What took the Communion near death was the deep divide between liberally inclined western churches, especially The Episcopal Church (TEC) in the US and the Anglican Church of Canada (ACoC), and the churches of the Global South, mainly in Africa but also in Asia and Latin America, with associates in the west. How to deal with homosexuality was the presenting issue but underlying it was that of biblical authority and obedience. The divide, which had been developing at least since the early 1990s, burst into the open with TEC's consecration in 2003 of the actively homosexual Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire. Efforts, some serious, were made by the Instruments of Communion--the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lambeth Conference, the Anglican Consultative Council, and above all the Primates' meetings--to turn TEC aside from the path it had taken. But TEC proceeded down it anyway, to the point of changing its canons at its 2015 General Convention to allow for same-sex marriage. Without effective discipline of TEC by the Primates' meeting, the Global South Primates, representing the large majority of Anglicans, were set to walk away, leaving the Communion mostly an empty shell. And in the light of past experience, such discipline seemed highly improbable.

But the outcome in the Lord's providence was otherwise. Focusing on TEC's recent canonical change, the Primates responded to it by affirming marriage between a man and a woman as in accord with Anglican tradition and biblical teaching. They went on to call for TEC's suspension from Communion decision-making bodies for the next three years, i.e., pending TEC's 2018 General Convention and the actions it might take. TEC's status was further downgraded by the seating with a voice and a vote of Archbishop Foley Beach of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), consisting largely of dioceses and congregations which had broken away from TEC over biblical obedience. Thereby TEC's claim to exclusivity as the Anglican body in the US was undercut. The visitation of these consequences on TEC sufficed for the Global South Primates (with one exception) to remain at the meeting. Further, they joined with others in desiring to continue "to walk together." This does not mean that divide has been overcome--far from it. But the Communion remains together for the present. And there are grounds for supposing that it will continue, with newly opened possibilities, as outlined below.

For the meeting's agreement Archbishop Justin, who has been underrated by many including me, deserves great credit. Over the previous two years he visited all 38 Communion Primates in their provinces, listening to their views. At the meeting he treated all with courtesy and respect. Even more, he let the Primates set the meeting's agenda rather than setting it for them. In this he showed his acceptance of a shift of the Communion's center of gravity to the Global South, something which his predecessor, Rowan Williams, whether by design or not, struggled against. By doing these things he exposed himself to the ire of the substantial segment of the Church of England pressing for full acceptance of homosexuality. He also risked loss of the large financial contribution which TEC has been making to the Communion's central bureaucracy. A clue to his willingness to do them anyway may be found in his opening address to the Primates. In it he spoke of the East African Revival, the great movement of repentance and renewal beginning in the Rwandan hamlet of Gahini (the peace of which I have experienced) in 1929 and spreading to neighboring countries, as instrumental in his own conversion. Somewhat analogously, my vocation to ordained ministry came out of my exposure to Global South churches in the course of my Foreign Service career.

Credit belongs also to the Primates of the Global South, particularly their Gafcon component, Gafcon being the acronym for Global Anglican Future Conference. The initial one took place in Jerusalem in 2008, a time when the liberal current was in full spate. In the face of it the Gafcon leaders held firm, proclaiming their adherence to traditional Anglicanism in their Jerusalem Declaration while still remaining within Communion. Unpromising as their initiative may have then appeared, without it the Primates' meeting's agreement could not have been reached. Indeed, the meeting itself would not have come about.

Whether the Communion holds together in the longer run, realizing its new potential, of course remains to be seen. In part this depends on TEC and to a lesser extent also on the ACoC and other churches which have gone down TEC's path, although these were not explicitly dealt with at the recent Primates' meeting. TEC may simply continue on its way, considering that the meeting had no authority over it, that its truth is the truth. It may be reluctant to accept a Communion reoriented to the Global South anyway. But in this case it will need to recognize that it is consigning itself to a backwater, out of the vivifying Anglican main stream. Moreover, there is a significant element within TEC, represented at the 2015 General Convention by the 26 bishops who voted against its canonical change and the 11 who signed a dissent from it, desirous of avoiding such isolation. And this, coupled with TEC's ongoing loss of members, which its canonical change and other progressivisms have only exacerbated, makes a reconsideration of its position at least possible. (For a fuller discussion google my article "A Canine Prefiguration of the 2015 Episcopal General Convention" appearing on VOL for July 9, 2015.)

The longer-term outcome depends also on the Global South, perhaps especially its associated ACNA, on which TEC's actions impinge most directly: continuing lawsuits claiming its property and financial assets, deposition of hundreds of its clergy, substantial denial of pension rights. They cannot and should not forget these things. Nevertheless, in a tide-turning in their favor they will need to avoid both triumphalism and bitterness. They will need instead to be guided by Jesus' injunction to love one's neighbor and one's enemy---TEC being both--offering it the gifts they have found most precious. They will need indeed to emulate the Waiting Father in his unconditional welcome of the returning Prodigal.

The fulfilment of these conditions might be reckoned impossible except for a hitherto little noticed aspect of the Primates' meeting. This is its restoration of conciliarism, of decision-taking by councils rather than a single leader and his associates. Based on the premise that the Spirit is more likely to speak through a faithful gathering than through an individual, conciliarism has a long history in the church, tracing back to the New Testament. In the Anglican Communion it began with the institution of the Lambeth Conference in 1867. It extended to the Anglican Consultative Council established in 1968 and finally to the Primates' meeting, begun in 1978. The Primates' meeting in particular assumed an active role.

A feature of Rowan Williams' archiepiscopacy was the reduction of all three of these Instruments to impotence: (For a detailed account, google my article "Anglican Conciliarism: A Bright Hope Extinguished," appearing first on VOL for March 27, 2011.) To this evisceration of conciliarism the present woes of the Communion may be largely attributed. But Archbishop Justin, not only by his conduct of the recent Primates' meeting but also by his careful groundwork prior to it, seems intent on restoring it. And to the extent to which the Lord grants him success, the Communion's woes may indeed issue in new and enlarged life.

The Rev. Ted Lewis is Resident Theologian of All Saints' Church, Chevy Chase, Maryland

Addendum A text of the Primates' meeting communique of January 16, 2016, follows:

1. We gathered as Anglican Primates to pray and consider how we may preserve our unity in Christ given the ongoing deep differences that exist among us concerning our understanding of marriage.

2. Recent developments in The Episcopal Church with respect to a change in their Canon on marriage represent a fundamental departure from the faith and teaching held by the majority of our Provinces on the doctrine of marriage. Possible developments in other Provinces could further exacerbate this situation.

3. All of us acknowledge that these developments have caused further deep pain throughout our Communion.

4. The traditional doctrine of the church in view of the teaching of Scripture, upholds marriage as between a man and a woman in faithful, lifelong union. The majority of those gathered reaffirm this teaching.

5. In keeping with the consistent position of previous Primates' meetings such unilateral actions on a matter of doctrine without Catholic unity is considered by many of us as a departure from the mutual accountability and interdependence implied through being in relationship with each other in the Anglican Communion.

6. Such actions further impair our communion and create a deeper mistrust between us. This results in significant distance between us and places huge strains on the functioning of the Instruments of Communion and the ways in which we express our historic and ongoing relationships.

7. It is our unanimous desire to walk together. However given the seriousness of these matters we formally acknowledge this distance by requiring that for a period of three years The Episcopal Church no longer represent us on ecumenical and interfaith bodies, should not be appointed or elected to an internal standing committee and that while participating in the internal bodies of the Anglican Communion, they will not take part in decision making on any issues pertaining to doctrine or polity.

8. We have asked the Archbishop of Canterbury to appoint a Task Group to maintain conversation among ourselves with the intention of restoration of relationship, the rebuilding of mutual trust, healing the legacy of hurt, recognizing the extent of our commonality and exploring our deep differences, ensuring they are held between us in the love and grace of Christ.

END