A House Divided: Ways Forward for North American Anglicans

It is hardly noteworthy in contemporary discourse when the phrase Well just have to agree to disagree actually means We plan never to speak to each other again. For members of Episcopal and other Anglican churches however the Anglican traditions identity as a via media demands forthright engagement with difficult topics by Christians committed to remaining in prayerful relationship with each other. In the spring of 2013 Duke Divinity Schools Anglican Episcopal House of Studies began a series of fierce conversations designed to expose seminary students to the profound and painful reality of ecclesial divisions in North American Anglicanism (revolving around issues of human sexuality scriptural authority and interpretive practices and church leadership) while cultivating skills for leading congregations to worship pray and serve in ways that contribute over time to the full visible reconciliation of Episcopalians and other Anglicans in North America. This book presents this year of conversations as a way of inviting congregations to take up the challenge and joy of fierce conversations in their own common life. Isaac Arten was a member of Duke Divinity Schools Anglican Episcopal House of Studies from 2012-2015. He received a Master of Divinity degree in May 2015 and will begin doctoral studies in historical theology in the fall of 2015. William Glass was a member of Duke Divinity Schools Anglican Episcopal House of Studies from 2011-2014. He received a Master of Divinity degree in May 2014. A Deacon in the Anglican continuum he is a PhD student in Systematic Theology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas TX.