From Colin Coward at Changing Attitude Blog:
The Bishop of Durham’s paper claiming to ‘unpack’ the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Reflections is dangerous for the Church of England, for LGBT people and for the worldwide Anglican Communion. People in the Changing Attitude network, gay and straight, are furious at his abuse and dishonesty. The paper reveals a bishop with a megalomaniacal drive to impose his own solution unilaterally on the Communion.
Durham would like The Episcopal Church and partnered LGBT people evicted from the Communion right now. His stand is unprincipled. The bishop has partnered lesbian and gay clergy in his own diocese and knows full well that there are many partnered clergy in the Church of England. Instead of addressing what he says is the impossibility of the church recognising same-sex blessings, he diverts attention away from home and focuses his attack on The Episcopal Church. (My emphasis)
Interfering with The Episcopal Church
The Bishop of Durham sets out to exacerbate divisions within The Episcopal Church. Whereas the Archbishop of Canterbury writes of ‘the broken bridges into the life of other Anglican Provinces’, Durham claims that the Archbishop ‘rightly’ indicates that ‘the Communion is already broken’. TEC is not choosing to walk apart now but did so some time ago, he declares. ‘Schism has already happened’ (Para. 13 iii). The Bishop of Durham has joined those conservative pressure groups that have been campaigning for some years to evict The Episcopal Church from the Anglican Communion. They misuse language and construct their own reality in pursuing their goal.
It's way past time to shed light on what I can only call the hypocrisy of certain English bishops who lash out at the Episcopal Church for not exercising strict discipline against partnered lesbian and gay clergy and bishops, when they know full well that the same partnerships exist in their own church, except under cover of "don't ask, don't tell".
Part 2 comes tomorrow at CA.
H/T to Thinking Anglicans.
It's good to have TA back. I couldn't get it for two days. That's fascinating information about Durham. Can't wait to read part 2.
ReplyDeleteJust read part 2. It's even better.
ReplyDeleteYes, Part Two is intense, focused and don´t let one little nugget of pompus mischiefmaking slip by. Thanks to Colin Coward, Changing Attitudes, U.K...finally, someone is confronting sloppy and dangerous ¨arrogant¨ religiouslike yammering.
ReplyDeleteLeo, I wonder if the ABC and Bp. Tom have any concept of how they are perceived throughout the Anglican Communion. The progressives are angry about their repeated scoldings and bashing, and the conservatives are angry with them, because they don't go far enough to "discipline the wayward".
ReplyDeleteYes. It's past time for more than just a few voices in England who favor inclusion to speak up.
The part that I hate about all of this is that I have lost respect for the lot of them...always, it didn´t matter how ¨outside¨ of things people like me and our family and friends were...there was a degree of respect...after the ABC´s sophicating and ongoing snideness, well, there is nothing left except to hope the next person does Canterbury better (I guess it will still be a guy, too bad).
ReplyDeleteYeah, Leo, it makes you think that they might be a tad hostile. The ABC is worse, in a way, because he obfuscates, whereas Wright at least says what's on his mind.
ReplyDelete