Based on one blog entry by one American priest, Jonathan Wynne-Jones says that Americans are “planning” to “plant” Episcopal Churches in England, especially if an Anglican Covenant that divides the Communion into two “tracks” is enacted.
Wynne-Jones writes:
Geoffrey Hoare, the Eton-educated vicar of All Saints Atlanta, one of the largest churches in TEC, has asked colleagues to consider how they could begin “seeking partners throughout the world” if effectively evicted from the Anglican Communion.
Given the Archbishop’s comments last week, which were much bolder and firmer than many expected, it looks as though the liberals would be second-class citizens in any two-tier Church. This should come as no surprise considering how they have continually defied the agreed position of the Communion and refused to heed the archbishop’s warnings.
What Wynne-Jones cites is nothing more than a thought exercise by one blogger, Fr. Geoffrey Hoare of All Saints Chuch in Atlanta. Hoare’s blog entry starts with the assumption that the Anglican Church in North America might be recognized as a 39th province and wonders what the Episcopal Church might do in response. What Wynne-Jones doesn’t say is that at the end of the blog, Fr. Hoare says that, based on responses he has seen to his own thinking-out-loud, there is no energy for such a strategy.
Wynne-Jones’ column appears to say that Americans are willing to stir up “civil war” in the Church of England. This creates a conspiracy where none exists. And to say so is unhelpful to say the least.
Wynne-Jones misses the real question and the real story: what will progressives in the Church of England do if the Anglican Covenant as envisioned by Archbishop Williams is enacted? If the Covenant is enacted and if the two tracks appear in England as a church that accepts their gay clergy and those who do not, how will progressives and moderates relate to the Episcopalians and others?
Read Wynne-Jones’ Telegraph article here.
Read Fr. Geoffrey Hoare’s blog entry here.
Addendum. For readers seeking to catch up on this subject see Thinking Anglicans’ roundup.