The future of the Anglican Communion - a view from South America

On January 28th, Mr Joaquin Philpotts, an Argentinian industrial engineer, stood in St Paul’s Cathedral and read the following ‘charge’ to the Most Revd Sarah Mullally as she was confirmed as the Archbishop of Canterbury:

“As an Instrument of Communion, you are called to minister personally and pastorally to all member churches of the Anglican Communion, especially in collegial partnership with your fellow Primates.”

He had been one of five representatives from the Anglican Communion chosen to be part of the Crown Nominations Committee, the body that selected Sarah Mullally as Archbishop of Canterbury.  Anglican Futures wrote about the process at the time. 

Mr Philpotts is from the Diocese of Argentina in the Anglican Church of South America, which the Revd Dr David Goodhew described as having seen “rapid numerical growth.”  Mr Philpotts testified to this, saying they had been through “a long process of joining together, standing strong on the word of God… we grew a lot on the gospel.”  This involved a change of mindset - from seeing themselves as a traditional Anglo-Argentinian chaplaincy to becoming an evangelical church with services in Spanish.  Joaquin quipped that it had reached the point that, “We now think the English people are an opportunity [for evangelism].”

While both Joaquin and his Primate, the Most Revd Brian Williams, attended the Installation, he was very aware that others had chosen not to be in Canterbury, yet that does not mean he does not have concerns about the future of the Anglican Communion.

“I think we are in a very special moment.  We’ve got to keep looking to work together but we cannot walk on opposite sides of the street.  We’ve got to face our problems – we have to agree what our problems are and look how to solve them… I am hearing a lot about unity, but we cannot have unity without order.”

He continued, “It is a doctrinal issue, and it is important, and that is why I think we cannot keep walking together forever.  We have to solve our differences based on the word of God and we can’t think forever that we both believe in the word of God but we interpret it different. The word of God was inspired by the same Holy Spirit that leads us to interpret it correctly.”

There is a humility in Joaquin’s approach to the issues that divide the Communion, he acknowledged that those walking on both sides of the street could both be wrong. Critically, though, he explained that what could not be true is that both are right.  This is, of course, the crux of the problem and one that has plagued the last three Archbishops of Canterbury.   Not one of them were prepared to enter a process of discernment that accepted the possibility that anyone was actually in error, thus George Carey, Rowan Williams and Justin Welby all failed to bring order to the Anglican Communion. 

Mr Philpotts shares the concerns of many that Gafcon’s approach (see the Abuja Affirmation) to restoring order in the Anglican Communion will cause a divisive break in the Communion.  Instead, he is hoping that the IASCUFO (Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity Faith and Order) Nairobi-Cairo proposals will offer a way forward.  “I think that broadening the leadership [of the Anglican Communion] is not going to solve the problem but it might help... There are many churches that think the four Instruments of Communion didn’t work.  What I hope for is that we look on how to make them work.  How to modify them without breaking apart, because if we break apart, in ten or twenty years, we will have another crisis and the solution will be to break up again.”

His hope is that all members of the Anglican Communion will, "assume our own responsibility of interpreting the word of God and looking for the Holy Spirit to help us - we cannot do it alone. We need a lot of the Holy Spirit."

Mr Philpotts had taken comfort in the apparent halting of the Living in Love and Faith process in the Church of England, believing that it marked repentance on the part of the bishops.  When it was suggested that some have said it is merely the ‘brand’ that had changed and that the ‘train’ was still moving forward, his response was stark:

“But that is a very dangerous thought.  We’ve got to remember when Jesus was asked by his disciples, if he was worried about the pharisees being offended because he didn’t wash his hands, Jesus’ answer was, “What our Father has not planted, he will take out from the root, whichever he does not like.  So that is a huge responsibility for us.”

The words of Jesus are even starker.  “Then the disciples came and said to him, ‘Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?’ He answered, ‘ Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up. Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.’”  Matthew 15:12-14 (ESV)

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Joaquin Philpotts is a member of the Anglican Consultative Council and will be attending their meeting in Ireland in the summer.