27th June 2006
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams has set out his thinking on the future of the Anglican Communion in the wake of the deliberations in the United States on the Windsor Report and the Anglican Communion at the 75th General Convention of The Episcopal Church (USA). ‘The Challenge and Hope of Being an Anglican Today, A Reflection for the Bishops, Clergy and Faithful of the Anglican Communion’, has been sent to Primates with a covering letter, published more widely and made available as audio on the internet. In it, Dr Williams says that the strength of the Anglican tradition has been in maintaining a balance between the absolute priority of the Bible, a catholic loyalty to the sacraments and a habit of cultural sensitivity and intellectual flexibility:
“To accept that each of these has a place in the church’s life and that they need each other means that the enthusiasts for each aspect have to be prepared to live with certain tensions or even sacrifices. The only reason for being an Anglican is that this balance seems to you to be healthy for the Church Catholic”
Dr Williams acknowledges that the debate following the consecration of a practising gay bishop has posed challenges for the unity of the church. He stresses that the key issue now for the church is not about the human rights of homosexual people, but about how the church makes decisions in a responsible way.
“It is imperative to give the strongest support to the defence of homosexual people against violence, bigotry and legal disadvantage, to appreciate the role played in the life of the church by people of homosexual orientation…”
The debate in the Anglican Communion had for many, he says, become much harder after the consecration in 2003 which could be seen to have pre-empted the outcome. The structures of the Communion had struggled to cope with the resulting effects:
“… whatever the presenting issue, no member Church can make significant decisions unilaterally and still expect this to make no difference to how it is regarded in the fellowship; this would be uncomfortably like saying that every member could redefine the terms of belonging as and when it suited them. Some actions – and sacramental actions in particular - just do have the effect of putting a Church outside or even across the central stream of the life they have shared with other Churches.”
Dr Williams says that the divisions run through as well as between the different Provinces of the Anglican Communion and this would make a solution difficult. He favours the exploration of a formal Covenant agreement between the Provinces of the Anglican Communion as providing a possible way forward. Under such a scheme, member provinces that chose to would make a formal but voluntary commitment to each other.
“Those churches that were prepared to take this on as an expression of their responsibility to each other would limit their local freedoms for the sake of a wider witness: some might not be willing to do this. We could arrive at a situation where there were ‘constituent’ Churches in the Anglican Communion and other ‘churches in association’, which were bound by historic and perhaps personal links, fed from many of the same sources but not bound in a single and unrestricted sacramental communion and not sharing the same constitutional structures”.
Different views within a province might mean that local churches had to consider what kind of relationship they wanted with each other. This, though, might lead to a more positive understanding of unity:
“It could mean the need for local Churches to work at ordered and mutually respectful separation between constituent and associated elements; but it could also mean a positive challenge for churches to work out what they believed to be involved in belonging in a global sacramental fellowship, a chance to rediscover a positive common obedience to the mystery of God’s gift that was not a matter of coercion from above but that of ‘waiting for each other’ that St Paul commends to the Corinthians.”
Dr Williams stresses that the matter cannot be resolved by his decree:
“ … the idea of an Archbishop of Canterbury resolving any of this by decree is misplaced, however tempting for many. The Archbishop of Canterbury presides and convenes in the Communion, and may … outline the theological framework in which a problem should be addressed; but he must always act collegially, with the bishops of his own local Church and with the primates and the other instruments of communion.”
“That is why the process currently going forward of assessing our situation in the wake of the General Convention is a shared one. But it is nonetheless possible for the Churches of the Communion to decide that this is indeed the identity, the living tradition – and by God’s grace, the gift - we want to share with the rest of the Christian world in the coming generation; more importantly still, that this is a valid and vital way of presenting the Good News of Jesus Christ to the world. My hope is that the period ahead - of detailed response to the work of General Convention, exploration of new structures, and further refinement of the covenant model - will renew our positive appreciation of the possibilities of our heritage so that we can pursue our mission with deeper confidence and harmony.”
The Primates of the Anglican Communion will meet early next year to consider the matter. In the meantime, a group appointed by the Joint Standing Committee of the ACC and the Primates will be assisting Dr Williams in considering the resolutions of the 75th General Convention of The Episcopal Church (USA) in response to the questions posed by the Windsor Report.
ENDS
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Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Monday, June 12, 2006
ECCLESIASTICAL TITBITS IV
ECCLESIASTICAL TITBITS IV
‘John’, he said to me, ‘you can’t expect a black man to have the same intelligence as a white man.’ We discussed the point, but he wouldn’t budge.
‘Jack”, I said, ‘I’ll lend you a little book’. I did. It was part of a larger volume put out by UNESCO; this portion was on Psychology and Race.
Jack read it, returning it a week later. ‘I’ll never say that again,’ he averred.
A week went by. ‘John’, he said, ‘you can’t expect a black man to have the same intelligence as a white man.’
He was a Londoner, but he could have been from anywhere. His views were common everywhere in the western world in the 1950s and showed the difficulty of changing ingrained attitudes and prejudices. We need to be clear, though on this. No race, or better, ethnic group, has a monopoly on intelligence. The range is the same for all peoples. [The technical details of this are not relevant to this piece.]
What matters is that all peoples are equal in ability, intelligence and potential. More importantly, all are equally valuable in God’s sight; all are his creation and all are one.
A long time ago a man wrote a little novel to show something of this. We know it as the book of Jonah. It is full of literary devices to gain attention and hold our interest. It’s a lovely story which can be called a fantasy – I like to think of it as the earliest science fiction fantasy. Unfortunately many folk, especially those with a literal biblical view, get hooked on the literary devices and seek to prove that, for instance, a man can be swallowed by a whale – oops, a large fish. Forget that nonsense and consider the meaning of the tale. It’s quite simple – all people, not just the Jews are God’s, even the Ninevites. This infuriates Jonah, our hero. Read the tale. Forget the prayer from the fish’s belly, it doesn’t belong. Someone who missed the point put it in later. Compare the story with the book of Ruth.
Just as the Ninevites mattered to God and were his, so too are all people, even those we don’t like and would rather see on the other side of the moon.
As God included all, so should we - not just our own sort, but those ethnically different, different in colour, belief or sexual orientation, or even economically. We are all God’s people and should accept one another and live in unity, not disunity. The Psalmist had it, ‘How good and pleasant a thing it is when God’s people live together in unity.’ Psalm 133¹ (ANZPB)
PISCATOR
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‘John’, he said to me, ‘you can’t expect a black man to have the same intelligence as a white man.’ We discussed the point, but he wouldn’t budge.
‘Jack”, I said, ‘I’ll lend you a little book’. I did. It was part of a larger volume put out by UNESCO; this portion was on Psychology and Race.
Jack read it, returning it a week later. ‘I’ll never say that again,’ he averred.
A week went by. ‘John’, he said, ‘you can’t expect a black man to have the same intelligence as a white man.’
He was a Londoner, but he could have been from anywhere. His views were common everywhere in the western world in the 1950s and showed the difficulty of changing ingrained attitudes and prejudices. We need to be clear, though on this. No race, or better, ethnic group, has a monopoly on intelligence. The range is the same for all peoples. [The technical details of this are not relevant to this piece.]
What matters is that all peoples are equal in ability, intelligence and potential. More importantly, all are equally valuable in God’s sight; all are his creation and all are one.
A long time ago a man wrote a little novel to show something of this. We know it as the book of Jonah. It is full of literary devices to gain attention and hold our interest. It’s a lovely story which can be called a fantasy – I like to think of it as the earliest science fiction fantasy. Unfortunately many folk, especially those with a literal biblical view, get hooked on the literary devices and seek to prove that, for instance, a man can be swallowed by a whale – oops, a large fish. Forget that nonsense and consider the meaning of the tale. It’s quite simple – all people, not just the Jews are God’s, even the Ninevites. This infuriates Jonah, our hero. Read the tale. Forget the prayer from the fish’s belly, it doesn’t belong. Someone who missed the point put it in later. Compare the story with the book of Ruth.
Just as the Ninevites mattered to God and were his, so too are all people, even those we don’t like and would rather see on the other side of the moon.
As God included all, so should we - not just our own sort, but those ethnically different, different in colour, belief or sexual orientation, or even economically. We are all God’s people and should accept one another and live in unity, not disunity. The Psalmist had it, ‘How good and pleasant a thing it is when God’s people live together in unity.’ Psalm 133¹ (ANZPB)
PISCATOR
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Thursday, June 08, 2006
Convenors report
9/6/06
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING-CONVENOR”S REPORT
Wednesday, February 16th 2005 a group of fifteen persons gathered at St. John’s Church, Bishopdale to discuss issues concerned with the life and worship within our Christchurch Anglican Diocese. There were six apologies.
The result of this meeting was the formation of ANGLICAN WAYS. A mission Statement was agreed to, a card with our position was printed and distributed amongst the parishes and made available in the general Church community, and plans were made for varied meetings, church services and activities to take place under our sponsorship.
On the 27th of August 2005, a public launch was held at St. Mark’s Church, Opawa, with 40 people present for dinner. The Very Reverend Michael Brown and the Reverend Jenni Carter addressed the gathering, which was followed by a panel discussion and contributions from the floor.
Since the public launch, Anglican Ways has been invited to participate in worship in a number of local (six) parishes; worshipping as was the custom of that community.
The group has gathered at:
St Michael & All Angels for Michaelmas on 29 September 2005
St Chads, Linwood with Jenny Daniels preaching on 27October, 2005
St Johns, Bishopdale, The Reverend John Fisher, preacher Nov. 2005
St Annes, St Martins, the Reverend Jenni Carter preaching, on 23 February
2006
Trinity Church, Darfield, The Reverend Jillian Fisher preacher, on 28 March 2006
St Faiths, New Brighton, The Reverend Carlie Hannah preacher on 7 May 2006.
A free discussion involving all present was held on each occasion except the first.
A visit was made to Ashburton on 26 February to meet with some of the Tinwald folk who were not happy with a vestry ruling to exclude us. They were also anxious to discover our core beliefs, and program.
A seminar is planned for 24 June with the theme of ‘Anglicans Together’ in the 21st century with various speakers and discussions. All parishes have been invited
The Committee meets regularly to conduct the business of Anglican Ways, a meeting which is open to all interested Anglicans.
Also our website is now set up http://anglicanways.org/
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING-CONVENOR”S REPORT
Wednesday, February 16th 2005 a group of fifteen persons gathered at St. John’s Church, Bishopdale to discuss issues concerned with the life and worship within our Christchurch Anglican Diocese. There were six apologies.
The result of this meeting was the formation of ANGLICAN WAYS. A mission Statement was agreed to, a card with our position was printed and distributed amongst the parishes and made available in the general Church community, and plans were made for varied meetings, church services and activities to take place under our sponsorship.
On the 27th of August 2005, a public launch was held at St. Mark’s Church, Opawa, with 40 people present for dinner. The Very Reverend Michael Brown and the Reverend Jenni Carter addressed the gathering, which was followed by a panel discussion and contributions from the floor.
Since the public launch, Anglican Ways has been invited to participate in worship in a number of local (six) parishes; worshipping as was the custom of that community.
The group has gathered at:
St Michael & All Angels for Michaelmas on 29 September 2005
St Chads, Linwood with Jenny Daniels preaching on 27October, 2005
St Johns, Bishopdale, The Reverend John Fisher, preacher Nov. 2005
St Annes, St Martins, the Reverend Jenni Carter preaching, on 23 February
2006
Trinity Church, Darfield, The Reverend Jillian Fisher preacher, on 28 March 2006
St Faiths, New Brighton, The Reverend Carlie Hannah preacher on 7 May 2006.
A free discussion involving all present was held on each occasion except the first.
A visit was made to Ashburton on 26 February to meet with some of the Tinwald folk who were not happy with a vestry ruling to exclude us. They were also anxious to discover our core beliefs, and program.
A seminar is planned for 24 June with the theme of ‘Anglicans Together’ in the 21st century with various speakers and discussions. All parishes have been invited
The Committee meets regularly to conduct the business of Anglican Ways, a meeting which is open to all interested Anglicans.
Also our website is now set up http://anglicanways.org/
Sunday, June 04, 2006
THOUGHTS ON PENTECOST
Dear Friends,
The great festival of Pentecost, which we celebrate today, testifies to the universal and inclusive nature of Christianity as a world-wide religion.
It was the coming of the Holy Spirit into the lives of the disheartened and broken community of the followers of Jesus which revived and empowered that community to carry the Good News of hope and wholeness to the world.
The testimony of Holy Scripture as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 2: 5) clearly illustrates the nature of the message of universality and inclusiveness. For instance, we read in that text that those listening to the tumult associated with the Pentecost experience heard the declaration of the wonders of God in their own tongues, representing the languages of Parthians, Medes, Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, Cretans, Arabs, Egyptians, Romans and numerous others—perhaps even in Sanskrit.
Pentecost was a new beginning, the birth of a faith that knew no limits, that ignored the boundaries of political allegiance, economic status, social position and tribal or national affiliation, as well as issues of gender.
In his letter to the Galatians (3: 26), S. Paul attests to this when he writes:
For in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.
Later, action taken at the First Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15: 19) extended the parameters of the Church to include Gentiles as members of God’s one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
In summation, the entire nature of the Christian witness is to convey the Good News of wholeness, oneness, and love to a weary, traumatised world.
That is the Pentecost message!
Fr Bob Peck
The great festival of Pentecost, which we celebrate today, testifies to the universal and inclusive nature of Christianity as a world-wide religion.
It was the coming of the Holy Spirit into the lives of the disheartened and broken community of the followers of Jesus which revived and empowered that community to carry the Good News of hope and wholeness to the world.
The testimony of Holy Scripture as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 2: 5) clearly illustrates the nature of the message of universality and inclusiveness. For instance, we read in that text that those listening to the tumult associated with the Pentecost experience heard the declaration of the wonders of God in their own tongues, representing the languages of Parthians, Medes, Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, Cretans, Arabs, Egyptians, Romans and numerous others—perhaps even in Sanskrit.
Pentecost was a new beginning, the birth of a faith that knew no limits, that ignored the boundaries of political allegiance, economic status, social position and tribal or national affiliation, as well as issues of gender.
In his letter to the Galatians (3: 26), S. Paul attests to this when he writes:
For in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.
Later, action taken at the First Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15: 19) extended the parameters of the Church to include Gentiles as members of God’s one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
In summation, the entire nature of the Christian witness is to convey the Good News of wholeness, oneness, and love to a weary, traumatised world.
That is the Pentecost message!
Fr Bob Peck
ECCLESIASTICAL TITBITS III
Recently I cited an e-mail from the Reverend George Armstrong to the Assistant Dean. In it he wrote of Mother Teresa ‘with her truly “mainstream” Christian orthodoxy…’. Further on he again uses the term saying of the Cathedral staff ‘as you stand fast for a truly open and inclusive mainstream Anglican Faith’. Add to this the closing words of Muriel Porter’s acknowledgement in ‘The New Puritans’ where she writes ‘This book is dedicated to those Sydney Anglicans striving to protect the mainstream Anglicanism of their forbears’.
I found an echoing response to those statements in my own being. Despite the attempted hi-jacking of the term “mainstream” by a dissident group of Anglicans it has deeper and more lasting connotations. All who have found a home in Anglicanism, in whatever stream they have found appropriate, can claim “mainstream” status. Here I am reminded that Cleverley Ford wrote that if the Anglican Church did not exist many of us would not have a spiritual home.
I sought to rephrase these things and thus come up with my understanding, and that I believe of most Anglicans I have met. I believe that Anglicanism is a broad and deep river formed by all the diverse tributaries joining force to make it the body of faith it surely is. On behalf of the millions of Anglicans of all times and all spheres I reclaim the adjective “mainstream” for the whole church.
PISCATOR
I found an echoing response to those statements in my own being. Despite the attempted hi-jacking of the term “mainstream” by a dissident group of Anglicans it has deeper and more lasting connotations. All who have found a home in Anglicanism, in whatever stream they have found appropriate, can claim “mainstream” status. Here I am reminded that Cleverley Ford wrote that if the Anglican Church did not exist many of us would not have a spiritual home.
I sought to rephrase these things and thus come up with my understanding, and that I believe of most Anglicans I have met. I believe that Anglicanism is a broad and deep river formed by all the diverse tributaries joining force to make it the body of faith it surely is. On behalf of the millions of Anglicans of all times and all spheres I reclaim the adjective “mainstream” for the whole church.
PISCATOR
Saturday, June 03, 2006
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