A.S. Haley: A Descent into Irrelevance

January 30, 2011

The documents posted at the close of the recent Primates' Meeting in Dublin tell the story. The takeover of the Instruments of Communion by ECUSA, aided and abetted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, is now complete. Anything of substance was carefully avoided at Lambeth 2008; the proposed Covenant itself was derailed at ACC-14 in Jamaica, and then carefully defanged by the newly reorganized Standing Committee; and now the Primates' Meeting has let itself descend into irrelevance -- with the primates of the churches having most of the Anglican Communion's membership absenting themselves, and refusing to prop up the pretense of normalcy any longer.

Look at how the remaining primates now view themselves and their function. Their statement of purpose  could as well have been written by the Presiding Bishop's staff at 815 Second Avenue:

We endeavour to accomplish our work through:
‐ prayer
‐ fellowship
‐ study and reflection
‐ caring for one another as Primates and offering mutual support
‐ taking counsel with one another and with the Archbishop of Canterbury
‐ relationship building at regular meetings
‐ being spiritually aware
‐ being collegial
‐ being consultative
‐ acknowledging diversity and giving space for difference
‐ being open to the prophetic Spirit
‐ exercising authority in a way that emerges from consensus‐building and mutual discernment leading to persuasive wisdom

the rest