A (New) Ecclesiology of the Anglican Communion: Rediscovering the Radical and Transnational Nature of the Anglican Communion

In the wake of the conflict about same-sex relationships, the Anglican Communion is under great pressure to reflect upon its own purpose and nature. Most of the proposed solutions to the current impasse seem to go in one of two directions: Legislating a way to unity within the Communion, or through a federalist approach where the solution seems to be to create enough distance between its members, so that their different practices and beliefs will not affect each other's integrity. Unfortunately, both these tendencies could cause severe damage to Anglian legacy in that they abandon the original Anglican claim that it is possible to be part of the universal Church, without having to submit to a centralised magisterium or to embrace confessionalism. Consequently, there is a compelling need to venture beyond the familiar path, and set out on a journey of rediscovery of the radical and transnational origins of the Anglican Communion. The aim of which is to formulate an ecclesiology, which is rooted in the life of the Anglican churches around the world, and establishes the Anglican Communion as a particular and contemporary embodiment of the vision and comprehension of the Church (and the potential Communion of Churches) which the Apostles and the fathers of the Church envisioned; before either the ecclesiastical monarchism of Rome or the confessionalism of the Reformation had sprung into the centre stage of western Christianity. One of the main arguments behind this thesis is that a solution to the current impasse requires a reembracing of the radical theology that once laid the foundation of the Anglican Communion. Hence, the thesis endeavours beyond the classic view of the Anglican Communion as mainly a product of British Imperialism, and explores another side of The Anglican Communion, namely that of non-Anglo-Saxon Anglican Churches, and their unique perspectives on what it means to be a Church member of the Anglican Communion. For it is only through listening to these experiences that an ecclesiology of the Anglican Communion, which aspires to transcend the current threat of schism, may be able to incorporate both the pluralism of global Anglicanism and bring cohesion to a church which is facing its greatest challenge in centuries.