Brothers and Sisters,
I could be wrong, but I thought Abp Jensen was going on from Jerusalem to a conference in England. I'm not sure if he's even home yet or not, so we could give him a bit of a break! I've only just arrived back in Melbourne and am feeling pretty trashed. I don't think he necessarily 'owes' us a visit in Melbourne (though I know he will speak with his episcopal colleagues in due course), indeed he may defer to Abp Freier's judgement on whether he needs to visit at all.
I'm surprised, given his commitment to ecumenical concerns, that Bishop Huggins should imply fault in Abp Jensen's care for people outside his own region. Bishop Philip of all people would understand that you have to stand with people in order to be able to make a positive contribution to unity and contribute to forging the basis of that unity. I have made no secret of my disappointment that Sydney (and many African) bishops are not attending Lambeth for the same reasons; but in part Sydney's non-attendance at Lambeth was perceived necessary to their standing with the GAFCON primates.
Most of the people whose stories of pain we have been listening to are orthodox Anglo-Catholics (i.e. Bishop Philip's ecclesiological cousins) who have been effectively stranded without regular pastoral oversight, indeed find themselves persecuted by their own 'shepherds' because of their orthodoxy. What bishop, particularly one with such a pastoral heart as Bishop Huggins, could turn their back on that? I can only assume he doesn't really understand what those people are experiencing.
I don't want to diminish whatever pain and confusion has been felt by people in Melbourne's northern suburbs, but I wager it would not be of quite the same order. It is one thing to be embarrassed by members of your family, it is quite another order of pain to be thrown out of the family altogether and stripped of everything you had: at that point the consolation of a few second cousins prepared to stand with you is some salve even if the heads of your own family won't recognise you.
I would also like to point out that GAFCON hardly talked about homosexuality at all. The conversation focussed on the underlying theological issues that have shaped the theology in TEC and Canada in such radical divergence from anything recognisably biblical, orthodox, reformed, evangelical or catholic that we cannot even find a common ground for conversation with them any more. Endorsement of homosex was repeatedly sidelined as only an un-spinnable symptom of a broader theological malaise; indeed it was often lamented that this issue should appear to be central, affecting as it does a group of people with need for significant pastoral sensitivity.
Finally, I would like to make clear that Abp Jensen's contribution was overwhelmingly gracious and positive. It was clear he was actively seeking to both support persecuted brothers and sisters in North America while avoiding any construal or structuring of that support that would ripple divisions into other parts of the communion: noble twin aims if ever there were some.
As I said, I have made no secret of my own disappointment in the Sydney bishops' decisions to boycott Lambeth and in the setting up of GAFCON as pre-Lambeth. But there was another kind of wisdom there which I only perceived after watching events unfold at GAFCON: GAFCON was going to happen with or without Sydney; and by standing with those African brothers and sisters the Sydney leadership was able to bring their considerable theological and strategic acumen to bear on forging a positive way forward that minimised global disruption and restrained pastorally damaging rhetoric. Without their full involvement the outcome would, I am sure, have been a lot worse, regarding all the things that concern Bishop Philip in our own region. With all due respect to Bishop Philip, I think the Sydney bishops deserve less criticism and more credit from their Australian episcopal colleagues.
Blessings
Matt
