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essay

Reviving
the Quadrilateral
The proposed covenant calls
forth our best Anglican selves

By Joseph B. Howard

I
n times of change and conflict it is unsurprising that is trying too hard to please others. While Paul was
voices arise to point out the inevitable failure of speaking specifically of presenting the gospel, Angli-
this or that institution or program. We’re all famil- canism has taken upon itself a similar calling in the
iar with this phenomenon in the political realm; during service of Christian unity, which is a gospel impera-
George W. Bush’s presidency, some who opposed his tive.
policies did so with the conviction that he was charting There have always been plenty of voices within and
a path of destruction for the nation. A quick survey of outside of Anglicanism that have accused it of an ill-con-
talk radio reveals plenty of people who believe the ceived attempt to be all things to all people, and thus of
same about President Obama’s leadership. being impure, haphazard, or uncommitted. “Complete
As in secular politics, there are passionate people the Reformation and do away with the vestiges of papist
within the church who allow their strong feelings to lead idolatry,” some would say. “Reject the inherently hereti-
them into making pronouncements that seem based cal and schismatic nature of Protestantism,” others
more on fear or frustration than fact. In the case of the would admonish, “and return to full fidelity to the
Anglican Communion, the voices crying out that the ancient churches of Rome and Constantinople.” Angli-
Anglican experiment is over may be one example. Angli- cans must choose, according to these critics, past and
canism as an institution is certainly under strain, but present. In the words of Walter Cardinal Kasper during
does that void the entire tradition? The accusation that the runup to last year’s Lambeth Conference:
the Anglican experiment is over should motivate us to
reflect upon what that experiment (if it’s right to use Does [Anglicanism] belong more to the churches
that term) has been, and what it — what we — have to of the first millennium — Catholic and Orthodox
offer to the broader church catholic. — or does it belong more to the Protestant
Last June 29 marked the end of the Year of St. Paul. churches of the 16th century? At the moment it is
At the time I found myself reflecting on the Apostle and somewhere in between, but it must clarify its
his ministry quite a bit. Specifically, as I considered the identity now and that will not be possible without
current conflict in the Anglican Communion, I recalled certain difficult decisions (The Catholic Herald
Paul’s words to the Corinthians: [London], May 6, 2008).

I have become all things to all people, so that I Those who have left the Episcopal Church over the-
might by any means save some. I do it all for the ological issues are not immune to such criticism. The
sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its bless- presence at the recent inaugural convention of the
ings (1 Cor. 9:19-23). Anglican Church in North America of megachurch pas-
tor Rick Warren, a Baptist, Metropolitan Jonah of the
We don’t often hear the phrase “all things to all peo- Orthodox Church in America, and the Rev. Dr. Todd
ple” in a virtuous light today. When it is used, it is often Hunter — formerly of the Vineyard, now of the Anglican
presented as a critique or an accusation that someone Mission in America — all testify to the theological

6 The Living Church • december 13, 2009


breadth within the Anglican tradition, and irrespective cess Anglicans have experienced in spreading the Chris-
of whether it holds together, the ACNA shares some tian faith have resulted in dramatic changes, what the
degree of this, at least for the moment. It was interest- most recent Ridley Cambridge draft of the Anglican
ing that In his address to the convention, Metropolitan covenant referred to positively as “our ongoing refash-
Jonah called for the ACNA to fully renounce women’s ioning by the Holy Spirit.” As the Communion has
ordination and — of all things — to condemn Calvinism grown and changed, there have naturally been growing
as heresy. The constant companion of Anglicans, what- pains that strain the bonds that hold us together. At the
ever their stripe, seems to be the assumption by some same time we are being summoned “into a more fully
fellow Christians that Anglicanism is a sort of ecclesi- developed communion life” (§ 2.1.2) and through that
astical Frankenstein’s monster that deepening relationship, as well
needs to be saved from its own doctri- as those we cultivate with our
nal incoherence by those of correct and There is clearly ecumenical partners, into the
consistent opinions and beliefs. reunited Church of the future.
Such criticisms have their counter-
an Anglican identity, But if Anglicanism is not to be
part in the seemingly innocuous notion expressed more seen as a “bridge church,” what
that Anglicanism is a bridge between role are Anglicans called to
Protestants and the ancient churches clearly in the manner play?
of the Catholic world. Most of the time In The Church Idea, which
people use “bridge church” as a com- and tenor served as a precursor to the
pliment, but at least one underlying Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilat-
assumption is pejorative. The Rt. Rev. of interpretation eral, William Reed Huntington
William Weinhauer, the late Bishop of issued the call for us to “press
Western North Carolina, once told me
and in the particular our reasonable claims to be the
a remark he had often heard in ecu- sources of authority reconciler of a divided house-
menical dialogues: “Who wants to live hold, not in a spirit of arro-
under a bridge?” This phrase neatly than through gance (which ill befits those
captures the problem with “bridge whose best possessions have
church” — it is an image of transience specific doctrines. come to them by inheritance),
and rootlessness. but with affectionate earnest-
Calls for purification often seem to ness and intelligent zeal”
assume Anglicanism to be a sort of framework or shell (Huntington, The Church Idea: An Essay Towards
into which various doctrines and beliefs can be added Unity [New York: E.P. Dutton & Co, 1884], 211). The
or removed at will. Likewise, the metaphor of the bridge quadrilateral was conceived as a way to extend the
risks presenting Anglicanism as a continuum through hand of fellowship to other Christian traditions, and to
which people move in one direction or the other until bring unity out of division. It seems appropriate, then,
they arrive at their true home. In each case, Anglicanism that the proposed Anglican
is presented as an empty husk, lacking essential sub- Covenant would begin with
stance or identity. many of the elements of the
And yet, while Anglicans may have refrained from quadrilateral — those dealing
writing confessions or precisely defining certain doc- with the Holy Scriptures, the
trines (settling on a single understanding of the Atone- creeds, dominical sacraments,
ment or one explanation of the Eucharist), that does not and the historic episcopate, for
mean the tradition lacks substance. Whether one looks example — as a starting point
to Jewel’s Apology, Hooker’s Laws, or the works of the to begin mending the fractures
Caroline Divines, there is clearly an Anglican identity, in our common life.
expressed more clearly in the manner and tenor of We are called, as Anglicans,
interpretation and in the particular sources of authority not to be a bridge but rather to
than through specific doctrines. Binding it all together, be interpreters for our broth- William Reed Huntington,
architect of the quadrilateral.
and connecting all of us to this tradition most fully, is ers and sisters of various tradi-
the worship of The Book of Common Prayer (in its var- tions to one another. In the comprehensiveness we
ious iterations) down to today. have traditionally modeled, if not so comfortably
Changing political circumstances and the very suc- (Continued on next page)

december 13, 2009 • The Living Church 7


essay | Reviving the Quadrilateral

(Continued from previous page) binding qualities of a coher-


embraced — and governed by, as Archbishop Michael ent Anglican identity — a
Ramsey put it, “Scripture, antiquity, and reason” — shared commitment to the
Anglicans are capable of comprehending (in the sense basics of the Christian faith, a
of embracing internally as well as understanding intel- common recognition of sources
lectually and in practice) Christians of diverse theolog- of authority — our comprehen-
ical commitments and sensibilities, from the evangeli- siveness breaks down and
cal to the Catholic. This is why, for example, early becomes factionalism.
Anglican missionary societies reached out to Lutherans Our role as interpreter between
from the Berliner Missionsschule and — sometimes varied traditions and spiritualities is
without re-ordination — sent them out to serve in the lost as we lose the ability to understand
Middle East and Africa. Such comprehensiveness has one another. When this happens our role as a
been sought not to avoid conflict — for as any casual valuable contributor to the ecumenical movement is
student of history can attest, such diversity has only called into question because some of our partners no
rarely been peaceful — but because we have sought, as longer see us as faithful to our shared Christian inheri-
the prayer for the commemoration of Richard Hooker tance, and therefore as incapable of speaking to them
puts it, “comprehension for the sake of truth” (Lesser in an intelligible way.
Feasts and Fasts [New York: Church Publishing, 2003], It is not enough to say that Anglicanism offers a vision
427). This comprehensiveness is one of our claims to of comprehensiveness, for without a clear vision of
catholicity (Michael Ramsey, The Anglican Spirit [New what it means to be Anglican, and more important, to
York: Seabury Classics, 2004], 13). be Christian, comprehensiveness dissolves into petty
We are called to be reconcilers of a divided house, disputes, that weakness of which Bishop Stephen Sykes
and we can look around us and see many fruits of this warned when he spoke of “the all-consuming ruthless-
vision, whether in our engagement with our brothers ness of the campaigners, for whom politics is all” (S.W.
and sisters in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Amer- Sykes, “Odi et Amo: Loving and hating Anglicanism,” in
ica, the United Methodist Church, or in the newest pro- One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, ed. Marsha L. Dut-
posal for full communion between the Episcopal ton and Terrell Grey [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006],
Church and the Moravians. All of these agreements, 207).
however complex or imperfect, stem from the great I am hopeful, however, because of our Lord’s prom-
gifts of Anglicanism: theological comprehensiveness ise to be with us in our worship, to be present in the
within, and a humble ecclesiology when looking out- sacrament. I am hopeful because of friends, colleagues
ward (a refusal to deny that others are the Church), and and parishioners. And I am hopeful because as a Com-
an overarching commitment to common prayer. Indeed, munion we have the opportunity to maintain the most
I have experienced our tradition in such a reconciling important elements of our comprehensiveness while
role in my own life as it was Anglicanism that mediated clarifying our identity, if we choose to walk the road
the broader Catholic tradition and presented it to me in together.
a way that I, a young man from a traditionally Baptist The Ridley Cambridge draft of the Anglican covenant
family, could understand and embrace. takes the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral as a starting
And yet, the voices that call for a clarification of point and fleshes some of the thinking out a bit, but it
Anglican identity are not all wrong, and as our brothers also presents some important things that, if affirmed,
and sisters they deserve to can help to once again set Anglican-
be heard. One of the great ism on the path of a coherent,
difficulties we face today
By looking outward credally circumscribed, and scrip-
is a crisis of identity. Our and refusing to become turally committed comprehensive-
diversity is in danger of ness.
becoming unmoored from mired in our own conflict, The proposed covenant does this
the anchors of Scripture, not only in what it says, but also in
antiquity, and reason, and we can find a way to come the way it says it. When I read the
threatens to permanently through this uncertain covenant, I sense an importance not
fragment the Episcopal merely in its specific points but also
Church and the Anglican time and be stronger for it. in its process. People rightly crack
Communion. Without the jokes about process today. We’ve all

8 The Living Church • december 13, 2009


been in places where we feel two. This provision has inspired resistance in some
ourselves being processed quarters of the Episcopal Church, for fear that it might
out of existence. Yet one of the play into the perceived schemes of some of our
strengths of the covenant is departed brothers and sisters to replace the Episcopal
that a group of Anglicans sat Church as the officially recognized Anglican body in the
down together and hammered it United States. While I understand the origins of such
out and have done so by looking to concerns, I wonder if they are the fruit of a conflict men-
points of common authority and tality that is unhelpful and could lead to an even longer
identity. Once it goes to the provinces, period of being internally focused. The key portion of
this inspires hope that it will make all of the provision for those who have these concerns would
us revisit these sources of identity and seem to be that any body’s acceptance as part of the
authority for ourselves if we have not already Communion would come only with the approval of all
done so. the Instruments of Communion, not simply one or two.
The covenant by itself cannot save Anglicanism — I’m In the end, the inclusion of this provision within the
not sure it’s structured in a way that would allow it to covenant prevents it from being a document purely
do that — but the process of studying the covenant, internal to the Communion as it is, and instead turns a
responding to it, receiving it, and portion of it outward in a
recommitting ourselves to one gesture of invitation and
another may do so, and it will The covenant by itself welcome. In this sense, it
leave the Anglican Communion seems to be both consistent
stronger. A strengthened Anglican cannot save Anglicanism, with and an expansion of the
Communion will be confident in original spirit of the quadri-
itself while actively working for
but the process of studying lateral as a means of ecu-
Christian unity through joining menical engagement. It only
with our brothers and sisters in
the covenant, responding seems appropriate, at such
mission and by standing ready to to it, receiving it a contentious time in the life
share the understandings born of our Communion, that we
from our comprehensiveness. and recommitting look outward — if only in
Two points in the Ridley Cam- such a small way — even as
bridge draft seem especially ourselves to one we seek to heal the divisions
important in such a task and in within. By looking outward
light of a call to be reconcilers and another may do so. and refusing to become
interpreters. The first is in § 2.1.5, mired in our own conflict, as
which affirms that “our common well as by returning to the
mission is a mission shared with other Churches and sources of Anglican Identity in such a time of division,
traditions” and recognizes that “the ecumenical voca- we can find a way to come through this uncertain time
tion of Anglicanism to the full visible unity of the and be stronger for it. If we can do this, if we can
Church in accordance with Christ’s prayer that ‘all may embrace our heritage and if we are able to say, with St.
be one.’ ” Paul, that we “do it all for the sake of the gospel,” then
The other is § 4.1.5, which states: we all have reasons to be hopeful. TLC

It shall be open to other Churches to adopt the The Rev. Joseph B. Howard
Covenant. Adoption of this Covenant does not bring is vicar of St. Francis Church,
any right of recognition by, or membership of, the Goodlettsville, Tenn.,
Instruments of Communion. Such recognition and and blogs at frjody.com.
membership are dependent on the satisfaction of
those conditions set out by each of the Instruments.

Leaving open the possibility that other churches


might adopt the covenant is, in my mind, a wonderful
gesture that seems born from reflection on the ecu-
menical vocation of Anglicanism mentioned in section

december 13, 2009 • The Living Church 9

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