Carey: The circumstances facing each Archbishop of Canterbury will vary according to the needs
of the hour. For these reasons, I believe, that Dr Rowan Williams should not regard
the advice he has evidently received that this matter [inviting AMiA and CANA bishops] is ‘fixed’ as necessarily binding
on him in the very different circumstances of 2007.
God created humans with free will. Christians must combine faith and common sense to forge a future that serves the whole. That doesn’t mean coming to agreement on issues that divide us. Often, people think of resolution in just such a way. They advance their position over and over in the hope others finally will see the light. Yet proponents of the other side have the same hope. We need to develop a larger vision. When will this be resolved? When will they see it our way? Maybe never.
Reducing morality and immorality to brain chemistry — rather than free will — might diminish the importance of personal responsibility. Even more important, some wonder whether the very idea of morality is somehow degraded if it turns out to be just another evolutionary tool that nature uses to help species survive and propagate.
In the Road to Lambeth we said “We will definitely not attend any Lambeth Conference to which the violators of the Lambeth Resolution are also invited as participants or observers.” We note that all the American Bishops who consented to, participated in, and have continued to support the consecration as bishop of a man living in a homosexual relationship have been invited to the Lambeth Conference. These are Bishops who have violated the Lambeth Resolution 1.10.
A lot of people are talking about Sara Miles’ new book, Take This Bread, an unusual and refreshing account of how one woman’s world changed after receiving communion at St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church in San Francisco. Now director of St. Gregory’s Food Pantry, Miles is being recognized and not only for sharing the moment of her conversion, but for everything she’s done since.
Guardian columnist Andrew Brown has issued a challenge to the Archbishop of Canterbury in light of Akinola’s call to boycott Lambeth: Stand up for yourself, Rowan.
The Rt. Rev. John H. Rodgers, Jr., has been appointed interim dean at Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry. He will serve for one year beginning Aug. 1 while Trinity searches for a permanent successor for the Very Rev. Paul F.M. Zahl, who announced May 10 that he would resign effective at the end of July.
Ado over theological education and certain tides afoot from the “reasserting” side of the fence lead to speculation over future generations of Anglican leadership. But where is the tide now?
Over the weekend, more than 2,000 people attended the consecration of Shannon Johnston, bishop co-adjutor of the Diocese of Virginia, at Washington National Cathedral on Saturday, May 26, 2007. Read on to find out more about the service, the people who attended it, and what’s in store for the new bishop coadjutor of the Episcopal Church’s largest diocese.
Of course, what should really happen is that the bishops of the Church of England stop using colleges like this to train its priests. Places such as Wycliffe are turning Anglicanism into a cult. But it’s a symptom of how bad things are in the C of E, and how frightened its bishops have become of the financial muscle of conservative evangelicals, that they won’t find the gumption to cut Wycliffe adrift.
– Giles Fraser, The Guardian