John Rapley - Foreign Focus WITH THE ordination of its first openly-gay bishop in the US having gone ahead, over some fierce objections, the Anglican Church faces its gravest crisis in a long time. But the Anglicans are perhaps merely in the forefront of what is an emerging rift in global Christianity. Other churches will no doubt look to see how, and if, the Anglican communion resolves its tensions.
These tensions are not peculiar. At one time, Anglicanism was exported on the back of imperialism, reaching the furthest corners of the British Empire. Missionary activity survived the end of empire, though, as Anglicanism continued to win converts around the world long after the Union Jack had been lowered for the last time at many a colonial outpost.
Yet in its heartland, in Britain, Anglicanism had begun a slow and long decline from as early as the nineteenth century. The waning fervour of British Anglicans finally brought the faith to the point that, in the last few years, more Muslims attended British mosques on a weekly basis than did Anglicans grace a church.
In the US, the church has held up rather better, as has Christianity in general.
Yet, at least when it comes to membership, the global epicentre of Anglicanism has been shifting southwards. As it is doing in Christianity as a whole, Africa is playing an especially prominent role.
Converts continue streaming through the doors of churches in huge numbers, and the enthusiasm of their worship belies Anglicanism's traditionally staid image. There are today more Anglicans in Nigeria alone than in all of Britain. And African Christians tend to be uncompromisingly traditional and Biblical when it comes to matters of sexual morality.
Inevitably, this has given rise to what has come to be known as the reverse missionary wave. Whereas missionaries once went from Britain to the world, now they are coming from the world and into Britain. Today, some of the liveliest and most successful churches in London are led by African pastors.
Partly as a result, the Anglican Church in England presents a rather divided face. The mainstream church, closely associated with British traditions toryism, aristocracy and a stoical faith appears to be in terminal decline. A drive through the British countryside reveals a landscape dotted with beautiful old stone churches that now lie mostly empty or abandoned.
However, step into one of the evangelical churches in a nearby city, and you will behold a different sight. It will be packed to the rafters with so-called happy-clappers who bring to mind few images of "ye olde Englande."
As Church authorities in Britain and the US have grown more liberal, their followers have reacted in ways that the leadership never anticipated.
SCHISM WITHIN CHURCH
In the short term, this tension is unlikely to prompt a schism within the Anglican Church. Too much is at stake. Despite threats to leave the communion, many bishops from the largest provinces will opt not to make the statement. For one thing, if the numbers are in Africa and Asia, the dollars (and pounds) remain in Britain and, especially, the US. Churches in Third-World countries that benefit from the largesse of their richer counterparts in the First World will not want to sever ties that have borne such fruit.
Nevertheless, if the Church's leaders succeed in resolving this rift, they will not likely stem the rising tension. The fact remains that with each passing year, the gravity-centre of their faith is moving ever more deeply into the south, and especially into Africa. That will continue to transform the faith of their church, with profound implications for doctrine and liturgy. This may be but an early salvo in a long battle.
John Rapley is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Government, UWI, Mona.
