Archbishop sympathises with those fed up with Anglican rows
-17/09/06
The Archbishop o
Archbishop sympathises with those fed up with Anglican rows
-17/09/06
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has spoken of his concern and prayers for ordinary churchgoers who are ìpuzzled, wearied, or disorientedî by sometimes vituperative arguments about sexuality and authority going on within the 77-million worldwide Anglican Communion.
He has also warned those who want to shortcut painful disagreements by removing themselves from the oversight of the new Presiding Bishop of the US Episcopal Church (the Rt Rev Katharine Jefferts Schori) that there are no easy options in working through current difficulties.
In a Pastoral Letter to the Anglican Communionís Primates and Presiding Bishops, Dr Williams says that the ìordinary people of Godî do not want to see division as the consequence of the Anglican Communionís difficulties:
He writes: ìMany say they simply do not want to take up an extreme or divisive position and want to be faithful to Scripture and the common life. They want to preserve an Anglican identity that they treasure and love passionately but face continuing uncertainty about its future.î
In his letter, Dr Williams updates the Primates on the Windsor process, reporting the initial thinking of a group set up to advise in the wake of the General Convention of the Episcopal Church (formerly ECUSA) held in June 2006.
ìIt is Ö clear that the Episcopal Church has taken very seriously the recommendations of the Windsor Report; but the resolutions of General Convention still represent what can only be called a mixed response to the Dromantine [a further meeting] requests. The advisory group has spent much time in examining these resolutions in great detail, and its sense is that although some aspects of these requests have been fully dealt with, some have not. This obviously poses some very challenging questions for our February meeting and its discernment of the best way forward.î
On requests for ëalternative primatial oversightí received from some churches in the USA he warned against the tendency to think the matter was straightforward: ìI continue to hope that colleagues will not take it for granted that there is a rapid short-term solution that will remove our problems or simplify our relationships for good and all without the essential element of personal, probing conversation.î
Dr Williams also announced the appointment of Drexel Gomez, Primate of the Church of the West Indies, as chair of a group to design a Covenant between churches of the Anglican Communion, an idea Dr Williams canvassed in a reflection offered following the General Convention meeting.
[Also on Ekklesia: Why Rowan Williams helps stem the drift to idiocracy Sep 9, 2006. Simon Barrow says there is more to the ‘gay row’ than many activists admit]
Archbishop sympathises with those fed up with Anglican rows
-17/09/06
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has spoken of his concern and prayers for ordinary churchgoers who are ìpuzzled, wearied, or disorientedî by sometimes vituperative arguments about sexuality and authority going on within the 77-million worldwide Anglican Communion.
He has also warned those who want to shortcut painful disagreements by removing themselves from the oversight of the new Presiding Bishop of the US Episcopal Church (the Rt Rev Katharine Jefferts Schori) that there are no easy options in working through current difficulties.
In a Pastoral Letter to the Anglican Communionís Primates and Presiding Bishops, Dr Williams says that the ìordinary people of Godî do not want to see division as the consequence of the Anglican Communionís difficulties:
He writes: ìMany say they simply do not want to take up an extreme or divisive position and want to be faithful to Scripture and the common life. They want to preserve an Anglican identity that they treasure and love passionately but face continuing uncertainty about its future.î
In his letter, Dr Williams updates the Primates on the Windsor process, reporting the initial thinking of a group set up to advise in the wake of the General Convention of the Episcopal Church (formerly ECUSA) held in June 2006.
ìIt is Ö clear that the Episcopal Church has taken very seriously the recommendations of the Windsor Report; but the resolutions of General Convention still represent what can only be called a mixed response to the Dromantine [a further meeting] requests. The advisory group has spent much time in examining these resolutions in great detail, and its sense is that although some aspects of these requests have been fully dealt with, some have not. This obviously poses some very challenging questions for our February meeting and its discernment of the best way forward.î
On requests for ëalternative primatial oversightí received from some churches in the USA he warned against the tendency to think the matter was straightforward: ìI continue to hope that colleagues will not take it for granted that there is a rapid short-term solution that will remove our problems or simplify our relationships for good and all without the essential element of personal, probing conversation.î
Dr Williams also announced the appointment of Drexel Gomez, Primate of the Church of the West Indies, as chair of a group to design a Covenant between churches of the Anglican Communion, an idea Dr Williams canvassed in a reflection offered following the General Convention meeting.
[Also on Ekklesia: Why Rowan Williams helps stem the drift to idiocracy Sep 9, 2006. Simon Barrow says there is more to the ‘gay row’ than many activists admit]