Postcolonial Anglicanism: One Global Identity or Many Contextual Identities?

Postcolonial Anglicanism: One Global Identity or Many Contextual Identities? Books Discussed Beyond Colonial Anglicanism: The Anglican Communion in Twenty-First Century. By Ian T. Douglas and Kwok Pui-lan. New York: Church Publishing, 2001. Anglicans in Canada: Controversies and Identity in Historical Perspective. By Alan Hayes. Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 2004. Aspects of Anglican Identity. By Colin Podmore. London: Church House Publishing, 2005. Church, State and Society in Malawi: Studies in Anglican Ecclesiology. By James Tengatenga. Africa: Kachere Series, 2006. In anticipation of Lambeth Conference 2008, when invited bishops from around Anglican Communion will meet to discuss and mission, this article considers four books that have been written on Anglican since 1998 Lambeth Conference. Consistent with an emerging contemporary pattern in which books have been published before and after Lambeth conferences, anticipating and responding to conference themes, Paul Avis's book was recently published-Identity of Anglicanism: Essentials of Anglican Ecclesiology.1 That book, however, does not stand alone as signature book anticipating theme of Lambeth 2008 in same way as previous conferences have been associated with one or two books. Steven Sykes s The Integrity of Anglicanism was written just before Lambeth Conference 1978, anticipating global reactions to women's ordination and what this was to mean for a coherent Anglican identity.2 Norman Doe's The Canon Law of Anglican Communion was published as Lambeth 1998 got underway, anticipating importance of juridical principles, particularly responses to Archbishop Robin Eames's Commission on Communion that produced Virginia Report.3 For some good reasons, one of common themes among all these books is notion of identity. The Latin root ofthat word, idem, means the same, which can describe core beliefs held in common by a given group of people. Twenty-five years ago, Stephen Sykes asked Anglican Communion to reconsider its in light of contemporary pressures on faith and tradition. While Sykes was concerned that Anglicanism was becoming associated with a lack of commonly held beliefs, political theorist William Connolly offers a different way to think about identity. Connolly suggests that identity requires difference in order to be, and it converts difference into otherness.4 This other that produces has been focus of postmodern scholars and Anglicans committed to bringing liberation and justice to oppressed (whether persons of color, women, or gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered persons). Between Sykes s concern for what is same and Connolly s interest for what is different lies part of sustained source of Anglican conflict between particular forms of tradition and inclusive justice. There is another dimension to that has been given very little attention by Anglicans until very recently. How do we think differently about Anglican in a context? The definition of postcolonial is in dispute; but at a minimum, and using categories of Fernando Segovia, it is that which follows colonial.5 By looking at annual sermons from Society for Propagation of Gospel (SPG), Rowan Strong dates British colonial empire as early as 1701 and as late as 1997 with transfer of Hong Kong to Chinese.6 However, postcolonial refers not just to what temporally comes after colonial; it is also that which questions colonial.7 While theorists have been working for decades, Anglican theologians are just now taking their first steps into work. Strong names colonial hegemony: To be English was epitome of a civilized Christian human, and therefore acme of God's will. Under such an English paradigm conversion meant an annihilation of indigenous identity. …

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