Interesting link, thanks for sharing it.
Very interesting! I'll post more thoughts when I have time...
A few interesting snippets from the editorial:
Although The Episcopal Church has inherited much in the way of American democratic culture, it keeps a qualified episcopal system. It keeps creeds and is somewhat systematic. It has congregations but is not made by congregations.
During my relatively short tenure in ECUSA I observed this quite closely. The church doesn't put a heavy emphasis on creeds but it practically worships The Book of Common Prayer, which I found to be a major turn-off. The biggest problem I see with this approach is that it is an attempt to have things both ways. The Via Media is attractive but it doesn't really work, as the current rift displays. The Prayer Book/common worship was generally seen as the binding link of the church, and this is no longer enough.
People forget that while John Henry Newman went on his travels from gothic Anglicanism to Roman Catholicism, his brother Francis went in the opposite direction from Anglicanism through Unitarianism.
Now THAT'S interesting. I never would have guessed...
Of course there are Unitarian Christians who have an ecumenical outlook and who draw on the theology produced by liberal Anglicans. Many an Anglican has read Unitarian Christian writing with sympathy. The oddity is that Unitarian Christianity is conservative (I never got on with it; I went down more progressive routes) whereas Anglican liberalism is what it indicates. The two Churches are quite different in approach and ethos, and it is why Unitarian Universalism how has humanist, neo-Pagan, Eastern and Christian wings, and an identifiable Christianity is a minor element of that Church. The British Unitarian Church is more liberal Christian, but shares the same constituencies as the American Church.
Unitarian Christianity conservative? Biblical Unitarianism, of the Jehovah's Witnesses ilk, perhaps. Otherwise I'm not sure what he's saying.
Overall a fascinating article. Liberal/independent Catholicism is a fascinating animal in and of itself, though I have found I cannot affirm as a statement of what I believe other, just one of many forms of expression. The theosophy connections are interesting as well. The parallels between Anglicanism and Unitarianism go back to this country's early days-many of our Founding Fathers (Washington and Adams included) had a little bit of both. Good stuff!
"The oddity is that Unitarian Christianity is conservative (I never got on with it; I went down more progressive routes)"
I can only assume he means less emphasis on social justice and more emphasis on God...in contrast to the UUA and liberal Anglicanism.
Or, he may mean theologically....but that is only true in comparison to the UUA...not Anglicanism.