The Archbishop of Dublin, the Most Rev. John Neill, says that the twelve bishops of Ireland have found ways to continue to minister together even as they disagree about the ordination of gays. He t has mellowed his position from opposition to sorrow that Bishop Robinson is not part of the Lambeth Conference.
I just ran into Bishop Martin Barahona, the primate of Central America in the café downstairs. I asked him his impressions of this afternoon’s hearings. “The Windsor Report,” he said. “It’s just a report. When did it become like The Bible. The Covenant. Why do we need another covenant? We have the Baptismal Covenant. We have the creeds. What else do we need?”
The Windsor Continuation Group today called for “the swift formation of a Pastoral Forum at a communion level to engage theologically and practically with situations of controversy as they arise or divisive actions that may be taken around the Communion.”
The Bishop of Botswana, Trevor Mwamba is comfortable with the direction and tone of the Indaba process at Lambeth and says that the Bishops have now gotten in substantial discussions about sexuality and the Communion and the importance of the MDGs and the issues facing the Church in Africa are too important to be sacrificed to outside agendas.
I expect that the group, composed entirely of opponents of gay ordination, will urge the Episcopal Church to continue its de facto ban on the consecration of gay bishops. I don’t know how the Episcopal Church’s bishops will respond either in the moment or later in the week when the bishops convene for additional hearings.
Where before being a Christian could get you killed, now it could get you promoted; Constantine had, in effect, created the nominal Christian. Monasticism was, in part, a reaction against this laxity and to maintain the urgency and discipline required to hold the faith in the days of martyrdom. Rather than seeking the minimum required to acquire the title, the hermits and monastics sought to embody the maximum.
What kind of kingdom will this be? It will be a kingdom where, in accordance with Jesus’ prayer, God’s name is truly hallowed, his will is done on earth, human beings will have everything in abundance, all sin will be forgiven and all evil overcome.
The bishops’ schedule is lighter today. Some are catching up with their blogs and many are reflecting on the experiences of the past week and their hopes and fears for the week to come. Some have made connections they believe will grow in the future into opportunities for shared ministry and mission.