Every week spews forth a new crisis in what is laughingly termed ‘the worldwide Anglican communion’. ‘Worldwide Anglican shambles’ is more like it. This week saw the US Episcopal (Anglican) Church electing a woman as its leader, thus setting off a frenzied conservative outcry. But in an effort to stave off expulsion from the ‘world communion’, the Episcopalians also issued a fawning promise not to consecrate any more openly gay bishops. (Church tries to head off ejection)

I suspect that most non-religious people are in two minds about all this Anglican infighting. Ultimately it’s a very good thing for the world as it reduces both the credibility and the staying-power of a substantial part of the Christian Church. The more that is done to reduce the power and influence of this blight on humanity, the better.

On the other hand, the Anglican chaos also represents a confrontation between forces of relative enlightenment (moderates) and forces of not-so-relative darkness (ranting conservatives). So part of me wants to back the Muriel Porters (American choice poses a challenge to world Anglicanism) against the Archbishop Peter Jensens and Anglican Mainstreamers.

In the end, I think we have to look to the long term and hope that both Anglican contenders continue to tear themselves up for the next fifty years or so until the whole sorry project collapses in ruins. But if I were an Anglican moderate I wouldn’t be putting up with the traditionalist garbage being hurled around for a single moment: ‘Hey, Jensen, you want to run the Anglican Church of Sydney and join up with a mob of Nigerian malcontents. Go right ahead, baby, who’s stopping you? There’s the door!’

Filed in: Evangelicals