Unity with out Uniformity

Is it possible, even in a small way, that America’s ability to change leaders and to change parties peacefully is a gift of Anglicanism? As the church of George Washington, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton to mention only a few of the founders of our nation who were members of the Episcopal Church we had great influence over the formation of this country. (To see a complete list of founding Episcopalians go to: http://www. adherents.com/largecom/fam_anglican.html)

It took a few hundred years to work it all out but the early Anglican theologians along with Queen Elizabeth The First laid the groundwork for a church that was united in worship while being diverse in thought. Richard Hooker (1554 – 1600), shocked many when he preached that disagreements over doctrines would not exclude people from salvation. He was laying the groundwork for what we understand as unity without requiring uniformity. Through the eighteenth century in England there was increasing tolerance and by the nineteenth century there was complete toleration for Catholics and Protestants who chose to worship outside the Established Church of England. So that what was at first envisioned as a broadness in the church became the broadness and inclusiveness of a nation.

I believe those seeds sown in the church of England in the sixteenth century were flourishing and influential in the minds of the founders of our nation in the 18^th century. The work of inclusivity, pluralism, tolerance and fellowship will never be done, but our nation stands as a witness to the possibilities. We show how people of various politics, philosophies, races and faiths can live in unity with out a demand for uniformity.