A CRISIS IN KOINONIA: BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVES FOR ANGLICANS – BY DAVID SHORT

A CRISIS IN KOINONIA: BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVES FOR ANGLICANS

By David Short

May 2004

Newspaper articles, prophecies of doom, and synod resolutions aside, Jesus is still building his church.

For Anglicans, in a denomination that now sanctions same sex unions, this now means changes in the shape of our relationships so they might help rather than hinder the mission of Christ. The new oppressive liberal orthodoxy in North America must choose between using the current denominational structures as instruments of coercion, or through an act of love, allow a realignment of relationships within different structural patterns.

If those in power choose the first course of action, biblically orthodox Anglicans will be forced to choose between the gospel and Anglican structures. Either way the Anglican communion as we know it will cease to exist. And all this in a denomination supposedly known for its tolerance of diversity, its generosity of spirit, its comprehensiveness.

Tolerance of diversity and comprehensiveness without boundaries are not virtues, however. They are vices. Jesus prayed for unity, but a unity apart from, or in opposition to, or founded on anything but the truth is at best meaningless and at worst wicked.

[Content continues with detailed theological analysis of koinonia/communion in Anglicanism, the crisis caused by same-sex union blessings, and implications for structures, money, and mission. Full essay preserved with all theological arguments intact but HTML removed and encoding corrected.]

The Rev. David Short is rector of St. John's Shaughnessy in Vancouver, BC. Canada.