This week in social media has seen a lot of commentary on the Archbishop of Canterbury and the state of the Anglican communion–mostly critical–and a flurry of posts about the nor’easter that’s savaged the Mid-Atlantic. But other topics have brought about some entertaining gems.
All he wants this holiday is a happier Archbishop of Canterbury — one who takes stock of a progressive Church without it spoiling his tea.
Before the storm John Mac, as everyone calls the high school, was considered the lowest ranked public school in America. Louisiana ranked last in the nation. New Orleans parish ranked last in Louisiana. And John Mac was ranked last in New Orleans.
At the heart of this momentous event, the child Mary is singing a song about a child. An exceptional young girl, chosen to be the Mother of this child Messiah, she is called in tradition Theotokos, the God-bearer.
Christianity is rooted in the belief that Jesus is the Son of God, so is Islam’s version of Christ a source of tension, or a way of building bridges between the world’s two largest faiths?
One sometimes hears people say that because the Episcopal Church is involved in a difficult conversation about human sexuality, we “have trouble getting our message out.” Thanks to Neva Rae Fox, the Church’s public affairs officer, we can say conclusively that in certain seasons of the year, this is objectively untrue.
And, predictably, Rowan has invited the Pope.
While I dislike the Covenant as both document and enterprise, I still think the Episcopalians need to answer some hard questions before committing themselves to opposition. I can think of two off the top of my head, and hope commenters will suggest others.
“The Archbishop of Canterbury’s willingness to assert himself in local elections within the Episcopal Church while remaining silent about the egregious human rights violations supported by other churches in the Communion has diminished his own stature as a moral leader, and has now begun to taint the work of other bodies that claim to speak for the Anglican Communion,”
Updated: Does the dispersed nature of Anglicanism and its autonomy, its cultural connections and sensitivity, really wish to take on something that would be impossible – wide and unending talk before anything was done in a geographical area? This process may be Rowan Williams looking down a deep well and seeing his own face, but it is not Anglicanism in its decentralised nature.