Whakapapa Amorangi | Episcopal History

Anglican Creativity

The consequences of poor leadership in any organisation is significant. However, perceived failures in moral leadership for churches are especially existential, because faith can be such a comforting star by which to navigate the challenges that arise in one’s life. If church leaders misstep without taking accountability or responding with honesty, congregants’ respect for their leadership declines. If church leaders cause significant harm, not only are the direct effects of that harm felt, but their actions threaten to undermine congregants’ faith and separate them from a source of solace and community. It is critical for leaders within the Anglican Church to be supported in their leadership roles at the outset—and in an ongoing capacity—reflecting critically upon how to occupy a space of moral and logistical leadership.

One tool for that reflection is to look to the past, to moments when leaders were challenged by events of their day. We will consider moments in which individual leaders provided responses that drew on their moral courage and breadth of compassion, and the ways and moments other responses may have fallen short—and for whom? How has the Anglican Church been governed over time, and what does this say about the church as a whole: past, present, and future?