A House Divided?

It is hardly noteworthy in contemporary discourse when the phrase, ""We'll 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 tradition's 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 School's 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 School's 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 School's 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.