“My hope is that in 30 years, we wouldn’t need anything like the Pelican Project, because local churches would be full to the brim with theologically rooted, theologically trained, institutionally credentialed, orthodox women leaders.”īut this (unrealistic) dream is couched in excessive concern over the unease of (conveniently unnamed) male Christian leaders who, supposedly, want to read more books by women and feature more women as speakers in their institutions, but have been unable to do so over their fears-fears Warren clearly finds quite valid-that Christian women who’ve gained fame as authors and speakers may not be properly grounded in theological orthodoxy. Warren once put it this way to Christianity Today magazine: Warren is a founding member of the Pelican Project, a non-profit subsidiary of Artists in Christian Testimony (ACT) International, an organization “that assists and sends out artistic missionaries and ministers to pursue their unique mission or ministry calling as it fits into the greater Kingdom work.” This explicitly anti-pluralist non-profit lists among its objectives “to creatively evangelize non-Christian peoples.”Īs for the Pelican Project itself, its website describes it as “a guild of Christian women who are writers, speakers, teachers, and leaders in good standing in our local Protestant churches and who seek to advance a shared commitment to Christian belief and practice across cultural, denominational, and racial lines.” To be sure, the Pelican Project comes with a side of faux-feminism. ACNA is a breakaway denomination that is no longer a part of the Anglican Communion centered on Canterbury.įurthermore, Warren’s own words on matters of LGBTQ acceptance and Christianityare ultimately at least as damning as her denominational affiliation. But even the Anglican Communion is too “liberal” for the likes of Warren. As the Episcopal Church has become more inclusive of members of the LGBTQ community over the course of the twenty-first century, ordaining queer clergy and even electing gay bishops, some American parishes have broken away, putting themselves under openly homophobic Anglican bishops. Indeed, in 2016, the global Anglican Communion, led by the Archbishop of Canterbury, sanctioned the Episcopal Church because it allows priests to celebrate same-sex weddings. The Episcopal Church elected its first openly gay bishop, Gene Robinson, in 2003, and has elected several since. That alone doesn’t satisfy the culture warriors who insist on doctrinal opposition to the full acceptance and inclusion of members of the LGBTQ community. Never mind that 57% of white-and the Episcopal Church is overwhelmingly white -non-evangelical Protestants voted for Trump in 2020, according to Pew. When you get right down to it, there’s really only one reason to be Anglican, as opposed to Episcopalian, in the United States, and that’s being well to the right of the mainline Episcopal Church, which is the main branch of the Anglican Communion in this country. In fairness, what Warren does have going for her is that, unlike Douthat, she doesn’t go around cartoonishly shouting about the “decline of Western civilization!” Instead, she prefers to wield the more genteel language of “credal orthodoxy.” And since she’s so very “civil,” does it really matter that when you peel away her rhetoric, you find the same bigoted social politics? Her opinion piece introducing the newsletter is focused on the notion that “we” need to start talking about God-as if America weren’t already super-saturated with conservative Christian God talk-though it’s presented in a meandering, aw-shucks tone that suggests an openness and broadness of spirit belied by her actual history and affiliations. If you’re a progressive American who strives to keep up with the world of news and punditry, I’d wager real money you’ve never thought to yourself, “You know what sort of writer the New York Times desperately needs to add to its roster? A Protestant Ross Douthat, only a woman, and more presentable.” So naturally, somehow, the out-of-touch folks at the Times sat down and decided to do exactly that, welcoming Tish Harrison Warren, a priest in the hardline Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), aboard as the author of a Times -subscriber-exclusive newsletter.