Anglican Communion News Service:
The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams has today revealed that he is to step down from his role at the end of the year.
His decision comes after 10 years in the post and after accepting the position of Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge.
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The Archbishop is the Focus of Unity for the Anglican Communion. He is convener and host of the Lambeth Conference, President of the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC), and Chair of the Primates' meeting.Hmm. I thought our focus of unity was Jesus Christ. Archbishop Rowan has not been a focus of any sort of unity for me for a very long time.
Dr John Sentamu: "The last decade has been a challenging time for the Church of England and the Anglican Communion. Thankfully, Archbishop Rowan is a remarkable and gifted leader who has strengthened the bonds of affection."Lay Anglicana:
It is interesting to speculate what effect the resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury is likely to have on the outcome. On the one hand, people might feel that they owe him a ‘yes’ vote as evidence of their loyalty. On the other hand, they may feel that if he is not to remain in office during the period when it will need to be implemented, it is not necessary to follow his lead and they will be free to vote according to their own views.Five diocesan synods in the Church of England will meet tomorrow and vote on the adoption of the Anglican Covenant. Pray for wisdom for the members as they cast their votes.
Chester
Ely
Liverpool
Norwich
St Albans
Bishop Alan Wilson on the Anglican Covenant:
I shall listen carefully to the debate in our diocese. I can only vote for the covenant if those who support it can produce something very much better than tendentious waffle spiced by emotional blackmail to explain it.The row that produced this document has, mercifully, moved on fundamentally from the night of the long knives to the night of the long trousers. I don’t want to go back to where we were on the gay issue, and I don’t want to have a two-speed Church, and I don’t want to add to the burdens on colleagues abroad, and I don’t want to collude with childish attempts to punish the Americans for being children of the Enlightenment, if such they are. Neither do I think a healthy family should roll over in a supine way and pretend to believe in something it doesn’t just because Daddy will be upset if it doesn’t.
The whole thing is foolish, and founded on a damaging control fantasy. Best give it a decent Christian burial and move on.
I'll be interested to see the reception he gets at Magdalene. I wonder how the students there will react to his anti-LGBT, anti-woman views? He may be jumping from the frying pan into the fire!
ReplyDeleteDoxy, one person who should know thinks Rowan may not have an easy time of it at Magdalene.
ReplyDeleteHe certainly won't be surrounded by a coterie of ecclesial bureaucrats, intent on keeping him protected from hoi polloi.
ReplyDeleteAnd the faculty won't feel any need to bow down to him either. Academia makes church politics look like a Sunday picnic.
I could almost feel sorry for him--if he hadn't been such an absolute disaster for the church and deadly to others. Every time I think of him, I get pictures in my head of Jeffrey John and David Kato....
Rowan's treatment of his good friend dashed my hopes for him to be an asset to the Anglican Communion and the Church of England. He never recovered from the misstep, which seemed to make further missteps down the road easier.
ReplyDeleteWell, that's one small step forward. Now let's pray that they don't take two steps back.
ReplyDeleteWade, see my latest post.
ReplyDeleteThat and how he treated Gene Robinson+ (and KJS+ carrying her headgear), cannot forgive him this. At least not today.
ReplyDeleteBradley, those of us in the Episcopal Church have a list of grievances against Rowan. I'm pleased he's going, but I'm concerned about who will be appointed as his successor.
ReplyDeleteWell, at the M, he will be accountable to others, not others to him. Think of Mary Stewart going from Queen to subject. Not a pretty picture and it won't be for Rowan either. I do not feel sorry for him. He created the monster that ate him for luncheon.
ReplyDeleteI'm interested in the reaction from Mary Magdalene. What would "the Apostle to the Apostles" say to the ABC who couldn't bring the CofE around to ordain another woman as "apostle" during his tenure?
ReplyDeleteThat teapot looks positively menacing!
ReplyDelete"I can only vote for the covenant if those who support it can produce something very much better than tendentious waffle spiced by emotional blackmail to explain it."
I like that "...tendentious waffle spiced by emotional blackmail."
I too am concerned about who will be his successor. Sometimes it is better the enemy we know, than one we don't know.
Surprising news. Andrew Sullivan, a devout Catholic, has this comment: "He had the mark of a true Christian, as opposed to a partisan Christianist: a deep discomfort with wielding power."
ReplyDelete(Link: http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/03/the-legacy-of-rowan-williams.html).
Hmm. I get the point Sullivan is making . . . but I'll have to think that over some before I fully agree that a true Christian is always uncomfortable with wielding power.
Russ, why did Rowan take the job in the first place? I must say I don't understand Andrew's take on the ABC.
ReplyDelete