A divided church faces its darkest hour
By rejecting a compromise over women bishops, the General Synod has plunged the Anglican Church into crisis. Jonathan Wynne-Jones reports.
On Saturday night, the Archbishop of Canterbury suffered the most humiliating defeat of his time in office when the Church rejected his compromise deal over women bishops. It followed a week in which Rowan Williams had found himself at the centre of a storm over the blocked appointment of Jeffrey John, the homosexual Dean of St Albans, to be Bishop of Southwark.
Castigated by liberals who accused him of betraying his old friend by not securing his promotion, the Archbishop arrived at the General Synod in York also facing a mutiny over his plans to avert an exodus of traditionalists opposed to women's ordination.
On the eve of one of the most pivotal debates in the Church's recent history, liberal bishops had met to discuss how they would derail proposals put forward by Dr Williams and Dr John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York.
They were well aware of the impact that their rebellion would have on Dr Williams's authority. But they were still prepared to take drastic action because of their despair at his suggestion that a new tier of male-only bishops should be created to minister to traditionalists. This would undermine the role of women bishops, they believed.
Sitting in the Synod chamber with his hands clasped as he listened to a series of speeches attacking his proposal, Dr Williams looked more like a man grimly awaiting his fate than a leader ready to rally his Church behind him.
The stiflingly humid room bristled with expectation as he stood to make his final bid to win the argument, but the impassioned speech appealing for the Church to unite behind him never came.
"We should both be very disappointed if this was seen as some kind of covert loyalty test. Synod must scrutinise our suggestion in the way it would scrutinise any other," he said.
Yet, as the vote was read out above the murmurs and whispers, it was painfully clear that the Archbishop had been left wounded by this narrow but costly defeat.
One priest, Fr Jonathan Baker, a leading traditionalist, rushed to a lectern to put in to words the shock and confusion that had descended around the room at the realisation of the momentous decision they had just taken.
His voice cracking with emotion, he said: "The Archbishop of Canterbury said it was not a loyalty test, but we're now in a remarkable position in terms of this business and in terms of our relationship with our bishops and archbishops. We need a serious moment and pause for reflection and prayer."
Anglo-Catholics walked out, shell-shocked at a decision that means that many of them will now be forced to leave the Church that they consider to be their home.
"It is where I belong," said Canon David Houlding, a prebendary at St Paul's Cathedral. "I was baptised at 10 weeks old in the little country church at the bottom of the garden. I was ordained many years ago at the age of 23 – almost the youngest age possible. If this amendment fails then I do not see where the future lies."
That future also looks increasingly unclear for the Church of England, the Anglican Communion and Dr Williams himself.
Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, was already aware of "forbidding black clouds on the horizon" when he resigned in 2002. Eight years on, those clouds have opened to devastating effect, unleashing a torrent of rows, recrimination, and division.
"It is difficult to say in what way we are now a communion," Lord Carey has said. "Bitterness, hostility, misunderstanding and strife now separate provinces from one another and divide individual provinces."
While Dr Williams might not have welcomed these comments from his predecessor, he is not blind to their truth. The rift between conservative African provinces and liberal Churches in the West grows wider with every move towards greater acceptance of homosexual clergy.
Despite Dr Williams's best efforts to urge the Episcopal Church of America not to pursue its liberal agenda and harm the health of the wider Communion, it now has two openly gay bishops and has created rites for same-sex blessing services.
Last week's furore over the blocked appointment of Jeffrey John highlighted how divided the Church of England remains on the issue of homosexual clergy. Hurts and suspicions that had simmered beneath the surface since Dr John was forced to stand down from becoming Bishop of Reading in 2003 were exposed once more as evangelicals and liberals traded blows.
The vote over women bishops has exacerbated these problems and brought an increasingly fragmented Church close to breaking point. It is a battle that has left the Archbishop pulled in different directions – trying to reconcile his support for women bishops with his desire to ensure that the consciences of opponents of the reform are respected.
At the same time, he has to look over his shoulder, as the Roman Catholic Church has offered an escape route for traditionalists who no longer feel they can continue to be Anglicans once women clergy are ordained bishops. Even as the General Synod met to vote on women bishops, a group of 70 Anglo-Catholic clergy were meeting the Rt Rev Malcolm McMahon, the Catholic Bishop of Nottingham, to discuss a plan to defect to Rome.
Meanwhile, Dr Williams has come to resemble an episcopal version of King Canute, unable to hold back a tide which threatens to destroy a Church that for centuries was broad enough to hold different traditions under one roof.
Radical social changes have brought to a head arguments between biblically conservative churchgoers and the progressive liberals who are keen to see a Church more reflective of secular culture, leaving Dr Williams overwhelmed.
Concerned by the battering his fellow Primate has suffered, Dr Sentamu came to his defence on Saturday, warning "enough is enough" in view of the "general disregard for truth" regarding Dr Williams.
"It deeply saddens me that there is not only a general disregard for the truth, but a rapacious appetite for 'carelessness' compounded by spin, propaganda and the resort to misleading opinions paraded as fact, regarding a remarkable, gifted and much-maligned Christian leader I call a dear friend and trusted colleague – one Rowan Williams," he said.
After Saturday's emotional and tense debate, members of the General Synod gathered in York Minster yesterday, managing to sing from the same hymn sheet for a couple of hours at least.
They could have been forgiven for listening to Dr Sentamu's sermon about the man helped by the Samaritan, who was left stripped and beaten by the side of the road, and seeing similarities with Dr Williams.
The beleaguered Archbishop made his way to the Dean of York's garden party after the service, braving a press pack who drank champagne as they mingled with clergy still reeling from the vote on women bishops.
Dressed in a shade of black matching his mood, he looked tense and ill at ease as he mixed with guests in the garden.
Asked by a reporter how he was, his response was as terse as it was telling. "Three guesses," he replied.
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