Stephen Sykes and Anglican Ecclesiology

Abstract

The English, Anglican theologian Bishop Stephen W. Sykes (1939–2014) used German and American sociology to inform his ecclesiology. He argued that the concepts of power and authority had been insufficiently analysed with regard to their sociological as well as their ecclesiological meaning. Sykes used this dual analysis to critique ecumenical dialogue, in particular the reports of the Anglican – Roman Catholic International Commission (arcic). He was, however, sympathetic to the use of power in papal claims, so long as it was sociologically self-aware. Sykes also developed an apologia for Anglican ecclesiology because he believed that Anglicanism made the role of the ecclesial critic integral to its self-understanding. This article contrasts the earlier arcic texts, criticized by Sykes, with the 2018 publication from arcic, Walking Together in the Way, which is much more aware of the dangers inherent in the use of power.