Mark Leach attended the Gafcon conference that launched the new diocese of the Southern Cross. But he says he is a “stayer not a leaver.” Although he is a minister in Sydney his view is that there will be ‘stayers’ in progressive dioceses.
Some of you might be interested in what I think about recent moves in the Anglican Church in Australia and GAFCON. Here’s what I wrote to our church.
Some of you might have seen reports in the media about a schism, or split, in the Anglican Church.
As it happens, I have been in Canberra, at the Gafcon Conference this week, where all this was taking place. Here are some thoughts I have.
This will have very little impact on our church, or the vast majority of Anglican churches in Australia.
This is the outworking of deep divisions in the Anglican church, going back at least 100 years. In the past the presenting differences were largely theological. We had Bishops who were ‘liberal’, ie denying some of the key beliefs of Christianity, such as the bodily resurrection of Jesus. In one sense, we Anglican have been two churches existing under one ‘brand’ or structure for quite some time. This was very clear to me when I worked in the Dioceses of Toronto and Melbourne.
This step of establishing a new, Australia-wide diocese, as an option for churches to join if they wish, is as much political as theological. The religious hierarchy in some Dioceses is substantially more progressive/liberal than their clergy and lay people. I suspect this latest move will bring pressure to bear on these leaders to ensure that their Diocese remain genuinely inclusive of both the liberal and the evangelical factions. Of course, I might be wrong and it emboldens them to try to drive out evangelical parishes in order to have a theologically ‘pure’ liberal Diocese.
I think that the more healthy churches there are in our country, the better it is for all. People come to Christ, and are formed as disciples of Christ, in local communities. If two of these, in the same suburb, both claim to be Anglican, but they align with differing Diocese, I don’t see this as a great problem.
I personally am more inclined to be a ‘stayer’ rather than a ‘leaver’. My experience of the majority of other Gafcon members I have met is that this is true of them as well. Those who have left in other parts of the world have done so very reluctantly and at great personal cost.
The truth does matter, because it is about how we live and flourish in reality (a reality which we believe includes God and heaven and hell). There is a very deep intellectual divide about how we determine what the truth is. Does the Bible, written and read under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, reveal to us God’s mind on the nature of reality, and how we are to live and flourish in this reality? Or is it merely a really old book reflecting the wisdom and experience of a group of very religious people? My view is that we must hold to the first position, whilst still grappling with the meaning of this in our context and situation.
The challenge that we experience, and this latest move has exacerbated, is that it is easy to portray orthodox/conservative/traditional churches as homophobic. And let’s be honest here, in my experience this view is not entirely unjustified! The strident, exclusionary focus on homosexuality by leaders who have been exposed to be in the grip of sexual sins, abuses of power etc has contributed to a great dismissal of the moral and spiritual authority of organised Christianity in our culture.
My commitment is, therefore, first and foremost, to be a person who is radically, honestly, and progressively becoming more Christlike from the inside out. As I pursue this life of apprenticeship to Jesus, I am going to do my best to help as many people as I can to join me on that journey, because I believe that if we all lived the way Jesus said we should, the world would be a truly amazing place. Some might even call it heaven… In practice that means I hope we will be a Jesus-led, Spirit energised, Bible formed, community of inclusive truth and grace. A community who are known for their love, messy and hard and wonderful as that is.
That said, I am very much looking forward to seeing you tomorrow as we gather for worship.
Mark
Mark Leach is a Sydney Anglican minister. Theothercheek has re-published this piece with permission.