Bp. Iker Invents the Missouri Synod

Stand Firm has just published an interesting interview with Bp. Iker. The interviewer, Greg Griffith, gets to the heart of the "market analysis" in this question:

Greg Griffith:...My question is: How competitive will the new province be? Because that's what you're gong to be doing, you're going to be out there on the market, competing with the Episcopal Church for membership, and you're going to have to explain to people why it's better to be in "our" province rather than "the other" province. Doctrinally, that should be a slam-dunk, but when it comes to a feeling of permanence, I think there are a lot of people still inside TEC who are of the mind that, while TEC may be apostate, maybe even heretical, in many places, there is perhaps less of a question of where one stands - at least in terms of one's "official" Anglican membership - in a TEC that's over two centuries old, than in a brand-new province with only four dioceses.

Bishop Iker: I think that one of the realities in the Episcopal Church is that there's a great deal of institutional loyalty, and an attachment to buildings, and in the end you have to ask yourself: Is a denominational label, or institutional loyalty, or loyalty to a building, more important than holding to the Gospel? And what has made this time so revolutionary is lots and lots of people deciding that they're willing to walk away from their buildings, and their property, and their denominational loyalty for the sake of the Gospel. And I think the momentum is along those lines, and that it's going to continue to build. ‘By their fruits ye shall know them' is going to be the indicator of how churches grow in the next decade. There will be competition, and there will be rivalry, and one will be blessed by God with growth and one will not. One only has to take a look at the numbers for the Episcopal Church up through 2007, which have just been released, to see that the Episcopal Church is a dying church, a decaying body, and that people are fleeing from it for their own souls' health. The Presiding Bishop said she thought the worst part of the crisis was over, and I think that it's just begun.

Greg Griffith: We've discussed division in the communion as a whole, but I want to talk now about division within the orthodox movement, and I wanted to start generally and then get more specific. Generally, I'd want to start with the inside strategy versus the outside strategy - in America, the desire to take a stand by staying inside the Episcopal Church versus the desire to take a stand by leaving it. At Stand Firm, we try - with varying degrees of success - to foster an attitude whereby both sides respect each other. [sic] Can you talk about these two approaches to the crisis?

Bishop Iker: We've tried to remain and be a faithful witness to the Gospel for the last 25 years, and the situation has gotten worse, not better. It's said that the definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect different results, and we have no intention of trying to remain and be that faithful remnant any longer; there's just no future for us. I think the people who have chosen to remain in the Episcopal Church for the time being are going to come to that same conclusion, and it's going to be sooner rather than later, because they're going to have an option to remain faithful Anglicans, by means of another province. TEC won't be the only game in town.

My response, as someone still committed to the "inside strategy" of fostering communion in the midst of conflict, is that TEC isn't the only game in town, and never has been. The only thing that the realignment strategy is doing is creating another denomination. There's the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod. How would the "two province" solution be any different than this? The only difference is in the brand name.

We have plenty of Baptist options, Presbyterian options, Methodist/Wesleyan options, and now, if the realigners have their way, we will have more Anglican/Episcopal options.

Of course, the ELCA is a member of the World Lutheran Federation, while the LCMS is not. Will it turn out the same way with TEC and the as-yet-unnamed New Orthodox Anglican North American Province? Will both be a part of the Anglican Communion? What, then, will make the Anglican Communion a communion? (Of course, the question is rightly posed: What now makes the Anglican Communion a communion?) Interestingly, while the World Lutheran Federation has expressed a desire to become less a "federation" and more a "communion of churches," many Anglicans seem headed in exactly the opposite direction.

Bp. Iker and his colleagues have not founded a new province of the Anglican Communion. They've simply created an Anglican version of the LCMS.

And let's not forget WELS!

Congratulations. The denominationalists have scored another victory.

And the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, of which we are both sinful and hurting members, has wounded itself yet again.

What was it Bp. Iker said about the inside strategists? "It's said that the definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect different results."

From where I'm sitting, this statement appears to be just as true of those who reform by splitting ad nauseum as it is of anyone else. Perhaps even more so.

Bp. Iker, my brother in Christ, you are simply re-inventing the wheel. And the enemies of the Church thank you. The good news is that I have no doubt that the Holy Spirit is working even now to redeem the mess we've all made. But the Spirit will likely accomplish this redemption despite, not because of, us.