Anglican meeting on sexuality, Scripture could set denomination's future

At the invitation of Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the Anglican Communion gathered Monday at Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury for a week-long discussion of issues threatening to rip the denomination apart. Although a variety of topics are slated for discussion, it is the seemingly irreconcilable fissure over human sexuality, marriage and—ultimately—scriptural fidelity, that is drawing speculation about a denominational split.

Thirty-eight archbishops representing all Anglican provinces worldwide have gathered for the private meeting. But more than oceans divide this 85-million member denomination, as competing interpretations of Scripture contend for prominence in the Anglican canon.

Among attendees are the archbishops of the U.S. Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada, which have affirmed same-sex marriage, expunging from their canons any reference to marriage as a union between a man and a woman. The Anglican provinces in Africa—where homosexuality is illegal in some nations—remain steadfast in their biblical definition of marriage, as does the Church of England, for now.

But Welby, as the “first among equals” in Anglican leadership, is hard-pressed to breach the growing divide and gave no indication of how he would reconcile a church on the brink of schism.

Media coverage of the gathering is limited to a press conference at the close of the meeting on Friday.

“We are going to be dealing with some very, very difficult issues—difficult issues within the life of the Anglican Communion but also hugely difficult issues that are affecting the whole church of Christ and, in fact, our whole world,” Welby said in September when he called the meeting.

Michael B. Curry, archbishop of the U.S. Episcopal Church, issued a press release asking all Episcopalians to pray “that God will be fully present with us and that we may follow our Lord Jesus in the ways of His love and in so doing be part of God’s blessing to the world.”

Anglican leadership called for reconciliation despite profound differences on divisive issues.

“A 21st-century Anglican family must have space for deep disagreement, and even mutual criticism, so long as we are faithful to the revelation of Jesus Christ, together,” Welby said in a press release.

But Anglicans disturbed by the drift from biblical orthodoxy are not confident the Canterbury meeting will be productive.

“The Anglican Communion is in danger of leaving aside the gospel of God’s costly grace to us sinners, replacing it with the poor substitute of cheap grace which makes us comfortable but can neither save nor transform,” said the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON), an organization representing archbishops and their provinces around the world. “This is not the renewal and restoration which the GAFCON and other orthodox primates seek.”

GAFCON was established in 2008 to restore scriptural fidelity to the Anglican Communion.

And in the United Kingdom, evangelical Anglican pastors have watched with trepidation as the linchpin in the debate—the Church of England—works loose from biblical orthodoxy. Sam Allberry, associate pastor of St. Mary’s Maidenhead, in Berkshire, is same-sex attracted and has championed the cause of similar Christians seeking to live in faithfulness to God’s Word—which means celibate living in singleness.

“God’s Word on this is not only clear, but I think it is good,” Allberry said during a 2014 conference hosted by the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.

If the Church of England chooses to bless same-sex marriages, “it will no longer be a Christian denomination because I think the moment you bless something the Word calls ‘sin’ you are sending people to destruction,” Allberry said.

No directives are expected from the Canterbury meeting, but the discussion could lay the groundwork for the next Lambeth Conference, the full denominational meeting that takes place about every 10 years.