THE GREAT UNRAVELING: ANALYSIS OF ANGLICAN CRISIS

By David W. Virtue

The Ohio confirmations mark a decisive escalation in the Anglican realignment—what one observer calls “the great unraveling” of the Episcopal Church (ECUSA).

Held secretly at an Orthodox church to avoid injunction, the service drew ~800 attendees, with Bishop FitzSimons Allison preaching on defending the faith—and invoking 19th-century Ohio Bishop Charles P. McIlvaine’s warnings against rationalism and ecclesial idolatry.

This act signals a new willingness among orthodox Anglicans to defy canonical boundaries when conscience and orthodoxy are at stake. While ECUSA leaders decry it as “defiant,” critics note parallels to the 1974 Philadelphia ordinations—also illegal, yet later normalized.

The deeper crisis is demographic and spiritual: ECUSA membership fell 36% (1966–2001) while clergy numbers rose 63%, reducing members per priest from 343 to 133. Over 500 parishes have closed or departed since 1985.

Dioceses led by revisionist bishops show steep decline: Ohio (40K→24K), El Camino Real under Schimpfky (30K→12K)—suggesting theological innovation correlates with attrition, not renewal.

Meanwhile, Archbishop Rowan Williams’ endorsement of atheist Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials for religious education reveals a broader strategy: engaging doubt as a pedagogical tool. Yet many traditionalists see this as further evidence of doctrinal drift—a Church accommodating unbelief rather than proclaiming Christ.

The path forward remains uncertain. Disciplinary action against retired bishops is unlikely—and may backfire. More probable: accelerating realignment, with orthodox networks (e.g., NACDP, AAC) forming proto-provinces under global Anglican primates.

As one priest observed: “A monochrome network of geographical dioceses may be passing into history as rapidly as an all-male priesthood once did.”