Divisions are distracting us

“Drenched in Grace” is a residential conference offered up by Inclusive Church, and is going on now in England. The writers over at Inclusive Church Blog are providing recaps of the featured speakers. Notable was yesterday’s opening keynote, delivered by the Dr Jenny Plane Te Paa, who “lamented our obsession with drawing lines that exclude, which is distracting us from the enormous suffering so many people face.”

In a strong speech, Te Paa reminded us “how pervasive the reach of enmity has become amongst us.” She urged us “not to notice the bad behaviour of the few, but the good behaviour of the many.” Calling to mind the great humanitarian needs of the world, Te Paa lamented our obsession with drawing lines that exclude, which is distracting us from the enormous suffering so many people face. We must not “fret and fight” while people are literally dying.

Te Paa is Principal of the College of St John the Evangelist in Auckland, New Zealand, was a member of the 2003 Lambeth Commission, and assisted in the St Augustine’s Seminar responsible for planning the detailed content for the forthcoming Lambeth Conference 2008.

The Revd Canon Giles Goddard, chair of Inclusive Church, said, “We are not a pressure group of the like-minded.” He added, “We are ordinary Anglicans who love our church, and we are deeply concerned by the way in which the effort to exclude is overtaking the calling to live the Gospel.”

The summary is here, a link to the audio of Te Paa’s speech is here, and coverage continues with today’s speakers here.

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