Disclaimer: Although I do feel strongly about the "Women's Ordination" issue, it saddens me that it is even being debated in Anglican circles; a sign that the battle for orthodoxy was lost a long time ago. Anyway, this article is about Anglican politics, not about women's ordination.
A few years ago, the Anglican Mission in America (AMIA) did a lengthy study to discover what the Bible says about women's ordination. It was led by Bp. John Rodgers, a fine principled man with Reformed leanings, and it came to the conclusion that it was not appropriate for AMIA to go in that direction.
Alas, Bishop Rodgers has since retired, and all bets are off. Christ Church in Plano Texas (by far the largest parish in AMIA) commissioned a study this year on the same subject. This study was not an effort to discover what the Bible says, but rather one to discover the consensus of their own parish. The conclusion was to proceed with women's ordination. Wags like me therefore proclaimed that having determined what the Bible says, AMIA decided to do the opposite.
Last week there was another change of direction. The rector of Christ Church Plano, The Rev. David Roseberry put the pro-WO decision on hold after realizing that it was a bigger political problem for the AMIA “community” than he had imagined. In effect, this third decision amounted to an indefinite hold on ordaining women in both Christ Church and AMIA. It was an outcome everyone disliked, for its purpose was only to buy time.
To summarize, a large faction inside AMIA which didn't dare attack the earlier biblical study decided instead to attack the constraints of the earlier WO study from the point of view of Anglican politics. The result demonstrates that even in this most orderly of ACNA dioceses (AMIA), anarchy reigns. Decision-making in ACNA is factionalized in more that just this area. Hope for resolution of matters according to Anglican principle and Biblical mandate is waning.
A well connected pundit at Standfirminfaith admitted to me today (unintentionally) that "Anglicanism" is no longer defined as a set of principles or as a way of thinking but rather as a group of affiliated persons. I could not agree more.