epiScope

Bully pulpit

Archbishop criticises gay threats
Dr Williams criticised what he called "unchristian bullying"
BBC

The Archbishop of Canterbury has condemned death threats made against the leader of a group representing homosexual Anglicans in England.

Dr Rowan Williams said threats against Rev Colin Coward, director of Changing Attitude, marked the "latest round of unchristian bullying".

He was also criticising assaults on gay Anglicans in Nigeria.

It’s all here …

Row on archbishop 'immoral' claim
Welsh assembly in Cardiff Bay
Some Welsh law-making is possible in consultation with the UK government
BBC

The archbishop of Wales says it would be "immoral" for Wales not to have full law-making powers in the near future.

But Conservative Monmouth MP David Davies said his comments were "disappointing" and there were more pressing issues he could speak out on.

Barry Morgan spoke to BBC Radio Wales in his role as chair of Tomorrow's Wales, which looks at devolution.

It’s all here …

Prohibition

VICAR RESIGNS OVER CONDUCT TO WOMAN
KATE SKELTON
19 March 2008
Nottingham Evening Post (UK)

A Senior Nottingham clergyman has resigned after admitting "inappropriate conduct" towards a woman.

The Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham started disciplinary procedures against Canon Andrew Deuchar, a former member of the Archbishop of Canterbury's staff.

He has voluntarily withdrawn from his post as priest-in-charge of St Peter's, All Saints and St Mary's churches and has accepted a two-year ban on active service within the Church of England.

It’s all here … and Deuchar was Archbishop George Carey's secretary for Anglican Communion affairs. Ruth Gledhill's take is here.

AbC's "non-offer" rejected

Gay bishop criticises Williams for Lambeth snub
Riazat Butt
The Guardian (UK)
March 11 2008

The gay American bishop whose ordination caused ructions in the Anglican church has criticised the Archbishop of Canterbury for his failure to unite the communion.

Gene Robinson, the Bishop of New Hampshire, made the remarks after declining to attend the Lambeth conference, the 10-yearly gathering of the world's bishops, because his invitation was a "non-offer".

He told a spring gathering of the US Episcopal Church House of Bishops: "It has been a very difficult 48 hours sitting here and hearing your plans for Lambeth.

"In my most difficult moments it feels as if, instead of leaving the 99 sheep in search of the one, my chief pastor and shepherd, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has cut me out of the herd."

It’s all here …

Gay Bishop Out of Anglican Summit
By RACHEL ZOLL
The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — The first openly gay Episcopal bishop announced he will have no official role in a meeting this summer of world Anglican leaders, saying restrictions that organizers wanted to place on his involvement had caused him "considerable pain."

New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson had been told last year that he could not fully participate in the once-a-decade gathering in England, called the Lambeth Conference, as the world Anglican Communion sat on the brink of schism over his 2003 election.

Still, Episcopal leaders had been negotiating with the Anglican Communion Office to allow him to join the event in some capacity. The Episcopal Church is the Anglican body in the U.S.

At a Texas meeting Monday night of the Episcopal House of Bishops, Robinson said that the final offer to include him was in effect a "non-offer," and he had declined it.

It’s all here …

Gay bishop won't attend conference
V. Gene Robinson said he would not have been allowed to actively participate in the global gathering of Anglicans in London.
By Rebecca Trounson
Los Angeles Times
March 11, 2008

The Episcopal Church's only openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, said Monday that he would not attend a global gathering of Anglicans in London this summer, telling fellow Episcopal leaders he had declined an offer that he said would not have allowed him to play any meaningful role at that meeting.

Robinson, who is attending a retreat this week in Texas with other Episcopal bishops, told the group he had decided not to attend the Lambeth Conference, after negotiations for him to participate or be granted official observer status had failed. His remarks were released by the Episcopal Church late Monday.

The Lambeth Conference is a once-a-decade gathering of leaders of the Anglican Communion, the world's third- largest Christian denomination. It is hosted by the archbishop of Canterbury, currently the Most Rev. Rowan Williams.

It’s all here …

Gay priest not welcome at world meeting
By Michael Conlon
Reuters
March 11, 2008

LEADERS of the US Episcopal Church were told that the gay man they elevated to bishop will not be allowed to attend a top, once-a-decade worldwide Anglican Church meeting this year.

"It feels as if, instead of leaving the 99 sheep in search of the one, my chief pastor and shepherd, the Archbishop of Canterbury (Rowan Williams), has cut me out of the herd," said Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, after receiving the definitive word that he will be excluded from the Anglican Communion's Lambeth Conference in England.

It was the US church's consecration of Bishop Robinson in 2003 as the first bishop known to be in an openly gay relationship in more than four centuries of Anglican Church history that jolted the 77 million-member global church, already divided over biblical interpretation, the ordination of women and the blessing of same-sex unions.

It’s all here …

Gay bishop excluded from world church meeting
Malaysia Sun
11th March, 2008 

Leaders of the US Episcopal Church have been told that a gay man who was once elevated to bishop will be unable to attend the worldwide Anglican church meeting this summer.

According to Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, he has been told by his superiors in the Anglican Communion that he will be asked to stay away from the Lambeth Conference in England.

It is believed the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, made the decision after the US branch of the Anglican church negotiated the issue in an effort to have Bishop Robinson attend the conference.

It’s all here …

Naivete

Vatican official says Anglican head naive on Sharia
By Philip Pullella
ReutersUK
11 Mar 2008

ROME, March 11 (Reuters) - The Vatican's top man for relations with Islam on Tuesday criticised the Archbishop of Canterbury as mistaken and "naive" for suggesting that some aspects of Sharia law in Britain were unavoidable.

Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, in a wide-ranging discussion with reporters about Christian-Muslim relations, also said he was confident that a new, permanent body between the Vatican and Muslims would help defuse misunderstandings in the future.

"I think it was a mistake, a mistake because, above all, one has to ask what type of Sharia. And then, it was a bit naive," Tauran said in answer to a question at a breakfast meeting.

It’s all here …

The odds

Uganda: DR Sentamu Favourite for UK Anglican Top Job
Peter Nyanzi
The Monitor (Kampala)
25 February 2008

IN the wake of the controversy raised by the Archbishop of Canterbury over the Sharia law, bookies are taking bets on who will be the next Archbishop of the Church of England.

Ugandan-born Dr John Sentamu is said to be the firm favourite.

The majority of people have staked thousands of pounds on Dr Sentamu stepping up to take the helm, if and when the incumbent Dr Rowan Williams steps down, according to press reports in England.

It’s all here …

The troublesome priest

A furor erupts in Britain over the archbishop's accommodating stance toward Islamic sharia law. Has the cleric -- and multiculturalism -- gone too far?
By Salil Tripathi
Salon
Feb. 25, 2008

LONDON -- Five years ago this week (Feb. 27), Rowan Williams, 57, was enthroned as the 104th archbishop of Canterbury, heading Britain's official church, enjoying the privilege of being perceived as the moral authority of the government. When the queen is called the defender of the faith, that faith is the Church of England, and Williams is its CEO, with the church having the right to sit in Parliament. He is also the first among equals of the larger Anglican faith, with millions of adherents around the world.

And yet, if celebrations of the anniversary are subdued, he should hardly be surprised. In an address at the royal courts of justice, and in a radio interview, Williams suggested it was inevitable that Britain would have to accommodate aspects of the sharia law to help "maintain social cohesion," perplexing, dismaying, puzzling, upsetting and angering many in Britain and beyond. Williams said he wanted Britain to avoid the "inflexible or over-restrictive application of traditional law," and be wary of a "universalist Enlightenment system," which could ghettoize minorities.

It’s all here …

Spectral evidence

Secret plan to avoid church gay split
By Jonathan Petre
Daily Telegraph (UK)
23/02/2008

The Archbishop of Canterbury is backing secret plans to create a "parallel" Church for American conservatives to avert fresh splits over homosexuality.

Dr Rowan Williams has held confidential talks with senior American bishops and theologians who oppose the pro-gay policies of their liberal leaders.

A handful of hardline American dioceses are already defecting from the Episcopal Church, the American branch of Anglicanism, and transferring their loyalties to a conservative archbishop in South America.

Dr Williams is desperate to minimise further damage in the run up to the once-a-decade Lambeth Conference this summer which could be boycotted by more than a fifth of the world's bishops.

His recent comments backing aspects of sharia law have heightened tensions by further alienating Africans who are struggling with militant Islam in their dioceses.

It’s all here … but please note this subhead in the online version:

Have your say: Is a parallel church the way forward?

…and the fact that the only source cited in his story is:

According to insiders

...no names given. Wouldn’t be the first time a Jonathan Petre story functioned as a cat’s-paw for somebody’s agenda--not to mention a great way to sell papers. We’re not saying … we’re just saying …

Cerebral

Anglican Archbishop: too intellectual to lead?
The Archbishop of Canterbury faces criticism for his views on Islamic law and gay clergy. Is he just misunderstood?
By Mark Rice-Oxley
The Christian Science Monitor
February 20, 2008

LONDON - When it comes to leadership in the Church of England, the former Bishop of Norwich once reportedly said: "If you want to lead someone in this part of the world, find out where they're going. And walk in front of them."

Rowan Williams, who celebrates five years as Archbishop of Canterbury next week, could never be accused of doing that.

Since he took over the delicate task of leading the Anglican church's 77 million strong worldwide communion, Dr. Williams has repeatedly found himself marching against the current of public opinion, government policy, or both.

It’s all here …and for a much less charitable expression of the curious meme "he's just too smart to lead Anglicans," there's this...

Archbishop of Cant
The Anglican Communion shrinks.
By Mark Hemingway
National Review
February 19, 2008

Last week, the Washington Post summarized for an American audience the controversy over Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams’s assent to the notion that the U.K. must inevitably adopt sharia law. It was a welcome service, since the speech that stoked the controversy was some 6,000 words long. The archbishop found it difficult to express his thoughts succinctly on how British citizens ought to chuck 1,000 years of common-law tradition.

Since then, the archbishop has clarified a few things on Great Britain’s embrace of sharia in a speech to the Anglican General Synod. “We are not talking about parallel jurisdictions; and I tried to make clear that there could be no ‘blank checks’ in this regard, in particular as regards some of the sensitive questions about the status and liberties of women,” he said. Williams explained that he was advocating not “parallel jurisdictions” but “plural jurisdictions.” Ah! Little wonder that the left-wing Guardian was so impressed with the “sheer complexity of his argument” and his use of “all manner of references.” If you need footnotes, it must be true.

It’s all here … Wonder what Hemingway has against footnotes? Did he flunk freshman English, or is it just that actual references make you accountable for what you say...? Just asking...in a non-intellectual way, of course...

The Law and the Prophet

DR. ROWAN WILLIAMS AND SHARIA IN BRITAIN
Steve U. Nwabuzor
Nigeria World
February 12, 2008

Arguably the air these days is saturated with religious matters. This is a pointer to behind-the-scene role which religion plays in the lives of the people. Dr. Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, is in the news again. Never a stranger to controversy and passionate debates he launched a rocket that rocked the British society and Christianity to its bones by advocating accommodation for aspects of Sharia in a nation known for its rigid adherence to traditions.

This time the British people known for decorum and etiquette could not contain their anger as an individual expected to assist in safeguarding Christian religious traditions appears to be a wimp in the face of Islamic zealotry and social nuisance within her society. Further, other nations which absorbed the British influence in their societies were at a loss on the rationale for this advocacy.

It’s all here …

Archbishop of Canterbury's Remarks on Shari`ah: FAQs
By  Dalia Yusuf
Islam Online
February 13, 2008

How did the UK government and Church react?

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, opened the door for critics and supporters alike to engage with his remarks on accommodating Islamic Shari`ah within the British legal system. The various reactions that followed Dr. Williams's speech reveal the unavoidable need of more organized constructive discussion helping the British society to define its own model of social cohesion. IslamOnline.net's European Muslims is presenting these FAQs to help in understanding the Archbishop's view, the context in which this speech was made, and its influence.

It’s all here …

Church and state: Sever them
Religion should have a smaller official role in Britain, not a greater one
The Economist
Reuters
Feb 14th 2008

ROWAN WILLIAMS, the Archbishop of Canterbury, primate of the Church of England and of the 80m-strong Anglican Communion worldwide, is a mild-mannered man. Yet it is no surprise that he provoked outrage when he suggested on February 7th that the adoption of elements of Islamic sharia law in Britain was “unavoidable” if social cohesion was to be fostered (see article). The archbishop revived a debate that has exercised great minds for millennia: where to draw the dividing line between church and state. And he got it wrong.

Most European countries that are Christian by inheritance have seen a decline in traditional religious observance. Many have opened their doors to devout Muslim minorities. The result is often a confrontation between Christianity and other faiths, and between religious values and secular ones.

In Britain's case, three extra complications exist.

It’s all here …

Faith: To Have or Have Not
By DANIEL JOHNSON
New York Sun
February 15, 2008

LONDON — A couple of years ago, I had an encounter with the Archbishop of Cant, as his critics privately call him It was at the British Academy, where His Grace had been lecturing a roomful of historians on the subject of "the other" — a pretentious way of referring to remote historical figures, which segued into a disquisition on how the British ought to treat Muslims.

According to Archbishop Williams, it was quite wrong to impose Judaeo-Christian cultural norms on "the other" in the name of a moral absolutism that was quite inappropriate in a modern multicultural society like Britain.

He had particularly harsh words to say about Pope Benedict XVI, who had then recently been elected, and whose devastating attack on "the dictatorship of relativism" was still ringing in our ears. For the leader of the Anglican Church, it seemed, for the Pope to lay claim to any moral certainty or theological truth was at the very least lacking in respect for "the other."

It’s all here …

When God and the Law Don’t Square
By ADAM LIPTAK
The New York Times
February 17, 2008

A PRETTY good way to generate an outcry, as the archbishop of Canterbury learned in Britain recently, is to say that a Western legal system should make room for Shariah, or Islamic law. When the archbishop, spiritual leader of the world’s 80 million Anglicans, commented in a radio interview that such an accommodation was “unavoidable,” critics conjured images of stonings and maimings, overwhelming his more modest point.

The archbishop, the Most Rev. Rowan Williams, did not propose importing Shariah into the criminal law and was referring mostly to divorces in which both sides have agreed to abide by the judgment of a religious tribunal. His proposal was groundbreaking only in extending to Islamic tribunals in Britain a role that Jewish and Christian ones have long played in the judicial systems of secular societies. Courts in the United States have endorsed all three kinds of tribunals.

It’s all here …

Sharia law in England brings on a Crusade
Author: Andy Dabilis
New Europe
18 February 2008

If Anglican Church leader Rowan Williams, who likes being called “the Thinking Archbishop,” wants Sharia Law to come to England, home of the Magna Carta that in 1215 led to the practice of constitutional law that survives today and is designed to protect and not prosecute people for behaving like people, maybe he should get a good look at it.

Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury and head of the worldwide Anglican Church with more than 70 million members, said in a BBC interview there needed to be a debate on whether the existing legal system could fulfill the demands of a “multi-faiths society.” He won’t find any in Muslim countries and there aren’t any calls for “Christian Law” there.

He said Britain, with 1.7 million Muslim citizens, had to “face up to the fact” some of them don’t relate to the British legal system. Neither do anarchists. British Muslims, however, want ENGLISH law to prohibit anyone from insulting them or their beliefs, which is kind of an extension of Sharia Law unto the Infidels.

It’s all here …

Bedlam

One cannot swing a dead mouse (the electronic kind) these days without hitting a sensational story about the Archbishop of Canterbury's recent remarks on Sharia law. (His remarks to the CofE's General Synod are here.)

As this blog tries to major in the matter of the Episcopal Church (TEC), we are not tracking that story quite as assiduously as others have (Thinking Anglicans has been especially good covering it--bravo, Simon!). But this commentary from Australia stood out for its good sense.

Truth is the big loser in the chase for a sensational headline
Maher Mughrabi
The Age (Australia)
February 12, 2008

AS A lifelong atheist and secularist, it's discomfiting when you suddenly feel compelled to speak up in defence of a churchman's right to discuss Islamic law. But the bedlam that has broken out over the Archbishop of Canterbury's remarks on sharia seem to me to have almost nothing to do with religion.

Part of my concern is as a journalist. What Rowan Williams said was: "If what we want socially is a pattern of relations in which a plurality of diverse and overlapping affiliations work for a common good, and in which groups of serious and profound conviction are not systematically faced with the stark alternatives of cultural loyalty or state loyalty, it seems unavoidable."

Newspapers and websites around the world translated this into "Sharia law unavoidable". One begins to understand what Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger meant when he said: "We are faced with a media-driven phenomenon bordering on the absurd … If the game consists in unleashing the crowd's vindictiveness on words that it has not understood, then the conditions for dialogue with Islam are no longer met."

It’s all here …

My, my, my, my...sharia?

UPDATE:

What did the Archbishop actually say?

Friday 08 February 2008             

There has been a strong reaction in the media and elsewhere to the Archbishop of Canterbury's remarks of yesterday on civil and religious law.

The full text of the Archbishop's lecture at the Royal Courts of Justice 'Civil and Religious Law in England: a religious perspective', can be viewed on the Archbishop's website, here:

Archbishop's Lecture - Civil and Religious Law in England: a Religious Perspective

The transcript of his interview on yesterday's World at One programme can also be viewed online, here:

BBC Interview - Radio 4 World at One.

The Archbishop made no proposals for sharia in either the lecture or the interview, and certainly did not call for its introduction as some kind of parallel jurisdiction to the civil law.

Instead, in the interview, rather than proposing a parallel system of law, he observed that "as a matter of fact certain provisions of sharia are already recognised in our society and under our law" . When the question was put to him that: "the application of sharia in certain circumstances - if we want to achieve this cohesion and take seriously peoples' religion - seems unavoidable?", he indicated his assent.

It's all here ...

Anglican head backs some Islamic rules
By Julia Duin
Washington Times
February 8, 2008

The archbishop of Canterbury called for applying Islamic Shariah law in Britain in certain instances, saying its use there "seems unavoidable" and may help maintain social order.

In an interview conducted Monday and broadcast yesterday by BBC Radio, Archbishop Rowan Williams, leader of the 77-million-member Anglican Communion, said "there is a place for finding what would be a constructive accommodation with some aspects of Muslim law as we already do with some kinds of aspects of other religious law" in the United Kingdom.

It’s all here …

Anglican leader: U.K. should consider adopting some aspects of Sharia
USAToday
February 8, 2008

The Archbishop of Canterbury says he would favor adopting some aspects of Sharia law in order to maintain a sense of social cohesion as Britain's population grows increasingly diverse.

"There's a place for finding what would be a constructive accommodation with some aspects of Muslim law, as we already do with some other aspects of religious law," Rowan Williams tells BBC News.

It’s all here …

Archbishop of Canterbury 'should resign' over Sharia row
February 8, 2008
Ruth Gledhill and Joanna Sugden
The Times (UK)

A senior Church of England clergyman called today for the resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, over his remarks supporting Sharia in England.

The call, from a long-standing member of the Church's governing body, the General Synod, demonstrated the strength of the backlash Dr Williams that faces from within his own Church — as well as from political and other faith leaders.

The senior Synod member, who insisted on remaining anonymous, told The Times: "A lot of people will now have lost confidence in him. I am just so shocked, and cannot believe a man of his intelligence could be so gullible. I can only assume that all the Muslims he meets are senior leaders of the community who tell him what a wonderful book the Koran is.

"There have been a lot of calls today for him to resign. I don't suppose he will take any notice, but yes, he should resign."

It’s all here …

Bishops speak out in Sharia law debate
This Is Lancashire (UK)

THE BISHOP of Blackburn has backed the Archbishop of Canterbury over his controversial suggestion that parts of Islamic law could be adopted in the UK.

The Archbishop, Dr Rowan Williams, created uproar this week when he said that the introduction of some Sharia law into the UK's legal system seemed "unavoidable."

Sharia law is a legal and social code designed to help Muslims live their daily lives.
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The Bishop of Blackburn Rev Nicholas Reade welcomed the lecture as a constructive contribution to discussing the changing nature of society.

It’s all here …

German Bishop Protests UK Shariah Comments
Deutsche Welle

As the Archbishop of Canterbury comes under fire for suggesting parts of Shariah law be applied in the UK, the head of Germany's Protestant Church told Deutsche Welle a country needs a single legal system for everyone.

Speaking to journalists at the Deutsche Welle in Bonn, Wolfgang Huber, head of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany, slammed the proposal by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams to introduce parts of Islamic Shariah law for Muslims in Britain. Williams also said introduction of some aspects of Islamic or Shariah law was "unavoidable" in Britain to promote social cohesion.

It’s all here …

Love Life Live Lent

Polish thy neighbour’s shoes, Anglicans urged
Ruth Gledhill
The Times (UK)
February 2, 2008

The Archbishops of Canterbury and York have joined forces to tell Anglicans to get down on their knees – and polish their neighbour’s shoes.

Dr Rowan Williams and Dr John Sentamu are backing a church Facebook group urging members to find time in their busy lives to complete 50 actions over the seven weeks of Lent, which begins with Ash Wednesday next week. The aim is “to help you become a better neighbour and transform your world for the better”. Actions include polishing someone’s shoes on Maundy Thursday, a reference to Jesus’s washing of the feet of His Disciples; making someone laugh; and leaving a thank-you note for the postman.

Most are deemed “appropriate for those of all faiths or none”.

The Facebook group, Love Life Live Lent, appears today along with sites on MySpace and the photo-sharing website Flickr, in the Church of England’s first significant entry into online social networking. It is hoped that members of the networks will upload photos of themselves doing the Lent actions.

It’s all here …

No poaching zone

Archbishop speaks out against poaching of priests
MICHAEL VALPY
Globe and Mail (Canada)
January 22, 2008

The world Anglican Communion's titular leader, the Archbishop of Canterbury, declared yesterday he won't sanction priest-poaching in Canada by branches of Anglicanism that disagree with practices of the Canadian church.

It's the first time Archbishop Rowan Williams has directly addressed what's happening in Canada despite earlier letters of protest from Canadian Anglican leaders.

But the archbishop, writing to the Canadian primate, Archbishop Fred Hiltz, also said he has no authority to prevent what he called "interventions and irregular ordinations" by outside Anglican churches, although he made clear he doesn't support them.

It’s all here …

And from the tabloids...

Bishop left in dark over secret gay service
Dominic Kennedy
The Times of London
December 31, 2007

The Archbishop of Canterbury kept a special communion service for gays so secret that he failed to tell the Bishop of London it was happening in his diocese, The Times has learnt.

Dr Rowan Williams inflamed the row over homosexuality which is tearing apart the Anglican Church when it was reported that he had agreed to hold a eucharist for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender clergy.

But even his critics have been taken aback to learn that he did so by making an incursion on to the patch of the Bishop of London, the Right Rev Richard Chartres, without giving notice or seeking permission.

It’s all here ...and "a spokesman made no reply when The Times suggested that the Archbishop’s behaviour might be seen as rude." Might one suggest that making the suggestion might be also seen as rude?

More shots fired in War on Advent...

Archbishop of Canterbury's Comments on Nativity Spark Debate Among American Christians
By Catherine Donaldson-Evans
FOX News
December 21, 2007

Days after the Anglican Church's Archbishop of Canterbury called portions of the Christmas story "legend," American Christian leaders shied away from attacking Rowan Williams or calling his comments offensive — and some defended him, saying his words were misrepresented by the British media.

In an interview with BBC Radio Five earlier this week, Archbishop Williams debunked various details Christians have come to associate with the birth of Jesus Christ — including the number of wise men, whether they were kings, the snowy weather and the Dec. 25 date.

It’s all here …

And don't miss FOX News' next big breaking story:
Santa Claus isn’t in the Bible. Neither is Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer or Frosty the Snowman. Film at eleven!

Telling the old, old story

Three wise men leading us astray
Jill Rowbotham
The Australian
December 21, 2007

COULD the devil be in the detail of the Christmas story?

That's what the leader of the world's Anglicans, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, has implied in a BBC interview.

The story of the three wise men following the star to Bethlehem is a legend - stars don't behave like that, he said - it is unlikely Jesus was born in December and you can take or leave the virgin birth. He says he believes in it but that's not a pre-condition for being a Christian. "Matthew's gospel says they are astrologers, wise men, priests from somewhere outside the Roman Empire, that's all we're really told," he said. "It works quite well as legend."

It’s all here …

Archbishop's interview with Simon Mayo
Daily Telegraph
20/12/2007

Edited transcript of the Archbishop of Canterbury's interview with Simon Mayo on BBC Radio 5 Live

SM It comes round every year that we're not being Christian enough or people don't know where Bethlehem is, people have never heard of Mary and so on, so this is a sort of an almost a tradition of Christmas, isn't it really. But I wonder, if people have got a traditional religious Christmas card in front of them, I just want to go through it, Archbishop, to find out how much of it you think is true and crucial to the believing in Christmas. So start with … the baby Jesus in a manger; historically and factually true?

ABC I should think so; the Gospel tells us he was born outside the main house, probably because it was overcrowded because it was pilgrimage time or census time; whatever; yes; he's born in poor circumstances, slightly out of the ordinary.

It’s all here …

Pinch of salt with that?

Second Lambeth Conference a blow to Williams
By Jonathan Petre
Daily Telegraph (UK)
17/12/2007

Conservative Anglican leaders are secretly planning a meeting next summer for the hundreds of bishops expected to defy the Archbishop of Canterbury by boycotting the Lambeth Conference, The Daily Telegraph has learned.

The unprecedented event will be widely seen as an "alternative Lambeth", further damaging Dr Rowan Williams's hopes of averting a formal schism over homosexuals.

Aides of the Archbishop said that any such gathering, which is due to be held just before the official conference, would be perceived as a symbol of division and would send out a "negative" message.

It's all here …

Canterbury's Advent letter

Anglican Archbishop Faults Factions
By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
The New York Times
December 15, 2007

The archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Rowan Williams, sent a lengthy letter to the members of his warring Anglican Communion on Friday, saying that both sides had violated the Communion’s boundaries and put the church in crisis.

He criticized the American branch, the Episcopal Church, for departing from the Communion’s consensus on Scripture by ordaining an openly gay bishop and blessing same-sex unions, “in the name of the church.”

But the archbishop faulted conservative prelates in Africa, Asia and Latin America for annexing American parishes and an entire California diocese that have recently left the Episcopal Church, and for ordaining conservative Americans as bishops and priests.

“There can be no doubt that these ordinations have not been encouraged or legitimized by the Communion over all,” the archbishop wrote, contradicting those conservatives who said they were acting with his approval.

It’s all here …

Anglican Archbishops: no consensus on Episcopal Church
Many leaders remain skeptical of the U.S. organization's promises to stop consecrating gay bishops and authorizing same-sex blessings.
By Rebecca Trounson
Los Angeles Times
December 15, 2007

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, in a long-awaited message to the global Anglican Communion he heads, said Friday there was no consensus among Anglican leaders on whether the Episcopal Church had met demands that it stop consecrating openly gay bishops and authorizing same-sex blessings.

In an Advent letter released Friday, Williams said just more than half of the fellowship's top bishops and archbishops had responded positively to recent pledges from the Episcopal Church to roll back its relatively liberal positions on homosexuality and the Bible.

But for the rest of the Anglican leaders surveyed around the world, the promises made by Episcopal bishops were "inadequate," the archbishop wrote. In a September meeting in New Orleans, the bishops pledged to "exercise restraint" in consecrating openly gay bishops and said they would not authorize official blessings for same-sex couples.

It’s all here …

Williams: No Anglican consensus on Episcopal Church
By Tom Heneghan
Reuters
Dec 14, 2007

PARIS (Reuters) - Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said on Friday the Anglican Communion he heads cannot agree if the United States Episcopal Church has stepped back from its liberal stands on gay bishops and scriptural authority.

Just over half the Communion leaders surveyed felt the Episcopal Church had reassured them it would not appoint another gay bishop or allow blessings for same-sex couples, but the rest felt it fell short, he said in his Advent Letter to Anglicans.

Williams said he would ask professional mediators to help guide talks between the Episcopal leadership and its traditionalist critics among U.S. and foreign Anglicans.

It’s all here …

Archbishop: No Change Over Gay Bishop
By ROBERT BARR
The Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — The archbishop of Canterbury said Friday he will not reverse his decision to exclude a gay U.S. bishop from joining other bishops at a global Anglican gathering next year.

The office of Archbishop Rowan Williams said he also had not changed his mind about refusing an invitation to Martyn Minns, a traditionalist U.S. priest who was consecrated as a bishop in the Anglican Church of Nigeria to minister to disaffected Episcopalians in the U.S.

Williams, spiritual leader of the world's Anglicans, said he has recruited professional mediators in trying to reach greater understanding between the U.S. Episcopal Church and its critics both at home and abroad.

It’s all here …

Pressure

Archbishop talks about pressures of job
Ruth Gledhill
The Times of London
December 11, 2007

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, stops work at 6pm so he can watch The Simpsons. He is more afraid of what his wife Jane thinks than he is of the editor of The Daily Mail. And he believes gay clergy should adhere to the Bible and not act upon their sexual preferences.

Dr Williams revealed some of the insecurities and anxieties of high office in the Church of England in an interview with three teenage reporters from the youth magazine Oi!

It's all here … but before you go ga-ga over what this article does and does not say, please note that--as with the interview in Emel several weeks ago, this is a reporter's account of another reporter's interview. epiScope hasn't yet found a link to the original interview, although past issues of Oi! magazine seem to be posted here.

++Williams “just too damn Christian”

Offending his audience
The Archbishop of Canterbury was right to attack American imperialism - but wrong to think he could get away with it
Andrew Brown
The Guardian (UK)
November 27, 2007

Very early in his tenure, Rowan Williams, or his advisers, concluded that the press was an enemy. He has remained friendly with individual journalists, but he talks to the press in public and on the record as little as he can. Even so, he can't quite rid himself of the belief that somewhere out there he will find a sympathetic interviewer with whom he can talk without being overheard by malevolent idiots, and in Sarah Joseph, from the Muslim magazine Emel, he seems to have thought he had found one.

I don't mean she was out to shaft him. It's obvious from the interview that she admired and was charmed by him. But this led him to talk to her as if she had no readers, whereas in the modern world it is certain that anything any public figure says will be read - and spun - by their enemies; and Rowan has plenty of those.

To say that the British Empire was a better model of imperialism than what the Americans have done in Iraq is absolutely guaranteed to offend almost everyone in the US, whether or not they oppose the war. It is a remark made more forgivable because it's something that almost everyone in Britain has thought. In context, there is nothing to argue with about what he said: to smash the country up and then abandon it is "the worst of all possible worlds." This was the conventional wisdom even among the liberal hawks before the war started. It is horrible bad luck on Rowan that the one time he says something that could command wide support, it is presented as a gaffe; but it is luck he has made for himself.

It’s all here …

Empires

US is‘worst’ imperialist: archbishop
Abul Taher
The Sunday Times (UK)
November 25, 2007

THE Archbishop of Canterbury has said that the United States wields its power in a way that is worse than Britain during its imperial heyday.

Rowan Williams claimed that America’s attempt to intervene overseas by “clearing the decks” with a “quick burst of violent action” had led to “the worst of all worlds”.

In a wide-ranging interview with a British Muslim magazine, the Anglican leader linked criticism of the United States to one of his most pessimistic declarations about the state of western civilisation.

He said the crisis was caused not just by America’s actions but also by its misguided sense of its own mission. He poured scorn on the “chosen nation myth of America, meaning that what happens in America is very much at the heart of God’s purpose for humanity”.

It’s all here …and the original article is here.

Responses to responses to responses

Anglican provinces divided on adequacy of Episcopal Church response on gay bishops
The Associated Press
November 22, 2007

LONDON: Anglican churches worldwide were divided on whether the U.S. Episcopal Church had responded adequately to concerns about gay bishops, church authorities said Thursday.

Twelve leaders of national churches informed the Archbishop of Canterbury that they accepted the Episcopal Church's response. Ten primates — all part of the conservative Global South alliance — rejected the response, and a dozen have yet to give a stance.

Three other primates reported mixed views, and another promised to respond after further consultation, according to a statement from Lambeth Palace, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams' office in London.

Williams indicated he would respond to the survey in his annual Advent letter next month.

It’s all here …

Obsession and speculation

Tutu criticises 'gay obsession'
Liverpool Daily Post
Nov 18 2007

Archbishop Desmond Tutu has criticised his own church for being "obsessed" with homosexuality.

The South African Nobel laureate said God "must be weeping" at seeing that the Church had such misplaced priorities. He also criticised the present Archbishop of Canterbury for not demonstrating the attributes of a "welcoming God".

Speaking to Michael Buerk for a special Radio 4 programme, Archbishop Tutu, 76, said: "Our world is facing problems - poverty, HIV and Aids - a devastating pandemic, and conflict. God must be weeping looking at some of the atrocities that we commit against one another. In the face of all of that, our Church, especially the Anglican Church, at this time is almost obsessed with questions of human sexuality."

It's all here ...

Dr Rowan Williams to target pro-gay bishops
By Jonathan Petre
Daily Telegraph
19 November 2007

The Archbishop of Canterbury is preparing to target individual bishops whose pro-gay policies threaten to derail his efforts to avert schism, The Daily Telegraph has learnt.

In a high-risk strategy, Dr Rowan Williams may even snub them by withdrawing their invitations to next year's Lambeth Conference.

He has told friends he will challenge any bishop he believes is coming to the conference with an agenda "very much at odds" with his attempts to maintain unity in the worldwide Church.

Dr Williams sent invitations in May to most of the Anglican Church's 880 bishops around the world for the once-a-decade showcase gathering in Canterbury.

It's all here ...and you know, when the Wikipedia guys post an piece like this, they mark it "articles with unsourced statements"...such as...

Fences

'Fence driving Christians out of Holy Land'
By MATTHEW WAGNER
The Jerusalem Post
20 Cheshvan 5768, November 1, 2007

Socioeconomic hardships caused by the West Bank security barrier are contributing to the decline in the Christian population in the Holy Land, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, said in an interview with The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.

"I recently met with Christians in Bethlehem, people by no means extreme, and they told of the daily burdens driving in and out of the city that were created by the wall," Williams said by telephone during a break in his 24-hour visit to these parts.

Williams did not mention other, long-standing, explanations for the exodus from traditionally Christian towns.

It’s all here …

+Rowan to Israel

Top U.K. churchman to visit next week
By Anshel Pfeffer
Haaretz
October 27, 2007 Cheshvan 15, 5768

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, is expected to visit Israel next week for meetings with the chief rabbis.

Williams, the chief religious figure of the Church of England and symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, blasted Israel's security policy on previous visits. He is not expected to meet Israeli politicians, although he frequently speaks out on political issues.

Williams objected strongly to the war in Iraq and said three weeks ago in Syria that the talk of a military strike against Iran or Syria was "criminal, ignorant and potentially murderous folly."

It’s all here …

Epistle to the Floridians

Stitches In Time To Save a Church?
Cary McMullen
Lakeland (FL) Ledger
October 27, 2007

It has been an eventful two weeks in the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida. With a suddenness no one could have foreseen, the Orlando headquarters of the diocese has become ground zero for the latest phase of controversy in the Episcopal Church.

Last week, nine priests in the diocese - two of them from Polk County - met with Bishop John Howe to discuss ways they and parts of their congregations might "disaffiliate" with the Episcopal Church. The move was not exactly a surprise. It had been rumored that as many as 17 priests, disaffected by the liberal direction of the Episcopal Church, might seek to break away. But following the Oct. 18 meeting, the Archbishop of Canterbury weighed in, and the implications have reverberated around the Episcopal blogosphere. More on that momentarily.

It’s all here …

I know you believe you understand what you think I said...

A response from Lambeth Palace to the discussions around the Bishop Howe emails:

"It should be understood that the Archbishop’s response to Bishop Howe was neither a new policy statement nor a roadmap for the future but a plain response to a very urgent and particular question about clergy in traditionalist dioceses in TEC who want to leave TEC for other jurisdictions, a response reiterating a basic presupposition of what the Archbishop believes to be the theology of the Church.

The primary point was that – theologically and sacramentally speaking – a priest is related in the first place to his/her bishop directly, not through the structure of the national church; that structure serves the dioceses.  The diocese is more than a ‘local branch’ of a national organisation. Dr Williams is clear that, whatever the frustration with the national church, priests should think very carefully about leaving the fellowship of a diocese.  The provincial structure is significant, not least for the administration of a uniform canon law and a range of practical functions; Dr Williams is not encouraging anyone to ignore this, simply to understand the theological priorities which have been articulated in a number of ecumenical agreements, and in the light of this not to increase the level of confusion and fragmentation in the church."

Archbishop's web site:
www.archbishopofcanterbury.org

Former AbC in RI

Former Anglican prelate visits Wickford
By Richard C. Dujardin
Providence (RI) Journal
October 22, 2007

NORTH KINGSTOWN — Anglican Archbishop George Carey, the former archbishop of Canterbury, told a gathering at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church yesterday that it is “pretty obvious” the 78-million-member body is deeply divided over the issue of homosexuality, and it is “terribly important that we pray for the unity of the church.”

Archbishop Carey stepped down as the primate of All England and titular leader of the worldwide communion in 2002, a year before the U.S. Episcopal Church’s General Convention authorized the ordination of V. Gene Robinson, who is gay, as the bishop of New Hampshire. Archbishop Carey was in North Kingstown to take part in the local church’s celebration of its 300th anniversary.

He said yesterday that the continuing conflict over Bishop Robinson’s ordination and concerning same-sex relationships could seriously weaken all the churches in the communion, not only those in Africa and other parts of the developing world that view the ordination as a violation of the Gospel but those U.S. churches that supported the New Hampshire ordination.

It’s all here …

Holidays

Anglican Archbishops to star atop Christmas tree
Oct 14, 2007

LONDON (Reuters) - The Anglican leaders of the Church of England are available to star on top of your Christmas tree.

A souvenir company has produced miniature versions of Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and Archbishop of York John Sentamu.

"It's an alternative to your traditional Christmas fairy," Caroline Apfel of the St Nicolas company told The Sunday Telegraph.

A proportion of the proceeds -- the ornaments were hand-made by women working in cottage industries in Thailand -- will go towards restoration funds at York and Canterbury cathedrals.

It’s all here …

A triumph of good over evil?
Keeping our children closeted in a Disney existence safe from the horrors of Halloween is not the way to prepare them for the future.
Alastair Harper
October 14, 2007

The Bishop of Bolton, the Right Rev David Gillett was celebrating in Manchester Cathedral last week after a victorious campaign he described as a "triumph of good over evil".

It may be coincidence, but Manchester Cathedral was in the news earlier this summer for being the centre of another epic battle between good and evil. A video game had been made set in an alternative 1950s featuring soldiers fighting crazed space aliens throughout the North of England; York, Grimsby, Warrington and Manchester Cathedral all got shot to pieces for the freedom of the human race. Having been brought up in the north-west and my youth being spent playing video games set in thoroughly American locations, I was quite excited at the prospect of Daleks exploding the bar I got served at when I was underage. The Anglican church failed to share my enthusiasm and so threatened to sue publishers Sony as well as successfully having the game removed from several major high street stores.

The Bishop of Manchester, the Right Rev Nigel McCulloch, was found to have a sound grasp of reality when he called the game "highly irresponsible" when "it is well known that Manchester has a gun crime problem." Of course, gun crime is inspired by young children seeing no way to fight off the desire to replicate vast b-filmish alien invasions from 50 years in the past.

It’s all here …

JSC: TEC OK

Panel Says Episcopalians Have Met Anglican Directive
By NEELA BANERJEE
New York Times
October 4, 2007

WASHINGTON, Oct. 3 — In a victory for the Episcopal Church in its effort to remain in the Anglican Communion, a high-ranking Anglican advisory committee said Wednesday that Episcopal bishops had complied with a directive by Anglican leaders on same-sex unions and gay bishops.

The Episcopal Church is the American branch of the 77-million-member Anglican Communion, which has been torn by disputes over the church’s liberal stance on homosexuality.

Earlier this year, the communion’s regional leaders, or primates, issued a directive to the Episcopal Church to curtail the consecration of partnered gay and lesbian bishops and the authorizing of rites of blessing for same-sex unions.

It’s all here …

Anglican Panel Praises Episcopalians
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
October 3, 2007

A world Anglican panel acknowledged Wednesday that Episcopal bishops are making some concessions to ease the turmoil they created in 2003 by consecrating their church's first openly gay bishop.

But the committee said that all sides in the long-running conflict over the Bible and homosexuality need to do much more to keep the beleaguered worldwide Anglican fellowship from splitting.

The advisory report from the lay-clergy Joint Standing Committee was written for Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the Anglican spiritual leader, as he struggles to prevent a schism in the 77-million-member Anglican Communion.

It’s all here …

Anglican leaders urge unity
A key panel responds to Episcopal bishops' pledge of restraint on issues that have threaten the worldwide communion.
By Rebecca Trounson, Los Angeles Times
October 4, 2007

Leaders of the global Anglican Communion responded largely positively Wednesday to pledges from the Episcopal Church to use restraint in consecrating gay bishops and other contentious matters.

But an influential joint standing committee of Anglican bishops, clergy and lay leaders also called on all sides in the continuing debate over homosexuality and biblical authority to work harder to ease their differences and keep the 77-million-member Anglican Communion intact. The Episcopal Church is the U.S. branch of Anglicanism.

The panel's report to Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the Anglican Communion's spiritual leader, came in response to a statement by Episcopal bishops last week at a meeting in New Orleans.

It’s all here …

African Anglican bishops steer away from gay row
By Ed Harris
Reuters
Oct 4, 2007 1

QUATRE BORNES, Mauritius, Oct 4 (Reuters) - African Anglican archbishops ducked homosexuality, the issue dividing the worldwide Communion, on Thursday and instead drew attention to the poorest continent's problems.

Last month Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola, one of the Church's fiercest critics of gay rights, blasted bishops from the U.S. Episcopal Church for "ignoring" pleas to take a clear stand against consecrating gay clergy or blessing gay unions.

Chairing a meeting of African archbishops in Mauritius, Akinola was at pains to avoid the topic.

It’s all here …

White Anglicans accused of pressuring African churches on anti-gay agenda
By staff writers
Ekklesia
4 Oct 2007

Lesbian and gay Christians in the UK have criticised primarily white conservative Christians for pressurising African Anglican leaders to back them, and have said that the US Episcopal Church's compromise in saying it will not ordain gay people or bless partnerships at the moment is likely to backfire.

The response comes after a press release from the conservative Church Society network in England, effectively telling African Anglican churches meeting in Mauritius over the next few days to take a series of measures to outlaw Western churches who take a different view to them.

The bishops will be meeting under the banner of CAPA (Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa) which includes the provinces of Burundi, Congo, Central Africa, Egypt, Indian Ocean, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sudan, Southern Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and West Africa. CAPA is chaired by Archbishop Peter Akinola - an outspoken opponent of recognising lesbian and gay people.

It’s all here …

Rift over gay clergy cools down for now

A split in the Episcopal Church appears to have been repaired for now after U.S. bishops reached a compromise on gay clergy.
BY JAMES H. BURNETT III
Miami Herald
Sep. 29, 2007

Four years after a feud erupted in the Episcopal Church over the appointment of a gay bishop and the formal blessing of same-sex unions, a surprising thing happened at the church's House of Bishops assembly in New Orleans last week: The dispute appeared to cool -- for now.

''I say it was nothing short of a small miracle,'' says Bishop Leo Frade, of the Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida.

But that doesn't mean vocal opinions don't remain on both sides of the issue.

It’s all here …

God, gays and Episcopalians
The church's split over homosexuality reflects more than religious convictions.
L.A. Times
September 29, 2007

The U.S. Episcopal Church this week tried to appease conservative fellow Anglicans at home and abroad by reaffirming a promise to "exercise restraint" in approving sexually active gay bishops. The conciliatory statement, which followed some ecclesiastical shuttle diplomacy by Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, fell on mostly deaf ears among conservatives. One dismissed it as a "delaying tactic."

It’s all here …

Tireless Shuttle Diplomacy