Recently all clergy received instructions from our diocesan office to read a letter aloud in every church building. This is a very rare event in our diocesan life. In this case the letter was doubly unusual. It is a letter from The Revd Canon Dr Kenneth Kearon, Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, asking for input into the process of seeking the next Archbishop of Canterbury, a process led by the Crown Nominations Commission of the Church of England.The title of the post is "The Archbishop of Canterbury hath no jurisdiction in this realm". Bosco is spot on. The archbishop hath no jurisdiction beyond his realm of the Church of England. What the Secretary General of the ACO seems to be attempting is the putting-the-facts-on-the-ground strategy. We are all one church, and all the provinces in the communion will have the opportunity to weigh in and offer opinions on who should be chosen as the next Archbishop of Canterbury. Say it often enough, and it will be so. Balderdash!
Now I’m all for consultation, and I think this is kind of sweet (but please pewsitter number 3 out of 5 at Waikikamukau, don’t be naive enough to spend energy on preparing a submission thinking that this will influence the decision-making processes in the rooms and lavatories where the Crown Nominations Commission meets). But the real reason I was surprised was best articulated by an insightful friend of mine.
The subliminal message of “international consultation” for the Archbishop of Canterbury is an attempt to shift ecclesiology towards Anglicanism being a worldwide church. This is the ecclesiology undergirding the “Anglican Covenant”.
The post at Liturgy is well worth reading in it's entirety, as Bosco reveals the scene behind the smoke and mirrors.
