Western Anglicanism Wanes in the 21st Century as the Global South Explodes with New Converts
News Analysis
By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
October 17, 2012
Theological revisionism, moral relativism, a lack of confidence in Holy Scripture and a failure of nerve to proclaim the Good News of God's salvation in obedience to the Great Commission, has resulted in increasingly smaller and aging congregations living out their final years murmuring the creed and going through the Prayer Book with as much luster as a waning summer sun.
In the face of a growing secularity with millions of unchurched Millenials, the rise of heretical churches like Mormonism and Scientology, the push for pansexuality coupled with an in-your-face militant Islam, the net result has been a slow but accelerating spiritual cancer in the Episcopal/Anglican body that has about it the stench of death. All the available evidence is that within two decades Western Anglicanism will be no more.
This is happening even as the Global South explodes with new life drawing hundreds of thousands of new converts to Christ, bringing spiritual sight to the blind, setting the captives from sin and death, expressing their new life and abundant joy and hope to anyone who will hear.
Consider the following:
The Church was compared to a company "impeccably" managing itself into failure, during exchanges at the General Synod in York. In the past 40 years, the number of adult churchgoers has halved, while the number of children attending regular worship has declined by four fifths.
The Rev. Dr. Patrick Richmond, a Synod member from Norwich, told the meeting that some projections suggest that the Church would no longer be "functionally extant" in 20 years' time. "The perfect storm we can see arriving fast on the horizon is the ageing congregations," he said. "The average age is 61 now, with many congregations above that.
"These congregations will be led by fewer and fewer stipendiary clergy ... 2020 apparently is when our congregations start falling through the floor because of natural wastage, that is people dying.
The irony here is that England's seminaries are filled with next generation evangelicals. Anglo-Catholicism is all but dead, much of it having morphed into Affirming Catholicism or, in the case of true blue Catholics, having fled to Rome for spiritual safety believing they have no future in their former church. Liberal Christianity has gutted the church with only one in 60 Brits even bothering to attend church. The current push for pansexual acceptance to all orders of the church and the drive for women bishops will only continue the pattern of sexualization and feminization with church attendance and leadership more firmly in the hands of women.
Churches and chapels in Wales are being asked to discuss radical proposals, which could result in closer unity. Proposals on the agenda include a new kind of bishop and a single "United Church for Wales" in which there would be an interchange of ordained ministries by those with church or chapel backgrounds. Five denominations - including the Church in Wales, Presbyterians and Methodists - could ultimately share bishops, ministers and buildings. If given the go-ahead, a new breed of bishops would be created and be interchangeable between all denominations in the united group. Ordained ministers would also be free to serve in all churches and chapels in the Church Uniting in Wales.
Forward in Faith (Wales) leaders quickly disassociated themselves from this report saying, "The reaction to the Church in Wales Review leaves plenty of us with great concerns. At one meeting recently an Archdeacon reminded those present that at this stage the question should be: do we agree that ministry areas need to be created? and then how do we do it? Not vice versa. In some areas of the Review suggestions are quoted as giving permission for a new development without the necessary agreement of those involved. Some dioceses also seem to be moving ahead in a piecemeal fashion. This cannot be good for the unity of the church."
Unity, we are told, is close to the heart of the Archbishop of Wales, but he has refused to secure a future for members belonging to the catholic tradition who would value the prospect of unity with the wider Apostolic Church of East and West on the grounds that the unity of the Church in Wales would be threatened.
He argues that to appoint a bishop or bishops with jurisdiction for those opposed to the ordination of women would "alter irreparably the Church in Wales as we know it. It would be to sanction schism and for these theological reasons the bishops, as guardians of unity, could not give their support for such a measure."
Anglo-Catholics are constantly struggling against the tide of liberalism that has overtaken their church. "Like headless chickens, Dr. Morgan and his bishops have tried everything to reverse the decline of the Church in Wales except the blindingly obvious," said Telegraph columnist Damian Thompson.
This news must come as cold comfort to Bishop Gregory Cameron, who was elected in 2009 and who left his post with the Anglican Consultative Council in London to take up the post as Bishop of Asaph and now finds within a few short years that he barely has an ecclesiastical future.
As costs have escalated, maintaining the "parish share" with declining numbers becomes increasingly more difficult as is the cost of maintaining top-heavy structures. With no parish ties in the future and Anglican services becoming increasingly reminiscent of politically correct school assemblies, local self-supporting chapels will have an increasing appeal for those who are left. As one adherent with a liking for good Welsh hymn singing put it, "Rousing hymns with a good gossip afterwards; there's nothing like it".
There are few green ecclesiastical shoots in Wales and with an ultraliberal archbishop like Morgan (NOTE: He is on the Crown Nominations Commission so his choice for the next ABC would not be orthodox). Anglicanism in Wales is in its death throes. His appeal for full gay acceptance, gay marriage and gay rites will be the final nails in the coffin of Welsh Anglicanism.
Archbishop Claude Miller, the province of Canada's metropolitan, speaking at the provincial synod in Montreal recently said the ecclesiastical province of Canada is cutting back some of its structures and committing to explore other possible areas for future pruning, all with intent of making the province more nimble and focused on mission.
More than 70 delegates from Canada's seven easternmost dioceses voted to reduce the size of future provincial synods by nearly half. They also decided to shrink the size of the Provincial Council-the ecclesiastical province's decision-making body between triennial synods-from 31 to 23 members.
Miller tried to put a good face on it by invoking the biblical image of God as a vine grower pruning his church for more vitality; but with no discernible gospel to proclaim except the endless talk of inclusivity and diversity, pruning looks more like taking a spade to the root of the tree.
"The work of our synod...recognizes that tending the vine requires the removal of branches that bear no fruit, and branches that bear fruit too are to be pruned. Not one branch is left untouched," he said. The sad truth is that the Anglican vine is withering and dying, not just its branches.
In addition to reducing the size of its governing bodies, the next three years will be spent studying the "possible realignment of dioceses within the province of Canada, with a view to reducing the number of dioceses to no fewer than three."
There are currently seven dioceses in the ecclesiastical province, each with its own diocesan bishop and administrative staff and structure: Montreal, Quebec, Fredericton, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, Western Newfoundland, Central Newfoundland, and Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador.
There was also discussion about reducing the number of dioceses and consolidating administration to reflect "the changing demographic of the Anglican church within the ecclesiastical province of Canada in terms of both decreasing numbers and the increased cost of providing ecclesiastical services."
Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, attended part of the provincial synod and told delegates that similar conversations about restructuring are taking place across the country and at every level of the church, also motivated by demographic realities and a desire to become more effective in mission. Diminishing revenues mean the Anglican Church of Canada must determine which ministries and services are most effectively offered at the national level and what others can be carried out at the provincial, diocesan, and parish level, he said.
What about death by a thousand cuts do these people not understand?
Archbishop Miller admitted that some critics compare the church's discussions about change to "just re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic." However, he said the Titanic's maiden voyage was "a journey with a promise and opportunity for a new life for most of the passengers on board. Sometimes we forget that a remnant was saved and realized that hope." That "remnant" is now firmly in place with the formation of the Anglican Network in Canada and the Anglican Church in New Westminster.
Recently The Rt. Rev. Dennis Drainville said the Diocese of Quebec is "teetering on the verge of extinction" and is all but dead. Of the diocese's 82 congregations, 50 are childless and 35 congregations have an average age of 75. These graying congregations often have no more than 10 people in church on Sundays, he observed. "The critical mass isn't there, there's no money anymore," he said.
Just when you think spiritual blindness might not be evident enough, the Anglican Bishop of Toronto recently forbade his ministers and laypersons from conducting services in a quaint non-denominational church in the historic hamlet of Irondale in the Haliburton Highlands.
The building used to belong to the diocese. After a two-year legal challenge, the Bark Lake Aboriginal Tribe purchased the church from the Anglican diocese for $70,000. When the building reopened a month ago as the Irondale Community Church, the first service was Anglican, the second Lutheran. But when retired Anglican minister Arnold Hancock wanted to conduct the Thanksgiving Day weekend service, Archbishop Colin Johnson of the Anglican Diocese of Toronto sent out a cease-and-desist order far and wide. The folks in Irondale, about 100 kilometers north of Peterborough, are now preparing for a fight. Even devout Anglicans are accusing the church of being unchristian.
The former Anglican parish was closed and deconsecrated in 2010 due to dwindling numbers. Only the bishop and Anglican clergy are permitted to function in Anglican ministries. When the ACoC is forced into intercommunion with Lutherans and whoever else they can lay claim to just to stay alive, an act like this will look incredibly small minded and pathetic.
The number of domestic parishes and missions continued to decline from 6,794 in 2012 to 6,736, a drop of 58 parishes. One of those parishes was the 2,500-member Falls Church in Falls Church, Virginia. In 2008 TEC could boast some 7,055 parishes. A threshold had been crossed.
In 2011, membership (not to be confused with ASA) in the Episcopal Church was 2,096,389. 1,923,046 were in the domestic (50 U.S. states) dioceses with 173,343 in the non-domestic (non U.S. states) dioceses. This figure is well below the oft repeated 2.5 million used by some bishops.
Bishop Stacy Sauls, Episcopal Church Chief Operating Officer, tried to put the best face on things concerning the promising statistics, "I personally hope for the future is that we can find ways of telling the story of what is going on in our churches more comprehensively so as to get at the real picture of people being served and missional commitment."
That "missional commitment" has been seriously compromised by the consecration of an openly avowed non celibate lesbian to the episcopacy, the elevation of transgendered priests to pulpits in revisionist dioceses, and the recent passage of provisional Rites for the blessings of same sex marriages at GC2012.
The overall long term picture shows a church in continued decline. The average age of the average Episcopalian is now in the mid-Sixties with no significant input from the millennial generation to replace aging and dying Episcopalians.
Recently, it was revealed that the US has officially ceased to be a Protestant country. According to the Pew Forum, the percentage of Protestants has dropped from 53% in 2007 to 48%, that's a paradigm shift of huge proportions. The Episcopal Church is among the bigger losers.
When old, routine churchgoers have died off, "None" will be the default position for liberal-minded young people. The question then becomes: What will mainline churches like the Episcopal Church look like in the future? Will they in fact exist? Parishes with equal age and attendance (65) will be out of business within two decades. The decade of evangelism to double the church by 2020 never got off the ground.
SCOTLAND:In 1900 the church had 356 congregations, with a total membership of 124,335 and 324 working clergy. Membership did not grow in the following decades as it was believed it would.
In 1989 there were approximately 200 stipendiary and 80 non-stipendiary clergy. Membership was 65,000, with 31,000 communicants.
In the past 30 years the Scottish Episcopal Church has taken a stand on various issues including economic justice, the ordination of women and inclusion.
In terms of official membership Episcopalians comprise a little over 1% of the population of Scotland, making them about 12% of the size of the Church of Scotland. The Church has 310 parishes with a total membership of 44,280 (about 54,000 including children.)
According to feedback mostly from posters in Ireland, it is only immigrants who attend the Anglican Church in Ireland to worship in any regular significant number. If it were not for recent immigrants from Africa, the Church of Ireland would already be doomed. The numbers actually attending worship would be so insignificant as to be irrelevant.
In the battle for believers, Christianity is losing out to religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam. A Massey University study, Changing Patterns of Auckland Religion, has found that with the exception of Catholicism, membership of all mainstream Christian denominations has fallen to historic lows.
The Anglican Church, which has traditionally been New Zealand's dominant religion, has dropped from 47 per cent in Auckland identifying with the church in the 1926 census to slightly over 10 per cent in 2006, lower than the 10.8 per cent nationally. It was a different story for Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam, which have experienced surges in membership.
The mapping of Anglican believers in central Auckland, based on the 2006 Census, found the highest concentration in the "wealthier suburbs" such as Remuera and Herne Bay but low in areas such as Avondale and Otahuhu.
Associate Professor Peter Lineham, who led the study, said this shows the church is "failing to connect" in areas with a high concentration of ethnic minorities.
"Any religion that did not engage wider than the rich, white middle-class will certainly not be growing in a city with Auckland's demographics of today," said Lineham. "It is very likely that the next census will show Catholic numbers to be ahead of Anglicans for the very first time."
A new study by the Christian Research Association has found that attendance at traditional Uniting churches across Australia has declined by 30 per cent over the past ten years.
Philip Hughes, President of the Christian Research Association, described the steep decline in numbers across traditional churches as a trend that is likely to continue in coming years.
"We expect that Catholic, Uniting and Anglican churches will keep dropping in numbers as their parishioners become older," Hughes said.
"The average age of people attending Catholic and Anglican churches is roughly 60, and with these churches failing to pull in younger parishioners, I see the decline in numbers to continue, at least for the next 20 years."
Hughes said that this drop in numbers could mean that small, traditional churches will become a relic of the past.
CONCLUSION
The truth of all this is that clapped-out liberal Anglican and Episcopal bishops of the English-speaking world are starting to find out what things look like now and in the foreseeable future. In time, it will give them nightmares, if it isn't doing so already.
All the talk of "listening" to the whine of western-based homosexuals through the much ballyhooed "Listening Process" has produced nothing, nor has the notion that cultural diversity means theological diversity. Trying to manipulate scripture to make it mean one thing in one culture and something else in another is not working despite attempts by the Anglican Church of Canada to dialogue with African counterparts where they politely heard each other out over sexuality with no minds changed. It is simply not working. Orthodox Anglicans in Nigeria, the CofE, Australia and the US all work from the same biblical pages on human sexual behavior they don't need "dialogue" (at great expense one should add) to fit opposing views into the same Procrustean bed.
The meteoric rise of the Anglican Global South has changed the demographics completely. The Anglican Communion today is primarily black, under 30, and situated in Africa. The Anglican Province of Nigeria alone has 21 million active Anglicans; the Church of England by contrast has just over 1 million practicing Anglicans.
Pan Anglican Western liberalism has seen major drops in attendance in the US, UK, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, Australia (with the exception of Sydney), and New Zealand and short of a massive spiritual revival that is not going to change.
The birth of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) with its focus on evangelism, discipleship, youth and church planting is swinging Anglicanism in North America in an entirely opposite direction. If there is a future for Anglicanism in the West it lies here, not in the dying embers of a biblically compromised, sexually secular church that long ago sold its spiritual birthright.
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