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Contact: [email protected] THE CHURCH’S ONE FOUNDATION: the Anglican Origins and Ecclesiological Significance of the 1920 Lambeth Appeal to All Christian People. by David van Krieken Vannerley Canterbury Christ Church University Thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2015 0 The Church’s One Foundation: the Anglican Origins and Ecclesiological Significance of the 1920 Lambeth Appeal to All Christian People. Contents 1 Abstract 3 Preface 4 Abbreviations 5 Figures 6 Introduction 7 Section One: the milieu of the Appeal 1. The context in which the Conference idea arose 24 2. The First Conference 40 3. The development of the Conference Tradition 57 Section Two: The Lambeth Conference of 1920 4. The Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral 76 5. Archbishop Randall Davidson 94 6. An account of the Conference 111 Section Three: The Appeal to All Christian People 7. How the Appeal came to be 132 8. The textual history of the Appeal 149 9. Subsequent events and reactions 166 Section Four: Evaluation 10. The Church and the churches 183 11. Intra-Anglican Conflict in the early 21st. Century 199 Conclusion 215 Bibliography 224 Appendix 1: The first letter of the Canadian bishops. 233 1 Appendix 2: Abp. Longley’s invitation to the First Lambeth Conference. 234 Appendix 3: Data on the first six Lambeth Conferences. 235 Appendix 4: Prayers for Lambeth 1 and Lambeth 6. 236 Appendix 5: Abp. Longley’s letter to Whitehouse of Illinois. 237 Appendix 6: Parallel texts of the versions of the 1920 Appeal to All Christian People 238 Appendix 7: Reactions to Lambeth 6 in the secular and denominational press. 244 Appendix 8: Members of the Joint Conference on Church Reunion 1920-1925 245 Appendix 9: A note on Ritualism. 246 96306 words. 2 Abstract How can the Anglican Communion resolve its problems of internal ecumenism to overcome the threat of rupture that faces it at the beginning of the twenty-first century? Anglican identity is not monolithic but pluriform within the particularity of its tradition. The Anglican way of being Christian is one that is discursive rather than definitive, aware of its roots but open to new expression of itself – and aware of the conditionality of any expression of Church in this passing world. However, from time to time, there are tensions within the tradition between those who hold differing views. In 1867, facing the challenge of maintaining Anglican unity, Archbishop Longley summoned a meeting of Anglican bishops who sought collective understanding in a discursive, dialogic fashion and which evolved into a Lambeth Conference Tradition. The bishops sought the common mind of the Church on problematic questions, always aware of the mutability of their conclusions and often willing to change their view according to changed circumstances. In this way they sought to maintain Anglican unity and the principle of comprehension whereby the tradition sought to be inclusive of diversity. The Sixth Conference in 1920 sought to address the wider question of Christian unity by employing the same methodology. The Appeal to All Christian People was intended to draw the churches into engagement with one another to overcome their differences and achieve a degree of ecclesial unity. Reconciliation of Christians with each other was set at the heart of ecumenical discourse and bore fruit in important ways. This thesis proposes that the same methodology can and should be deployed to address the disputes that exist within the Anglican Communion at the beginning of the twenty-first century. The Lambeth Conference Tradition is an essential element in Anglican heritage that Anglicans may only ignore at their peril. 3 Preface Much that is Anglican is rooted in Canterbury. My own priestly identity has been formed by the Diocese of Canterbury and by the University that shares its name with our Cathedral. I have lived, studied and worshipped in or near the city all my adult life and it does seem a good place to begin an exploration of Anglican identity. Indeed, the incident that gave form to this piece of research took place in that same Cathedral Church of Christ. I am grateful to the Diocese of Canterbury for its generous support from the Continuing Ministerial Education Fund during this research. My development as a researcher has been enriched by the common life of the research community of Canterbury Christ Church University and I have been fortunate to receive advice and encouragement from a range of academic staff here. They include Prof. Gareth Jones, Dr. Leonie Hicks, Dr. Ralph Norman, the Revd Dr. Jeremy Law and particularly my First Supervisor, the Revd. Dr. Ivan Khovacs. Archival materials are critical to the argument of this thesis and it would not have been possible to write it without the assistance of the archivists of Lambeth Palace Library and of Canterbury Cathedral. The support, and tolerance, of my family and of the congregation of Swalecliffe, St. John the Baptist have been essential. Particularly, this is so of my wife and if a thesis is to be dedicated, this one should certainly be dedicated to her. David van Krieken Vannerley, Canterbury Christ Church University, on the Commemoration of King Alfred the Scholar, 2015. 4 Abbreviations and References Article refers to the English 39 Articles of Religion. Bishops are referred to by surname and see, until they are established in the narrative. Lambeth Conferences are referred to by sequence number, e.g. Lambeth 6. References marked * are Lambeth archive items, cited by volume identifier and folio number, e.g. *LC105:56 means (Archive)(Lambeth Conference series)(volume 105)(folio 56). Resolutions of the Lambeth Conference are referenced by year and sequence number, e.g. R1897/4. Abp. Archbishop AChC Anglican Church of Canada ACNA Anglican Church in North America BCP Book of Common Prayer Bp. Bishop CEN Church of England Newspaper Chron. Con. The Chronicles of the Convocation of the Province of Canterbury CMS Church Missionary Society CSI Church of South India CTG Church of the Triune God (The Cyprus Report) CW Common Worship FCA Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans FCEFC Federal Council of the Evangelical Free Churches Gafcon Global Anglican Future Conference, first meeting was held in Jerusalem in 2008. LCC/LCCB Lambeth Conference Consultative Body NMC Nature and Mission of the Church ODC Oxford Dictionary of the Church SPG Society for the Propagation of the Gospel UMCA Universities Mission to Central Africa WCC World Council of Churches 5 Figures This thesis is rooted in a conversation that took place in Canterbury Cathedral concerning the nature of Anglicanism. Each of the Archbishops of Canterbury who feature in the historical review at the beginning of the thesis has a monument in the cathedral and these are illustrated in the appropriate place. With the years of their enthronement they are: John Bird Sumner 1848 Fig. 1, p. 43 Chares Thomas Longley 1862 Fig. 2, p. 48 Archibald Campbell Tait 1868 Fig. 3, p. 59 Edward White Benson 1883 Fig. 4, p. 63 Frederick Temple 1897 Fig. 5, p. 66 Randall Thomas Davidson 1903-1928 Fig. 6, p. 69 Figures: all ©2013, Dr. J vK. Robson. 6 Introduction From the past into the future by way of the present The investigation of an event by a theologian should not be merely a matter of antiquarian interest but should be undertaken so that the insights gained might be of service to the people of God. Some while ago, the writer was duty visitor chaplain in Canterbury Cathedral when a visitor demanded in an aggressive manner: ‘Are you Orthodox?’ In conversation, it became clear that he did not mean ‘are you a Russian’ or ‘do you recite the symbol of Nicaea-Constantinople with integrity’ but rather ‘do you subscribe to my version of the Anglican way’. His remark leads us to a fundamental question: what is an Anglican? This thesis interrogates Anglican heritage to answer that question. The twenty-first Century Anglican Communion is riven by disputes of which that incident is emblematic. Arguments have been conducted with a degree of narrowness. Accusations of disloyalty and infidelity have been made against opponents who are accused of pursuing innovatory and destructive ideas. This thesis argues that the Communion needs to recover confidence in the possibility of consultation and debate represented by the Lambeth Conference tradition. In that tradition Anglicans – even when in profound disagreement – have sought to work together, within their common heritage, to resolve those things that can be resolved and to devise strategies to cope with those things that cannot be resolved. Perhaps Dark was right to criticise the Conferences as debating societies but it is in debate that we learn about each other and from each other – and begin to discern the means by which we might honour each other.1 The Communion needs to recover the broad and eirenical spirit represented by the 1920 Appeal to All Christian People so that it can look beyond narrow denominationalism.