people away from a whole denomination. Even before this week, I’ve noticed that some associate “Anglican” with “woke” due to the activities of a few in ACNA. That is not fair, of course. Most dioceses, parishes, and individuals in ACNA are definitely not woke. But the errant association remains because there is a party in ACNA that is woke, and a few bishops who try too hard to keep that party happy. And after the past three days, the association of Anglican with “woke” is even harder to dispel no matter how unfair and mistaken it might be.

Oh, I’ve tried to dispel such misperceptions. Really, I’ve become an ACNAsplainer through the years. I am more understanding now of the Popesplainers under Pope Francis. I’ve told people ACNA is a mixed denomination that is somewhat of a federation and is overall orthodox. All true. But is it credible? Well, I may be about to give up on ACNAsplaining after this week.

Yes, the events of this week are fresh. And maybe I really am being overwrought. Maybe God’s providence and mercy along with time and wise bishops will somehow bring good out of this for ACNA and the REC. And Americans tend to put much more priority on the qualities of a congregation than on its denomination anyway. (I’m almost certainly not leaving my current parish.) That can soften the damage party battles can do.

But, in part because one party has too much power in ACNA and too little regard for an opposing party, ACNA just sent the message that based traditionalists are not welcome. The intent was not to send that message, and that message does not reflect reality in much/most of ACNA. But that message was still sent. And an American Anglican church cannot send that message if it wants to thrive. Moreover it was sent at exactly the wrong time when an increased number of young men are seeking sound churches as I noted yesterday in my open letter to Archbishop Wood:

When you say that Calvin Robinson does not belong in ACNA, you tell many others they don’t belong in ACNA either. You particularly tell the young based men who are suddenly going to church that they would be better off in another church. That is surely not your intent. But that is what your statement communicates.

For better or for worse, this old based man also received that inadvertent message loud and clear. And the Problem of Communion may now be my problem as well.

Pray for me. Much more importantly, pray for Fr. Calvin, for ACNA, and for the REC. We need it.

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As I was completing a draft of this, Anne Kennedy posted an excellent take on the current situation.

Calvin Robinson and the Vibe that Shifted