“The Titanic Mentality”
On Wednesday and Thursday, October 15th
and 16th, the Archbishop of Canterbury met with 36 other archbishops
to consider the crisis of Anglicanism brought on by the proposed consecration
of Canon Robinson as suffragan bishop of New
Hampshire. A few days before this
meeting, Arch–
bishop Eames, the Primate of the
Anglican Church of Ireland, made the dumbest suggestion I have heard in this
whole controversy. Archbishop Eames suggested that the Archbishop of Canterbury should
appoint a committee to study the whole matter and report back
later! I could not believe it!
This subject has been studied back and forth, up and down, for
months. What more is to be dis–
cussed? The time for
discussion is past. The time for action
is here. Anyone who has ever taken the
course “Bureaucracy 101" knows that when you are chairman of a meeting and
someone raises a problem you don’t want to deal with, you appoint a
committee. Then, you stack the committee
with your own supporters; and eventually, after everyone has forgotten about the
matter, they bring in the report you wanted.
I could not believe such a dumb suggestion could be
made. And
I regret very much to inform you that is exactly what the Archbishop of
Canterbury did: He appointed a com–
mittee to report
back in a year.
I
The worldwide Anglican Communion
today is suffering from a disease that may be fatal. The scientific name of this disease is flapjawitis.
The common name is “The Hubert Humphrey Syn–
drome”. Senator Humphrey of Minnesota, known also as
“Old Motor Mouth” could speak for three hours on any subject, on a moment’s
notice. And the Anglican Communion seems
to have the idea that if we just talk about something long enough – dialogue,
we call it – the problem will take care of itself. Actually, however, the time for talking about
Gene Robinson’s consecration is long since past; now is the time for
action. As you read the news reports on
this controversy, don’t waste your time on what is said;
concentrate on what they do!
And there
have been some calls for action. Canon Zahl, of the Cathedral Church of the Advent in Birmingham,
would like for the ECUSA House of Bishops to set up some system of “flying
bishops”, similar to the system in Britain, that would provide pastoral
oversight to con–
servative parishes
with liberal diocesan bishops. The
American Anglican Council has appealed to the primates of the Third World
countries to provide the American Church some relief. There have been many calls such as these for
action, but they all have one thing in common.
These requests all want someone else to take the action
and solve the problem. Meanwhile, the
situation gets worse.
The appointment by the Archbishop of
Canterbury of a study group is not only an evasion of the problem. It is also a deception. It is a smokescreen. When he appointed the committee, if he had
been serious about further study, he would have halted the consecration of Gene
Robinson until the study was completed and the results known. Significantly, he did not do so. The consecration will proceed as scheduled on
November 2nd, but the report will not be
made for a year. And
by the time it is made, the consecration – so called – will have taken place
long ago. The appointment of a committee
is an evasion of the problem, a deception, a smokescreen, and it makes
surrender painless!
Already one of the supposed
conservative primates – Archbishop Gomez of the West Indies – has been reported as accepting the appointment of the
committee. He will await the report, and
even though the consecration of Gene Robinson goes ahead as scheduled
it will not impair the unity of the Anglican Communion, as far as he is
concerned! An example
of how to surrender gracefully!
II
When Dr. Perry Laukhuff,
a layman, and Dr. William White (of this parish), a layman, and the Rev.Robert Harvey and the Rev. Carroll Simcox
went to the Convention of St. Louis 25 years ago, it was not to ask someone
else to do something for them. They went
to St. Louis to take a stand on their own and to act. And after that great
Convention with its Declaration, traditionalists in Pensacola and in many other
communities gathered together to act on their faith. And for 25 years,
those who have been willing to act on their own have made all the difference.
As you would expect, there have been
those who ridiculed the efforts of the traditionalists. It was predicted by
the “experts” that we would not last ten years.
As it turned out, the traditionalists have been the only Episcopalians
in this country who have grown!
One of those ridiculing the
Traditionalist Movement was a British clergyman in this country, The Rev. Titus
Oates. He wrote a letter or article for
one of the publications in which he compared the efforts of the struggling
traditionalist parishes to the lifeboats leaving the great ship Titanic. In the darkness and in the storm, those
little lifeboats struggled and bumped into one another in chaos.
There was no overall plan, no
order to it all. So wrote Titus
Oates. And the
reaction was both im–
mediate and overwhelming!
People stood in line to remind Mr. Oates that the passengers of those
little lifeboats, bumping into one another in the darkness and confusion, those
passengers were the only ones who survived!
The fact is that everyone who left the Titanic survived. No exceptions! And everyone who
stayed on the Titanic perished. No exceptions! There
was even one man who put on his overcoat, put a bottle of gin in each of the
big pockets, put on his life preserver and jumped overboard – and
survived! He was
rescued. Everyone
who left survived; everyone who stayed, perished. And one of the saddest facts about the
tragedy of the Titanic is that some of the first life–
boats to leave had empty seats! They could not persuade the passengers to
leave. I call it the Titanic
Mentality. It was so dark and stormy
outside; the lifeboats were so small; the sea was so rough. The Titanic was
thought to be unsinkable, and it was so warm and comfortable. The band was playing; the bar was serving
drinks. Surely
someone would solve things. It all
seemed so safe, until the moment when no one could get off. At the last, the undertow – the great sucking
sound – was so great that no one could get away. And all who were
left perished.
Is the tragedy of the Titanic
a warning for our times? Is there still
time to get off? I hope so. Last week someone brought in a copy of a
letter from his daughter, who is on the vestry of an ECUSA parish in Augusta,
Georgia. In this letter to the senior
warden of the parish the daughter resigns from the vestry and states simply, “I
have to stand on Scripture”.
There you have it. I know that it has not been easy for many of
you, to leave the big parishes with the comfortable endowments, and to cast
your lot in here. Our Lord never told us
that it would be easy, but He did tell us that the gates of hell would not
prevail against His Church. We have His own promise on that. And I am
so grateful for those who stand with us today.
These years in the Continuing Church have been my best years in the
ministry. I think I have learned more
than in the previous years. And I have met some wonderful people in the Continuing
Church. I am grateful to stand with all
those, who have not waited for others to solve things for us, but who have with
courage and conviction taken their stand for Christ and His Church.
Preached at All Saints Church, Pensacola,
Fla., by The Rev. Hugh B. Hall, Jr., 19 Oct., 2003.