INTO OBLIVION

ANGLICANS INTO OBLIVION

NATIONAL POST
The Anglicans' fast track to oblivion
Ian Hunter
National Post
Wednesday, November 19, 2003

The Rev. Peter Wall, Rector of Christ Church Cathedral in Hamilton, Ont., was featured prominently on the Post's front page yesterday defending his decision to marry two lesbians in his church.

In the eyes of the grateful couple, married they now are, as in Rev. Wall's eyes, and by Canadian law too; whether they are married in God's eyes, well, in polite society -- and what society is more polite than Canadian Anglicanism? -- we don't inquire too deeply into that. The contemporary pilgrim travels light; theological ballast is not welcome on the voyage. A few Anglicans might express some doubt about what God hath ordained, but the Rector can be relied upon not to search Scripture too assiduously. As for the official teaching of the Anglican Church to the contrary, Rev. Wall said: " ... I'm content to believe that what I did was the right thing to do."

This month the American branch of the Anglican Church (ECUSA) one upped Rev. Wall by consecrating an openly gay bishop, Gene Robinson, thereby openly declaring its apostasy and severing itself from what all Anglicans profess to believe in, namely " ... one holy, catholic and apostolic church."

Does any of this matter?

StatsCan reported recently that in the decade 1991-2001, the Anglican Church lost more than 150,000 members (nudging 10% of its total membership). Worse, this is only formal membership; the drop in actual church attendance is much steeper. And since 2001 the pace of the decline has accelerated.

So, who cares who a denomination on the fast track to oblivion does or does not choose to marry?

Well, not Rev. Wall's congregation apparently; he apparently received "a prolonged ovation" when he announced what he had done from the pulpit. And if a majority of the congregation approve, how can it be wrong? Didn't Jesus say: Blessed is he who abides by majority vote"; and "Flesh and blood shall pass away, but the conscience of the Rev. Peter Wall shall not pass away"?

We must face fact: A reversion to the Christian view of marriage is not about to happen in mainline Protestant churches. They have come to terms with Caesar. They will render to the goddess Equality whatever she demands, for neither courage nor conviction are among their noticeable attributes. In fact, I go further: Within a decade, it is safe to predict that the United and Anglican churches, at least, will be issuing fulsome apologies to our gay brothers and sisters for all those shameful years of exclusion: "What could we have been thinking to imagine that something as ephemeral as Scripture should once have stood in the way of your right to self-fulfillment?" Whether such apologies will be sufficient to deter the class action lawsuits, we shall have to wait and see.

Bishop Michael Ingham of New Westminster, B.C., started the Canadian ball rolling months ago by authorizing the blessing of same-sex unions, while tiresomely insisting that this was somehow very different from "marriage." Well, Rev. Wall has now called Bishop Ingham's bluff, exposing this assurance for the nonsense it always was.

The fact that same-sex blessings and marriage are alike inconsistent with Scripture, and with two thousand years of Christian teaching, need not deter the progressive cleric. He has his conscience to rely upon, and it is, self-evidently, a surer guide to God's will than stuffy old Church teaching. As for the fact that the Anglican Communion, at the 1998 Lambeth conference, carefully considered the issue and came to a diametrically opposed conclusion, well, their consciences are obviously less finely tuned than those of Bishop Michael and Rev. Peter.

Bishop Ingham's action led eight (now 12) parishes in New Westminster, in effect, to declare unilateral independence. Bishop Ingham responded by threatening to revoke the licences of dissenting clergy. This is inclusivity, liberal style.

For its part, the Canadian House of Bishops has only dithered. Another consultation, another study, a new task force ... Given such flaccid abdication of spiritual leadership, it is not surprising that the Bishop and the Rev. have decided to act unilaterally.

G.K. Chesterton once remarked: "He who marries the spirit of the age soon finds himself a widower."

The Anglican Church of Canada is the best example I know of the wisdom of Chesterton's remark.

Ian Hunter is professor emeritus in the Faculty of Law at the University of Western Ontario.