Geographic firewalls of dysfunction
Affinity dioceses served us when we were vulnerable and scattered. But a maturing church needs something steadier—something rooted in the longstanding Anglican pattern of geographical unity. — David Roseberry
I don’t know why geography keeps coming up as a first-order “have to solve now” issue over and above Holy Orders and Sacraments. The ACNA has proven itself not safe or mature enough tackle that first. This might make organisational management sense, but the church is not a secular corporation, nor is it a political party: it is a body; a family system.
It requires first resolving the issue of gender and Holy Orders. It is not safe for a traditionalist clergyman to exist in the persecutorial culture of some pro-WO dioceses towards those against. I’ve been at the table of a pro-WO bishop who defined resistance to the practice of being against women (full stop). Similarly, women who have been ordained in dioceses that believe this is possible (valid) cannot serve in other places, and this can be traumatic if one is coming from a supportive environment one to that functionally or actually denies a call ever happened. One way or the other, it has to be resolved. This is completely ignoring that dioceses still can’t agree on what Holy Orders even mean, aside from gender. Let the chips fall here, else moving forward will create antebellum tensions according to region.
Reassessing confidence in leadership, which has been totally lost, exemplified publicly by recent ACNA title iv, but privately across a great many diocese in their culture: if your work and ministry environment is not just not your bag, but systematically unhealthy, with no escape or recourse, then a hard-geography will continue to damage and ruin people. Imagine if what was purported in JAFC was a regional diocese? If something goes poorly, no where to go, career over. Church shut down / sold for assets to be absorbed by the diocese.
Locking in to a geographic structure, places power into Bishop’s hands, when at this point in the province, the bishops have not proven to be trustworthy, especially when gathered as a college. Until the bishops are willing to confront very real and salvific-level differences in the former, and repent of abuses in the latter, sending everyone to geographic structures is not an adequate firewall to prevent further dysfunction.
Note: none of these are examples of my current context and diocese (in which I am happy and feel both safe and supported), but are contexts of others I know, some of which I have previously experienced.