Black Archbishop calls for magnanimity in Anglican row
-09/07/06
Dr John Sentamu, Engl
Black Archbishop calls for magnanimity in Anglican row
-09/07/06
Dr John Sentamu, England’s first black Archbishop of York, has challenged the Anglican church to exercise “gracious magnanimity” in its dissensions. This was a key theme of his presidential address at the Church of England’s General Synod on Saturday 8 July 2006.
The Synod, the Churchís official three-tier (bishops, clergy and lay) decision-making body has to handle contentious issues such as women bishops. It is meeting this week, through to 11 July, at the University of York in the north of England.
However Dr Sentamu also acknowledged that, although the 75th General Convention of the Episcopal Church clearly demonstrated that it is committed to mission, the Anglican Communion and the Archbishop of Canterbury, its response to the recommendations of the Windsor Report “fell short” of what many were hoping for.
“Gracious magnanimity is the quality of the person who knows that regulations are not the last word and knows when not to apply the letter of the law,” declared the Archbishop.
He continued: “A church meeting may sit with the book of practice and procedure on the table in front of it and take every one of its decisions in strict accordance with the law of the Church; but there are times when the Christian treatment of some situation demands that the book of practice and procedure should not be regarded as the last word.”
Dr Sentamu, who attended General Convention for its entirety, noted that in spite of the hard work of the Special Committee on the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion, and numerous hearings, it failed to meet the precise request of the Windsor Report. “It left too much room for doubt,” he said, “and didn’t stop the rumour and impression of doing ‘our own thing.'”
Others argue that the Episcopal Church USA displayed maturity in acknowledging the concerns of others in the Communion without trampling on the theological and practical integrity of those holding an affirmative position to lesbian and gay people within the Church ñ though many liberals believe it compromised too much.
The Special Committee “took the recommendations of the Windsor Report seriously,” Dr Sentamu continued. “But the Convention’s legislative processes – modelled on the House of Representatives and the Senate, and acting like them – are not fit for the purpose of engendering good conversation … And in the end they fell short.”
Sentamu said he wished that Convention had heeded the words of the Rev John Danforth, an Episcopal priest and former Senator and US Ambassador to the United Nations, who (as Ekklesia reported) was the keynote speaker at the Presiding Bishop’s 15 June forum: Toward a Reconciled World.
During the forum, Danforth implored Convention that sexual orientation not be the centerpiece of the Episcopal Church.
“We have a higher calling, a more central message: that God was in Christ, was in the world, reconciling the world to himself,” Danforth said. “And he has entrusted us to the ministry of reconciliation … Shift from the divisive issue of sexuality to [the] ministry of reconciliation.”
Dr Sentamu welcomed the fact that the ECUSA Convention demonstrated its commitment to inclusive mission. “A Church that takes the Millennium Development Goals seriously,” he said. “Poverty, world peace, HIV/AIDS, the living wage, young people, equality for all, are at the top of the agenda.”
Proclaiming his belief that holy communication is part of Holy Communion, Dr Sentamu said, “I am driven to exasperation when Christians don’t disagree well and Christianly. The Christian, as St. Paul sees it, is the person who knows that there is something beyond justice.
He went on: “As far as justice goes, there isn’t one of us who deserves anything other than the condemnation of God, but [St. Paul] goes far beyond justice,” he continued. “[He] lays it down that the mark of a Christian in their personal relationships with their fellow human beings must be that they know when to insist on justice and when to remember that there is something beyond justice.”
Toward the end of his address, the Archbishop of York, who is ënumber twoí to Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams, spoke about combating terrorism and offering a vision of wholeness in a “compelling and imaginative way” so that would-be suicide bombers would come to see this as their own vision.
“A vision that would turn them from outsiders, self-excluding and deluded despisers of others, into belongers; a vision which will help them to see that those they seek to destroy are their own brothers and sisters regardless of their religious affiliations,” he said. “The way to do this is by drawing a large enough circle of love which includes them and us.”
[With acknowledgments to Matthew Davies of ENS]
[Also on Ekklesia: First female Anglican leader prepares to weather the storm 28/06/06; Archbishop sees covenant not contract as Anglican way forward 27/06/06; Ecumenism not hit by woman presiding bishop, say observers 23/06/06; US Episcopal Church turns down ban on gay bishops 21/06/06; Joy greets the first-ever Anglican woman leader 19/06/06; Don’t practice divisive religion, UN man tells Episcopalians 18/06/06; Worrying new Anglican dispute about David Beckham 19/06/06 Inclusive Church reports on key US Episcopal gathering 16/06/06; Episcopal Church USA faces pressure on Anglican gay split; Lord Carey says ordaining a gay bishop verges on heresy; Conservative Episcopalians break away ahead of Eames report; African bishops say Windsor Report is offensive; Windsor Report does not call for apology; Episcopal bishop rejects Nigerian criticism on gays]
Black Archbishop calls for magnanimity in Anglican row
-09/07/06
Dr John Sentamu, England’s first black Archbishop of York, has challenged the Anglican church to exercise “gracious magnanimity” in its dissensions. This was a key theme of his presidential address at the Church of England’s General Synod on Saturday 8 July 2006.
The Synod, the Churchís official three-tier (bishops, clergy and lay) decision-making body has to handle contentious issues such as women bishops. It is meeting this week, through to 11 July, at the University of York in the north of England.
However Dr Sentamu also acknowledged that, although the 75th General Convention of the Episcopal Church clearly demonstrated that it is committed to mission, the Anglican Communion and the Archbishop of Canterbury, its response to the recommendations of the Windsor Report “fell short” of what many were hoping for.
“Gracious magnanimity is the quality of the person who knows that regulations are not the last word and knows when not to apply the letter of the law,” declared the Archbishop.
He continued: “A church meeting may sit with the book of practice and procedure on the table in front of it and take every one of its decisions in strict accordance with the law of the Church; but there are times when the Christian treatment of some situation demands that the book of practice and procedure should not be regarded as the last word.”
Dr Sentamu, who attended General Convention for its entirety, noted that in spite of the hard work of the Special Committee on the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion, and numerous hearings, it failed to meet the precise request of the Windsor Report. “It left too much room for doubt,” he said, “and didn’t stop the rumour and impression of doing ‘our own thing.'”
Others argue that the Episcopal Church USA displayed maturity in acknowledging the concerns of others in the Communion without trampling on the theological and practical integrity of those holding an affirmative position to lesbian and gay people within the Church ñ though many liberals believe it compromised too much.
The Special Committee “took the recommendations of the Windsor Report seriously,” Dr Sentamu continued. “But the Convention’s legislative processes – modelled on the House of Representatives and the Senate, and acting like them – are not fit for the purpose of engendering good conversation … And in the end they fell short.”
Sentamu said he wished that Convention had heeded the words of the Rev John Danforth, an Episcopal priest and former Senator and US Ambassador to the United Nations, who (as Ekklesia reported) was the keynote speaker at the Presiding Bishop’s 15 June forum: Toward a Reconciled World.
During the forum, Danforth implored Convention that sexual orientation not be the centerpiece of the Episcopal Church.
“We have a higher calling, a more central message: that God was in Christ, was in the world, reconciling the world to himself,” Danforth said. “And he has entrusted us to the ministry of reconciliation … Shift from the divisive issue of sexuality to [the] ministry of reconciliation.”
Dr Sentamu welcomed the fact that the ECUSA Convention demonstrated its commitment to inclusive mission. “A Church that takes the Millennium Development Goals seriously,” he said. “Poverty, world peace, HIV/AIDS, the living wage, young people, equality for all, are at the top of the agenda.”
Proclaiming his belief that holy communication is part of Holy Communion, Dr Sentamu said, “I am driven to exasperation when Christians don’t disagree well and Christianly. The Christian, as St. Paul sees it, is the person who knows that there is something beyond justice.
He went on: “As far as justice goes, there isn’t one of us who deserves anything other than the condemnation of God, but [St. Paul] goes far beyond justice,” he continued. “[He] lays it down that the mark of a Christian in their personal relationships with their fellow human beings must be that they know when to insist on justice and when to remember that there is something beyond justice.”
Toward the end of his address, the Archbishop of York, who is ënumber twoí to Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams, spoke about combating terrorism and offering a vision of wholeness in a “compelling and imaginative way” so that would-be suicide bombers would come to see this as their own vision.
“A vision that would turn them from outsiders, self-excluding and deluded despisers of others, into belongers; a vision which will help them to see that those they seek to destroy are their own brothers and sisters regardless of their religious affiliations,” he said. “The way to do this is by drawing a large enough circle of love which includes them and us.”
[With acknowledgments to Matthew Davies of ENS]
[Also on Ekklesia: First female Anglican leader prepares to weather the storm 28/06/06; Archbishop sees covenant not contract as Anglican way forward 27/06/06; Ecumenism not hit by woman presiding bishop, say observers 23/06/06; US Episcopal Church turns down ban on gay bishops 21/06/06; Joy greets the first-ever Anglican woman leader 19/06/06; Don’t practice divisive religion, UN man tells Episcopalians 18/06/06; Worrying new Anglican dispute about David Beckham 19/06/06 Inclusive Church reports on key US Episcopal gathering 16/06/06; Episcopal Church USA faces pressure on Anglican gay split; Lord Carey says ordaining a gay bishop verges on heresy; Conservative Episcopalians break away ahead of Eames report; African bishops say Windsor Report is offensive; Windsor Report does not call for apology; Episcopal bishop rejects Nigerian criticism on gays]