Reformed Evangelical Synod of America

Dear Friends in Christ,

Yesterday the Vatican announced a new program to receive Anglican parishes en masse into the Roman fold.

This all seems so odd.

Archbishop Thomas Cranmer offered himself to the fires of martyrdom rather than recant the Reformational faith. The papal representatives of his day were glad to oblige.

How can those who today call themselves “Anglicans” receive such a warm reception from Rome, sans flames of course? Do they sense any loss in the process? If not, why did they call themselves Anglicans to begin with?

Of course, many things have changed since those days. Rome has toyed with the idea of justification by faith enough to mollify liberal Protestants without actually saying it was ever wrong. The Papacy has, in Vatican II, conceded many points to the Reformation Faith which Roman traditionalists rue to this day. And while many priests themselves have run up huge legal settlements for their frolics, the Church itself still nominally hails virtue as a virtue – that’s more than can be said for degenerate Protestantism. But Rome’s penchant for elevating it’s own selective reading of church tradition as the voice of God equal to scripture, it’s estimation of itself as THE Church Catholic to the exclusion of all others, and it’s demand for unquestioned loyalty still undermine the foundation of historic Anglicanism – Grace Alone, Faith Alone, Scripture Alone, Christ Alone, and the Glory of God alone.

If these have not changed, then the answer must lie in the fact that today’s Anglicans have changed.

Anglicanism began as the church of the whole people of Great Britain. It was a public faith intended to disciple a nation and leave no soul without a spiritual shepherd. Over time, it became the church mainly of the elite and not the people. Especially in the United States, the Episcopal Church was known as the “Republican Party at Prayer”. In the practical working lexicon of American Religion, the word “Anglican” almost became the synonym of “Anglophile”. It is only in the Global South where Anglicanism is perhaps disassociated from the implications of privilege, pecksniffery, and the love of all things British with Christianity included somewhere at the bottom of a long list of cultural peculiarities  if absolutely necessary, that is.

The fact that individuals either in the Anglican Communion or on it’s fringes in the “continuing churches” would gladly make this move shows how far Anglicanism has come and signals the need for a drastic reforging of the Anglican Identity in the West. Anglicans who understand the biblical, theological, and cultural significance of their brand of Reformed, Evangelical and Protestant Catholicism, and who wish to see it prosper in the coming days must make a break with image of Anglicans as elitist snobs. Anglicans must reassert their fundamental theological contributions to the Christian faith and must be known for their love for all souls, rich and poor alike. It may even signal the need to eschew the names “Anglican” and “Episcopal” if people are to focus on their contemporary mission. It definitely means tomorrow’s Anglican (by whatever name) is known for their work with the poor, the addicted, and the lost as the Baptist, Methodist, and Gospel Mission is known for that vocation today.

The Book of Common Prayer in tomorrow’s Anglicanism must not be the worship guide reserved for the service which only the aged attend. Vernacular versions of the BCP in contemporary (though not insipid) language with their lectionaries and catechisms must become the engine of corporate discipleship for coming generations once again. The goal of this revived Anglicanism is not to reintroduce Afternoon Tea in the New World but instead – as Cranmer aimed – to disciple whole families and nations into Christ, to live in His abundant grace. Because the demise of Anglicanism began with the renunciation of it’s Articles of Religion, a revived Anglicanism must likewise revive its confessional commitments along evangelical lines and enforce subscription to them and catechize in light of them.

But not all Anglicans have changed.

There are some Anglicans for  whom the words “evangelical catholic” are neither a conundrum or a paradox when used to describe their confessional, Prayer Book Protestantism. And today, they feel even more disenfranchised by yesterday’s developments. Increasingly their new found home, whether  in the ACNA or a ‘continuing church,’ strikes them as less “reformed” and “evangelical” than they might have wished.

If this describes you, you are welcome to join us here. By the grace of God, we remain committed to the Biblical Faith witnessed to by the Apostles, Prophets, Martyrs, and Reformers.

In these  trying times, may God give you clear direction.

In these challenging days, may the collapsing foundations all around us cause us to rebuild on He who alone is eternity’s sure foundation,  Jesus Christ (Matthew 7:24-27).

Please contact us if we may be of service!

In Christ,

+Chuck Huckaby
Reformed Evangelical Synod of America

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