Readers will recall the Archbishop of Canterbury’s February lecture on sharia law. Now the Lord Chief Justice of England has given a lecture on the same topic.
Update
On the Archbishop of Canterbury’s website Welcome for Lord Chief Justice Remarks on Sharia Law
The Lord Chief Justice’s speech is online Equality before the Law
Patrick Wintour and Riazat Butt in The Guardian Sharia law could have UK role, says lord chief justice
Britain’s most senior judge reopened one of the most highly charged debates in Britain last night when he said he was willing to see sharia law operate in the country, so long as it did not conflict with the laws of England and Wales, or lead to the imposition of severe physical punishments.
Frances Gibb, Legal Editor of The Times Case dismissed: Lord Chief Justice lays down law on Sharia
Britain’s most senior judge declared last night that there was no place for Sharia courts in this country and insisted that all residents were governed by the laws of England and Wales.
Christopher Hope and James Kirkup in the Telegraph Muslims in Britain should be able to live under sharia, says top judge
Christopher Hope in the Telegraph Sharia will ‘inevitably’ become part of British law, says barrister
Comments on the Lord Chief Justice’s speech
Madeleine Bunting in The Guardian Lord Phillips: talking sense on sharia
Alexandra Fawcett in The Guardian We must have equality before the law
Inayat Bunglawala in The Guardian There’s a place for sharia
Matthew Parris in the Times The Sharia debate: we can’t all be equal under different laws
Charles Moore in the Telegraph Is cosying up to Muslim extremists the best way to defeat terrorism?
1 CommentMelanie McDonagh in The Times The Anglican wars are bad for all of us subtitled “If the pews of the Church of England empty, we’ll lose an army of public-spirited volunteers”
Giles Fraser in the Church Times When slaves turn on their oppressors
Damian Thompson in the Telegraph Women bishops? Just get on with it.
Robin Harris in the Times The disaster for Christians in Iraq subtitled “They used to live peaceably with other faiths but now they have been driven out and become refugees”
Andrew Brown in The Guardian Pennies for heaven subtitled “The Church of England relies heavily on its collection plate to fund each diocese – but a threat to solvency is threatening tolerance”
6 CommentsThe Church of England General Synod has the first of two debates on women bishops later this morning.
Ruth Gledhill in the Times Church faithful may block the move for women bishops to stop the risk of defection by clergy. She writes:
Proposals to consecrate women bishops in the Church of England could fall at the last hurdle as church members take fright at the prospect of mass defections among the clergy, The Times has learnt.
Tom Peterkin in the Telegraph Church of England urged to ‘disagree in love’ over women bishops
The Church of England has been urged to be an example of how Christians can “disagree in love” as it debates plans for women bishops that threaten to tear it apart.
Paul Vallely in the Independent Church in the lurch
Big words are being thrown around in the Church of England these days; words such as schism, with echoes from 1,000 years ago when the world divided between Rome and the Orthodox; words such as Reformation, with echoes of the split between Catholic and Protestant, which spilt a deal of English blood in the 16th century.
Paul Handley in the Yorkshire Post Where democracy works in mysterious ways
“OH, goody – it’s the General Synod this weekend.” I’m sorry to report that this is not a phrase I hear very often.
Judith Maltby in The Guardian’s page writes on the Face to faith page It is odd that the opponents of women bishops should now adopt the language of ‘pain’. The same article is on the Comment is free page How to solve the question of female bishops where it is subtitled “When ‘pain’ enters into arguments about the future of Anglicanism, we’re faced with an impossible conundrum”.
3 CommentsUpdated to include more Church Times articles
Today’s Church Times has three reports from GAFCON.
GAFCON draws a mixed reception
Paul Handley New fellowship to unite ‘confessing Anglicans’ is born
Ed Beavan Jensen: ‘sleeping giant is roused’
The Church Times has this leader Leader: Treat GAFCON with respect
Paul Vallely comments in the Church Times GAFCON’s thinking is out of date.
Barbara McMahon in The Guardian profiles Archbishop Peter Jensen He is a very astute, very intelligent and able man. He is almost worshipped – what he wants he gets – subtitled “Figure behind Anglican schism is a puritan who sees no room for compromise”.
7 CommentsThe Church of England’s General Synod will meet in York from this afternoon until Tuesday lunchtime.
Bill Bowder in the Church Times Tension mounts as women-bishop vote approaches
George Pitcher and Rev Dr Peter Mullen in the Telegraph Should women become Church of England bishops?
Robert Pigott at the BBC Church’s division lines drawn up
George Pitcher in the Telegraph Church of England campaign to target young priests at General Synod
15 CommentsAt the BBC Bishop attacks anti-gay movement. The bishop is Tom Wright of Durham and the article is about an interview that he gave to the World at One programme today. The article includes a link to audio of the interview. One quote from the interview:
“And to be told that I now need to be authorised or validated by a group of primates somewhere else who come in and tell me which doctrines I should sign up to is not only ridiculous it’s deeply offensive.”
Today’s Times has these two comment articles.
A leading article Crossroads for Anglicans: Rowan Williams must face down opposition on all fronts
George Walden Time to come out of the liberal closet on gay clergy, Archbishop: If Rowan Williams continues to claim moral superiority to politicians, he must be honest on this issue
Ruth Gledhill of The Times draws our attention to a recent lecture on “Anglicans and the Future of the Communion” by Canon Gregory Cameron, Deputy Secretary General of the Anglican Communion.
Anglican Church told ‘unite or risk war’ over gay Christians
A senior adviser to the Archbishop of Canterbury has warned Anglicans against making homosexuality a “shibboleth” that could result in the destruction of their church.
She goes into more detail in her blog: Summer of Schism: Gregory Cameron on the ‘dark side’
You can download the text of the lecture here.
13 CommentsInclusive Church has issued a press release on GAFCON
GAFCON and the Anglican Communion
1st July 2008
The “Statement on the Global Anglican Future” released after the GAFCON conference in Jerusalem shows once again how deeply many people misunderstand the nature and spirit of Anglicanism. It misrepresents loyal, orthodox, traditional Anglicans across the world who are working and praying, in the spirit of the Gospel, to bring about the reign of God on earth.
continued below the fold
18 CommentsChris Sugden writes in the Comment is free section of The Guradian Gafcon can save Anglicanism.
We are a response to the current authorities’ unwillingness to check the flouting of Bible teachings and can lead it forward without a split
Canon Sugden is executive secretary of Anglican Mainstream and one of the organisers of GAFCON.
49 CommentsA meeting was held at All Souls Church, Langham Place, in London yesterday evening on Global Anglicanism & English Orthodoxy?. Speakers included three of the (arch)bishops who had attended GAFCON last week: Henry Orombi (Archbishop of Uganda), Greg Venables (Presiding Bishop of the Southern Cone) and Peter Jensen (Archbishop of Sydney).
Riazat Butt at The Guradian Church of England crisis: Mass defections loom as rebel faction appeals to English clergy
Hundreds of English clergy appear poised to defect from the Church of England to join a new conservative movement after a conference led by rebel archbishops was swamped with delegates in London yesterday.
George Pitcher at the Telegraph Anglican Church crisis: Phoney war becomes an invasion
The phoney war declared on the The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, in the Holy Lands last week has turned into an invasion.
Ruth Gledhill at the Times Evangelical Christians sign up to a ‘Church within a Church’
Nearly 800 clergy and lay leaders from the Church of England took the first steps yesterday towards forming a “Church within a Church” to be an evangelical stronghold against the ordination of gay people.
Andy McSmith at The Independent Anglican rebels ‘punched gay rights activists’
30 CommentsThree gay rights protesters say they were punched while being forcibly removed yesterday from a conference at which rebel bishops were trying to attract recruits to a network for Anglicans who believe all same-sex relationships should be condemned.
Some press articles are now referring to both women bishops and the fall-out from GAFCON so we list them together.
Theo Hobson in a Comment is free article for The Guardian The Evangelicals are moving in for the kill subtitled “Foca doesn’t want to form a breakaway church; it wants to take over the Anglican Communion, and depose Rowan Williams”.
George Pitcher in the Telegraph Archbishop of Canterbury braves the crossfire
Riazat Butt and Peter Walker in The Guardian Archbishop of Canterbury hits out at breakaway Anglicans
WATCH issued a press release “Women Bishops: the Church should move ahead in faith, not fear” yesterday; it is reproduced below the fold.
Tom Butler, the bishop of Southwark, writes in The Guardian Anglicanism’s militant tendency must be resisted with the subtitle “The Gafcon rebels are unrepresentative ultras – and I, for one, am glad Rowan Williams has lost patience with them”.
11 CommentsWe recommend this essay by the Rt Revd Pierre Whalon, the Bishop in Charge of the Convocation of American Churches in Europe. He writes on ‘what lies past Lambeth 2008. And Lambeth 2018. And 2028…’
6 CommentsUpdated to include Ruth Gledhill’s blog entry
Reports today of both those in favour and those against.
George Pitcher in The Telegraph Church of England faces split over women bishops
This is actually a report of a news conference held by supporters of the ordination of women as bishops as this pargraph shows.
Leading figures supporting the women’s campaign from politics and the Church gathered at Westminster Abbey to warn legislators that the time has come to consecrate women as bishops, with no formal provision in law for traditionalists who object to the move on grounds of conscience.
Ruth Gledhill in The Times Church of England clergy plan mass exit over women bishops
She writes about those who against.
More than 1,300 clergy, including 11 serving bishops, have written to the archbishops of Canterbury and York to say that they will defect from the Church of England if women are consecrated bishops.
Ruth Gledhill in her blog at The Times Trads threaten walk-out over women
This includes this link to the open letter to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York threatening to leave the Church if women are consecrated bishops with no legal provisions for opponents. The letter contains the names of all 1300 signatories.
And a brief report from the BBC
Quit threats over women bishops
More reports on responses to the GAFCON final statement and the Archbishop of Canterbury’s response to it
Riazat Buttt in The Guardian Church of England: Archbishop confronts Anglican rebels
George Pitcher in the Telegraph Archbishop of Canterbury warns Gafcon over new church structures
George Pitcher and Graham Tibbetts in the Telegraph Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams warns rebels over Church of England split
Two articles at Episcopal Life Online
Archbishop of Canterbury calls conservative Anglicans’ proposals ‘problematic’
Presiding Bishop responds to GAFCON statement
Reflections on GAFCON by Tom Wright, the Bishop of Durham
After GAFCON
Some articles written before the release of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s response to the GAFCON statement
Andrew Brown in the Guardian Meet the Focas
Joanna Corrigan and Martin Beckford in the Telegraph Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, sidelined by new global Anglican movement
The Age [Melbourne] Jensen says Anglican church hasn’t split
Linda Morris in The Sydney Morning Herald Breakaway move puts Jensen in a bind
29 CommentsUpdate: This response is now online at the Archbishop’s website and the Anglican Communion Official Website.
The following press release from Lambeth Palace was issued at 1641 BST today.
Press release from Lambeth Palace
For immediate use
Monday 30th June 2008
Archbishop responds to GAFCON statement
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has responded to the final declaration of the Global Anglican Future Conference with the following statement:
The Final Statement from the GAFCON meeting in Jordan and Jerusalem contains much that is positive and encouraging about the priorities of those who met for prayer and pilgrimage in the last week. The ‘tenets of orthodoxy’ spelled out in the document will be acceptable to and shared by the vast majority of Anglicans in every province, even if there may be differences of emphasis and perspective on some issues. I agree that the Communion needs to be united in its commitments on these matters, and I have no doubt that the Lambeth Conference will wish to affirm all these positive aspects of GAFCON’s deliberations. Despite the claims of some, the conviction of the uniqueness of Jesus Christ as Lord and God and the absolute imperative of evangelism are not in dispute in the common life of the Communion
However, GAFCON’s proposals for the way ahead are problematic in all sorts of ways, and I urge those who have outlined these to think very carefully about the risks entailed.
A ‘Primates’ Council’ which consists only of a self-selected group from among the Primates of the Communion will not pass the test of legitimacy for all in the Communion. And any claim to be free to operate across provincial boundaries is fraught with difficulties, both theological and practical – theological because of our historic commitments to mutual recognition of ministries in the Communion, practical because of the obvious strain of responsibly exercising episcopal or primatial authority across enormous geographical and cultural divides.
Two questions arise at once about what has been proposed. By what authority are Primates deemed acceptable or unacceptable members of any new primatial council? And how is effective discipline to be maintained in a situation of overlapping and competing jurisdictions?
No-one should for a moment impute selfish or malicious motives to those who have offered pastoral oversight to congregations in other provinces; these actions, however we judge them, arise from pastoral and spiritual concern. But one question has repeatedly been raised which is now becoming very serious: how is a bishop or primate in another continent able to discriminate effectively between a genuine crisis of pastoral relationship and theological integrity, and a situation where there are underlying non-theological motivations at work? We have seen instances of intervention in dioceses whose leadership is unquestionably orthodox simply because of local difficulties of a personal and administrative nature. We have also seen instances of clergy disciplined for scandalous behaviour in one jurisdiction accepted in another, apparently without due process. Some other Christian churches have unhappy experience of this problem and it needs to be addressed honestly.
It is not enough to dismiss the existing structures of the Communion. If they are not working effectively, the challenge is to renew them rather than to improvise solutions that may seem to be effective for some in the short term but will continue to create more problems than they solve. This challenge is one of the most significant focuses for the forthcoming Lambeth Conference. One of its major stated aims is to restore and deepen confidence in our Anglican identity. And this task will require all who care as deeply as the authors of the statement say they do about the future of Anglicanism to play their part.
The language of ‘colonialism’ has been freely used of existing patterns. No-one is likely to look back with complacency to the colonial legacy. But emerging from the legacy of colonialism must mean a new co-operation of equals, not a simple reversal of power. If those who speak for GAFCON are willing to share in a genuine renewal of all our patterns of reflection and decision-making in the Communion, they are welcome, especially in the shaping of an effective Covenant for our future together.
I believe that it is wrong to assume we are now so far apart that all those outside the GAFCON network are simply proclaiming another gospel. This is not the case; it is not the experience of millions of faithful and biblically focused Anglicans in every province. What is true is that, on all sides of our controversies, slogans, misrepresentations and caricatures abound. And they need to be challenged in the name of the respect and patience we owe to each other in Jesus Christ.
I have in the past quoted to some in the Communion who would call themselves radical the words of the Apostle in I Cor.11.33: ‘wait for one another’. I would say the same to those in whose name this statement has been issued. An impatience at all costs to clear the Lord’s field of the weeds that may appear among the shoots of true life (Matt.13.29) will put at risk our clarity and effectiveness in communicating just those evangelical and catholic truths which the GAFCON statement presents.
© Rowan Williams
Marie Papworth
Archbishop of Canterbury’s Press Secretary
Lambeth Palace
London
SE1 7JU
020 7898 1280
41 CommentsUpdated to add second Riazat Butt article
Some more news items from around the world
Riazat Butt in The Guardian Conservative Anglicans form global network
Riazat Butt and Toni O’Loughlin in The Guardian Conservative Anglicans form breakaway church in revolution led from the south
[an updated and expanded version of the above]
Linda Morris in the Sydney Morning Herald Anglicans’ new group denounces liberalism
Dina Kraft and Laurie Goodstein in The New York Times Anglicans Face Wider Split Over Policy Toward Gays
and an opinion article from Australia
Michael Kirby in The Age [Melbourne] Religious condemnation of homosexuals denies human rights
17 CommentsUpdated to include four Church Times blog entries
The final statement (as approved rather than leaked) is now available on the GAFCON website.
Statement on the Global Anglican Future.
For the convenience of our readers we have copied the statement below the fold.
Here are some initial press reports.
Martin Beckford in the Telegraph Anglican Church offshoot founded by traditionalists in Jerusalem
Ruth Gledhill in the Sunday Times Anglicans form ‘new church’ in gay clergy row
Nick Mackenzie in Religious Intelligence Gafcon plans a future distant from the Archbishop of Canterbury
BBC Anglican conservatives form group
George Conger in Religious Intelligence Conservatives to split — but only from Episcopal Church
Timothy C Morgan at Christianity Today Anglicans Birth Global Confessing Movement
Rachel Zoll at Associated Press Anglican conservatives launch liberal challenge
Four items from Jerusalem by Paul Handley of the Church Times
A first look at the GAFCON statement
Is it a split?
Delegates endorse GAFCON final statement
Jerusalem declaration thoughts
Two more reports on the Church Times blog from Paul Handley in Jerusalem.
GAFCON: Galilee
The miracle of GAFCON
Robert Pigott of the BBC reports from Jerusalem that Anglican rift is about more than sex.
3 CommentsThese sites are carrying the text of the final statement from GAFCON.
Fulcrum
Episcopal Café
StandFirm
The StandFirm version refers to a correction that the other two sites do not have at present.
Update
It is also here.
TitusOneNine
This appears to have the correct version of the correction.