Anglican heartlands -- the fertile ground of reconciliation

The Archbishop of Capetown, Winston Hugh Njongonkulu Ndungane, has issued a lengthy reflection on the current situation in the Anglican Communion. He calls for a focus on the "richheartlands of Anglicanism," on our heritage of "the solid centre, focused on Jesus Christ, to which we are constantly drawn back by the counterbalancing pull of the other strands, if any one threatens to become disproportionately influential."

Here are a couple of excerpts.

The greatest Anglicans of past and present are characterised by radical holiness of life, an uncompromising dedication to prayer and Bible study, and tenacious pursuit of the truth as they wrestled with the issues of their day. This is a life lived under the authority of all these three-fold strands of faith: of Scripture, of Church order and structures, of Christian tradition. It is the life of obedience and self-discipline, and often costly self-denial, for, especially in our relations with one another, as Paul reminds the Corinthian church, even where 'all things are lawful,' it may well be that 'not all things are beneficial' (1 Cor 10:23). All of us would do well to remember this. Nor does accepting the inevitability of messiness at the margins of the community of faith mean 'anything goes.'

And here's the conclusion:

So we should be in no hurry to find quick solutions tailored to addressing our current problems. We rather need to take thorough care in discerning answers that lie fully within the tradition that we have received, so that we too may pass on the great riches of our Anglican heritage. To do this requires methodical and comprehensive exploration of all that is in the Windsor Report, and in Archbishop Rowan's reflections. I see them as significant foundation stones of the future we are trying to build.

We will find authentic Anglican answers if we conduct our debate within the fertile territory of the rich Anglican heartlands, engaging with one another in a godly spirit of tolerance, trust and charity, and having confidence in the living tradition of our Anglican structures, as part of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church, through which the Lord has preserved us, guided us and led us, so mercifully in the past.

God has given us so much – let us be faithful to him, and to those who will come after us, by preserving and passing on the rich essentials of his gift.

Let us stand firm upon the middle ground.

I encourage you to read and ponder this entire reflection. The people of South Africa have much to teach all of us about reconciliation and holy living.