Includes bibliographical references (p. 260-271) and index.
"What is the nature of world Anglicanism in a postcolonial, global age ? With talk of fragmentation constantly in the media, what does it mean to be 'Anglican' ? This book presents Anglicanism as a conversation over time amongst a community of people held together by sets of practice and beliefs. The first part describes the emergence of Anglicanism and its foundations in older Christian traditions. The second [part] looks at Anglican practices within the framework of changing understandings of mission, and focuses on liturgy, patterns of engagement with others, organisation and power in the church, and ministerial offices. There are two separate chapters on the ordination of women and homosexuality in the public life of the church. The third part, on beliefs, addresses the central question of knowledge and authority in Anglicanism, as well as ecclesiology, the nature of the church itself. A final chapter looks to the future". -- back cover,
Contents divided into three main parts: Part I: Foundations -- Part II: The Practices of Mission -- Part III: Beliefs.
Contents: Acknowledgements -- List of abbreviations and sources -- The nature of the story as tradition -- Forming an Anglican nation in England -- Forming Anglican churches around the world -- Changing outlooks -- Liturgical formation -- Patterns of engagement: political -- Patterns of engagement: relating to other traditions -- Influence, organisation and power in the church -- Ministerial offices: ordination -- Ministerial offices: ordination of women -- Ministerial offices: homosexuality and the public life of the church -- Knowledge and authority in the conversation -- Ecclesiology -- Other themes in the contemporary agenda -- Quo vadis ? -- Bibliography -- Index.
Contents include "Time line of 'official' organisations of the Anglican Communion" p.134-135.
Author is a priest in the Anglican Church of Australia and former provincial General Secretary (1994-2004).
Contents: Authors -- Introduction / Ian Bunting --Celebrating the Anglican Way / George Carey -- Part 1: Believing the Anglican Way -- 1. The Anglican Character / Stephen Sykes -- 2. Church and society / John Habgood -- 3. Anglican belief / Bruce Kaye -- 4. A worldwide communion / Michael Nazir-Ali -- Part 2: Belonging in the Anglican Church -- 5. Anglican origins and ethos / Elizabeth Culling -- 6. The Anglican way of worship / Michael Vasey -- 7. Word and sacrament / Philip Seddon -- 8. Churchmanship / Jonathan Baker -- Part 3: Following the Anglican Way -- 9. Praying our way through life / Graham Piggott -- 10. Sharing our faith in the world / Amiel Osmaston and Alison White -- 11. Care and change in our society / Lawrence Osbern -- Part 4: Appreciating Anglican structures -- 12. Orders and officers of the church / David Sceats -- 13. Church government / Michael Botting -- 14. Church buildings / Richard and Sarah Burton -- Part 5: The Way Ahead -- 15. The Anglican future / Ian Bunting -- 16. Praying with the church -- Further reading -- Acknowledgements -- Index.
Colophon: Designed and typeset by Kenneth Burnley at Typograph, Irby, Wirral, Cheshire. Printed and bound in Great Britain by Mackays of Chatham PLC, Chatham, Kent.
OTCH Note: The essay "Orders and officers of the church" is particularly useful for brief histories and descriptions of individuals and bodies such as: all orders of clergy (bishop, priest, deacon), parish, deanery, diocese, etc.
"My primary argument is contained in Part I of this book. These chapters originated as a series of lectures delivered at a conference in the Lifetime Education Centre at Virginia Theological Seminary in June 2006. The second part is based loosely on some previously published material, though it has been completely re-written and on a number of points I have changed my mind. In the last fifteen years Anglicans have embarked on a high-risk strategy of conflict avoidance and containment in the face of growing differences over the place of homosexuality in the public life of the church. These more precise issues are taken up in Part II, which includes a consideration of the recent Lambeth Conference". -- Intro., p. 8.
"Underlying the series of conflicts currently engrossing Anglican leaders around the world is a mismatch of communication arising from differences in these frameworks of plausibility. While the presenting issue this time concerns gender relationships there is also an underlying question about the significance and challenge of increasing diversity within the Anglican expressions of Christian faith. This plurality is seen by some as a threat to Anglican identity and witness. .... There are quite important issues at stake here as to how Christian churches are to understand who they are and how they can relate their present circumstances to their Christian heritage. But the fact remains that this is not a new question in Christian history, indeed there is a long tradition of Christians grappling with this issue (p. 2-3). .... This book explores a globalized tradition of Christianity that has grown out of a local form and it does so with the current diversity and conflicts among Anglicans in view. This means that we must look at the process by which local traditions developed and how these traditions have related to other sub traditions of the universal church. Along the way we will assess some specifics of the Anglican experience. .... It also entails showing how the imperial route to catholicity espoused by Pope Gregory VII and consolidated in later centuries took no firm root in Anglicanism. In the modern period it also shows how different political and social structures and understandings have produced different forms of secular society and different understandings of plurality and diversity. These differences have shaped the contemporary debate amongst Anglicans and contributed to the misunderstanding evident amongst Anglicans around the world (p. 8)". -- Intro.
Contents divided into two main parts: Part One: Conflict and Connection in the Church -- Part Two: Will the Current Anglican Experiment Go Anywhere ?
Contents: Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- Conflict and Connection in Early Christianity -- Local Traditions and the Universal Church -- Catholicity Without Leviathan -- The Powers, Church, and Truth -- Introduction [to Part Two] -- Why the 'Virginia Report' is not Good Enough -- The Windsor Report: The Questions Less Asked -- Will the Windsor Process Lead to the Precipice ? -- Lambeth: A Conference Re-discovered ? -- Conflict, Catholicity, and Hope -- Bibliography.
Author is a priest in the Anglican Church of Australia and former provincial General Secretary (1994-2004).
Commenting on the current state of the Anglican Communion the author suggests that the intentional cultivation of scepticism would be a helpful addition to the conversation/debate. He refers to Rowan Williams' use of the term in the introduction to"Love's Redeeming Work", where "two kinds of scepticism are noted. First, a self-protective born of an experience of uncertainty in getting things right. A second scepticism is more reflective. If I can deceive myself then 'I need the presence of history and community to check my self-obsessions'." "This kind of scepticism could also be spoken of in terms of humility or reticence. It is to be found in the Windsor Report with its emphasis on conversation and listening. We are invited to listen because we may not have the whole truth, or perceive the particular qualities of the relations of human beings, as they concretely exist in family and society, which an Anglican faith is called to transform". "Anglican scepticism is a habit of the heart that should condition our own expressions and actions. Such a humility will move Anglicans to patience and to listening and in that process to value and to cultivate in the community an imagination that can point to ways in which we can have enough confidence as a worldwide communion to live by faith, not by sight, and walk patiently before our God".
"First published 2003 by Openbook Publishers, Adelaide, South Australia. USA Edition published 2004 by Church Publishing, New York". -- verso of t.-p.
Includes bibliographical references but NO index.
Bibliography: p. 267-279.
"I have approached this matter by regarding Anglicanism as a tradition, indeed a discrete tradition within the broader tradition of Christianity. The present crisis in Anglicanism is created by the confluence of the two streams: the external historical developments of the second half of the twentieth century and the point of development from national church to international Communion of churches which is the story of the last three hundred years of Anglicanism. Each of these influences has an ambiguous impact on contemporary Anglicanism and is capable of moving the tradition in different. even mutually contradictory, directions. The future of Anglicanism will depend to a great degree on how the tradition responds to these two forces. It will need to find the resources within its own journey to enable it not only to respond but also to reinvent itself in a way that is both creative and faithful. In that sense my position on Anglicanism at the dawn of the twenty-first century is that it is a discrete tradition of Christianity in need of reinvention.
In order to give the discussion some focus, I shall take Australia as an example of the problems. .... this book seeks to present an argument which tries to take the tradition seriously and pays attention to the current dynamics in Anglicanism by looking at those elements most used in the contemporary rhetoric, namely the New Testament, the English Reformation of the sixteenth century and the ongoing theological tradition." -- Intro., pp. 7-8.
"Using the Anglican Church of Australia as a case study. Bruce Kaye argues that Anglicans must give up nostalgic notions of Empire and a colonial past and concentrate on `reinventing' Anglicanism to emphasize the strengths of its interdependent diversity and cultural pluralism -- vital tools for mission in a world deeply in need of reconciliation". -- back cover.
Contents: Foreword / Ian T. Douglas -- Introduction -- The Journey of Anglicanism -- The Australian Experience -- Confidence : Persuasive Resonance -- Community : Interdependent Diversity -- Engagement : Respectful Visionaries -- Imagination and Change -- Bibliography.
Author is a priest in the Anglican Church of Australia and former provincial General Secretary (1994-2004).