Uneasy is the Head that Wears a Mitre

Justin Welby (WSJ photo)

Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, is the spiritual leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

He has his work cut out for him trying to avoid schism in the Communion. [bold added]

But as he prepares to receive Anglican bishops from around the world in England this summer in what is known as the Lambeth Conference, he faces a likely boycott by conservatives, including leaders of African churches that are among the largest and fastest-growing. They refuse to join progressives, led by the U.S. Episcopal Church, who support marriage or blessings for same-sex unions and the ordination of openly gay clergy...

Unlike Pope Francis, who holds ultimate authority over Catholic teaching around the world, the Archbishop of Canterbury has no formal power over the autonomous churches of the Anglican Communion. He relies on dialogue and compromise, which so far have proved inadequate to Anglicanism’s seismic rift...

Archbishop Welby in Kenya, 2013 (WSJ photo)

The bishops of Nigeria, Uganda and Rwanda—who represent an estimated 44 million of the world’s 100 million Anglicans, according to the World Christian Database—have said that they won’t attend this year’s conference in England unless Archbishop Welby excludes provinces that allow marriage or blessings of same-sex unions or the ordination of openly gay clergy.

They want him to invite as full members conservative churches that have split off in reaction to liberalizing moves in North America, Brazil, New Zealand and the U.K. Archbishop Welby has declined to disinvite the former or invite the latter except in some cases as observers.

Your humble Episcopalian, a supporter of secular same-sex marriage, sees both sides in the discussion about whether Anglicans should bless these unions. I don't want to get into the theological arguments but will note the irony of a small band of mainly white, highly educated Progressive elites who want to force millions of non-whites to adopt beliefs that are anathema to them. From 2016:

Let's step back from our narrow Eurocentric perspective. The Episcopal Church comprises less than 3% of the Anglican communion. The continent where Anglicanism is growing the fastest---Africa---is home to substantial populations that regard homosexuality not only as evil but as a sin punishable by death.

What would their reaction be to an Anglican church that performed same-sex weddings as a sacrament, that is, the equal in importance to Baptism and Holy Communion, in their community?

To put other Anglicans’ lives at risk to proclaim a value that is recognized by a minority of the world’s population is the height of arrogance. (Interestingly, the Episcopal Church decries this “Imperialist” behavior when Western society promulgates capitalism or traditional Christianity or democracy in the Third World.)