Wednesday press reactions
Guardian
Stephen Bates Williams admits church faces split over gay bishops (includes comments from the Primate of Canada)
Telegraph
Jonathan Petre Williams sets out his blueprint for twin-track Church and
editorial comment in Inside the Anglican shell
The Times
Ruth Gledhill Gay clergy ultimatum set to split Anglicans and
editorial comment in The Lambeth walk.
Associated Press
Robert Barr Anglican leader suggests two-tiered fellowship system
earlier report:
Leader of Anglicans Urges Coexistence
Religion News Service
Daniel Burke Williams Lays Out Two-Tier Membership for Anglicans
New York Times
Laurie Goodstein and Neela Banerjee Anglican Plan Threatens Split on Gay Issues
Washington Post
Alan Cooperman Head of Anglicans Seeks End to Divisions on Gay Clergy
Reuters
Kate Kelland Anglican leader sees church split over gay bishops
full text of Rowan Williams' reflection
The full text of The Challenge and Hope of Being an Anglican Today: A Reflection for the Bishops, Clergy and Faithful of the Anglican Communion can be found on the ACNS website, and also on the Lambeth Palace site here.
The audio version can be found here (about 6.3 Mbytes mp3 format).
For press release, see TA item immediately below this one.
39 CommentsRowan Williams speaks about the Communion
For immediate Use
27th June 2006
Press release from Lambeth Palace Link to ACNS copy Lambeth Palace copy does not render correctly in Firefox problem now fixed, Lambeth copy here.
Archbishop – ‘Challenge and hope’ for the Anglican Communion
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams has set out his thinking on the future of the Anglican Communion in the wake of the deliberations in the United States on the Windsor Report and the Anglican Communion at the 75th General Convention of The Episcopal Church (USA). ‘The Challenge and Hope of Being an Anglican Today, A Reflection for the Bishops, Clergy and Faithful of the Anglican Communion’, has been sent to Primates with a covering letter, published more widely and made available as audio on the internet. In it, Dr Williams says that the strength of the Anglican tradition has been in maintaining a balance between the absolute priority of the Bible, a catholic loyalty to the sacraments and a habit of cultural sensitivity and intellectual flexibility:
“To accept that each of these has a place in the church’s life and that they need each other means that the enthusiasts for each aspect have to be prepared to live with certain tensions or even sacrifices. The only reason for being an Anglican is that this balance seems to you to be healthy for the Church Catholic”
Dr Williams acknowledges that the debate following the consecration of a practising gay bishop has posed challenges for the unity of the church. He stresses that the key issue now for the church is not about the human rights of homosexual people, but about how the church makes decisions in a responsible way.
“It is imperative to give the strongest support to the defence of homosexual people against violence, bigotry and legal disadvantage, to appreciate the role played in the life of the church by people of homosexual orientation…”
The debate in the Anglican Communion had for many, he says, become much harder after the consecration in 2003 which could be seen to have pre-empted the outcome. The structures of the Communion had struggled to cope with the resulting effects:
“… whatever the presenting issue, no member Church can make significant decisions unilaterally and still expect this to make no difference to how it is regarded in the fellowship; this would be uncomfortably like saying that every member could redefine the terms of belonging as and when it suited them. Some actions – and sacramental actions in particular – just do have the effect of putting a Church outside or even across the central stream of the life they have shared with other Churches.”
Dr Williams says that the divisions run through as well as between the different Provinces of the Anglican Communion and this would make a solution difficult. He favours the exploration of a formal Covenant agreement between the Provinces of the Anglican Communion as providing a possible way forward. Under such a scheme, member provinces that chose to would make a formal but voluntary commitment to each other.
“Those churches that were prepared to take this on as an expression of their responsibility to each other would limit their local freedoms for the sake of a wider witness: some might not be willing to do this. We could arrive at a situation where there were ‘constituent’ Churches in the Anglican Communion and other ‘churches in association’, which were bound by historic and perhaps personal links, fed from many of the same sources but not bound in a single and unrestricted sacramental communion and not sharing the same constitutional structures”.
Different views within a province might mean that local churches had to consider what kind of relationship they wanted with each other. This, though, might lead to a more positive understanding of unity:
“It could mean the need for local Churches to work at ordered and mutually respectful separation between constituent and associated elements; but it could also mean a positive challenge for churches to work out what they believed to be involved in belonging in a global sacramental fellowship, a chance to rediscover a positive common obedience to the mystery of God’s gift that was not a matter of coercion from above but that of ‘waiting for each other’ that St Paul commends to the Corinthians.”
Dr Williams stresses that the matter cannot be resolved by his decree:
” … the idea of an Archbishop of Canterbury resolving any of this by decree is misplaced, however tempting for many. The Archbishop of Canterbury presides and convenes in the Communion, and may … outline the theological framework in which a problem should be addressed; but he must always act collegially, with the bishops of his own local Church and with the primates and the other instruments of communion.”
“That is why the process currently going forward of assessing our situation in the wake of the General Convention is a shared one. But it is nonetheless possible for the Churches of the Communion to decide that this is indeed the identity, the living tradition – and by God’s grace, the gift – we want to share with the rest of the Christian world in the coming generation; more importantly still, that this is a valid and vital way of presenting the Good News of Jesus Christ to the world. My hope is that the period ahead – of detailed response to the work of General Convention, exploration of new structures, and further refinement of the covenant model – will renew our positive appreciation of the possibilities of our heritage so that we can pursue our mission with deeper confidence and harmony.”
The Primates of the Anglican Communion will meet early next year to consider the matter. In the meantime, a group appointed by the Joint Standing Committee of the ACC and the Primates will be assisting Dr Williams in considering the resolutions of the 75th General Convention of The Episcopal Church (USA) in response to the questions posed by the Windsor Report.
ENDS
Kunonga: more about that Lambeth statement
Earlier this month, the Sunday Times reported that Lambeth Palace had issued a statement about Bishop Kunonga.
The Church of England Newspaper had a report last week, Call for Zimbabwe Bishop to step down which gives further details:
10 CommentsTHE ARCHBISHOP of Canterbury has called upon Zimbabwe’s Bishop Nolbert Kunonga to step down, pressing the Central African church to adjudicate misconduct charges brought against the controversial Bishop of Harare. A statement released on behalf of the Archbishop by Lambeth Palace notes that: “In the context of a prolonged and political crisis, the diocese of Harare faces intolerable strain in the form of the very grave and unresolved accusations against Bishop Kunonga.
“The primary way forward is by dealing with these charges through the church courts in the Anglican Province of Central Africa, but this process has been aborted and the matter is unresolved.†The statement went on: “In other jurisdictions, a priest or bishop facing such serious charges would be suspended without prejudice until the case had been closed. It is therefore very difficult for Bishop Kunonga to be regarded as capable of functioning as a bishop elsewhere in the communion.
“The Archbishop of Canterbury has pressed the authorities of the Province to bring the case to a conclusion in a way consistent with justice, transparency and truth, so that the damage to the health and credibility of the church can be addressed,†the statement read. Members of the Central African House of Bishops were caught unawares by the announcement from Lambeth Palace. Speaking to The Church of England Newspaper at the US General Convention in Columbus, $5 deposit casino Ohio, Bishop Trevor Mwanda of Botswana stated he had not seen the statement and declined to comment, noting that the Kunonga affair was under close scrutiny by the Central African bishops…
Monday in London
Two daily newspapers have published articles criticising the Archbishop of Canterbury.
In The Times Tim Hames wrote Beware the folly of clever men in power.
And in the Guardian Michael Hampson wrote The American way puts the Church of England to shame.
37 Commentsyet more comment on General Convention
On the Anglican Communion Institute website, Andrew Goddard has analysed the GC resolutions for their compliance with the Windsor Report.
At The Witness Gene Robinson has written An Open Letter to my LGBT Brothers and Sisters.
Jim Naughton had his review of the Sunday websites.
And Nick Knisely has a whole series of thoughtful posts on his blog Entangled States.
So also does Fr Jake at his blog.
2 Commentsweekend opinions
Last week I linked an article from Ekklesia about marriage. Nobody here commented at all. So first, here is another item a week old, which is a discussion of that on last week’s BBC Sunday radio programme:
Marriage
Under draft legislation to be debated by the church of England’s General Synod next month, couples should be able to marry in any church they like if they can show they have a connection with it.
The religious think tank Ekklesia suggests that the Church and society should go further. It suggests serious consideration should be given to the abolition of legal marriage and its replacement by a variety of civil partnerships through which couples could specify the type of legal commitment they wished to make to one another.
The Dean of Wakefield, The Very Reverend George Nairn-Briggs, sat on the working party which drafted the proposals to relax the rules on where couples can marry. He and Jonathan Bartley, director of Ekklesia, discuss these controversial proposals.
Listen (7m 4s)
This week, Geoffrey Rowell writes in The Times: The Church must not sway to the siren voice of postmodern culture
In the Guardian Face to Faith is written from a Quaker perspective by David Bryant.
Christopher Howse writes in the Telegraph about A helping hand from St John [the Baptist].
13 CommentsBBC Sunday interviews Griswold
The BBC radio programme Sunday interviewed Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold. There is also a discussion about General Convention between Jane Little and Stephen Bates.
Item lasts about 9 minutes. Link here.
0 Commentscatching up on ECUSA news
Apologies for the lateness of some of these links.
On Friday, Jonathan Petre filed his last report from Columbus for the Telegraph : Pressure is growing on Williams to take action over schism.
The Church Times published this report of the final events of the Convention.
On Saturday, Stephen Bates interviewed the PB-elect for the Guardian Into the breach and also had an article in the Tablet Ploughing their own furrow.
Meanwhile, the NACDAP published what it calls A Pastoral Letter from the Moderator of the Anglican Communion Network which it seems is to be read in “network churches” today.
For the faithful of his own Pittsburgh diocese, Bishop Duncan offered this pastoral letter.
Bishop Peter Lee of Virginia published a letter to his diocese headlined The Center has Held.
The Living Church provided this very interesting analysis of Resolution B033: An Extraordinary Compromise.
Today’s Sunday Telegraph contain a longer explanation by the Bishop of Rochester (England, not the ECUSA diocese of the same name) of his “two religions” opinion: Truth should be more important than unity
Jim Naughton had a roundup item on daily episcopalian.
And finally Matthew Davies had an ENS report which summarises events: General Convention: Windsor debate results in six resolutions.
9 CommentsSt Albans: dean interviewed
Last week Rachel Harden of the Church Times interviewed the Dean of St Albans, Jeffrey John.
You can now read this here.
The sermon mentioned in the interview can be found here.
4 Commentsmore responses to ECUSA
The African primates of CAPA have expressed their opinions on the ECUSA General Convention:
CAPA – An Open Letter to the Episcopal Church USA signed by Peter Akinola.
The Bishop of Rochester’s opinions previously expressed in the Telegraph are repeated by the CEN in Backdoor claim over civil marriages.
Lionel Deimel has updated his excellent earlier analysis Is the Episcopal Church About to Surrender? with a lengthy addendum (scroll down).
Christina Rees has an article about the new PB in the CEN A Leader for our Time .
32 CommentsResolution A161 rejected by ECUSA Deputies
Update midnight Tuesday
Stand Firm reports that the HoB is debating a new resolution in place of 162 which represents most of 161.
A161, which now includes A162, has been voted down by both orders in the House of Deputies.
Voting by dioceses:
LAY: 38 yes 53 no 18 divided: Motion fails
CLERGY: 44 yes 53 no 14 divided: Motion fails
(A divided vote i.e. 2-2, counts as a No.)
Rachel Zoll for Associated Press Episcopalians Reject Ban on Gay Bishops
Here is Jim Naughton’s commentary.
And here is further analysis by Sarah Dylan Breuer.
Reuters Episcopal Church group rejects curb on gay bishops
The Times James Bone ‘Boston tea party’ as US radicals defy Canterbury
Ruth Gledhill Schism threat after failure of middle way and If I were…
Columbus: further reports
Some further articles from the press and the blogs:
Earlier Tuesday items at the bottom of this article.
Associated Press Rachel Zoll Episcopalians Address Gay Bishop Impasse
The Times Ruth Gledhill Canterbury oversight offers chance of truce and some information in this blog item too
Steve Bates filed rather more copy than the Guardian had room for yesterday, some of his additional comments are below the fold here.
The Living Church reports that Two More Dioceses Will Consider Alternative Oversight and Doug LeBlanc collected these comments about the PB-elect.
For what’s happening in the House of Deputies about the resolutions, Jim Naughton has the latest here, and also see his earlier comments here.
Lionel Deimel has published an essay titled Is the Episcopal Church About to Surrender?
Kendall Harmon has an essay published by Beliefnet What Do Conservative Episcopalians Want?
This BBC story is dated Monday, but US Church vote highlights tension
12 CommentsWindsor Resolutions: texts
Updated Tuesday afternoon
The Special Legislative Committee has now reported out several of these resolutions. To make it easier to follow, here are links to the latest texts:
A159 Commitment to Interdependence in the Anglican Communion to be merged with A166
A160 Expression of Regret passed by Deputies, now goes to Bishops
A161 Election of Bishops debate by Deputies continues Tuesday Alternative text that was discussed
A162 Public Rites of Blessing for Same-Sex Unions now merged into A161
A163 Pastoral Care and Delegated Episcopal Pastoral Oversight
A164 Continued Attention to the Millennium Development Goals
A165 Commitment to Windsor and Listening Processes
A166 Anglican Covenant Development Process to be merged with A159
14 Commentsmore on ECUSA new presiding bishop
Updated again Tuesday morning
The Archbishop of Canterbury has issued this statement (see ACNS original here)
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams has issued a statement on the election of the Rt Revd Katharine Jefferts Schori as the next Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church of the United States of America, in succession to the Most Revd Frank Griswold.
“ I send my greetings to Bishop Katharine and she has my prayers and good wishes as she takes up a deeply demanding position at a critical time. She will bring many intellectual and pastoral gifts to her new work, and I am pleased to see the strength of her commitment to mission and to the Millennium Development Goals.
Her election will undoubtedly have an impact on the collegial life of the Anglican Primates; and it also brings into focus some continuing issues in several of our ecumenical dialogues.
We are continuing to pray for the General Convention of the Episcopal Church as it confronts a series of exceptionally difficult choices.â€
Earlier today Dr Rowan Williams spoke to Bishop Schori by telephone to assure her of prayers as she prepares to take up her post.
The Diocese of Fort Worth has appealed to Lambeth for “immediate alternative Primatial oversight and Pastoral Care.” See this statement by the diocesan standing committee:
The Bishop and the Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth appeal in good faith to the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Primates of the Anglican Communion and the Panel of Reference for immediate alternative Primatial oversight and Pastoral Care following the election of Katharine Jefferts Schori as Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church.
This action is taken as a cooperative member of the Anglican Communion Network in light of the Windsor Report and its recommendations.
Tuesday newspapers
Tuesday’s articles in The Times are already online:
Ruth Gledhill and James Bone Anglicans ‘are close to anarchy’ in dispute over female bishop
editorial comment A house divided
The strapline is: “The Archbishop of Canterbury must be bolder or schism is inevitable”
See also Ruth’s blog entry.
Stephen Bates in the Guardian has Anglican acclaim and fury over woman bishop. And also Showing the way?
The Telegraph has:
Jonathan Petre Conservative Texas speeds schism over female bishop
and an opinion piece by Damian Thompson Anglicans should welcome a schism
InclusiveChurch letter from Columbus 4
Letter from the General Convention 2006: Sunday June 18, 2006
Columbus, Ohio.
IIt has been an eventful twenty four hours. Last evening there was a gathering to honour the ministry of the retiring Presiding Bishop, Frank Griswold. It was a moving, humorous and respectful tribute employing video, music and drama to celebrate a remarkable ministry. Presentation was made of a book of reflections on reconciliation, ‘I Have Called You Friends’, published by the Cowley Press, and the evening was strong evidence of the spiritual heart of this Convention. One bishop afterwards said they failed to see how anyone present could not have been touched by the grace of God’s presence.
The ending of one ministry led today to the start of a new one. The election this afternoon of the Bishop of Nevada, Katharine Jefferts Schori, as the 26th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church electrified the General Convention, dramatically moving the Windsor Report from top of the agenda. The news was greeted with unrestrained delight by the majority of the thousands waiting for the result who were also clearly aware that this is a momentous decision with wide reaching consequences. The Episcopal Church has become for some the scapegoat of the Communion and the election of the first woman primate will undoubtedly be seen by them as hastening the division that has been darkly predicted at the edges of this Convention. (Conspiracy theorists suggest bishops of the Anglican Communion Network actually voted for her to precipitate the break). Whatever happens next this election will undoubtedly change something of the chemistry of the Episcopal Church, many believe for the better.
There is no substitute for actually being here, and it is a pity there are so few of us here from the Church of England to experience the vitality of this remarkable church. Not everyone sees it. The Bishop of Rochester, Michael Nazir-Ali, has commented on the resolution passed by the House of Bishops that opposes ‘any state or federal constitutional amendment that prohibits same-sex civil marriage or civil unions’, seeing this as evidence of a different religion at work. Following on from the Bishop of Durham’s intervention earlier in the week many people have questioned the prelates’ purpose, and how the Church of England would react to such direct intrusion from bishops from the Episcopal Church. The Bishop of Rochester preached at a eucharist on Friday organised by the AAC, ACN and Forward in Faith, at which we understand there were about eighty people present (Anglican Mainstream has the figure at 200).
Columbus is an unlikely setting for a gathering which is receiving so much attention from around the world, but what is happening here in these days is important, and in the right sense of the word, momentous. The overriding impression is of a church that is healthy, passionate and God centred. The commitment to Anglicanism is heartfelt, and it is worth repeating that the sense of Anglican identity is undoubtedly stronger here than in some other churches of the Communion. With so much focus on the pressures facing the Communion it is not surprising that there is so much introspection, but as the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, Kenneth Kearon, today reminded the House of Deputies, the danger of spending too much time close to the problem is that we can lose sight of the big picture. Perhaps we all need to take a step back and celebrate the richness of the tapestry of God of which we are but a part.
Giles Goddard
Philip Chester
Monday press reports on Columbus
Updated Monday afternoon
Telegraph
Jonathan Petre Anglican crisis as woman leads US Church
Victory for liberal could lead to schism
Rival services illustrate Church gulf
editorial opinion The spectre of schism
Guardian
Stephen Bates US church elects first woman leader
US Anglicans accused of setting up own religion
The Times
Ruth Gledhill Bishop breaks stained glass ceiling
New York Times
Neela Banerjee Woman Is Named Episcopal Leader
Washington Post
Juliet Eilperin Episcopal Church Chooses First Female Leader
Associated Press
Rachel Zoll Bishop Chosen 1st Female Episcopal Leader
BBC
Anglicans must split, says bishop
Anglican split ‘has become necessary’
Profile: Katharine Jefferts Schori (includes link to 2 min video report)
Robert Pigott New model schism for Anglicans
the new ECUSA PB: some information
The Living Church had this profile and this more detailed Q&A.
The Witness had In Their Own Words: Katharine Jefferts Schori and this interview.
Episcopal Life had this interview.
A video interview with her can be found on this ENS page.
The American Anglican Council published a profile (scroll down)
6 CommentsECUSA HoB elects Katharine Jefferts Schori
Episcopal News Service
Sunday, June 18, 2006
[ENS] Katharine Jefferts Schori, bishop of the Diocese of Nevada, has been elected June 18 by the House of Bishops as the 26th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church.
Associated Press Episcopal Church elects female leader.
Reuters Woman chosen as top U.S. Episcopal Church bishop
BBC Female chief makes Church history
Ruth Gledhill has a roundup of comments from various people.
27 Commentslatest on Columbus
Updated Sunday morning
Rachel Zoll of AP has another report Episcopalians to Choose New Leader
Michael Conlon of Reuters also has a report Episcopal Church panel OKs gay issue apology
Jim Naughton has “No quotes, no votes, no nothing”.
Ruth Gledhill has Split now inevitable, saving miracle.
Sunday morning
The full text of the address by The Rev. John Danforth, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and a former US Senator, has been published by ENS. Or you can watch it on video.
The state of the Windsor resolutions is summarised for ENS by Herb Gunn. And their progress is explained by Solange De Santis for Anglican Journal.
Newsweek has two interviews, one with Robert Duncan, and another with Gene Robinson.
Steve Levin of the PIttsburgh Post-Gazette has Church leaders moving carefully.
The BBC radio programme Sunday opens with a discussion about events in Columbus featuring Robert Pigott (Real Audio)
Kendall Harmon comments on where things are at Into the Fulcrum
9 Comments