Forward in Faith North America Responds After Mere Anglicanism Conference in Charleston, South Carolina, Stops Speaker Calvin Robinson

The Mere Anglicanism conference, held in Charleston, South Carolina, drew criticism from the president of Forward in Faith North America after a speaker was dropped from the program on Saturday, January 20, 2024. The conference was sponsored by St. Philip’s, Charleston, and its title was “Speaking the Truth in Love: The Church and the Challenge of the New Morality.” The Forward in Faith president, who is a bishop, said he was not present but had spoken with several attendees, including Bishop Chip Edgar, the Bishop Ordinary of the Diocese of South Carolina.

According to the account, Fr. Calvin Robinson had been invited to speak on the philosophical roots of what the writer called the current popular liberal mindset. His talk linked Martin Luther and the Reformation to Marx, to feminism, and to women’s orders. After the address, the conference organizers told him he would not be permitted to take part further as a speaker, because they judged that he had not addressed the topic assigned to him. Robinson disagreed. He published a copy of the organizers’ letter, which invited him to “address why Critical Theory and the Gospel are irreconcilable metanarratives.” He maintained that he had done what was asked, while the organizers and some audience members disagreed with the substance of his talk.

Accounts of the talk varied. The writer reported that some participants, including the organizers, found it rude and self-aggrandizing, while others described it as direct and provocative. The writer described Robinson personally as warm, affable and engaging, and said that he had previously spoken in similar terms at GAFCON in Kigali, where he named women’s orders as a major division to unity in the Anglican Communion. The writer argued that removing Robinson from the program had turned the matter into a larger story and may have harmed the conference’s future credibility. In making this point, the writer weighed the organizers’ view of the talk against the views of other attendees rather than settling the question.

The writer’s broader concern was that the Anglican Church in North America has been unable or unwilling to hold difficult conversations, and has instead relied on brief social media posts and the breaking of fellowship. The writer cited the “Victoria Statement,” issued by the College of Bishops of the Anglican Church in North America at the conclusion of its September 7, 2017, conclave. That statement said the College acknowledged that the ordination of women to the priesthood is “a recent innovation to Apostolic Tradition and Catholic Order,” and agreed that there is “insufficient scriptural warrant to accept women’s ordination to the priesthood as standard practice throughout the province.” The writer said Robinson’s plenary address echoed that statement and contrasted it with contemporary liberal political preferences, which the writer described as rooted in Critical Theory.

The writer concluded that the question of women’s ordination is an unresolved issue that should be discussed openly at forums such as the Mere Anglicanism conference. The writer said Forward in Faith was ready to hold that conversation, “to both speak and hear the truth spoken in love.” The writer expressed the hope that the young province would mature quickly and practice what Archbishop Duncan called “Vigorous Fellowship,” which the writer equated with “Speaking the Truth in Love” (Proverbs 18:17).

Source: Read the original report