RED FLAG AT THE ADVENT, IN BIRMINGHAM

There is a red flag floating above the tower of the Episcopal Cathedral Church of the Advent, in Birmingham, Alabama. It comes in the form of next Sunday's preacher, the Rev. Ashley Null. An Episcopal clergyman, Null is a prominent evangelical theologian who for years has defended and supported movements critical of the Episcopal Church. Given the highly unsettled history of the Advent in the last few months, the choice of Null to preach at all three services is both surprising and concerning.

In an ordinary parish in ordinary times, the choice of Null would not be out of the ordinary. He is a learned and prominent theologian and specialist in Reformation thought, particularly that of Thomas Cranmer. 

However, the Advent is not an ordinary parish and it is not in an ordinary moment in its history. It has been through a great deal of turmoil in the last few years, much of it theological. The last dean of the cathedral, Andrew Pearson, had made a major point of Cranmer's theology in his effort to push the parish to the limit, perhaps beyond the limit, of evangelical Anglicanism. This was far from the mainstream of the Episcopal Church. His ally among the clergy of the Advent, Zac Hicks, a Presbyterian, had even called Rite I of  The Book of Common Prayer "anti-Christ." Both Pearson and Hicks resigned (Pearson said he was forced out). The vestry of the Advent made a Covenant with the bishop of Alabama essentially combining an evangelical identity and Episcopal prayer book religion. In short, the leadership of the Advent voted to stay in the Episcopal Church. It was clear the parish was moving to healing and reconciliation. This is what is so discordant about inviting in someone with the partisan baggage of an Ashley Null.

A simple Google search will tell one what one needs to know about Null's ties to the anti-Episcopal Church movement. The first item that comes up shows him as "Theological Advisor to the Diocese of the Carolinas." This diocese is in the Anglican Church in North America. It is an overlapping jurisdiction based in Mt. Pleasant, a suburb of Charleston, headed by Bishop Steve Wood. Its two largest parishes, All Saints, of Pawleys Island, and St. Andrew's of Mt. Pleasant, have quite a history in the anti-Episcopal Church movement in the lowcountry. BTW, the dean of the diocesan cathedral was recently elected the next bishop of the ACNA Anglican Diocese of South Carolina, presently led by Mark Lawrence. This is the group that made the schism in the Episcopal Church in South Carolina.

One can also find videos of conversations with Null displayed on the GAFCON website. GAFCON is the coalition of Anglicans in the world set up to prevent homosexuals from gaining equality and inclusion in the church. It has denounced the Episcopal Church and has recognized the ACNA as the legitimate Anglican province in the United States. 

Google Null and the Jerusalem Declaration and one will find a video of his defense of the JD. The JD was drawn up in 2008 by homophobic and misogynist forces in the Anglican world who were out to stop the movement for equality and inclusion of non-celibate homosexuals and women in the life of the church. In one point, the JD denounced marriage equality by declaring marriage to be only between one man and one woman. In another point, the JD rejected the authority of churches, e.g. the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada, that varied from aforementioned marriage declaration.

In their efforts to block rights for gays and women, the conservatives have fallen back on the position that Anglicanism is a confessing and doctrinaire religion. In fact, this is a new innovation and not the historic essence of Anglicanism. The Jerusalem Declaration and GAFCON are modern creations out of sequence in the history of Anglicanism.

Historically Anglicanism is a non-confessing and non-dogmatic religion open to a wide variety of theological understandings and forms of public worship. It was created as a national church by the English monarchs of the Sixteenth Century to be a generic Christian religion. It could not be too doctrinaire because it had to be broad enough to combine the essence of traditional Catholicism and the new Protestant theologies. In fact, the prayer book was in formation for thirty years and moved back and forth from Catholic to Protestant sides before settling down to the via media. Cranmer's work with theology and the prayer book was part of a much larger picture that went on for years after his death. Cranmer, heavily influenced by Calvinism, alone did not define Anglicanism.

If the goal of the leadership of the Advent is now to nudge the parish back to a clearer Episcopalian and evangelical identity as the recent events suggest, one may wonder why people prominently associated with forces working against the Episcopal Church would be invited to address the parish. But then, one could wonder if reconciliation with the Episcopal diocese is indeed the thinking of the parish leadership. Is it that the ghosts and Pearson and Hicks are still guiding the vestry? This would be surprising given the break between the vestry and the two and its Covenant with the bishop. Nevertheless, one may wonder, What is the goal of the parish leadership, reconciliation with the Episcopal Church or differentiation from it?