The APA and the REC are on a path towards unity. I believe it is supposed to take place around 2010. Already they cooperate on the grassroots level by sharing clergy, resources, facilities, etc. But they will be one organic unity by the end of the decade. After years of division in the continuum this comes as welcome news. But it is also a bit perplexing as they two churches are so very different in terms of the their churchmanship. The REC is low and the APA is high. And then there are deeper issues on top of that, such as the Declaration of Principles - an REC document that denies many historical Anglican beliefs, the unusual practice of not always requiring convert nonconformist clergy to undergo episcopal ordination when joining, and more.
These divergent beliefs and traditions are not the end of the world.... I mean, I believe that God can impart sacramental grace through a man who does not have episcopal ordination (though it would be highly unusual), but it is just weird. And I know that people ignore historical documents all the time, so maybe the Declarations will just be quietly deep-sixed. But there are more issues than all of that. Unity? I don't know how they expect it to work. I hope it does for unity's sake and for God's glory, but whether or not it actually will is what's questionable. Apparantly they do not even have any canon theologians who hash all of this stuff out (though maybe that's a good thing). So I don't know how they even decide on these issues, who is on what comittee and so on! What a bunch of craziness.
I will have more on this over the coming months.
