Anglican-Orthodox Relations

The recent Anglican/Orthodox Conference at Nashotah House was, for me as an Orthodox observer, an extraordinary experience and one that fills me with hope (albeit, a guarded hope). Over the 3 or so days of the conference I was consistently impressed with the seriousness of all the speakers and the substance of their presentations. Archbishop Robert Duncan of the Anglican Communion of North America I think spoke for many of his fellow Anglicans when he said that “we (the Anglican Communion) come to you (the Orthodox Church) in our brokenness and our need for what it is you have.” This is, in my opinion, an extraordinary statement from a Christian leader.

At the same time neither Archbishop Duncan or the other Anglican speakers were unaware that there remain real, substantive differences between our two traditions. Of these the most serious were seen (from the Anglican side) as the  “filioque” clause, which was added to the Nicene Creed by the Western Church, the ordination of women as presbyters and the Orthodox condemnation of Calvinism. To be sure there are other areas of disagreement, but these three seem to be the main ones that the Anglicans needs to address among themselves. Continue reading →