Changing Attitude (Anglican)

Changing Attitude (Anglican)
Name	Changing Attitude (Anglican)
Type	Movement within Anglicanism
Location	Worldwide Anglican Communion

Changing Attitude (Anglican) is a movement within the Anglican tradition advocating shifts in pastoral practice, doctrinal emphasis, and institutional policy regarding sexuality, ordination, and inclusion. It intersects with debates involving leading figures, dioceses, and provinces across the Anglican Communion, prompting responses from archbishops, primates, synods, and theological colleges. The movement has influenced relations among churches such as the Church of England, the Episcopal Church in the USA, the Anglican Church of Canada, the Church of Ireland, and the Anglican Church of Australia.

Background and Origins

Changing Attitude emerged amid late 20th-century and early 21st-century controversies that involved actors and events such as Rowan Williams, George Carey, Michael Ramsey, Justin Welby, John Sentamu, Desmond Tutu, Frank Griswold, Katharine Jefferts Schori, Ted Hughes, Mark Santer, Simon Barrington-Ward, Stephen Cottrell, N. T. Wright, Richard Hooker, William Laud, Thomas Cranmer, Henry VIII, Elizabeth I and institutional moments like the Lambeth Conference, the Anglican Consultative Council, and national synods in Canterbury Cathedral, St Paul's Cathedral, Glasgow Cathedral, Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, and St George's Cathedral, Cape Town. Influences included public controversies, disciplinary cases, and notable legal decisions such as actions in the Privy Council of the United Kingdom and court rulings affecting clergy appointments in jurisdictions including New York (state), Ontario, New South Wales, and Quebec.

The movement drew attention alongside cultural and political developments associated with figures and events like Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair, Barack Obama, Boris Johnson, Theresa May, Hillary Clinton, Nelson Mandela, Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, Pope Francis, United Nations, European Court of Human Rights, and legislative changes such as civil partnership and same-sex marriage acts in United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, United States, and New Zealand. Academic and ecclesial debates invoked scholarship from institutions like Oxford University, Cambridge University, Yale University, Harvard University, University of Toronto, McGill University, University of Sydney, and seminaries including Westcott House, Cambridge, Westminster Theological Centre, General Theological Seminary, Trinity College Theological School, and Wycliffe Hall, Oxford.

Theological Basis and Doctrinal Debates

Advocates and opponents of Changing Attitude appealed to canonical, biblical, and patristic sources often associated with individuals such as Augustine of Hippo, Thomas Aquinas, John Wesley, Richard Hooker, Hooker, Richard, John Henry Newman, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Origen, Irenaeus, Athanasius of Alexandria, Anselm of Canterbury, William Tyndale, Richard Baxter, and modern theologians like Alister McGrath, Rowan Williams, N. T. Wright, James Alison, Philip Jenkins, Diarmaid MacCulloch, and Elaine Pagels. Debates referenced creeds and formularies such as the Book of Common Prayer, the Thirty-Nine Articles, the Canons of the Church of England, and provincial canons in The Episcopal Church (United States), Anglican Church of Canada, Anglican Church of Australia, and Church in Wales.

Doctrinal arguments cited scriptural texts found in Hebrew Bible, New Testament, particular Pauline epistles like Romans (Bible), 1 Corinthians, 1 Timothy, and gospel passages associated with Matthew (Gospel), Luke (Gospel), and John (Gospel). Hermeneutical methods referenced scholars and traditions represented by Historical Jesus research, Biblical criticism, Patristics, Natural law theory linked to Thomas Aquinas, and ethical frameworks from Immanuel Kant, John Rawls, and Alasdair MacIntyre. Controversies often invoked ecclesiological models associated with Episcopacy, synodical government, and concepts of authority exemplified by figures like Thomas Cranmer and institutions including the Archbishop of Canterbury and national primates such as Archbishop of York.

Liturgical and Pastoral Practices

Liturgical adjustments and pastoral guidance linked to Changing Attitude encompassed rites and pastoral resources in the Book of Alternative Services (Anglican Church of Canada), the Alternative Service Book (Church of England), contemporary liturgies used by parishes such as Holy Trinity Brompton, All Saints, Margaret Street, St Martin-in-the-Fields, Truro Cathedral, and diocesan offices in Canterbury, York, Durham, Windsor, Melbourne (Australia), Sydney (Australia), Auckland (New Zealand), Dublin (Ireland), Toronto (Canada), and New York City. Pastoral practice discussions referenced clergy training institutions like Ridley Hall, Cambridge, St Stephen's House, Oxford, General Theological Seminary, and King's College London. Liturgical innovations were debated at ecumenical and provincial gatherings including the Lambeth Conference, the Anglican Consultative Council, and national synods in Canterbury Cathedral and Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford.

Practical pastoral responses engaged parish clergy, chaplaincies in institutions such as Oxford University, Cambridge University, Harvard University, Yale University, and hospitals like St Thomas' Hospital, Guy's Hospital, with connections to chaplain networks in HM Prison Service and military chaplaincies interacting with establishments such as Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom). Pastoral care resources invoked writers and counselors like Rowan Williams, Katharine Jefferts Schori, Desmond Tutu, James Alison, Audrey Kitagawa, and Peter Ould.

Institutional Responses and Church Governance

Institutional reactions involved provincial structures and leaders including Archbishop of Canterbury, Primates' Meeting, Anglican Communion Office, Lambeth Conference 1998, Lambeth Conference 2008, Anglican Consultative Council, General Synod of the Church of England, General Convention of the Episcopal Church, General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada, General Synod of the Anglican Church of Australia, and national primates such as Justin Welby, Michael Curry, Fred Hiltz, Philip Freier, Robert Duncan, Peter Jensen, John Habgood, and George Carey. Disciplinary mechanisms referenced include ecclesiastical courts, metropolitan oversight, and instruments like the Canons of the Church of England and provincial disciplinary tribunals in Canterbury, York, Melbourne, Sydney, Toronto, and New York (state).

Governance tensions led to measures involving realignment and alternative episcopal oversight connected to groups such as Forward in Faith, Anglican Mission in the Americas, Global Anglican Future Conference, GAFCON, Continuing Anglican Movement, Episcopal Church (United States), Anglican Church in North America, and dialogues with bodies like the Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox Church. Legal and financial ramifications touched institutions including cathedrals such as Canterbury Cathedral, St Paul's Cathedral, Christ Church, Oxford, and educational bodies such as University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, and Trinity College, Toronto.

Impact on Anglican Communities and Ecumenical Relations

Changing Attitude affected parish life, diocesan polity, and global alliances, influencing partnerships with churches in provinces including Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Church of Uganda, Anglican Church of Kenya, Anglican Church of Southern Africa, Church of South India, and Church of Pakistan. Ecumenical dialogues engaged counterparts like the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Methodist Church, Lutheran World Federation, World Council of Churches, Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and national councils such as the National Council of Churches USA and Churches Together in Britain and Ireland.

Social and cultural impacts intersected with public figures and institutions such as Stonewall (charity), Human Rights Campaign, Amnesty International, BBC, The Guardian, The Times, The Independent, The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, Al Jazeera, and legislative bodies like the United Kingdom Parliament, Canadian Parliament, Australian Parliament, and United States Congress. The movement reshaped vocational patterns, clergy deployment, and theological education, prompting ongoing scholarship at universities and seminaries including Oxford University Press publications, studies from Cambridge University Press, and doctoral research at King's College London, Yale Divinity School, Harvard Divinity School, and Trinity College Dublin.

Category:Anglicanism