epiScope

Preaching the gospel of John Lewis

The Archbishop of York is scathing about the minister who wants us to celebrate wealth. He says our attitude to money must change
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Martin Wroe
The Sunday Times
March 16, 2008

On Easter Day, John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, will be standing up to his waist in water inviting allcomers to renounce the devil before plunging them in his open-air baptismal tank.

Last week he settled for renouncing John Hutton, secretary of state for business, enterprise and regulatory reform, who has said we need more millionaires and should celebrate the freedom to get rich.

“To celebrate wealth for its own sake is such a strange view,” says Sentamu. “We should celebrate creativity, people who expand our horizons to become more loving and more caring, not celebrate people who are driving big cars. Wealth creation is in order to improve the lives of all, not just for the individual.”

If he rejects the Gospel of John Hutton, he is nonetheless a firm believer in the Gospel of John Lewis, which last week announced profits of £379m and revealed that its 69,000 staff – partners in the business – will receive bonuses worth 10 weeks’ pay.

“That is what I am looking for: the John Lewis model,” he says. “It’s not about making more and more millionaires, because there is no evidence that these millionaires put back what they get out.”

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 …

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 …

Roman holiday

Archbishop heads to Rome
The Northeast (UK)

THE region's highest-ranking clergyman is heading for Rome later this month.

The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, will be in the city from January 23 to 28 during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

The Archbishop has been invited to Rome by the director of the Anglican Centre, the Right Reverend John Flack During his visit he will meet with senior officials of the Roman Catholic Church, will celebrate the Eucharist in the Chapel of the Anglican Centre in Rome, and address an Ecumenical Service at the Lutheran Church.

Dr. Sentamu will also meet with the Community of Sant'Egidio in Rome who care for the homeless and visit the St Paul's Refugee Centre at Rome's American Episcopal Church.

It’s all here …

Strong opinions

Anglicans to worship or disco?
BAME PIET
Mmegi Online (Botswana)
December 15, 2007

Some members of the Anglican Church of Botswana could celebrate Christmas in court or at disco bars holding parties following the sacking of their priests.

They would either have no priest to lead them into the celebrations, or the available one may not be their favourite.

The sacking of seven priests has left the church in disarray with some members threatening to form their own congregations.

Among the disappointed is the Molepolole congregation whose priest, it is alleged, was fired for enquiring about certain church activities and financial transactions.

It’s all here …

Opinion: Sentamu’s theatre of the absurd
By Stephen T. Maimbodei
Zimbabwe Herald
December 15, 2007

CHIPEMBENENE kupinda munzeve yemwana, Changa chawaridza bonde kare kare, Wagara wakazvironga iwe, Wagara wakapurana kare, Oliver Mtukudzi’s yesteryear hit song seems to be an apt commentary on the Rt Reverend Archbishop John Tucker Mugabi Sentamu’s theatrical grandstanding gesture on the British Broadcasting Corporation.

At best, Sentamu’s mutilation of his dog collar can be described as the theatre of the absurd.

Unfortunately as Africa makes inroads in its relationship with Europe, it still has to deal with "house niggers" like Sentamu who hide behind a dog collar to mask their shameless actions.

It’s all here ...

Not under the collar

What does a dog collar represent?
BBC News
10 December 2007

The Archbishop of York has dramatically cut up his dog collar on live television and says he won't wear it again until Zimbabwe's leader Robert Mugabe is out of office. But what does the dog collar represent?

As protests from the clergy go, it was a pretty powerful one.

The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, cut up his clerical collar - known as a dog collar - on live television on Sunday. He said it was a protest against Robert Mugabe and he would not wear it again until Zimbabwe's leader is out of office.

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Archbishop cuts up clerical collar in Zimbabwe protest
9 Dec 2007

LONDON (Reuters) - Angry Anglican Archbishop of York John Sentamu theatrically cut up his clerical collar on live television on Sunday to protest Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's continuation in power.

His dramatic move came amid a controversy over Mugabe's attendance at a weekend European Union-Africa summit in Lisbon that has been boycotted by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown over allegations of human rights abuses in the former British colony.

"As an Anglican this is what I wear to identify myself," Sentamu, a former judge in Uganda who fled Idi Amin's regime, said as he pulled off his white collar and picked up a pair of scissors during an interview on BBC television.

It's all here …

Archbishop cuts up dog collar
Press Association
December 9, 2007

The Archbishop of York cut up his dog collar on live television in a dramatic protest against Robert Mugabe's rule.

John Sentamu pledged that he would not wear the symbol of his office again until the Zimbabwe president had been removed from power.

He insisted the gesture represented the way Mugabe had "destroyed the identities" of his people through oppression and economic mismanagement.

It's all here …

Archbishop discards dog collar ‘until tyrant goes’
The Times of London (UK)
December 10

In one of the most dramatic political interventions by an Anglican cleric in modern times, the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, cut up his clerical collar on TV yesterday and vowed not to put it back on until President Mugabe was thrown out of office.

Ugandan-born Dr Sentamu, who in his youth fled the atrocities of Idi Amin, told the Sunday AM programme on BBC One that the Zimbabwean leader had “taken people’s identity . . . and cut it to pieces”. This had prompted him to do the same.

The protest is unusual in modern Anglicanism in both its courageous iconoclasm and in its stand against Mr Mugabe. Although Dr Sentamu has been an outspoken critic of Mr Mugabe, some senior clergy have balked at speaking out against the dictator for fear of endangering church workers in the country. But his excesses have reached a point where church leaders believe that they must now oppose him in the name of justice and with whatever tools are at their disposal.

It's all here ...

Sentamu cuts up dog collar in Mugabe protest
By Duncan Hooper
Daily Telegraph
10/12/2007

The Archbishop of York has cut up his dog collar live on television in protest against the human rights violations of Robert Mugabe.

John Sentamu pledged not to wear the symbol of the clergy until the Zimbabwean president steps down and urged others to "pray, march, protest and collect money" for the cause of his people.

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Anglican archbishop Sentamu visits Barbados

Archbishop of York Dr. John Sentamu in a visit to Barbados spoke of economic sharing as a key to Christian life, "Those following Jesus have deep pockets and short arms."
October 17, 2007
By Ekklesia

Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu has been welcomed in the Caribbean as representing "a new sense of communion to Anglicanism" in its diversity. In Barbados he has spoken of economic sharing as a key characteristic of Christian life.

Dr Sentamu, the Church of England's most senior black leader, was welcomed to Barbados with the laying of a plaque and the planting of a royal palm at the St Thomas Parish Church.

On Sunday evening, the Archbishop of York joined with Bishop Dr John Holder, rector Canon George Knight, and a number of other members of the clergy to help commemorate the church's 170th anniversary.

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 …

Canterbury and York

Archbishop of Canterbury to hold 'secret' communion for gay clergy
Dr Rowan Williams is just returning from a three-month break, but the secret communion is bound to destabilise his position further
Ruth Gledhill
Times of London
September 17, 2007

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, is to celebrate a “secret” communion service for gay clergy and their partners in London.

Dr Williams will celebrate the eucharist at St Peter’s, Eaton Square, the Church of England parish known as a home to the country’s liberal and wealthy Anglican elite.

Dr Williams will also give an address titled: “Present realities and future possibilities for lesbians and gay men in the Church.”

Those attending the event, at 10am on November 29, have been told to observe “Chatham House rules” which prevent any disclosure of the discussions there or even when and where it is taking place.

Dr Williams has asked to know who will be present. Names will be on a list, which will be shown only to the Archbishop and shredded once he has seen it.

It's all here ...

Archbishop of York calls for full sanctions against Mugabe regime
By Tererai Karimakwenda
SW Radio Africa
17 September, 2007

The Anglican Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, has called on the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to revisit the country’s policy on Zimbabwe and lead a campaign of foreign intervention. He suggested that it was time because it seems the African solution that former premier Tony Blair had advocated, was not forthcoming.

In a commentary published in the UK Observer newspaper the Archbishop said: “The time has come for Mr. Brown, who has already shown himself to be an African interventionist through his work at the UN in favour of the people of Darfur, finally to slay the ghosts of Britain's colonialist past by thoroughly revising foreign policy towards Zimbabwe and to lead the way in co-ordinating an international response. The time for 'African solutions' alone is now over.”

It’s all here …

Point-counterpoint

In the conservative Church of England Newspaper (which is an independent newspaper and not, let unwary American journalists note, in any way an official house organ for the Church of England) for the week ending August 3, 2007, appeared this opinion piece:

Why the Archbishop of York got it wrong
The Revd. Canon David Anderson

It's all here ...

And not too many days later...

Why Canon Anderson Got it Wrong
Arun Arora responds to The Revd. Canon David Anderson
05 August 2007

It's all here ...particularly this.

By using such a broad brush to attack the Episcopal Church as a whole, Canon Anderson conveniently whitewashes the testimony daily offered up by all those faithfully reciting the creeds and liturgy that bear evidence to those doctrines which he alleges have been abandoned. The orthodox voice of the multitude is drowned out and ignored in Anderson’s analysis in favour of selective quotation from the fringe.

And let the people say Amen.

Boycott may backfire

Archbishop warns Anglican conservatives
By Jonathan Petre
Daily Telegraph
23/07/2007

The Archbishop of York has warned conservative Anglican leaders that they will effectively expel themselves from the worldwide Church if they boycott next year's Lambeth Conference.

In an exclusive interview with The Daily Telegraph, Dr John Sentamu pleaded with them to attend the conference despite their war with liberals over homosexuality.

But he told them that if they "voted with their feet" they risked severing their links with the Archbishop of Canterbury and with historic Anglicanism, a breach that could take centuries to heal.

It’s all here …

Shaped by fear

Archbishop's fear of terror warning
Daily Mail
July 9, 2007

The Archbishop of York has warned how the fear of terrorism can lead to people drawing false conclusions about "Muslim neighbours".

The Archbishop, Dr John Sentamu, told the General Synod of the Church of England: "The language of fear has become the language of international relations. Worldwide, a new book on terrorism is published every six hours.

"Fear has begun to shape the minds and the decisions of those who take counsel for the nations."

It’s all here …

Office politics, part 2

Uganda: Orombi Wants Makerere Job
New Vision (Kampala)
27 June 2007
F. Ahimbisibwe
Kampala

ARCHIBISHOPS Henry Orombi and John Sentamu are among the seven candidates so far nominated for Makerere university chancellor.

They join Vice-President Prof. Gilbert Bukenya and former general duties minister Prof. Mondo Kagonyera in the race.

Orombi is the head of the Anglican Church in Uganda, while Ssentamu is the Archbishop of York.

It’s all here …

Sentamu honors abolition in Jamaica

Anglican Primate to visit Jamaica
April 19, 2007
Jamaica Gleaner

ONE OF the Anglican Communion's most distinguished leaders will visit the Diocese of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands in October. He is the Most Rev. and Rt. Hon. John Sentamu, Archbishop of York, Primate of England.

His visit, which comes as a result of an invitation from the Diocese, coincides with Jamaica's commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade.

This was announced last week by the Lord Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Alfred Reid, in delivering the second part of his Charge at the business session of the 137th annual Synod assembled at the Starfish Trelawny Hotel.

Archbishop Sentamu, at age 58, is one of the youngest to hold the prestigious office of Archbishop of York, which is next in hierarchical importance to the Archbishop of Canterbury, titular leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Archbishop Sentamu is celebrated for his fearless adherence to the ideals of justice and freedom. He began his career as a lawyer in his native Uganda, rising to the level of a High Court judge at the age of 24.

When life became difficult under the regime of Idi Amin, he moved to England where he began studying all over again, this time for the priesthood. He rose swiftly through the ranks of the Church, from parish priest to bishop, becoming Archbishop of York in 2005. He is hailed worldwide for his outstanding stewardship and fearless proclamation of the Gospel.

It’s all here …

Canterbury and York

Why the church must ease the pain of Rowan's Passion
Richard Harries
Sunday April 8, 2007
The Observer

I once said to Rowan Williams: 'God has given you all the gifts and, as your punishment, he has made you Archbishop of Canterbury.' I might have added: 'at this time', for the issue over which the Anglican Communion is so divided is one that might have been specially selected to tear Rowan in two. And it has been a particularly bad Passiontide, with almost all the newspapers ranged against him.

In the year that Rowan Williams became archbishop, he delivered the highly prestigious Dimbleby Lecture. Shortly afterwards, I was at a New Year's Day party with a number of Oxford intellectuals, including Roy Jenkins and philosopher Bernard Williams, none of whom was exactly soft when it came to the inadequacies of the clergy. All had stayed up late to listen and all were genuinely impressed. What is even more remarkable is that when I spoke to Philip Bobbitt, on whose long, dense book, The Shield of Achilles, the lecture had focused, Bobbitt said that Rowan, more than anyone else, had understood what he had been trying to say.

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It’s time for St Rowan to swap jobs
A simple conversion could work miracles
Tim Hames
The Times
April 9, 2007

There is a story about William Whitelaw which, in a touching if faintly damning way, sums up the plight of the Church of England. It involves the moment when the Conservative politician was told that, somewhat unexpectedly. Robert Runcie was to be appointed Archbishop of Canterbury. Whitelaw, who had admired Runcie’s military record during the Second World War, was delighted. “Splendid news,” he said. “Fine man, Runcie. I knew him in the Army; very brave, very brave.” He then concluded: “Quite religious too, you know.”

“Quite religious” is an awkward place to be stranded between the more robust stations of militant secularism and theological fanaticism. “Quite religious” is also an accurate description of our contemporary Easter. On Friday, Gerard Baker wrote in these pages that in Japan, where there are not many Christians and an element of confusion is perhaps understandable, it is possible to purchase a Father Christmas nailed to a Cross. Coming soon, a chocolate egg nestling in a Nativity manger?

Anglicans are desperately close to the worst of all worlds. They are perceived as both irrelevant and bitterly divided, especially over homosexuality, which threatens to rip the Church apart at the Lambeth conference next year. It is a moment when leadership at the top — charismatic, intellectual and spiritual — is especially important. Yet leadership is not so much missing as mislocated. Rowan Williams at Canterbury and John Sentamu at York are well qualified to occupy the two most senior portfolios in the Church of England. Unfortunately, they are most well qualified for each other’s positions.

It’s all here …

Remember

Anglican leaders mark end of slavery
Washington (DC) Times
Published: Mar. 24, 2007 at 8:16 PM

The two leaders of the Anglican Church led a "Walk of Witness" through London to mark the 200th anniversary of Britain's abolition of slavery.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and Archbishop of York John Sentamu presided at a service at the end of the march, the BBC reported.

It’s all here ...

Canterbury and York on the 'Tube

Archbishop of Canterbury makes YouTube debut
From Times Online
March 14, 2007
Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has made his debut on YouTube.

In what will be the first of many broadcasts, Dr Williams is filmed with the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, at the former slave market in Zanzibar, now the Anglican Cathedral.

The two archbishops did a joint reflection on slavery during the recent Primates' Meeting in Tanzania to mark the bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade in the UK, being celebrated this year.

The pair were shown two small preserved slave pits, where up to 175 men, women and children were held in appalling conditions, chained and in darkness, often without food and water. Dr Sentamu spent some time at a memorial to the slaves which features some of the original chains used when the market was operating.

It’s all here …

York v. Canterbury

A tale of two archbishops as a Church is torn apart
By Michael Brown
Published Date: 26 February 2007
Location: Yorkshire

IF ever an Archbishop of York deserved a feather in his mitre, it is John Sentamu. The feather's colour? Well, certainly not white; that denotes cowardice. So what colour? Green? Yes, definitely green. Green for go.

Dr Sentamu has plenty of go – get up and go. He gets up at the General Synod, as he did at York last summer, and Anglican legislators go all smiley.

He is wont, indeed, to set the synod on a roar. At the York session, he reminded members that his middle name is Mugabi and that, backwards, it more or less becomes that well-known Yorkshire expression "E ba(h) gum". The entire synod collapsed. More jokes followed.

The 97th Lord Archbishop of York and Primate of England certainly knows how to tell 'em. And he will doubtless be regaling them further at this week's synod which opens today in London.

It’s all here …and I thought nothing would fit the mood of this piece better than Austin (TX) artist Julie Speed's armwrestling clerics.