'Thriving into a new reality'? Justifying the collapse of Canadian Anglicanism

... thriving into a new reality.

Of all the phrases that might be employed to describe the situation of the contemporary Anglican Church of Canada, this is not - how can we express this charitably? - the first that comes to mind.  The phrase is found in a Covenant (the online journal of The Living Church) article by Emilie Smith, a priest in the ACoC, responding to David Goodhew's analysis of the woeful situation faced by Canadian Anglicanism. Goodhew, quite rightly, starkly states this is not decline. It is very much worse:

First, this is not a church “in decline” or “close to collapse.” This is what collapse looks like. Ecclesial collapse includes large falls in attendance and financial woes. But these are lagging indicators. The key metrics are the numbers of those being baptized and whether a denomination has a healthy age profile, rather than one in which the bulk of congregations are of a certain age. By these indicators, ACoC has already collapsed. It is far too convenient to say “numbers don’t matter” or “decline is inevitable” or that “the kingdom” can be advanced even when congregations are shrinking.

Goodhew particularly draws attention to statistic for Baptism. Rather than, as is alleged by the attempted rebuttal of Goodhew, harking back to "a previous [post-war] era of full pews", Goodhew point to much more recent statistics:

Baptisms have fallen by nearly 75 percent since 2001. ACoC congregations now have very few children in them and very few people coming to faith in them. The collapse of baptism is an extinction-level event.

To describe this as "thriving into a new reality" is, to be frank, utterly delusional. 

The justification offered by Smith for this delusion is entirely predictable. Goodhew highlighted the "adoption of progressive causes" which sidelined the "attempt to call people to follow Jesus, and the formation and nurture of congregations". What, Smith demanded, does Goodhew mean by "progressive causes"? The tone of indignation is rather clear:

Is it a commitment to work towards reconciliation with the First Peoples of these lands? Or is it the ordination of women? Maybe it is the determination to welcome a wider diversity of people? Is it our anti-racism work? Perhaps it is our response to the devastation of the natural world through human greed?

We are told that these issues "are at the very heart of our Christian life". As Ben Crosby has commented:

I think Goodhew is right as an empirical matter that many of the churches that are loudest in embracing these positions seem to struggle to articulate why being a Christian uniquely matters, and thus struggle with both evangelism and retaining their own members. I think we see this in Smith’s own response and her construal of the church’s mission.

Now, yes, Ben does go on to say "I don’t think this is inherent in embracing any of these ‘progressive’ positions", setting out the vision of Inclusive Orthodoxy. I have to confess that I am much more sceptical about this. The whole-hearted endorsement of progressive causes has made the ACoC to appear as the NDP at prayer. In fact, is there any part of the progressive agenda that the ACoC refuses to endorse? As Ben himself has highlighted, the approach of the ACoC on the issue of MAID has been little less than shameful:

“Church should not oppose MAID law, primate says.” So reads a recent headline of the Anglican Journal, the newspaper of the Anglican Church of Canada. In the piece, Archbishop Linda Nicholls calls for the church she leads to avoid publicly opposing the expansion of euthanasia, or medical assistance in dying (MAID), in Canada.

Another indicator of the ACoC whole-heartedly embracing a partisan progressive agenda is seen in Smith referring to residential schools as "attempted genocide of Canadian Indigenous peoples". The use of 'genocide' to describe the injustices experienced by First Nations peoples is very deeply contested. As a serious scholar of history has stated:

It cannot be disputed that Indigenous peoples in Canada were mistreated in abundant ways. And it will be the work of generations to remedy that mistreatment. But it does these communities no benefit to warp the historical record by falsely employing the language of genocide.

Related to this is the contempt shown by Smith for the history and heritage of Canadian Anglicanism: "the devastating role the church played in conjunction with the Canadian state in establishing the colonial project of nation-building". Of course, we should not be surprised that 'colonialism' - a complex and nuanced historical phenomenon - makes an appearance here in light of its role in the Manichean imagination of contemporary progressivism. It is, however, a strange form of ecclesial self-loathing to entirely damn the historical processes which ensured an Anglican presence in Canada - in fact, which ensured there was a Canada at all. As a Daily Telegraph columnist recently noted of the tedious progressivism of the management class in the CofE:

you cannot sell people a product while simultaneously apologising for the abject awfulness of that product.

Regarding another cause at the heart of the contemporary progressive agenda, Smith enthusiastically affirms the ACoC celebrating a "diversity of genders, sexualities, and personhoods" - phraseology that quite clearly signals commitment to this particular aspect of the progressive credo. The notion that this recently arrived component of the progressive agenda - now proclaimed with ideological fervour - must be straightforwardly endorsed is particularly revealing. Contrary to the ideological demands, affirming the human dignity of adults who transition is not at all incompatible with thoughtful questions, prudent hesitation, and a wise recognition that a range of situations and concerns (particularly the age and maturity of the person concerned, and respect for the rights of women) will demand quite different and varying pastoral responses. 

Of all the diversities endorsed by Smith, however, there is no mention of those who do not agree with this progressive agenda.  Strange, we might think, in a church which - thankfully - has voices like the Prayer Book Society of Canada and the Atlantic Theological Conference. Strange in a country likely to soon elect a Conservative government and which had a Conservative government from 2006 to 2015. Some diversities, it seems, are more equal and welcome than others in the ACoC.

I write this as an Irish Anglican with a great fondness for Canadian Anglicanism, not least due to the ministry and witness of Charles Inglis, a son of the Church of Ireland. I take great pride in those United Empire Loyalists whose allegiance to Church and Crown enabled Anglicanism to take root in the lands which would become Canada. I rejoice in the Royal Chapel of the Mohawks. I admire the Canadian BCP 1962. I have been enriched by the writing of Robert Crouse. And I am thankful for those I know who minister faithfully in the ACoC, many of whom have had their faith and vocation shaped by King's College Chapel.

What I would not expect, however, is a Canadian Anglicanism exclusively defined by such a heritage and ethos. The ethnic, political, social, and cultural diversities of Canadian society require an ACoC that is broader than this heritage and ethos alone. An ACoC as equally embedded in small communities in the Maritimes as in cosmopolitan Vancouver. An ACoC that embraces those with 'UE' after their family name, those committed to the Laurentian Liberal vision, and those are from the new communities which have enriched Canadian society in recent decades.  On this latter point, Goodhew notes that the much vaunted ACoC commitment to diversity and inclusion has considerable work to do: 

Canada is home to many migrants from countries with strong Anglican churches, such as Nigeria, Ghana, and Congo - yet African Anglicans form a tiny part of the ACoC.

There is a profound relationship between the ACoC's embrace of the contemporary progressive agenda and the collapse of Canadian Anglicanism. Defining Canadian Anglicanism in terms of a narrow progressivism is a form of sectarianism: limiting the appeal of Anglicanism to those who identify with this ideology, excluding moderates and conservatives who cannot - rightly - accept that such an agenda is required by the Christian faith. Smith states that these progressive causes "are not 'issues' external to the demands of Christians" - they are, in fact, "the very heart of our mission".  Such statements are a very clear signal to moderate and conservative Canadians that the ACoC has no interest in them finding a place in the pews or the pulpit.

On the very same day that Smith's article was carried on the Covenant site, an article by TEC seminarian Wes Curnow was also published. It explored the story of St. Alban's Episcopal Church in Waco, Texas. "In 2013, the year [the current rector] arrived at St. Alban’s, the average Sunday attendance was 150. Last spring, it was over 500. The parish’s annual budget has over quadruped since 2013". We can meaningfully and accurately describe this "as thriving into a new reality". The rector, Aaron Zimmerman, noted "People appreciate that our sermons do not linger in the political ... While there are times to talk about citizenship and policy, the sermon is not one of those times". 

This puts politics and public policy where it should be in the church's proclamation and teaching - to be addressed at times, but by no means central and defining. It also allows for a diversity of political views amongst Anglican and Episcopalian Christians. A focus upon grace in Christ, rather than an ideological agenda, builds authentic diversity. In the words of the rector of St. Alban's, "this clarity and emphasis on grace attract people from many different backgrounds and traditions to St. Alban's".

Rather than offer predictable and empty justifications for the catastrophic collapse of Canadian Anglicanism, it would be wise for the ACoC to take note and abandon the path of sectarian ideology.

(The first illustration is a graph of ACoC Average Sunday Attendance, taken from Ben Crosby's Substack post mentioned above, 'The current state of the Anglican Church of Canada. The second is of the choir of King's College Chapel. Choral Evensong is sung in the chapel each Wednesday.)