Hills of the North on Lambeth: Vacuum

Nature abhors a vacuum, and it's pretty clear that when Lambeth is behind us, and the vacuum created by the Archbishop's weakness is not filled as it should be, all manner of forces will seek to fill that vacuum.

The plan to do just this is already in place on the American side. While Episcopal Church bishops have dishonestly tried again to deny that same-sex blessings are happening with authorization, all they have done is underscore their mendacity. But even these dissembling bishops have not tried to deny that what lies ahead in the Episcopal Church after Lambeth is a full-bore push to make same-sex blessings--if not marriages--officially sanctioned as a good and holy thing. Some institutional liberal bishops will understand the dangers this poses, but they now have no power or authority, as the inmates are plainly running the asylum. And the revisionists do not have to worry about the next Lambeth invitation just yet, and the hard leftists among them frankly are already wondering whether the Anglican Communion is worth the bother. In short, once Lambeth ends, there are no governors remaining on their behavior.

The only counterbalance to this is GAFCON. This may not be what the more institutional of us would have wanted to see, but it is now fact, and we must accept and embrace it. And this is no "power grab": right now there are more bishops, clergy, and laity represented by GAFCON than any other structure, province, or power within the Communion. The moment Lambeth is over, the baton is effectively passed to GAFCON, whether the Archbishop likes it or not. And GAFCON must be ready to assume that leadership. It must pay due deference to the Archbishop, as any new leader ought to do to a predecessor. But it must not hesitate in moving forward, in exercising the leadership it has been given. It cannot afford to be viewed as a handmaiden of existing structures, the Archbishop included. It must be beholden to the Gospel, and the Gospel alone. the rest