Brad Drell has posted an interesting essay that, in part, addresses the present state of the Continuing Anglican Churches. What I find particularly interesting is the admission that the biggest obstacle to unifying the movement at the moment is the parallel structures that have spontaneously arisen in the system.

“‘The Church’s unity,’ he says, ‘is the sign to shattered, splintered humanity of wholeness and new life in Christ. Our unity is a given. We cannot make the Church one. It already is one. What we do is reveal this unity, or obscure it.’

Bishop Hewett sees his first order of business as the melding of eight separate continuing churches into one organic whole – a free-standing and orthodox ‘province.’ The chief obstacle to the unity of these communions is not really doctrinal, canonical, or liturgical. With some serious and self-effacing debate, a consensus might be reached on the ways and teachings of the Church. So what’s the biggest stumbling block to unity?

Bishops.

Each branch of the continuing church has its geographical jurisdictions, and they tend to overlap. In one state, for example, two rival bishops reign in cathedrals a mere 30 miles apart. So which one, in the interest of reunion, would be willing to put his purple tunic in mothballs and surrender his crook and miter? The probable answer to that question is ‘neither’ – as Bishop Hewett well knows. Thus, in his drawing-board province, all current bishops would retain their episcopal status, able to confirm lay people, ordain priests, and even participate in the consecration of new bishops.

However, it might be necessary to ask that some bishops allow other bishops to become head dog in these new geographical jurisdictions. As Bishop Hewett has said, ‘We recall the example of the Antiochian Orthodox Church, which at one time had two separate jurisdictions in the United States. They became a single jurisdiction when one of the bishops said to Metropolitan Philip, ‘You are a better man than I. So you look after the whole thing.’ That kind of courage and humility is a miracle of God’s grace.’

‘Miracle’ is the right word. Yet he counts on precisely that kind of grace to reconstitute at least a portion of the fragmented Anglican Communion in America. ‘The Holy Spirit,’ he says, ‘is not very interested in our territorial squabbles.’

‘If we can’t do this,’ he told a reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer, ‘then I think Anglicanism in this country is lost. Everyone who has left [the Episcopal Church] will either become Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox or go nowhere. We have one more five-year window if we’re going to put the thing together right.’”

Given the fact that we’re talking about creating a de-facto parallel structure with the calls for Alternative Primatial Oversight, this is a very cautionary observation for the Episcopal Church right now.

Thanks for posting it Brad.

Read the rest here: Drell’s Descants » An Interesting Essay: Tom Landess – An American Dilemma: The Episcopal Church 1976-2006