wfn.org | Foundation Fellows to focus on Anglican Communion's divisions

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2000-024

Foundation Fellows to focus on Anglican Communion's divisions

by Lindsay Hardin Freeman

     (ENS) For the first time, the Episcopal Church Foundation 
has called together all its Fellows--leading theological scholars 
and teachers--to probe one issue. In a February conference 
entitled "Tradition and Innovation in Anglicanism: Hermeneutics 
in a Global Communion," the group will discuss the bases for the 
deep divisions in the Anglican Communion that came to light 
during the 1998 Lambeth Conference.

     The work of hermeneutics--the study of interpretation, 
especially in how we seek to understand scripture--has taken on a 
new importance since the 1998 conference exposed differences in 
basic faith understanding. Much has been said about the disparity 
between some of the viewpoints of the Episcopal Church in 
particular and those of the developing world, particularly 
Africa.

     With the new leadership of the African and Asian churches, 
the Anglican Communion overall finds itself dealing with the 
realities of not only a post-modernist world, but a post-colonial 
one as well.

A rich pool of talent

     A total of 80 participants, including faculty, students, and 
trustees from all 11 Episcopal seminaries, will attend the 
February gathering, along with a mix of parish clergy, 
independent scholars, and faculty from both the religious and 
secular academy.

     Scheduled at the House of the Redeemer in New York City, the 
conference will present speakers including Presiding Bishop Frank 
T. Griswold and several Fellows: Cynthia Kittredge, Ephraim 
Radner, Titus Presler, Leander Harding, J. Robert Wright, Robert 
Prichard, Christopher Duraisingh and Ellen Davis. Homilies will 
be given by Harold Lewis and Robert Hughes.

     According to Donn Mitchell of the foundation staff, the 
interdisciplinary gathering of scholars is built upon the model 
of the Church Congresses that occurred periodically from the 
1870s through the early 1930s. Papers were presented from a 
variety of perspectives--with open discussion but no necessity to 
vote legislatively allowing participants to think through issues 
free from political pressure to decide. "As a model, it really 
speaks to the Anglican experience," he said.

Finding points of convergence

     Episcopal Divinity School Professor Ian Douglas, who heads 
up the Fellows Forum, views the gathering as important on two 
levels. "First, it is vital for the Anglican Communion and 
Christianity--at a time that the church is moving from colonial 
to post-colonial life, and from modern to post-modern life--to 
look at the central question of  "how do we know what we know 
about faith in the church and where are the points of convergence 
and points of conflict in these changing times? My own particular 
bias is to an Anglican hermeneutic that embraces plurality and 
openness."

     But second, he says, "The reality of the Foundation Fellows 
coming together across our theological and disciplinary 
differences in order to have reasoned theological discourse is 
crucial at a time of increasing anti-intellectualism. The fact 
that all of us can come together bodes well for the possibilities 
of theological discourse and leadership in the church."

     The Episcopal Church Foundation is the major supporter of 
advanced theological training for ecclesial scholars in the 
Episcopal Church, through its program of fellowships for doctoral 
work. Nearly a third of the foundation's 152 Fellows have gone on 
to serve in one or more of the church's 11 seminaries.

     Since 1964, the Episcopal Church Foundation has invested 
close to $5 million in the Graduate Fellowship Program. Fellows 
have been expected to have at least 20 years of potential 
teaching time ahead of them and have earned doctorates in a wide 
range of subjects, depending on the needs of the church. Although 
early recipients were all clergy, 18 percent of fellowships have 
been awarded to lay men and women. 

     The Fellows Forum was conceived by Dr. Harold Whiteman, 
former head of the Foundation's Education Committee, who 
suggested that these intellectual leaders be organized formally 
as "lively advocates for the life of the mind" in the Episcopal 
Church.

--The Rev. Lindsay Hardin Freeman is priest associate at St. 
Martin's-by-the-Lake Episcopal Church in Minnetonka Beach, 
Minnesota.