In his book A Guide to the Sacraments, John MacQuarrrie makes this comment in one of his chapters on ordination:
"Even in quite recent times, individuals who have at some time received episcopal ordination (or consecration) but who are not acting in the name of any church or with the consent of any church authority have ordained (or gone through the motions of ordaining) deacons, presbyters, and even other bishops. Whether their actions are valid must be considered doubtful, though I have said a number of times in the course of this book that the action of the Holy Spirit cannot be limited to what is permitted by ecclesiastical laws." (pp.200-201)
He seems to be condemning episcopi vagantes, or "wandering bishops", who were not part of established churches, and who sometimes ordained and consecrated men without flocks. But his remarks could possibly be construed as condemning Anglicans like we continuers, and others who had to take "extreme" measures to preserve and continue the orthodox faith. I do not want to put words in his mouth, but the thought did cross my mind.
All of this was in the back of my mind while doing research recently on Samuel Seabury for a talk I had to give at the local Scottish Society. I came across this insightful passage in the newly published Oxford Guide to the Book of Common Prayer:
"There he met with an obstacle: the establishment of the established church, and specifically the oath of allegience required of every new bishop. Seabury, no longer a British subject, could hardly take such an oath. The English bishops, though not unsympathetic, could not dispense with it on their own. The government, for largely political reasons, declined to cooperate. So it was that in November 1784 the service at which Dr. Seabury became Bishop Seabury took place in Aberdeen and the ordaining prelates were Nonjuring Scots, who themselves were not bound to the Anglican establishment." (pp.172-173; my emphasis)
The lesson here is that being outside of the "official Anglican establishment" doesn't necessarily unchurch anyone.
