He is stepping down early and is succeeded by the current Archbishop of Melbourne, Dr. Philip Freier. He beat out the evangelical Archbishop of Sydney, the Most Rev. Glenn Davies who was considered too conservative for the job. Reports say that Davies was unelectable due to his opposition to women bishops and, even more importantly, his advocacy of diaconal and lay presidency. Davies made an appearance at the Annual Assembly of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) in Latrobe, PA, recently where Archbishop Robert Duncan was honored as the outgoing Archbishop and Bishop Foley Beach was elected the denomination’s new leader.

A report by the Diocesan Financial Advisory Group (DFAG), established in the 1990s to assist dioceses to improve the quality of their financial reporting, revealed a serious lack in the quality of that reporting but also indicated serious underlying financial and governance issues. “We believe there is a “burning
platform which requires urgent attention now,” they noted.

What the 25-page report failed to mentioned is the growing theological liberalism and revisionism that is driving the national church and most of its bishops. Archbishop Peter Jensen, in his final Presidential Address to the Sydney Synod, lamented the creeping centrism of the Australian Church. Other reports indicate the situation is far worse with the situation in Australia fast resembling the American Episcopal Church in matters of faith and morals.

Anglican Primate Aspinall bowed out as titular head of the church after nine years bookended by bitter rows over child sexual abuse. As one observer noted, even though the sexual abuse stuff obviously had to be dealt with Aspinall seems to have used it - as he does in his speech - to transform the Primate from a mere chairman among equals into a president wielding power!

The 54-year-old will stay on as the Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane, his launching pad to the primacy. He was appointed as archbishop when Peter Hollingworth was named governor-general in 2001. Hollingsworth, the disgraced, shamed and justifiably maligned former archbishop of Brisbane was exposed as grossly negligent on Aspinall's watch on allegations that amounted to paedophilic priests and school teachers working in Anglican schools in the Brisbane diocese being protected. Aspinall confronted allegations that the Brisbane diocese had failed to act against predatory priests and teachers employed by church schools.

“I recall that in the Diocese of Brisbane, even those who are theologically the same stripe as Aspinall regard him as pretty ruthless when it comes to his own authority. And he micro-manages . . . he MUST be ‘in charge’ right to the smallest detail,” said a source.

Truth be told, Aspinall has very little actual parish ministry experience, and has always been a bureaucrat. The ultra-liberal leader not only supported the pansexual agenda of The Episcopal Church, he personally invited the most heretical bishop - John Shelby Spong of The Episcopal Church - into his diocese, befriending and defending the Newark bishop. Spong had nothing but praise for the ultra-liberal Anglican primate. Aspinall in turn came to admire TEC’s leadership in changing the faith and was an occasional visitor to Episcopal Church General Conventions. Ironically, former Anglican Archbishop Peter Hollingworth banned Spong from Brisbane Anglican churches in 2001. But two years on from his ban, Spong, who stayed with Aspinall, was invited to preach at St John's Cathedral. as well as two other Anglican churches even though Spong had denied most of the essential doctrines of the Christian Faith. An organizer of the visit, the Rev. Greg Jenks, said Bishop Spong would be more welcome this time because of the change in leadership. That turned out to be true.

“He (Aspinall) has always managed to stay just short of the line that would otherwise have conspicuously marked him out as one of the ultra liberals of the Anglican Communion,” a source told VOL, but his actions indicate otherwise. He was at loggerheads with the evangelical Archbishop of Sydney, Dr. Peter Jensen over that diocese’s orthodox stand on faith and morals.

Conservative evangelical leaders in Brisbane tried to reach out to Aspinall when he was elected Archbishop; however, he used his knowledge of what the liberals in Brisbane regarded as their "power base" to basically divide the "moderates" in each case from what he considered the "hard liners". It is only the Diocese of Sydney that prevented Australian Anglicanism becoming a clone of TEC.

Addressing the subject of homosexuality, Aspinall stated, “On the face of it a small number of biblical texts seem to condemn homosexual sexual activity. However, we must also recognize that, though there is still much to learn, we do know now more than the biblical authors knew in their age about homosexuality. That must be taken into account as must the experience of homosexual people who are committed to Christ and the Church and who do not believe they are called to celibacy.”

In his presidential address, Aspinall talked at length about Child Protection and the Royal Commission on child sex abuse, but bewailed that neither the General Synod, nor the Standing Committee, nor the Primate, nor the General Secretary has any power to compel compliance.

Addressing the underlying theological issues in the Anglican province, Aspinall noted that “change seems to be as elusive as it is necessary,” and asked, “What drives these dynamics?”

He noted the independence of dioceses and said that decisions, which might be good for one part of Australia, are not forced onto other dioceses where they won’t work, aren’t relevant or are not wanted.

“Over time increasing diversity has diminished and weakened our internal sense of coherence and belonging together. It has also hindered the way we present ourselves to the wider community and frankly baffled some who observe the Anglican Church from outside. Such bewilderment contributes to lack of understanding, undermines identity and trust and so inhibits effectiveness in mission. We are now reaping the consequences as the wider community holds up a mirror in which we see ourselves.”

VOL: This is true. Archbishop Aspinall’s personal embrace of pansexuality has put him at odds with the vast majority of Global South archbishops, bishops and their dioceses that eschew such behavior, precisely because the underlying issues are not merely the autonomy of individual member churches, but diverse theological views.

There is no incoherence between the ACNA and the Anglican Provinces of Nigeria or Uganda (to name just two), not because there are no central instrumentalities, but because Scriptural authority has been challenged on key moral issues that now separate most of the liberal West (global north) from the vibrantly growing evangelically driven Global South.

“The proposed Covenant for the Anglican Communion is an attempt to give expression to catholicity at the international level, without overriding local autonomy. I believe it remains worthy of serious consideration and that many of the fears and criticisms raised are unfounded,” said Aspinall. However the Covenant is far from being adopted by the majority of the provinces, only a handful have accepted it. To date The Episcopal Church has rejected it, a church closer theologically to Australia than Southeast Asia or the Southern Cone.

“At root we are dealing with a spiritual issue. Historically the Anglican Church of Australia has been plagued by lack of trust, suspicion and party spirit,” writes Aspinall.

“Progress will come when perceptions are transformed to the point where we recognize the same apostolic faith in the other with whom we differ. Yes we might have been nurtured in traditions with different emphases and expressions, but when we can recognize the other as living out the same apostolic faith in a way different from but not opposed to my own expression, that recognition makes reconciliation possible. That recognition allows us to see each other as gift, to approach each other with gratitude and with the expectation that the other can and will enhance me, rather than with fear because I perceive the other as opposing me and threatening to diminish or harm me in some way.”

But as one observer told VOL, “Opposition to him has been silenced outside Sydney.”

Aspinall raises the old canard of “prolonged, patient listening and learning” and “adversarial win/lose decision-making”, the favorite piñatas of liberals, but he fails to address the underlying theological differences that has led to the worldwide de facto schism among Anglicans.

He views the issues as little more than tactical maneuvering to secure the political upper hand, but that is not to do justice to the real issues. The underlying issues in the Australian Anglican province, as it is for New Zealand, the US and Canada, is indeed theological. Those unresolved theological tensions have brought about a global realignment that will not go away just because he wishes it would.

That realignment has brought about the birth of GAFCON, GFAC, the ACNA, the ANIC – all of which signal that the issues are not merely procedural, political or resolvable with power politics or money.

The mostly liberal Anglican West has “another gospel” condemned by the Apostle Paul; the Global South, on the other hand, is growing and thriving with a clear fix on the gospel and the Great Commission. Aspinall and his successor, reportedly a more orthodox archbishop, but not necessarily evangelical or Anglo-Catholic, have no answers except to watch as their churches slowly wilt and die while African Anglican dioceses and parishes grow and thrive despite poverty, wars and persecution.

Aspinall’s legacy, like that of Dr. Rowan Williams, will be seen as fostering a liberal Anglican agenda that is at odds with the vibrant evangelical Global South and those growing remnants of orthodox Anglicanism in the US like the Anglican Church in North America and the Anglican Network in Canada that have sheared off from their respective mother churches over faith and morals. A new day has dawned for global Anglicanism and its momentum will not be stopped.

END