LET’S HEED THE CALL TO THE PROMISED LAND

By the Rev. Claudia C. Kalis, Vicar, St. Bartholomew’s Anglican Church, High Springs, FL

When my daughter was 3, her popsicle would sometimes break—and she’d cry, “Mom, fix it! Please fix it!”

I quickly learned: some things cannot be fixed. The only solution? Give her a new one.

The Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes has made magnanimous efforts to respond to the tear-streaked faces pleading, “Fix it! Please fix it!”But at some point—and I hope it is soon—the Network must learn what I did: some things that are broken simply cannot be fixed. They must be set aside and replaced.

I applaud the Network’s leadership—and the AAC’s—for giving orthodox Anglicans a place to stand. But we are weary of standing amidst the turmoil, waiting for repair of what is irreparably shattered.

There is an orthodoxy of association. As Isaiah warns: “Leave Babylon, flee from the Babylonians! Announce this with shouts of joy!”Paul writes in Ephesians: “Let no one deceive you with empty words… Therefore do not be partners with them.”Jesus says of the unrepentant brother: “Treat him as you would a pagan or tax collector.”

I believe it is past time for the Network to “leave ECUSA, flee from the pagans—and proclaim it with joy.”Until then, we watch the slow demise of Anglican witness in the U.S.—while exhausting our global brothers and sisters who stand ready to help if only we act.

The Network is uniquely poised to solve the crisis of Adequate Episcopal Oversight—not by begging revisionists, but by acting:

• Orthodox clergy become Network employees, resign diocesan posts, and serve under orthodox bishops.

• Their congregations redirect funds from dioceses to the Network—covering pensions, insurance, and new church plants.

• Convocational Deans negotiate temporary space with Roman Catholics, Seventh-Day Adventists, and others (many already sympathetic).

To quibble over property while our witness is at stake defies our proclaimed priorities. Let ECUSA keep the buildings—with the mortgages, utilities, insurance, and maintenance.What will Bishop Lee do when he has 50 empty, decaying churches to tend?

Churches with endowments should review restrictions—many allow gifting to orthodox missionary work. These could be “gifted” to the Network.

The call must shift: It is no longer the orthodox pleading for oversight—but the orthodox offering oversight to revisionist parishes. Imagine if Bishop Duncan told his revisionist congregations they needed to find “adequate oversight.” How quickly would the song change?

The Network has the support. Now it needs the courage—to kick the dust off its feet, take up the cross, and sever ties with structures leading only to death.

An increasing number of churches will bail for AMiA, EMS, or other bodies. If the Network delays radical action, it may find itself with no one left to lead.

We do not want to play corrupt games with corrupt institutions any longer.We long to carry the Gospel—untangled from sin, evil, and death.

It is time.Not to tinker.But to trust, to leap, and to build anew.