Earlier, Andrew Brown had written I’m glad I’m not the Holy Ghost. Julie Pain produced this illustration to match.
Matt Kennedy on Stand Firm has written Response to and Refutation of the Wholly Inadequate Communion Sub-Group Report.
Anglican Centrist wrote Anglican Centrist – Evening Analysis Revised.
Kendall Harmon responded to this as follows:
The reason why the report makes schism more likely is because the report is not true and there is no real reconciliation and communion without truth. Heaven knows I don’t want schism, but now the atmosphere is even more clouded going into tomorrow because people did not do their homework. It is not the first time in Anglican history that a poor report has been given and it will not be the last. This situation is still redeemable, but the brink, is, alas, closer. One still watches, hopes and prays–KSH.
And Kendall also asked another question here.
Over at Global South Anglican Terry Wong also has some links, and adds his own comments too.
Jim Naughton has his analysis here.
Dan Martins has A Glass Half Full.
Mark Harris thinks that Dan Martins & Kendall Harmon give us reason to be vigilant.
GetReligion has this analysis.
And here is some background to the new Episcopal church blog, EpiScope.
14 CommentsGuardian Stephen Bates Anglican leaders avoid church split over homosexuals.
Daily Telegraph Jonathan Petre Primates consider ‘parallel’ Church.
New York Times Sharon LaFraniere and Laurie Goodstein A Move to Heal Anglican Rift, but Short of Conservatives’ Goal.
Los Angeles Times Morris Mwavizo and Rebecca Trounson ‘No talk of schism’ at Anglican conference and this editorial: Anglican angst.
Associated Press Elizabeth A Kennedy Anglican Leaders Discuss Stance on Gays
Reuters Katie Nguyen Anglican summit scrutinises US stance on gay clergy (updated version, adds quotes, details)
The Church Times (press deadline Wednesday afternoon) has this report from Pat Ashworth Tale of two hotels: archbishops assemble along with lobbyists near Dar es Salaam.
The Times paper edition has only a nib here.
Changing Attitude Day 4 report from Colin Coward.
3 CommentsUpdated again
Jonathan Petre has blogged Another bloody day in Paradise.
Steve Bates has blogged too, Crossing the divide.
Ruth Gledhill has blogged TEC ‘regret’ ok, says Gang of Four.
ACNS has published some Photographs.
Scott Gunn has blogged Evening press briefing: actual news, sort of. He has also posted this reflection, and there are Photos here. Caro Hall’s blog is here.
Peter Ould has blogged someone’s press conference notes here.
Over at Stand Firm Greg Griffith is extremely unhappy with the latest report. It is a falsehood perpetrated on the communion.
Andrew Hutchinson Primate of Canada, blogs here.
The American Anglican Council is not happy: A Statement by the American Anglican Council on the Communion Sub-Group Report.
George Conger has this report for the Living Church: Cordial Day of Listening Marks Opening Sessions in Tanzania.
ENS’ Matthew Davies has Primates engage in ‘intense listening,’ discuss Windsor response.
Reuters Katie Nguyen Anglican summit scrutinizes U.S. stance on gay clergy.
George Conger also wrote this piece for the Church of England Newspaper: Archbishop backs place for Schori.
Anglican Journal has Primates’ meeting begins with all at the table.
24 CommentsHere is the report of the Communion Sub-Group given to the Anglican Communion Joint Standing Committee of the Primates meeting and the Anglican Consultative Council.
At their meeting in London in March 2006, the Joint Standing Committee of the Primates and the Anglican Consultative Council nominated four of its members to assist the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion in discerning the response of the Anglican Communion to the decisions of the 75th General Convention of the Episcopal Church. Some of these decisions related to requests made of the Episcopal Church in the Primates’ Statement of February 2005 at Dromantine, which incorporated the Primates’ response to the recommendations of the Windsor Report. The group appointed met in London in September 2006.
A PDF version of the report is here.
38 CommentsThe Living Church Presiding Bishop Attends Primates’ Orientation Session by George Conger.
That previously missing ENS story has been posted, In Tanzania, Episcopal Church missionaries, Presiding Bishop share perspectives, together with a later report by Matthew Davies Primates convene; Windsor response leads agenda.
Elizabeth A Kennedy of Associated Press has filed Episcopal leader’s gay views won’t waver.
The Anglican Church of Canada has Anglican Primates begin meeting in Dar es Salaam by Paul Feheley.
Katie Nguyen of Reuters sent Anglican summit scrutinises U.S. stance on gay clergy.
Colin Coward of Changing Attitude has Report from the Primates meeting – Day 3.
Scott Gunn has Photos! and News of the day? Not so much.
Kendall Harmon has written an article about why The Episcopal Church has Failed to Respond Adequately to the Calls of Windsor.
4 CommentsUpdated
On BBC radio this morning, the Bishop of Winchester Michael Scott-Joynt was interviewed. He thought that schism could be avoided if the leadership of the Episcopal Church would:
…stop oppressing a significant minority of itself, about a quarter of its bishops and dioceses, and allow them to exist and flourish in full communion with the rest of the Anglican Communion…
and he then repeated this:
…the really critical question is whether the majority of the Episcopal Church will allow space for what is something over a quarter of its bishops and dioceses, and many more than a quarter of its members to continue to hold the full beliefs of the church, both in terms of creeds, about Jesus, about God, and about marriage and Christian behaviour…
The Bishop of California, Mark Andrus was also interviewed.
Hear it all here (about 6 minutes).
Update Jim Naughton has responded to the Bishop of Winchester in Clueless Miter Man returns.
The Living Church has a preview of today’s session, On Day 1, Spotlight on The Episcopal Church.
From ENS Mary Frances Schjonberg reports Letter to Williams calls for rejection of alternative primatial oversight. The letter itself can be found here.
And Matthew Davies filed In Tanzania, Episcopal Church missionaries, Presiding Bishop share perspectives which seems to have got lost at the ENS site.
The Scotsman has this report: Church faces wider split over gay unions.
69 CommentsUpdated again 10 pm Wednesday evening
Guardian Stephen Bates Williams faces fresh effort to stop Anglican split over gay clergy and in G2 The real Mr Big? on Archbishop Peter Akinola.
Telegraph Jonathan Petre Archbishop faces Church split
The Times Ruth Gledhill Archbishop faces boycott at gay summit and on the Comment pages It is time for the Anglican Luthers to divorce. There is a longer version of the latter on Ruth’s blog, Time for Anglicans to divorce.
Reuters Katie Nguyen Anglican leader faces tough summit to avoid schism
Changing Attitude has a second report from Colin Coward, and there is also this press release from Davis Mac-Iyalla relating to the Nigerian anti-GLBT legislation which is to be debated again today, 14 February, by Nigerian lawmakers.
Scott Gunn has also blogged from Tanzania, his first reports are here and here.
Late morning update
Another Living Church report: UN Anglican Observer May Brief Primates.
Toronto Globe and Mail Michael Valpy Anglicans face ‘a bit of pruning’ over gay rights
Reuters George Obulutsa Tanzania bishop breaks ranks in gay Anglican row
BBC Anglicans face difficult summit
Changing Attitude Davis Mac-Iyalla meets Archbishop Peter Akinola
Early Evening update
BBC Robert Pigott Anglicans facing threat of schism
Ekklesia Nigerian Primate has unexpected Valentines Day gay encounter and Welcome for Williams but interrogation for gay Christian in Tanzania.
Reuters Katie Nguyen US pro-gay bishop attends Anglican meeting
Associated Press Elizabeth A. Kennedy Anglican conference opens in Tanzania amid struggle over the Bible and sexuality link amended to longer version of this report
10 pm Update
Living Church George Conger Primates’ Official Opening Session Likely to Be Contentious
Dar es Salaam Daily News Anglicans meet on gay saga
Scott Gunn has reports: Conspiracy theories abound — news from this afternoon’s briefing, and then here, and here, and here.
66 CommentsUpdated again Tuesday midnight
The Living Church has these reports:
Large Class of New Primates in Tanzania by George Conger
Elections and Politics Part of Tanzania Meeting by Steve Waring
Hero’s Sendoff for Presiding Bishop by Steve Waring
The Independent has a catch-up briefing:
The Big Question: Why is the Anglican Church facing a schism, and can it be prevented? by Adrian Hamilton
The Christian Science Monitor has Anglican leaders under pressure to prevent schism by Jane Lampman
And there is a report from Changing Attitude here.
Evening Update
The Living Church has Global South Will Propose Two-Province Solution
Ruth Gledhill has some information about an additional Nigerian attendee, see In case of spiritual crisis….
Midnight Update
Living Church
Alternate Primates’ Meeting Agenda Proposed
Primates’ Session with Episcopal Bishops Changed to Thursday
Telegraph Jonathan Petre Primates in their unnatural habitat
AAC David Anderson Security Goes Tight Around the White Sands Special Compound
The Times Ruth Gledhill It is time for the Anglican Luthers to divorce
66 CommentsUpdated again Monday evening
Two British newspaper correspondents have reports this morning:
Daily Telegraph Jonathan Petre is already in Dar es Salaam, and reports Archbishop’s peace talks threatened.
…To the consternation of officials, the conservative primates have set up their own headquarters in the neighbouring Beachcomber hotel, at which they will determine their collective strategy, and they are threatening to snub Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, the liberal leader of the Episcopal Church, the American branch of Anglicanism…
…Anglican officials are hoping that divisions between hardliners and moderates will surface within this group over the next two days, allowing Dr Williams to appeal to the middle ground. “Much will depend on whose voices dominate the Global South caucus,” said one.
But a leading conservative, the Primate of Central Africa, Archbishop Bernard Malango, said many of his colleagues would find it “very difficult” to work with Presiding Bishop Schori. He added that the presence of the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, for the first time was also problematic because it had been decided without full consultation. In a warning to Dr Williams, he said: “If people have come in a spirit of give and take, that will happen. But if people have made up their minds to bring certain people here, then it will be difficult.
“I don’t want to see the Church damaged but if some groupings, especially those who are not faithful to the scriptures, decide to do their own thing, then that puts me in a difficult situation…”
Guardian Stephen Bates Archbishop battles to ward off final Anglican split on homosexuality.
…Conservative archbishops, mainly from the developing world, have gathered in Dar es Salaam for a separate two-day conference in advance of a formal meeting on Wednesday to plot tactics and agree a strategy before Rowan Williams arrives tomorrow…
…Archbishops, particularly those from Africa, want the American Church to be thrown out of the Anglican Communion because the church has been supportive of gay relationships, which they see as being in defiance of biblical injunctions.
They are being supported and lobbied at the meeting by English and American conservative, mainly evangelical, factions who also want to overthrow the US church’s liberal leadership and claim it for themselves.
In a further uncompromising sign, the Most Rev Peter Akinola, the primate of Nigeria and leader of the so-called “global south” archbishops opposed to any accommodation with the church’s homosexual members, has told Dr Williams that he objects to the presence of John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, at the meeting…
The local paper in Dar es Salaam, the Daily News reports Gays debate comes to haunt Anglican Church Summit.
A SHOWDOWN on the issue of gay church leaders is shaping up ahead of the Anglican Church Summit starting in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday…
…A number of delegates have already arrived in Dar es Salaam for the Summit expected to come up with a new vision on church solidarity as well addressing divisive tendencies. Several delegates attended Sunday morning service at the St Alban’s Cathedral in the city centre…
And the Global South Anglican has published The Long Road to Full Inheritance: Anglican Communion, Anno Domini 2007 by Michael Poon. Also there is Do you love me? – A Question for our Primates too by Canon AkinTunde Popoola.
Lunchtime update
Stephen Bates also has a strongly-worded critique of several English bishops at Comment is Free in Blathering bishops. And a leading conservative agrees with him:
…Furthermore Scott-Joynt & Co always seem to intervene just when a big church meeting is in the offing. Martyn Minns, one of the breakaway conservatives in the US Church, told me yesterday: “They always seem to have these thoughts and feel the need to share them just at the worst possible time.”
And he concludes with this:
…The outpourings of the Bishop of Winchester and his colleagues are counter-productive, both from the perspective of changing anyone’s minds and for the reputation of the Church of England, and they also serve to undermine the Archbishop of Canterbury as he strives to keep the worldwide communion together this week in Dar es Salaam.
Furthermore they are deeply divisive within the CofE’s bench of bishops, where Scott-Joynt and Nazir-Ali are both regarded as insufferable by many of their colleagues. What a happy ship it is.
The Toronto Star has Canada could play a key role as divided Anglican bishops meet.
Afternoon update
And in case you were wondering where Dar es Salaam is, ACNS has provided a map along with other information.
Jonathan Petre has also blogged about it: Ring of steel around the archbishops.
…The burgeoning bunker mentality can, perhaps, be explained by the palpable anxiety of the organizers that the meeting could be derailed before it has even started by the powerful conservative group of Global South primates, who are determined to seize control of events.
They have set up their own headquarters a hundred yards up the road in the Beachcomber hotel, where they are holding strategy meetings before moving en masse to the White Sands for the official five-day meeting beginning on Thursday, where a bloody showdown is looming.
When I mentioned to one of the conservative primates that there was consternation among Anglican Communion staff about what is effectively an alternative headquarters, he replied: “This isn’t the alternative headquarters. It is THE headquarters.” With that sort of attitude to contend with, Dr Williams will have his work cut out.
White Sands Hotel. And the video is here.
Beachcomber Hotel.
Evening update
Ruth Gledhill also has a review of the day with some additional links, and she reminisces about Lambeth 1998 in Tension builds in Dar es Salaam.
David Anderson of the AAC has also reported from Tanzania: News from Tanzania: Primates Already Arriving, Meeting in Dar Es Salaam
47 CommentsThe Anglican primates have been arriving in groups, some earlier than others, to attend several meetings scheduled prior to the general Primates’ Meeting. It is anticipated that several primates will not arrive, although that is unclear until the meetings actually start. We have been told that the primate of Wales will not attend due to a long planned sabbatical, and the primate of North India will also be absent.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is arriving somewhat late and will miss some or all of the joint meeting of the primates and Standing Committee of the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC). With Dr. Williams arriving late, Wales not attending, and a few others understood not to be coming; it may be that the joint meeting consists mainly of the Standing Committee of the ACC and Primate Bernard Malango (Province of Central Africa).
It has been suggested by some that the reason for the poor showing has to do with a lack of timely planning on the part of the organizers. The minutes of the last meeting are said to have not been given to the members in attendance until yesterday, and there is a difference of memory as to what the minutes should actually reflect.
The usual contingent from the news media is present in Dar Es Salaam, including Stephen Bates from London’s Guardian newspaper, the Rev. Canon Chris Sugden for Anglican Mainstream, the Rev. Canon David Anderson for the American Anglican Council’s Encompass publication, and Bishop Martyn Minns and wife Angela Minns for Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA) News. Prayer intercessors from the United States led by Rose-Marie Edwards are covering the meetings in prayer, along with other groups off-site. Bishop Bob Duncan (Pittsburgh) is on location, and other familiar faces from both sides of the main issues are expected to arrive momentarily..
From ENS: Episcopal Church goes to court in Virginia to retain parishes’ property.
The Episcopal Church has joined the Diocese of Virginia in its legal dispute over possession of the property of 11 congregations in which the majority of the members and clergy voted in 2006 and early 2007 to leave the denomination and affiliate with African Anglican bishops.
Lawyers filed a 20-page complaint in the County of Fairfax, Virginia, courts on February 9. The complaint lists the Episcopal Church as the plaintiff and names as defendants the former clergy and vestry members of 11 parishes and missions, as well as trustees who technically hold title to the real property of some of the parishes.
The complaint names the parishes as defendants “because their real and personal property and affairs are currently under the de facto control of individuals who claim the right to sever the link between the parties and the Diocese and the Episcopal Church, to divert the parishes’ real and personal property for their own use in affiliation with another denomination outside the United States, and to exclude the parishes’ faithful Episcopalian members for use and control of that property.”
The clergy and vestry, or vestry committee members in the case of the two missions, are named because they “have left the Episcopal Church, yet continue to exercise control over the real and personal property” of the congregation…
Stand Firm has a 2 Mb PDF file of the legal document here.
Press release from the seceded parishes here.
1 CommentSociety of Catholic Priests PRESS RELEASE – for immediate release
12th February 2007
An open letter has been sent today to the Archbishops of Canterbury, York, Wales and Armagh on behalf of an Anglican clergy organisation (The Society of Catholic Priests), which represents over 500 priests, calling on them to refrain from action against The Episcopal Church of the USA at their meeting in Tanzania this week. The letter warns the leaders of the Anglican Communion gathering in Dar es Salaam not to treat the Episcopal Church in the USA as the source of all the problems in the Communion. Instead, the Rev’d Jonathan Clark, who heads up SCP, asks the Primates to recognise that:
fractures within the Communion run not between but through provinces, dioceses and parishes.
Action against the Episcopal Church would only delay a discussion that needs to take place across the whole Anglican Communion. The letter points out that members of SCP would experience action against The Episcopal Church also as a rejection of their belief that issues of sexuality should not be used as doctrinal tests.
The Society of Catholic Priests represents anglo-catholic clergy working in Britain and Ireland as well as other parts of the Communion. The Society focuses on providing mutual support to priests in their spirituality and work of mission. Its position is that ‘the church should ordain to serve as deacons, priests and bishops in the church of God all those whom the church discerns as being called by God to such offices regardless of race, gender, disability or sexual orientation’. This is the first public statement on behalf of the Society on the issues which threaten to divide the Communion.
The Rev’d Richard Jenkins, Director of sister Anglican organisation Affirming Catholicism said:
This letter reflects a real and concern among ordinary clergy that the Anglican leadership isn’t doing enough to value those who in conscience feel that the Church should take a more open attitude to lesbian and gays. Staying together with integrity means learning to value all shades of opinion.
ENDS
For further information please contact Rev’d Jonathan Clark
rectorofstokey@btinternet.com
/ +44 20 7254 6072 / 07968 845698
Notes.
1.In 1994 a group of priests from the Southwark Diocese, who felt they could no longer belong the traditional catholic societies for priests, met over a period of six months. The meetings allowed them to reflect on thier theological position and find a way of providing priestly support and formation as well as encouraging Catholic evangelism. From those meetings the Society of Catholic Priests was born.
2.The Society has at the last count 547 members, organized in chapters across England, Wales and Ireland. The Council of SCP is headed by the Rector General, elected by the membership for a three year term. See www.scp.org.uk for more information.
3.The present Rector General, Jonathan Clark, is Rector of St Mary Stoke Newington and St John Brownswood Park in the diocese of London and the London Borough of Hackney (see www.stmaryn16.org for more information on St Mary’s). He also represents the diocese of London on the Church of England’s General Synod.
4 CommentsRuth Gledhill contributed this morning to the BBC radio programme Sunday. She has posted the full text of her essay on her blog, headed The Anglican Communion’s ‘Via Dolorosa’. Audio now available here (about 3 minutes).
The bottom line:
…Sometimes I just wish the Anglican hierarchy could step back and consider for a minute how all this looks to the outside world.
To friends of mine in journalism and at the school gates, it looks no better than the politics of the playground. They laugh about it, or shake their heads with incomprehension. Yet these are not children but Anglican bishops and archbishops we are talking about. Is it any wonder that secularism is on the march in Britain today?”
In the New York Times Laurie Goodstein profiled Bishop Katharine: New Episcopal Leader Braces for Gay-Rights Test:
…In an interview in her office last week, Bishop Jefferts Schori said the conflict was more about “biblical interpretation” than about homosexuality.
“We have had gay bishops and gay clergy for millennia,” she said. “The willingness to be open about that is more recent.”
She said that what she wanted to convey to her fellow primates was that despite the highly-publicized departure of some congregations (a spokesman said 45 of 7,400 have left and affiliated with provinces overseas), the Episcopal Church has the support of most members, who are engaged in worship and mission work, and not fixated on this controversy.
“A number of the primates have perhaps inaccurate ideas about the context of this church. They hear from the voices quite loudly that this church is going to hell in a handbasket,” she said. “The folks who are unhappy represent a small percentage of the whole, but they are quite loud…”
and
Asked how she would respond if primates walked out on her, she said, “Life is too short to get too flustered.”
The Observer carries a report by Jamie Doward Last bid to stop Anglican split. Too bad nobody told Doward that Archbishop Morgan won’t be at the meeting. But it contains the following:
According to the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement (LGCM), some 100 bishops worldwide are homosexual, though many are not active.
And from Pittsburgh, Lionel Deimel has a detailed reflection, High Anxiety in Pittsburgh.
Anxiety is high in the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, and the emotion probably cuts across any divisions in the diocese one might identify. The cause is the upcoming meeting of the Anglican Communion primates in Tanzania and its possible aftermath. What is in store for the Diocese of Pittsburgh and, particularly, for the loyal Episcopalians who are living within its boundaries?…
Addendum
According to Jim Naughton:
24 Comments“Word comes from Tanzania that Bishop Martyn Minns of CANA, Canon Chris Sugden of Anglican Mainstream and Father David Anderson of the American Anglican Council are already in Dar es Salaam. I wonder if they are aware that their presence in Tanzania, like their presence in Northern Ireland, convey to the rest of the world that they don’t trust Peter Akinola, Bernard Malango, Gregory Venables et. al. to manage on their own?”
Episcopal News Service has recorded a video interview with Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori which discusses her recent visit to the Episcopal Church of Cuba.
For background on this visit, see In Cuba, Presiding Bishop affirms ‘sea of possibilities’ for ending oppression and Cubans hail appointment of woman bishop.
The interview, conducted by Jan Nunley, on February 8 in New York, is linked here. It is about 11.5 minutes long.
7 CommentsThe New York Times has Inviting Africa’s Anglicans to Gather Under a Bigger Tent by Sharon LaFraniere. It is an interview with Njongonkulu Ndungane.
This Reuters report appeared in the Canadian National Post Anglican split goes far deeper than gay dispute.
ENS had TANZANIA: Central Tanganyika bishop questions legitimacy of singling out the Episcopal Church.
And a report by Pat Ashworth last week Ardour v. order on both sides also dealt with the forthcoming primates meeting.
16 CommentsLast week, I linked to the main news story by Paul Handley Virginia tells secessionists: see you in court.
The other reports are now available to non-subscribers:
The inhibited priest
Talk to our attorneys
The Bishop interviewed
Television
The priest who is staying
The faithful remnant
Episcopal News Service reports Presiding Bishop brings message of ‘Shalom’ to Episcopal Urban Caucus conference.
The Episcopal Urban Caucus website is here.
This was also reported in the Raleigh, North Carolina newspaper the News & Observer, which headlined the story Episcopal leader backs gay equality.
The paper also posted (as a PDF) the full text of her sermon at the Chapel of the Cross where she honoured the 30th anniversary of the first black woman ordained in the Episcopal Church USA.
There is a TV interview with Bishop Katharine linked from here. It is preceded by an interview with Lord Carey. The first interview is about 12.5 minutes. The second one is about 8 minutes.
Also, Bishop Katharine’s latest contribution to Episcopal Life is reproduced here: Three mission questions.
5 CommentsThe InclusiveChurch/Fulcrum joint project continues. There are now several letters from each contributor posted. You can see links to all of them, at either InclusiveChurch or at Fulcrum.
The latest letter from Giles Goddard starts here. (I’m sure it will be on Fulcrum as well, quite soon.)
11 CommentsInclusiveChurch is appealing for donations. The campaign, launched last month, is named A Thousand Hundreds.
HOW YOU CAN HELP US SAY ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
It was, in the end, two American parishes in Virginia going over from the Anglican Communion to the Archbishop of Nigeria that did it. And as a result, the broad, worldwide Anglican organization known as InclusiveChurch is doing two things: making a stand, and starting an appeal.
We know we don’t have much time.
The decision for everyone to go their separate ways could be taken at the Lambeth Conference next year. Meetings leading up to it start
nextthis month.You can help, whether you’re not a regular churchgoer or not, by contributing to our A Thousand Hundreds campaign. We’re looking for a thousand donations of a hundred pounds.
There are full details of this appeal on the IC website.
The Church Times reported the launch, see ‘Broad centre’ group launches campaign by Rachel Harden.
7 CommentsChristopher Howse writes in the Telegraph about Gays, marriage and Rowan Williams.
Background: Rowan Williams remarks at launch of National Marriage Week. Andrew Brown’s observations on this.
Stephen Plant writes in The Times about Charles Wesley’s hymns: Churches must ask why the English Hymnal is out of tune.
Martyn Percy writes in the Guardian’s Face to Faith column that Anglican dioceses should be more expressive of their catholic identity.
…Bishops have a vital role here in presiding over diversity while maintaining unity. This is why the key to some of the current divisive Anglican dilemmas may lie in dioceses and provinces becoming more expressive of their catholic identity, and celebrating their coherence amid their diversity. A diocese is a part of a larger, organic whole – a branch of the vine. Therefore, exercising its freedom and expressing its particularity is less important than maintaining its connectedness. Naturally, such restraint need not impose limits on diversity. It merely asks that the consequences of exercising one’s freedom be more fully weighed.
As the Anglican primates meet next week in Tanzania, there will be much to contemplate. How to hold together amid tense, even bitter diversity. How to be one, yet many. How to be faithfully catholic, yet authentically local. In all of this, an ethic of shared restraint – borne out of a deep catholicity – may have much to offer the Anglican communion. Without this, Anglicans risk being painfully lost in the issues that beset the church – unable to see the wood for the trees. Or perhaps, as Jesus might have said, unable to see the vine for the branches.
In the Tablet Tina Beattie asks Has liberation theology had its day?
In the Church Times Giles Fraser explains: This is what is wrong with rights.
Earlier in the week, Andrew Brown wrote on Comment is free about Shuttered windows to the soul.
3 CommentsToday, the Church Times had this report by Rachel Harden Primates head into a storm in Dar es Salaam.
From the Bahama Journal there was a report by Stephen Gay [sic] headlined Anglican Church To Make Decision On Homosexuality Issue which quotes Archbishop Drexel Gomez’s opinions.
Religion News Service issued Anglican, Episcopal Leaders Head to Summit in Africa By Daniel Burke.
Episcopal News Service issued Tanzania’s Anglican Church to host Communion’s Primates near ‘Abode of Peace’ by Matthew Davies.
Addition ENS also has New Primates elected for Hong Kong, Middle East.
Duke University published the text of an address by Lord Carey which discusses at length the background to this meeting.
Jim Naughton has published some thoughts about what may happen, On feeling unprepared.
33 Comments