Crises force questions of identity. Identities may remain assumed until some event, or series of events, challenge what may have been taken for granted. The search for identity is an anxious one precisely because it tends to happen in times of upheaval and uncertainty.  In his recent book, Orthoxox Anglican Identity, Fr. Charles Erlandson explores orthodox Anglican identity amidst an ongoing identity crisis within Anglicanism. To do so, Erlandson employs a model of religious identity, which takes into consideration the normative, ecclesial, and practical aspects of Anglicanism. When asked What is Anglicanism?, answers typically involve words like “complicated” and “messy.” Religious identities, however, are typically complex because they involve a “dynamic process of finding unity in diversity” (vvii). Erlandson unpacks the process by which orthodox Anglicans might forge a common identity, even while accepting diversity and ambiguity.

While the broader question of Anglican Identity remains contested, a clearer picture of orthodox Anglicanism has emerged in recent decades in response to liberalism within the church. Erlandson recounts this history as it has played out in The Episcopal Church where, especially since the 1960s, “theological liberalism and unilateral innovations have often appeared together” (6). The Episcopal Church consistently failed to discipline clergy who made such clear departures from orthodoxy, even when official charges of false teaching were made. The festering crisis came to a head in 2003 with the consecration of Gene Robinson, a practicisng homosexual, to the episcopate. This departure from orthodoxy, and act of defiance towards the global communion, not only exposed a weakness in The Episcopal Church to enforce its own discipline, but it also exposed the failure of the Anglican Communion to maintain orthodoxy among its member provinces. This created a rupture in the Anglican Communion with a realignment of Anglican provinces, led primarily by Global South provinces. This orthodox realignment created GAFCON (Global Anglican Future Conference) and the Anglican Church in North America. Erlandson defines orthodox Anglicans as those who accept the “literal truth of the statements of historic Christian creeds,” the Bible as the inspired and ultimate authority for the church, and responding to contemporary challenges, hold an traditional view on the Bible’s teaching on sexuality (3-4). But if these are what draws together orthodox Anglicans, what is specifically Anglican about these commitments?

Answering the question requires a definition of Anglicanism, a notoriously difficult task. Erlandson takes it up, however, with a thorough examination of the eccelisal, normative, and practical definitions of Anglicanism. Each perspective draws out important emphases for how we might arrive at an Anglican orthodox identity. Erlandson tracks the development of Anglican identity in three historical stages. In the first stage, lasting from 1533-1833, Anglican identity centered on strong norms, represented by the Elizabethan settlement at the end of the 16th century in which a Reformed Catholic identity was established, with the Crown, Prayer Book, and Articles taking lead roles. When the Church of England began to reach outside of England, with the founding of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States, Anglicanism entered into a new phase of identity in which the state’s role had to be redefined. In this phase, the Anglican Communion was born as an attempt to establish a communion-wide authority through the Lambeth Conference and other instruments of unity.

Erlandson highlights the inherent weakness of the authority of the Anglian Communion as it became more diverse. While the authority of England waned in this period, the upshot was a return to the Fathers and efforts to see Anglicans not so much in continuity with England, but a church in continuity with the apostolic and patristic church. But also in this stage, there was the development of liberalism as movements like Darwinism and German Higher Biblical criticism made inroads into the church. The third and current stage of Anglican identity is one in which authority, norms, and identity has further weakened. Since 1947, roughly 30 Anglican provinces have been formed, and it’s in this period that communion with the see of Canterbury has become important. The role of Canberbury as the titular head of the global communion comes to the fore in this present period. As Erlandson observes, “Instead of the Prayer Book and Articles, the Anglican Communion norms appear to be such things as the ideals of communion (koinonia), mutual respect for provincial autonomy, subsidiarity, and interdependence” (33).

After surveying the phases of Anglican identity, Erlandson hazards his own definition of Anglicanism:

“Anglicanism is the life of the catholic church that was planted in England in the first few centuries after Christ; reshaped decisively by the English Reformation that reformed the received catholic traditions and also by the Evangelical and Catholic Revivals and other historical movements of the Spirit; and that has now been inculturated into independent, global churches” (36).

It’s a mouthful, but Erlandson’s definition is comprehensive, acknowledging the Reformed Catholic character of the church, its origins in England but also how it has morphed into “independent, global churches.” In succeeding chapters, he deals realistically with the challenges of living out an orthodox Anglican identity. Even among orthodox Anglicans, there will be differing views of ecclesial, normative, and practical aspects of identity. While orthodox Anglicans have a common commitment to the authority of Scripture and the Creeds, as orthodox Anglicanism becomes more global, so its ecclesial identity will be forged in a global context. So, for example, orthodox Anglicans now no longer look to Canterbury, but to places like Lagos, Kampala, Nairobi, Singapore, members of GACON. GAFCON is not a communion, but an ecclesial network of orthodox provinces.  The Jerusalem Declaration, the statement of faith for GAFCON, highlights the role of the traditional Anglican formularies like the 1662 Prayer Book and the Articles and articulates a commitment to what might be called orthodox or “mere” Christianity. But like the Anglican Communion, GAFCON lacks formal powers of enforcement and discipline and within GAFCON churches there is a wide range of diversity in practice (e.g., Evangelicals, Anglo-Catholics, and Charismatics) and theology (e.g., the ordination of women,overlapping dioceses and jurisdictions).

Such diversity, without stronger norms and authority, may lead to further fracture. While orthodox Anglicans share a common appeal to the authority of Scripture, Erlandson wonders whether this will be enough to maintain an orthodox Anglican identity. Orthodox Anglicans in GAFCON have not only affirmed their commitment to Scripture’s central authority, but also acknowledged the crucial role formulaires of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer and the Thirty-Nine Articles. In practice, however, questions remain regarding what sort of subscription to the Articles should be required and what does faithful adaptation of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer look like in a globalized, contemporary Anglicanism?

Erlandson finally turns to questions of practical consideration. What does orthodox Anglicanism actually look like on the ground? It’s become commonplace to note the comprehension of Global orthodox Anglicanism to include Catholic, Evangelical and Charismatic spiritualities. Lesslie Newbigin used a similar taxonomy  as early as 1953  in The Household of God. For Erlandson, orthodox Anglicans need to reckon with the actual diversity of Anglican spiritualities in the Global South, a place where Charismatic spirituality is heavily influencing orthodox Anglican identity. Such a recognition will not simply help one gain an appreciation for the diversity of orthodox Anglicanism but also emphasize the complexity of Anglican identity in practice. But the comprehensiveness of Anglicanism will not be helpful in forming a distinctly orthodox Anglican identity. 

If normative, ecclesial, and practical modes of identity all prove problematic, then what gives for a coherent orthodox identity? Erlandson points to the possibility of a “post-Anglican” Anglican future, in which an identity of orthodoxy is worked out in a globalized context. But this fourth stage of Anglican identity will be messier than the previous three, as traditional Anglican norms  like the Articles and Prayer Book will likely  play less important roles. Erlandson acknowledges that he presents a discouraging picture, but yet he holds out hope for a truly united global church, as Jesus prayed in John 17. “Anglicanism is  a microcosm of the entire Christian church,” writes Erlandson, because it’s identity, elusive as it is, is influenced from different directions, it illuminates the diversity, messiness, and the hope of the global church.

Erlandson is not romantic about orthodox Anglican identity, nor does he harken back to a Golden Age of Anglicanism which we must recover. Erlandson’s book, though not explicitly prescriptive, is a call to embrace orthodoxy and complexity. Though Erlandson is sanguine about the pitfalls even within the orthodox and Global Anglican church, one catches a note of hope.  As orthodox Anglicans grapple with the diverse influences in play, “out of this hybrid Anglican identity may come a new way of imagining Christian unity” (168). Erlandson’s book would have been strengthened by imagining what such unity might look like, how orthodox Anglicanism in particular  might play a role in working towards genuine Christian unity in global and local contexts. Instead, we’re left with only a glimmer of hope at the end of the book. In the End of Protestantism, Peter Leithart makes a plea for unity that puts forward a Reformed Catholicism that is connected to the global church but situated on the ground in local communities. Perhaps the “End of Protestantism ” and “post-Anglican Anglicanism” are getting at two realities ripe not just for realignment, but revival.  All the same, the book is a helpful read to understand the complex dynamics involved in religious identity as it relates to orthodox Anglicanism and should be picked up by all who are interested in the future of orthodox Anglicanism.

Blake Johnson is pastor of Church of the Holy Cross in Crozet, VA.