"Brothers+

I hear you, but in my opinion, a "genuinely global
communion of interdependent autonomous Churches"
is so inherently contradictory it will never achieve
the unity for which our Lord prayed. In the Continuum
we have seen such a proliferation of bishops that in
some cases, we have bishops with one congregation in
their diocese. There has been no communion between
many of these bishops, in fact there is open animosity
in some cases. How does that differ from
congregationalism? 

Charles+
Church of the Good Shepherd, Indianapolis"
   
  Fr. Charles+
   
  Perhaps I misstated or was unclear--I think the unity that Orthodoxy has (at the level of the national churches) is still the most realistic outcome, where the bishops of the Church actually recognize one another but each national body has some degree of autonomy. However, this autonomy cannot alter the Catholic Faith and practice of the Church. Again, in Orthodoxy any national church that does this would be immediately separated from the rest of the bishops. Not so in Anglicanism, especially when the C of E is a major source of liberalism and heterodoxy. "Official" Anglicanism has a problem in thinking it can change the Catholic Faith and apostolic order, and I really feel no need for union with Cantur unless the C of E somehow has another reformation and cleans house.  
   
  Right now in America there is no jurisdictional unity in Orthodoxy. They've got an alphabet soup of bodies (not as bad as ours) and animosity amongst the bodies and among major theologians, but their bishops still gather together, recognize the legitimacy of each others faith and order, and at least try and work on unity.
   
  We Anglicans cannot even do that, which is why I think the federation started by the REC and the APA is a good place to start. It often isn't faith and order that separates the continuum, it is indeed political animosity. For better or for worse there are parts of the continuum that behave as though they are "The One True Church" and will have nothing to do with anyone else. It would be nice if we could at least get them into some sort of federation where dialog on unity were possible. Prematurely forcing organizational unity will not help, and has hurt the continuum in that past.    

A "genuinely global communion of interdependent autonomous churches" is what Orthodoxy really has (and what Anglicanism could possibly have), and it has worked for a good while among the Orthodox because it is based on a faith that they know they cannot change. For any federation of autonomous episcopal churches (this would not then be congregationalism because it would be based in the national episcopate) to work we have to have have accountability in the episcopate--that is what official Anglicanism lacks. 
   
  DH+    

 		
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