by The Laird o’Thistle
November 20 2005

This last Tuesday the Queen inaugurated the Eighth General Synod of the Church of England at Church House, Westminster, following a Eucharist celebrated by the Archbishop of Canterbury.  From all accounts, the occasion went off with typically Anglican refinement, much less grim than our traditional Presbyterian doings.  Her Majesty’s chosen outfit of dusky pink and black struck me as a subtle but effective choice for the laywoman who also happens to be the Supreme Governor of the Church of England as she was photographed among her various bishops and clergy robed in black and red.  The theme of her remarks as she opened the new synod concerned the challenges of staying true to unchanging verities in a world of constant change and new challenges.  It is an institutional conundrum with which she is all too familiar.

Once again, as she did several years ago in her Christmas broadcast, the Queen spoke very clearly as a convinced and sincere Christian.  The vision of Christianity that she affirmed was of its potential to unite peoples “irrespective of race, background or circumstances.”  And as she spoke the new Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, the first black to rise so high in the Church of England’s hierarchy, looked on.  But it was to other challenges facing the church that Her Majesty’s address averred when she spoke of the steep and rugged terrain that the church must currently navigate.

It is not news that the Church of England and the Anglican Communion are currently in high dudgeon.  Controversies surrounding the admission of women to the episcopate, the consecration of the openly gay and openly partnered Rev. Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire in the U.S., and the official approval of rites blessing same-sex unions in Canada all have the Anglican world in a dither.

The Church of England itself narrowly escaped a major gay bishop crisis a couple of years back when the nominee, Dr. Jeffrey John, withdrew his name.  It has recently had another round of controversy over the ordination of a transsexual woman, Sarah Jones, to the priesthood.  The church also just recently adopted a somewhat bizarre stance that will allow gay clergy to enter into same-sex civil unions in England… so long as they remain celibate!  (It must have been a good decision because it seems to have satisfied absolutely no one.)

Meanwhile, back in the wider Anglican Communion several of the Anglican provinces in the developing world, most notably those in Africa (except for South Africa), have been threatening schism.  Led by Nigeria’s Archbishop Peter Akinola, several provinces have recently removed references to being in communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury from their governing documents.  Just this Thursday 17 of the 38 Anglican Primates from around the world, mostly from Africa and Asia, issued a letter warning the Archbishop of Canterbury that they were losing confidence in his leadership, and his failure to take a stronger stance supporting traditional morality.  (As of Friday, however, at least two of those seventeen bishops were strongly protesting that their names had been affixed to the letter without their consent.)  Most of those provinces have also severely criticized and forced the U.S. and Canadian branches of the church into probationary status in the worldwide body, and some of the international bishops have been actively seeking adherents among disaffected conservatives in the U.S. church.

And, through all of this, ecumenical relations between the Anglicans, the Roman Catholic Church, and Eastern Orthodoxy are all in a state of flux due, again, to the emerging roles of women and of gays in the church.

For some time my heart has gone out to Rowan Williams, whose tenure as Archbishop of Canterbury will be forever marked by these unsought controversies, and the way in which he handles them.  As both a man of deep spirituality and a brilliant theologian, Archbishop Williams may be one of the best-qualified persons on earth to make the attempt to shepherd the Anglican Communion through these days.  But he has an increasingly impossible task facing him.  And of late I have also wondered what his titular boss, the Queen, may be thinking about all that is going on in her church?

First of all, it strikes me that Queen Elizabeth has a breadth of experience in the Anglican Communion unlike any other layperson.  Wherever she has traveled in her royal duties over the last half century, she has always dropped in for church.  She has undoubtedly met more bishops in her lifetime than Rowan Williams, and she has prayed in most of the provinces of the worldwide body.  If memory serves, she participated in the consecration of the main body of the U.S. church’s “National Cathedral” in Washington D.C. during her Bicentennial visit back in 1976 and has attended other significant moments throughout the Anglican world.  Plus, back home she has handed out the Royal Maundy in so many of the cathedrals in England and Wales that one wonders which ones she’s missed?  (And, one wonders how many “lessons” poor Prince Philip has read during all their travels?)

I have little doubt that Her Majesty is at least comfortable with the advent of women clergy.  The preacher of the day at Tuesday’s Synod was a prominent Methodist clergywoman.  One of the more delightful pictures of the Queen’s most recent trip to Canada was of her and a woman bishop encountering a wandering toddler on their path after church.  Both women looked quite bemused and grandmotherly.  It is the first picture I recall seeing of the Queen and a woman bishop together, and it was a good one for starters.  In due course, the Queen will find herself receiving the first English woman bishop, and that will be that.

I suspect that Her Majesty is probably far more ambivalent on the issue of homosexual bishops and clergy.  On the one hand, the royals have a long history of amicable association with gays.  Both the late Queen Mother and Prince Charles have been known for having numerous gay staff members over the years, including the Prince’s former valet Stephen Barry who was one of the early victims of AIDS.  From the 1920s on, the royals have also associated with well-known gays in the arts, from Noel Coward to Elton John.   (In 1969, Sir Noel Coward’s seventieth birthday celebration was actually a private luncheon at Clarence House with the “darling” Queen Mother, the Queen, Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon.  Expensive gifts, and Coward’s knighthood were bestowed to mark the occasion.)  And over the years the social rules have been revised so that same-sex partners are now received at official royal functions.  The level of quiet low-key royal acceptance is, thus, fairly significant.

But, on the other hand, none of the current royals have made any major overt efforts in support of the homosexual community.  It is all still too controversial politically, let alone religiously.  Except for the late Princess Diana’s pioneering public efforts to reach out to persons living, and dying, with AIDS there have been no memorable visits or charitable patronages that I am aware of.  The Palace apparently continues to hold the movements working for full inclusion of gays and lesbians at a polite but firm arm’s length.  (One wonders if it will take some member of the extended royal family eventually “coming out” to bring a change.)

If I were to guess – and that is only what I am doing – I’d say that the Queen would probably not be entirely comfortable with openly gay clergy and bishops.  It strikes me as mostly a generational issue, and also due to the fact that her personal religious views are said to lean in a somewhat more Evangelical direction.  But, as she faces the current turmoil in the Anglican Communion, Elizabeth II will undoubtedly steer a careful course in support of Archbishop Williams, and scrupulously perform her constitutional duties in England.  If and when an openly gay bishop is selected in the Church of England, she will receive him (or her) just as she would receive any other bishop.  It is her duty.

One final observation.  Given her deep devotion to the Commonwealth of Nations, it must especially tear at Her Majesty’s heart to contemplate the impending fracture of the Communion.  She has skillfully helped to guide the Commonwealth through an amazing half century of tumultuous change.  So perhaps Rowan Williams would do well to sit down and seek her counsel as he carries out his increasingly tenuous role as the symbol of unity for Anglicans throughout the world.  It would be an interesting advisory function for the Supreme Governor in these possibly too interesting times.

Yours aye,

– Ken Cuthbertson