The Sound Of The Other Shoe Dropping

Ruth Gledhill, not known for always getting her facts... ummm... straight, wrote an article for the [London] Times Online titled "Liberal Anglicans declare war on conservatives in the Church." (Hat tip to the Mad Priest.) It was the final paragraph that caught my attention:

The Times has learnt that talks are already under way about forging permanent links between liberal parishes in England and The Episcopal Church, rather as the conservatives have linked up through the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans and related bodies. A new US Episcopal Church outpost in London is also being considered, should any liberal parishes in England wish to affiliate with The Episcopal Church in the US in the way that many conservative US parishes have affiliated with evangelical provinces in Africa and the Southern Cone.

I don't know if it's true or not. We can't be sure without independent confirmation, given Gledhill's track record, and it may be that this was put out to push the envelope and perhaps even inflame the conservatives. So far the conservative blogs have been fairly quiet, but that could change at any moment.

I have no idea whether or not anyone has approached the Episcopal Church officially regarding the affiliation of liberal parishes from the Church of England. Quite frankly, given everything the Episcopal Church has said and done in response to parishes and dioceses affiliating themselves with other Anglican provinces, it would be hypocritical to accept such affiliations. On the other hand, perhaps it is time to say, "All bets are off, and what's good for the goose is good for the gander!"

The bulk of the article talks about efforts by a coalition of liberal organizations to document how many priests in the Church of England have blessed same-sex relationships and how many blessings have been done. How ironic that Rowan Williams' two-tier version of Anglicanism will have to apply to his own back yard.

Rowan Williams has no one to blame but himself. How long did he think his strategy of appeasing conservatives could hold the Anglican Communion together? Neville "Peace in Our Time" Chamberlain anyone? How long did he think the liberals, and many of the moderates, would tolerate the conservatives picking and choosing the parts of the REPORTS, which they insisted were Communion norms, to follow while holding liberal provinces to all of the parts?

And now the proverbial other shoe is dropping--perhaps even being thrown--out of the Church of England's own closet.

Peace,
Jeff