The renewal of Anglicanism - through theology, not structures

The crisis of Anglicanism appears to deepen on a weekly basis. The Presiding Bishop of ECUSA is seeking to inhibit traditionalist bishops rather than promote reconciliation. Dioceses in the Anglican Church in Canada appear determined to reject the mind of the Communion expressed clearly in Lambeth 1.10. And the preparations for GAFCON continue apace, despite the conservative former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey, describing it as "crazy".

It is in this context that Michael Poon, a priest in the Diocese of Singapore and a conservative critic of GAFCON, has used an article on the Global South Anglican website to radically challenge both radical left and radical right. Poon views the crisis as a shift both "from classical understanding of Anglican traditions in worship and theology" and "open discussion and discernment" to a highly politicised Communion:

"a communion propped by ecclesiastical decisions. Truth has turned into ideology; theology into partisan positions".

Whereas much debate and dispute has focussed on the actions of primates, bishops and synods, Poon turns the focus instead towards the parish. It is the renewal of the life of the parish, he contends, that will renew the life of the Communion. He points to the historic formularies of Anglicanism as offering a model not just of doctrinal orthodoxy but of parish formation:

"the historic formularies – the Book of Common Prayer (1662), the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion, and the Ordinal – are foundational to the Communion because they cohered together to promote a godly order for England’s society ... The doctrinal and liturgical reforms had in mind the revitalisation of the parish life – where ordinary people worship, live and build their homes, raise their families, and pass on their faith to their children’s generation".

In an authentically patristic insight, Poon emphasises catechesis as fundamental to the formation of Anglicans - both clergy and laity. The recent experience of the Roman Communion bears testimony, he rightly says, to the potential of catechesis in the classical Christian tradition:

"Roman Catholics since Vatican II have made great strides in quipping their priests in fulfilling their catechetical responsibilities. John Paul II’s two Pastoral Exhortations Catechesis in our Time and On Priestly Formation summarized the sustained reflections in synodical deliberations and culminated in the publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, and the revisions of Programme for Priestly Formation. Today when we meet a Roman Catholic and a Catholic priest, we know what they stand for, and the training (human, spiritual, pastoral, and intellectual development) they have received. I am not sure we can make similar claims for Anglicans. Priests are made and Anglicans added to our fold without intentional programme of initiation and on-going formation".

Expressing what it is to be both catholic and reformed, Poon's article quotes both Richard Baxter's The Reformed Pastor and John Paul II's Exhortation on Priestly Formation. In the spirit of both Baxter and John Paul II, at the heart of Poon's vision for the renewal of the parish through catechesis is the vocation of Anglican presbyters, the parish clergy:

"I ask fellow presbyters across the Communion to join in to reaffirm the responsibilities we received at our ordination and rekindle the gift the Holy Spirit has endowed us".

In the midst of the crisis faced by the Communion, and the institutional options offered by right and left, Poon provides a theological vision of Anglican renewal. Beyond the essentially political schemes of either provincial independence (the left) or alternative structures (the right), Poon's humbler but more profound vision of the theological renewal of the parish offers an enduring means of revitalising Anglicanism.