BasilThe Anglican Continuum blog asks about evangelism in a Continuing Anglican context:
I would personally love to see a discussion on evangelism, specifically, on how we, who are so devoted to traditional Anglicanism, can articulate our faith to the great unwashed, as well as unchurched Christians, who know little or nothing about the Anglican Way, to open their eyes and their hearts to the Lord and to bring them closer to the Lord.
We all believe that traditional Anglicanism is the best way to achieve these ends, but how exactly, how best, do we go about it?
The first thing to say is that traditional Anglicans can and should do evangelism in all the ordinary ways. But what I wanted to comment on was what difference the “traditional Anglican” makes to this*.
I don’t think it’s a positive one. As soon as the prospective convert starts asking any questions about what traditional Anglicanism is, what are you going to tell them? “Well, we were part of the Catholic Church, but then we split off for mumble, mumble, mumble … and then there was this renewal movement within the largely Protestant Church of England, but then the Episcopal Church ordained women, so we broke off, and then there were the Deerfield Beach consecrations, and then we split again, and now there’s a few tens of thousands of us left in the US” (but “we all believe that traditional Anglicanism is the best way” bring them closer to the Lord!). To attempt to explain Continuing Anglicanism is to place the scandal of Christian division right up front and center (and to send most people running).
This is part of why I think the remnant of the Anglo-Catholic movement (which is now largely in the Continuum) has to conceive of itself precisely as a movement with an end point in unity with Rome or Orthodoxy (or some with one and some with the other), a movement of return out of the anomalous situation of Anglicanism which brings along that tradition’s gifts to the wider Church. As soon as Anglo-Catholicism sees itself instead as an independent and autonomous Church on par with the other two and seeks unity on that basis, it becomes a rather ridiculous thing which cannot coherently or attractively narrate its own history.
So - don’t preach traditional Anglicanism. Preach the Catholic faith. When the inquirer ask more about what traditional Anglicanism is, tell them about a movement for unity, rather than giving them justifications for division.
* which takes it pretty far afield from the main concerns of their conversation, and is mostly an opportunity to state my basic position on Anglo-Catholicism, as the AC co-author of the blog.
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