Archbishop Rowan Williams' role as incumbent of the See of Canterbury gives him a unique opportunity to lead the Communion, a unique opportunity which I do not think is yet undermined by provinces here and there which have sought to remove 'communion with the See of Canterbury' as constitutive of their being Anglican. How might Rowan lead the Communion with a vision for a future which is not 'chaotic and uncertain'?
I suggest that one text needs to guide his every statement and sermon:
"to unite all things in [Christ]" (Ephesians 1:10)
The great plan of God, as articulated in the fullness of Pauline theology within Holy Scripture is that all things are united in Christ. A larger framing of the phrase above is Ephesians 1:9-10:
"making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth."
The future of the Anglican Communion is to be joined with other things in the universe in the great unity of everything. That means that everything in our life together which presents as an occasion for division and disunity is an opportunity, should be an opportunity, as faithful readers of Scripture, for deepening our life together. For and against the ordination of women as priests and bishops? This could lead to division (and in places has), but challenges us to find the ways in which we might remain united together in Christ. Responding to differing cultural movements in respect of human sexuality in general, and homosexuality in particular? A process of division has already begun, but is it irreversible? What might it mean, even now, for (say) ACNA and TEC, or TEC and Uganda to sit around a table (a loaf of bread and a cup of wine placed serendipitously in the centre of it) and talk and listen and talk and listen until unity in Christ is regained, because as Anglicans bound to listen to Scripture we are "eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Eph 4:3), knowing "there is one body" (4:4) united under just the "one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all" (4:5-6).
Archbishop Williams role, I suggest, is not to articulate anxiety about our future, but to cast and recast the great vision of Scripture for the unity of all things. In respect of that vision we have erred and strayed and gone our own ways. It's time to come back to the one way of Jesus Christ. Our elder shepherd Rowan, on behalf of the Great Shepherd, needs to call us back together. We need to heed that voice, not because of veneration for the heritage Canterbury represents, but because it is the voice of the living Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ.
I'm often struck by the sheer brass neck represented by some of Paul's writings, given the small numbers of peple in the early churches he knew — yet he dares to see these small communities as the beachhead of a whole new humanity in Christ.
ReplyDeleteThanks for bringing real perspective to the task in hand - not ecclesiastical politics, but rediscovering the unity that is already ours in Christ, because Christ is one. Or, as Paul said, everything is yours, life, death, the lot, because you are Christ's, and he is God's.
What Williams needs to do is get a spine---and stop pandering to right-wingers in the UK and elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteKurt Hill
Brooklyn, NY
Thanks, Bishop Alan ...
ReplyDeletePerhaps, Kurt ... but not pandering to the right could mean pandering to the left which could be as divisive ... the spine I would like ++Rowan to have is the spine of Paul: calling all sides to true union in the body of Christ.
Actually, Fr. Carroll, I’d be satisfied if Archbishop Williams were simply even-handed. I have no problem sitting down at the table (or kneeling at the Holy Table) with people with whom I disagree. The right-wingers don’t feel similarly. To date, every pressure the Archbishop has exerted has been against the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada. The cross-border raiders are allowed to proceed as they wish, the misogynists do what they want, and the homophobes are not far behind them. And Williams says nothing. More even-handedness would be helpful.
ReplyDeleteKurt Hill
Brooklyn, NY
Hi Kurt
ReplyDeleteI accept that the politics of our crisis have not had an even-handed response; and acknowledge that many on the 'right-wing' of the Communion are unwilling to participate in communion with those they disagree with.
Nevertheless, is our communion together helped by terms such as 'cross boarder raiders', 'misogynists' and 'homophobes'?
No doubt there are some in the midst of the Communion, but my personal experience of many Anglicans being categorised in these ways is that the descriptors are inaccurate descriptions of people with principled concerns for the well-being of the Communion, including its faithfulness to the historic teaching of the church.
My point about what ++Rowan needs to do is that the future of the Communion requires a new vision which draws us all beyond unhelpful categorizations.
“...the future of the Communion requires a new vision which draws us all beyond unhelpful categorizations.”
ReplyDeleteOkay, Fr. Carrell, I can accept that premise. I just don’t think that Archbishop Williams has it in him. I hope I’m wrong, but it seems to me that the Anglican Communion is heading for a crack-up; particularly if the presumed majority are bent on excluding some of the oldest provinces in Anglicanism.
Kurt Hill
Brooklyn, NY