Rocket man
Anglican church head will try to mend Episcopal rift
By Cathy Lynn Grossman
USA TODAY
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, head of the 77-million-member Anglican Communion, announced Monday he'll visit with U.S. Episcopal bishops this fall in what may be a last ditch effort to patch fractures over views of the Bible and the roles of homosexual clergy.
At a press conference at the Anglican Church of Canada, Williams said he and other Communion leaders would meet with the U.S. bishops Sept. 20-25 in New Orleans, "to try and keep people around the table for as long as possible on this, to understand one another."
"We may come to a point where people feel there are irreconcilable differences," said Williams. "But when there is an overlap between human rights and what the church can endorse, it does no good to isolate ideas... If the Anglican church divides, everyone will lose."
It’s all here …
Gay-marriage split would hurt church - top Anglican
Tue 17 Apr 2007
By Scott Valentine
ReutersUK
TORONTO (Reuters) - Everyone would lose if the Anglican Church splits in two over the issue of gay marriage, the Archbishop of Canterbury said on Monday.
Dr. Rowan Williams, head of the worldwide Anglican Church, told a news conference in Toronto it was worth trying to preserve the unity of the church as long as possible.
"We may come to a point where people feel there are irreconcilable differences," said Williams. "But when there is an overlap between human rights and what the church can endorse, it does no good to isolate ideas... If the Anglican church divides, everyone will lose."
It’s all here …if a little confused about things like...
A "pastoral scheme" proposed by the Episcopal Church, the U.S. wing of the Anglican communion, would see individual dioceses having the option of aligning themselves with the church's more conservative elements via a regional representative to traditionalist bishops.
That idea has Williams concerned that the 77-million strong Anglican Church is close to ripping itself to pieces.
No, the "pastoral scheme" was proposed by the Primates, here. And there's the Dreaded Episcopals...
Williams shot down rumors of a rift with the U.S. Episcopals...
<sigh> The Movement for the Preservation of -ians objects...
Anglican, Episcopal faithful hope to resolve differences
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
By CHARMAINE NORONHA
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
TORONTO: The spiritual leader of the world's Anglicans said Monday he has agreed to an urgent request for a meeting with U.S. church leaders as the Anglican fellowship nears a split over the Bible and sexuality.
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, visiting Canada for a spiritual retreat with the country's Anglican bishops, said he would meet with U.S. Episcopal leaders in the fall.
"My aim is to try and keep people around the table for as long as possible on this, to understand one another," Williams said at a news conference at the Anglican Church of Canada headquarters.
It’s all here …
Anglican archbishop hopes to heal same-sex split
Prelate worried by U.S. stance on gays
The Canadian Press
Published: Tuesday, April 17, 2007
TORONTO -- An ideological difference within the Anglican Church over the role of gays and lesbians threatens to create a schism among the faithful, the church's worldwide spiritual leader said yesterday.
"Yes, these are difficult days," Archbishop Rowan Williams said on the first day of a visit to Canada.
Meanwhile, the Episcopal Church, as the U.S. wing is known, risks losing its place in the international Anglican family for its support of gay rights. A Sept. 30 deadline has been set for the U.S. church to ban the blessing of same-sex unions and the ordination of gay bishops or face possible expulsion.
It’s all here …but there's a flag on the play and a penalty for rushing...
Williams, who will meet U.S. bishops next week, said his aim is to "keep people around the table as long as possible on this to understand one another."
Not so fast, mate! Next fall...not next week.
Archbishop of Canterbury to meet U.S. Anglicans to heal church's 'wound'
Joseph Brean
The National Post (CAN)
April 17, 2007
TORONTO - Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury and leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion, will meet with bishops of the U.S. Episcopal Church later this year in a last-ditch effort to avert complete schism over homosexuality, an issue that's "tearing us apart."
"These are complicated days for our church, and it's all the more important internationally to keep up relationships," Archbishop Williams told a news conference during a day-long visit to Toronto yesterday.
"The loss of union is not just the loss of some institutional fiction. It's a wound in an organism."
It’s all here …
Head of Anglican church will meet with Canadian bishops today, U.S. church in fall
Apr 17, 2007 04:30 AM
Stuart Laidlaw
Toronto (CAN) Star
The Archbishop of Canterbury, on his first visit to Canada as head of the Anglican church worldwide, pleaded with Canadian church leaders yesterday to consider the unity of the international communion when they decide whether to allow same sex marriage blessings.
"Ask the question, what is for the health of the Body of Christ, both locally and globally," Rowan Williams told a Toronto press conference yesterday, saying it is his job to keep the church united.
The church has been pushed to the brink of schism over gay rights, with conservative bishops, mostly from Africa, pitted against the largely liberal church leadership in developed countries.
It’s all here …
Same-sex conflict tearing church apart, leader says
A vote to accept church blessing of gay unions 'will cause problems'
MICHAEL VALPY
Toronto Globe and Mail
TORONTO -- The spiritual head of the world's 77 million Anglicans acknowledged yesterday that his church has been sapped by its bitter conflict over homosexuality and may well face irreconcilable differences that could lead to its breakup.
Speaking in Toronto, Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, said that if Canadian Anglicans vote in two months' time to authorize church blessing of same-sex unions, "I don't think it takes rocket science to work out that this will cause problems."
At the same time, he moved to diffuse tensions with the Canadian church's liberal twin in the world Anglican Communion -- the U.S. Episcopal Church -- by announcing he will meet with its bishops. The Americans have been pressing for an urgent conference since February when senior Anglican archbishops imposed an ultimatum on them to turn back from their inclusive policy toward homosexuals.
It’s all here …and this is interesting:
He also told Anglican divinity students at the University of Toronto in a closed meeting that he found unacceptable a draft covenant presented to the senior archbishops, or primates, that would allow the communion to boot out member churches deemed to have stepped out of line doctrinally on issues such as sexuality. Such a move would be a first in Anglicanism's 400-year-old history.
Anglicans split on same-sex marriage issue
Archbishop will find divided flock, says local church leader
ROB O'FLANAGAN
GUELPH (CAN) Mercury
Apr 17, 2007
Guelph Anglicans are largely supportive of same-sex marriage, according to local church official David Howells. But when Anglican bishops of Canada meet with the Archbishop of Canterbury today in Niagara Falls, says Howells, the spiritual leader will find the flock divided on the issue.
The dispute could lead to a serious split in the church, driving some parishioners to seek other worship options, said Howells, rector of St. David and St. Patrick Anglican Church.
The conflict, he added, is a reflection of a much deeper question over whether the Anglican Church will remain flexible in its interpretation of the Bible, or adhere to a more literal reading of the holy book.
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams is on a short visit to Canada, and will be in Niagara Falls today to lead a one-day retreat at the spring meeting of the Anglican House of Bishops.
It’s all here …
Rocket Man.
Great. Now I've got that song in my head.
Is it the "I'm not the man they think I am at home" bit that reminds someone of Rowan, or is it the "burning out his fuse up here alone" part that applies?
Posted by: Dennis | April 17, 2007 at 11:54 PM
You might want to post this article (http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200704/s1900786.htm) where ABC news displays their utter ineptitude for accuracy and research... I mean, they claim ++Rowan is threatening to cancel Lambeth, they must not have taken the time to even google yesterday and find the article in Anglican Journal where he explicitly said he is not going to cancel Lambeth...
Posted by: Jared Cramer | April 18, 2007 at 09:14 AM