The idea of Anglican guerrillas seems oxymoronic. But in fact, they not only see themselves in this way, but the longterm guerrilla war being waged by rightwing Anglican activists against the American Episcopal Church (the American branch of the world Anglical communion) may be headed for a watershed moment, according to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle:
Thursday in the African nation of Tanzania. Leaders of at least 20 of the church's 38 branches around the world have said they will refuse at a meeting there to share communion or "sit at the same table" with the American church's leader, Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, who supports the ordination of gay clergy and bishops.
The possibility that senior leaders of an historic protestant denomination might refuse to sit at the same table with the elected leader of the American church -- is a signal accomplishment of the Washington, DC-based Institute on Religion and Democracy; the agency bankrolled for a generation by Richard Mellon Scaife, and other strategic funders of the modern conservative movement to foment division and schism in the mainline American protestant churches.
Notable among the unlikely Anglican guerrilla leaders are, theocratic activists Howard and Roberta Ahmanson, who substantially underwrote the American Anglican Council's (AAC) drive for schism in the Episcopal Church, according to Max Blumenthal, writing at Salon.com. The plan was detailed in a December 28, 2003 letter written by AAC operative Rev. Geoff Chapman:
The AAC Strategy Committee... In consultation with a wide circle of friends - inside this country and beyond - ...have clarified our strategy and are now moving to implement it.... This document will get you up to speed on where we are going. Please keep this document confidential, sharing it in hard copy (printed format) only with people you fully trust, and do not pass it on electronically to anyone under any circumstances.
- Our ultimate goal is a realignment of Anglicanism on North American soil committed to biblical faith and values, and driven by Gospel mission. We believe in the end this should be a "replacement" jurisdiction with confessional standards, maintaining the historic faith of our Communion, closely aligned with the majority of world Anglicanism, emerging from the disastrous actions of General Convention (2003). We believe this goal is now pressed upon us by the Holy Spirit as a result of the rejection of the historic Christian faith and the rejection of biblical and Communion authority by the leadership of ECUSA. We will lead our congregations and partners in making the adjustment to adopt this strategy. We seek to retain ownership of our property as we move into this realignment.
A leader of the AAC, Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh, said it outright in another document from the revolutionary underground that surfaced in a lawsuit. He understands himself and his cohort to be engaged in "guerrilla warfare." For its part, the IRD, much like some of the churches preparing for schism, has renamed its Episcopal program, "Anglican Action."
Meanwhile, The New York Times reported recently:
At the meeting in Tanzania, Bishop Jefferts Schori is to sit down with the primates of 13 provinces that do not ordain women as priests, not to mention as bishops. But she said her sex was not the reason some primates were preparing to shun her. The problem is that some bishops say the Episcopal Church has failed to repent or to declare a moratorium on gay blessings, steps required by a committee of officials commissioned by the Archbishop of Canterbury in 2004.
She is likely to be face to face with Archbishop Akinola,[of Nigeria] who has created a rival network of conservative churches in the United States.
Bishop Jefferts Schori said that if she is rebuked at the meeting, it will not be anything new; she experienced that before as an oceanographer: "The first time I was chief scientist on a cruise, the captain wouldn’t speak to me because I was a woman."
Asked how she would respond if primates walked out on her, she said, "Life is too short to get too flustered."
Episcopal blogger, Father Jake who has followed all this closely over the years, cautions:
There is little doubt that our elected leader will be treated rudely
but that whatever may happen at the meeting, its views are advisory, and that any changes in the American church can only be made at the Episcopal Church's national meeting in 2009.
Nevertheless, the high-profile drama, with all of its factional posturing and symbolism, should not obscure the longterm internecine warfare will continue to cut across the worldwide church in venues prominent and obscure for a long time to come. (Not to mention court battles over bilions of dollars worth of church property that will certainly end up in the federal courts in the not too distant future.) The IRD and its adjunct American Anglican Council will help to inform, and fund and direct the conflicts as it does on other denominational fronts in its war of attrition against mainline protestantism.
James Naughton of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, DC, via Father Jake,observes:
My point is that our Church has numerous opponents, and some of them don’t regard us as friends from whom they must regrettably estrange themselves, but as enemies who, in the words of one pugnacious right winger must be "taken down."
In this context, to behave as though all will be well if we just keep our mouths shut and embrace the dream of a moderate covenant is simply poor stewardship. We need to be discussing our response to the various scenarios that might unfold in and after Tanzania. We need to be talking with the people in our pews about the choices that may lie before us. We need to be cultivating allies whom we can work with whether we are in the Communion or outside it.
Indeed. The American Episcopal Church, like the other leading mainline protestant denominations, have democratic polities; which is to say that their members elect their leaders and make their policies. Over the past century, these leaders and policies have moved in progressive directions, favoring separation of church and state; taking stands against unjust wars and the excesses of multinational corporations; advancing the civil rights of African Americans and others; women -- and more recently gay and lesbian Christians. All of this has happened unevenly and imperfectly of course, as with most any other sector of society. That is partly the nature of social change and certainly the nature of democratic institutions. But there are those whose views and methods are reactionary and often profoundly antidemocratic who are being goaded and guided and resourced by the godfathers behind the IRD. The guerrilla war is not merely against the Episcopal Church and other mainline denominations, but against democratic polity itself in the churches, and in the nation. The IRD and its satellite agencies not only turn homosexuality into a wedge issue; but they are well-financed doubters and deniers of global warming, and enthusiastic cheerleaders of preemptive war and much more. They are the religious right and their neoconservative allies, operating on a different front in a multifaceted war. Anglican guerrilla leaders Howard and Roberta Ahmanson, Peter Akinola and Robert Duncan may or may not get the spoils of their guerrilla war in the form of the church property they covet. (From this distance, the law does not seem to be on their side. Maybe they are going for settlements to buy peace.) But they will continue to wage their highly successful war of attrition, and the godfathers will continue to bankroll it, to keep the historic churches of mainline protestantism in turmoil; effectively marginalizing their voice in public life.
James Naughton is right. It is long past time for those who are awake in the mainline churches to set aside parochialisms; seek allies; and consider what might be done.