Giles Fraser writes for the Church Times about The danger of being respectable.
Christopher Howse writes in The Telegraph about Puddleglum and the quest for the Grail, inspired by this interview by Sameer Rahim: Rowan Williams: ‘Aslan is on the knife-edge of the erotic’.
In something I missed earlier, Norman Ivison gives us 8 ways to keep young adults out of your church.
I seriously disagree with Ivison’s recommendation that the Church prioritize speed in order to attract young people because they view it as “normative.” Even if sweeping generalizations can legitimately be made for whole generations (“Young people like X”) its not at all clear to me that continuing to speed things up in general is healthy. Rather than speed the Church up, I’d rather slow it and the rest of society down.
It is too late for Rowan Williams to start making creative links between spirituality and the erotic – way too late,now irrelevant and inappropriately tantalising.
He has had his chance to make a real difference to the lives of millions around the world and declined.
I hope he will be silent after he retires as far as we the public go.
Or will he and Carey do a double-act of olde conservatives ?
I hope that Dr Williams will continue to serve Christ in ways he can, as he did before he was ABC, and that certainly includes speaking and writing on spirituality and literature, but that he avoids (and I think he will) big policy issues. There is always forgiveness and a chance to do what one can do well.
Rosemary Hannah writes that she hopes that Rowan Williams “avoids (and I think he will) big policy issues.”
If only Lord Carey had done the same!
I think that Rowan as Archbishop of Canterbury will not be too sorry to shed this particular mitre. He has been subjected to conservative forces in the Church that have dulled the edges of his normally-acute perception of the Pilgrims’ Way. The goal of ‘Unity at any Price’ has been the watchword of his Primacy. However, it is Christ who is the Unifier; not the Church nor any prelate. Perhaps, with his return to academe, Rowan will be restored to his primary self – as Reconciler and Bearer of the Good News of Jesus Christ in the Gospel, a role… Read more »
@ Bill: Rather than speed the Church up, I’d rather slow it and the rest of society down.
Me too. I forget who it was that wrote “Lettres de mon moulin.” We had to study that in French, it was lovely.
But my experience is, the slowing down can only happen for the privileged. It ain’t gonna happy for those of us that work for a living.
Sadly.
@ Ron Smith:
For those of us who only know 9 languages, what does “eirenic” mean?
The problem with Norman Ivison’s ‘advice’ is that you can argue almost everything the other way. For example: -Be all things to all people. Don’t try to attain excellence in the tradition you know best; instead aspire to mediocrity in a wide range of worship-styles. For example, why not liven up your High Mass with a congregational conga-line? This will undoubtedly win the respect of young people. In no way can you ever look like you’re trying too hard. – Be a reed in the wind. Knowing what you stand for is far too rigid and inflexible for today’s rapidly… Read more »
Eirenic — peace-making or peaceful — related to the name Irene. Not to be confused with ironic.
Columba Gilliss
One way to drive people of all ages out of church is the obligation on PCCs to trace and register chancel repair liability on pain of becoming personally liable as charity trustees. The recent Broadway case shows even when a PCC tries to get exemptions it destroys local goodwill. This will turn the CofE into the Spanish Inquisition (“Our chief weapon is surprise – surprise and fear – our two chief weapons etc”). Tithes have gone so why this stupid unChristian archaic nonsense. The bishops shouild be fighting this.
Mr. Oulton
from Greek eirēnikos, from eirēnē peace, used in English frequently as with thousands of words from Latin, Greek, and a multitude of other languages.
Fr. Donald
“Eirenic” is the British misspelling of “irenic.” They keep forgetting that we won the war . . .
‘Slow’ in what way? Slow in the sense of silence, calm? Or slow to react to people, emergencies, needs around us?
Keep remembering that people argue that women bishops and equal marriage are ‘too fast’ and no professional is going to wait o the back burner for ever waiting for their talents to be used…
“For those of us who only know 9 languages, what does “eirenic” mean?” – Randall Oulton –
Oh dear. That’s the problem with ‘higher education’ in today’s world. We can learn foreign languages without even a familiarity with the contents of an English dictionary.
From the ‘Concise Oxford English dictionary’:
‘eirenic (also irenic)(adj.)aiming, or aimed at peace’
Christopher Howse’s article concludes:
“Anyone would think that Malory, or the sources for his story, had set out to construct a fable exposing the fallacy of consequentialism, the error of thinking it is ever right to do wrong to obtain a desirable end.”
Ouch.
Rosemary, “slow” as in calm, deliberate, mindful – the opposite of hasty, panicky, precipitate. Both in the political and the religious realms we see more and more demands that if we do not do X *right this very minute* then all is lost. I remember people complaining about the pace of life before 2001, but it’s only after that point that I’ve noticed the sort of frantic demands for instant action I’m talking about. In general, I’ve grown very suspicious of these sorts of demands for immediate change. They seem to be, in the main, attempts to manipulate public action… Read more »
It seems to me that “slow” describes those who, during the American civil rights movement of the 50’s and 60’s, insisted that the country wasn’t “ready yet” for the kinds of changes the activists demanded. That sounded reasonable if you weren’t black.
Old Father William, not every decision the Church (or society at large) is urged to make rises to the level of importance and need of ending racial segregation. Nor is everyone who resists calls for immediate change the moral equivalent of Southern Gradualists.
Chancel Repair Liability. Is there no Bishop who will have the courage to stand up and say this is an iniquity and will not happen in my Diocese? The recent shambles at Broadway demonstrates the damage to the C of E which may have beautifully repaired chancels but no congregation to put in them.