The New Europe and church‐state relations: The case of the Euro‐Anglicans

Abstract

The changes associated with the current emergence of the European Union and the reopening of Eastern Europe provide an opportunity to explore a unique set of church-state relations, those involving chaplaincies of one state church operating within the territory of churches of other states. I The emerging new Europe provides a very different context for the activities of various religious groups including Anglicans in Europe and for the Anglican Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe in particular. These opportunities are examined in the light of the peculiar problems faced by this diocese in terms of the perception its role in Europe in the light on the one hand of new opportunities for growth and on the other of maintaining good ecumenical relations with other religious groups, some of which are often seen as host churches. One way of examining the tensions involved in this new situation is to explore the dilemmas and strains produced by the call of the 1988 Lambeth Conference for a 'Decade of Evangelism' in the worldwide Anglican Communion. How does a chaplaincy of one state church respond to this call when it is geographically located within another state, and sometime within the parishes of another state church? This paper first examines the implications for Euro-Anglicans of the new Europe, then examines the particular problems and opportunities faced by state churches and by those offering a 'chaplaincy' style of ministry in this context, and finally moves to an analysis of the situation of the Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe.