THE CHURCH AS HOLY A Paper Written and Delivered by The Rev ...

“Let it be clear that I do not know precisely how the Common Prayer tradition
needs perfecting for the use of orthodox, biblical Anglicans. . . the need of ground
rules I would establish would include faithfulness to the teaching of the seven
ecumenical councils and to the Reformation insight of salvation by grace through
faith . . . “ (p. 230)
Dr. Toon goes on to write, “Another possibility—somewhat remote, I fear—is
an association of Anglican parishes using the Common Prayer tradition will be
accepted as an Anglican Rite Diocese and be protected and cared for by either the
Western (Rome) or one of the Eastern Patriarchs (Constantinople, Antioch and
Alexandria—that of Antioch being the most probable). In this case, the Common
Prayer tradition would have to be modified to nestle safely in the embrace of the
appropriate patriarch.” (p. 231).
I wish that a reunited Catholic Anglicanism could arise out of the Ashes of
the Anglican Communion, but fragments of Anglicanism are continuing to emerge
as new ecclesial bodies. While I do not have the gift of prophesy, I do have hope that
the Anglican patrimony will eventually come into relationship with either the
Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox Churches in a much more permanent and
stable manner than at present. The current Roman Catholic pastoral provision for
Anglican clergy and parishes is inherently limited in both scope and time. It is
meant to pass away and die within a generation or two. As for the Western Rite of
the Antiochian Orthodox Church, it suffers from its own internal form of
instability. The only long-term future for the Anglican patrimony which I believe is
possible will be along the lines envisioned by Dr. Toon in 1993. The formation of a
10 th Province under the Archbishop of Canterbury is a most unlikely outcome. Even
if this is the case, I believe that I have raised issues regarding the note of holiness
which would make joining such a Province untenable for many Anglicans who do
not believe that insulating such a province from openly gay bishops would produce
anything more than a slight time delay in the course of further disintegration. Any
reunion of Anglican churchmen, which does not address the note of holiness in a
meaningful manner, will not find itself guided and protected from the gates of hell
into which the Anglican Communion has taken only its first steps.
Bibliography
Toon, Peter, Proclaiming the Gospel through Liturgy: the Common Prayer
Tradition and Doctrinal Revision, Largo, Florida, 1993.
Hall, Francis J., The Church and the Sacramental System, Vol. VIII,
Dogmatic Theology, Pelham Manor, N.Y., Reprinted 1973.
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