Archbishop of Canterbury: 'Challenge and hope' for the Anglican Communion

Here's the full text of Rowan Williams' ‘The Challenge and Hope of Being an Anglican Today, A Reflection for the Bishops, Clergy and Faithful of the Anglican Communion’.

I have no immediate reaction on the substance.

Will most Anglicans even know what he is talking about? I doubt it. And that's part of the problem. The leaders of the church are generally unable to communicate their thoughts in a way that can be understood. Presuming they have something useful to communicate, that's a problem.

Wither the Anglican Church?: Schism

New York Times:

In a defining moment in the Anglican Communion's civil war over homosexuality, the Archbishop of Canterbury proposed a plan yesterday that could force the Episcopal Church in the United States either to renounce gay bishops and same-sex unions or to give up full membership in the Communion.

The archbishop, the Most Rev. Rowan Williams, said the "best way forward" was to devise a shared theological "covenant" and ask each province, as the geographical divisions of the church are called, to agree to abide by it.

Provinces that agree would retain full status as "constituent churches," and those that do not would become "churches in association" without decision-making status in the Communion, the world's third largest body of churches.
. . .
The archbishop said his proposal could allow local churches in the United States to separate from the Episcopal Church and join the American wing that stays in the Communion. But that process could take years, and some American parishes are already planning to break from the Episcopal Church. Entire dioceses may announce their intention to depart, as soon as today.

The NYT article ends:

Archbishop Williams said in his statement, "The reason Anglicanism is worth bothering with is because it has tried to find a way of being a church that is neither tightly centralized nor a loose federation of essentially independent bodies."

But that decentralization will continue to be a cause of conflict unless it is addressed, he said, adding, "What our Communion lacks is a set of adequately developed structures which is able to cope with the diversity of views that will inevitably arise in a world of rapid global communication and huge cultural variety."

He's characterized the organizational uniqueness of the Anglican Communion. But, at least in this quote he's not explained why that characteristic makes the Communion "worth bothering with." I'll read his statement and get back to you if I see some explanation.

File under: Headlines I wish I'd thought of

File under: Cartoon I wish I'd thought of

Survey Says

Mother of God:

Should traditional religious language be changed to more gender-neutral terms?
A. No, it should stay as it has always been.
B. There are some cases where it makes sense.
C. Strong efforts to make things more fair should be taken.

Make things more fair? Is predestination consistent with fairness?

Here's the related article.

A Ban on Kneeling? Some Catholics Won't Stand for It - Los Angeles Times

Quote:

Kneeling "is clearly rebellion, grave disobedience and mortal sin," Father Martin Tran, pastor at St. Mary's by the Sea, told his flock in a recent church bulletin. The Diocese of Orange backs Tran's anti-kneeling edict.
. . .
One flashpoint involves the Agnus Dei. Traditionalists say the faithful must then fall to their knees in awe for several minutes, believing that the bread and wine are literally the body and blood of Christ.

Lesa Truxaw, the Orange Diocese director of worship, said Bishop Tod D. Brown banned kneeling because standing "reflects our human dignity. It's not that we think we're equal to God, but we recognize that we are made in the image and likeness of God."