Anglican Mainstream

From AAC

[...]  In advising the Church not to fear conflict, Archbishop Welby has in mind what he is calling reconciliation, but I want to flag that term, for he seems to be using it in a manner unaccustomed to many of us. He does not mean Biblical reconciliation, as between God and a sinner, nor as between two Christian brothers necessarily. He appears to have something in mind that I would have to call "Reconciliation Lite." Just as the homosexual community has taken a perfectly sound word "gay" and re-purposed it to mean a male homosexual, that same tendency to appropriate a familiar word and reuse it for something different needs to be flagged. You think initially that you know what the speaker is discussing, but then discover that the meaning of the word has been changed to suit the speaker's purpose. So it is with the new use of the word "reconciliation," and at the end of the day it won't really be reconciliation as we have formerly understood the term, but it will permanently change the usage of the word.

At a recent "Faith in Conflict" Conference at Coventry Cathedral, some people were defining the meaning of reconciliation as "assisted conversation" to help prevent disagreements from exploding or escalating to tear the fabric of the church. Unfortunately, of course, the current disagreements, with the American Episcopal Church (TEC) leading the way in innovation, have already torn the fabric of the church and are tearing it still further while TEC apparently prides itself on its status as the leader of the "progressive" movement.

Assisted conversation can be useful when you are within a community of common faith or a community bound by other relationships which are important. When you are dealing with what is truth and deeply held principles of life, any resolution that restores commonality is unlikely, but what may be achieved is a détente in hostility.

I think that the process being put forward may have some solid ground under it, but it needs a different name. It is not reconciliation, but it is, or could be, mediation. It could be a way of arriving at an Anglican Détente; to facilitate that some things need to be put on the table quickly.

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by Justin Welby

 am still reeling from the recent Faith in Conflict (FiC) conference at Coventry Cathedral. The event had been a dream of mine for years, ever since the Church of Scotland hosted a gathering on the same theme, which a friend attended. The reality was far greater than the anticipation.

Source:  AAC International Update

The following article by the Rev. Canon Chris Sugden first appeared in the March 5, 2013 edition of the AAC's International Update. Sign up for this free email here. 

The “Faith in Conflict” Conference in Coventry Cathedral (www.faithinconflict.com) from February 25-27 was four years in the planning. It was centred on the Community of the Cross of Nails which grew out of the destruction of Coventry Cathedral in an air raid in 1940 which razed much of Coventry to the ground. “Father forgive” has been the motto at Coventry ever since. Among staff members of the Community at Coventry have been Andrew White, now the vicar of Baghdad, Justin Welby now Archbishop of Canterbury and David Porter who has been appointed his Director of Reconciliation.

“What is meant by reconciliation?” was a key question I pressed on speakers and resource people.  The answer was “assisted conversations” so that disagreements did not escalate to be destructive. It was freely acknowledged that when issues of truth and  principle are at stake, such processes are not intended to resolve the impasse in a via media but to enable those who disagree to live in as high a degree of Christian unity as may be possible. Reconciliation may not have its full biblical and theological meaning in this usage.

In the scripture, reconciliation means reconciliation with God and by such reconciliation effected by Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection, we are reconciled to each other across the diversity of race, gender and class, which are turned into hostile divisions by sin.  Paul devotes his letters to enabling communities comprised of Christian Jews and Christian Gentiles to express the reconciliation Jesus had effected, rooted in their common confession of sin at the  cross and faith in his atoning sacrifice and life-giving resurrection.

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By Gavin Drake, Church Times

THE Archbishop of Canterbury has warned that he has "no magic wand", and that there is "no silver bullet" to resolve the conflicts in the Church of England or the Anglican Communion.

Speaking to the Church Times at the "Faith in Conflict" conference at Coventry Cathedral, Archbishop Welby sought to play down the "huge expectation" that people had placed on his experience of conflict-resolution. He said that he could only "help to set the tone".

He said that he would seek to put his past work in reconciliation to good use. Nevertheless, he continued: "Reconciliation is never ever delivered by one person or a group of people. Reconciliation is something that is done by people in the conflict with each other.

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The Most Revd Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, led the final plenary session at 'Faith in Conflict', an ecumenical conference exploring how conflict is handled across the church.

“This conference is some years in the making. I have always been hopeful that it would mark a step for the Church of England’s capacity when dealing with conflict. In fact, it is proving to be much more significant than that, setting a clear and radical path for our opportunity to be peacemakers and confidence builders in our society.”

By Andrew Carey, CEN

American-style ‘culture wars’ are breaking forth in British society as a result of the politics of gay marriage, argued Fraser Nelson last weekend (Britain is getting a glimpse of the crazy world of culture wars, Sunday Telegraph, 13 December 2012).

He is late to the party. I have regularly documented in this column the fact that these so-called ‘culture wars’ have been with us for over a decade. Nelson helpfully draws attention to the American sociologist James Hunter, who defines them in terms of “political and social hostility rooted in different systems of moral understanding.”

Nelson writes: “The trick is to draw a dividing line, insult those on the other side – and try to attract supporters by forcing people to choose.”

The really ‘crazy’ thing is that David Cameron is introducing this heightened form of cultural warfare over gay marriage at this particular time and with such determination. Opinion polls reveal a slight majority support for gay marriage especially among younger people, but there is an even greater suspicion on the part of the public that Cameron’s personal motives are partisan, cynical and ‘trendy’.

One of the most concerning aspects of this for Christians is the fact that the introduction of gay marriage bounces the churches into renewed division over an issue that has come out of nowhere. Over the years I have spoken to many Christian gay activists who have told me that the unions they want the church to approve are not ‘marriage’. They recognised that ‘marriage’ had particular theological connotations that were universally accepted as subsisting in the complementarity of the genders with the potential for procreation.

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By Kevin DeYoung, Christian Post

There is no way, short of a miraculous and full-scale changing of hearts and minds, for North American denominations to survive the homosexuality crisis. Denominations like the PCUSA, ELCA, RCA, UMC, and Episcopal Church will continue. They won't fold their tents and join the Southern Baptists (though wouldn't that be interesting!). I'm not suggesting most of our old, mainline denominations will disappear. But I do not see how any of these once flourishing denominations will make it through the present crisis intact.

And the sooner denominations admit this sobering reality the better.

Every denomination is different. The percentages on both sides of the issue and the official positions are not identical. But the basic contours of the problem are quite similar.

On one side you have liberals who want to see the church open its doors to the GLBT agenda. They want homosexual behavior welcomed and affirmed. They want to perform gay marriages. They want gays and lesbians to be ordained to church office. Liberals (or "progressives" or whatever-I'm trying to use neutral labels) see this as a justice issue. They believe conservatives are simply on the wrong side of history and that one day we will look at our traditional attitudes toward gays and lesbians like we look at old attitudes toward African Americans or our old attitudes toward women's ordination. We will be embarrassed to see that we could have been so blind and bigoted for so long.

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From Al Jazeera

President Goodluck Jonathan says there are Boko Haram sympathisers in government, judiciary and armed forces.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has said that spiralling violence blamed on the radical Islamist group Boko Haram is "even worse" than the country's 1960s civil war.

"The situation we have in our hands is even worse than the civil war that we fought," Jonathan said at a church service on Sunday, referring to Nigeria's 1967-70 civil war that killed more than a million people..
 
The death toll linked to violence blamed on the Islamist group has not reached anywhere near that level, but Jonathan cited the unpredictability and pervasiveness of the threat.

"During the civil war, we knew and we could even predict where the enemy was coming from … But the challenge we have today is more complicated."

He said there are Boko Haram sympathisers in government.

"Some of them are in the executive arm of government, some of them are in the parliamentary/legislative arm of government, while some of them are even in the judiciary," Jonathan told a church service for armed forces remembrance day.

"Some are also in the armed forces, the police and other security agencies."

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By Jennifer Roback Morse, MercatorNet

In my work as a social conservative, I have been puzzled by some of the rhetorical strategies of my opponents. Sometimes I feel my head spinning, as if I have been going around in circles, with no obvious conclusion in sight. I have been seeking the key to understanding them, a Rosetta Stone that will allow me to translate what otherwise appears to be mere hieroglyphics.

by Alan Craig

We sat in the back of a 4X4 discussing sectarian violence in Nigeria while we toured dirt-poor villages outside Jos, Plateau State, in the central belt of the country. He was the Nigeria researcher at the Washington office of international NGO Human Rights Watch and I was making my second visit to Jos.

From Christian Today

The UK and Argentina are marking 30 years since the start of the Falklands War.

It is three decades since Argentinian troops invaded the Falklands Islands and took control of capital Port Stanley.

The 74-day conflict killed 649 Argentinians and 255 British armed forces personnel.

The Government has marked the occasion by reaffirming the right of the Falkland Islanders to self-determination.

David Cameron said in a statement: "Thirty years ago today the people of the Falkland Islands suffered an act of aggression that sought to rob them of their freedom and their way of life.

"Today is a day for commemoration and reflection: a day to remember all those who lost their lives in the conflict – the members of our Armed Forces, as well as the Argentinian personnel who died. Today, we salute the heroism of the Task Force which set sail to free the islands.”

The Prime Minister said he was proud of the role Britain had played in “righting a profound wrong”.

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From ECNS

Anglican leaders from across the continent of Africa have made an emotional appeal to Muslim faith leaders to stand with them in opposition to "tragic violence that is destroying our communities".

The appeal was issued at the end of a three-day meeting of the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa in Burundi where conflict between the two faiths was high on the agenda.

The statement read: "The Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa…has noted with much sadness the increasing deterioration between Muslim and Christian communities in different parts of the world, specifically our Provinces of Sudan, Nigeria, and the Diocese of Egypt.

"As a council, coming from communities diverse in religion and culture, the present circumstances have forced us to ask whether the violence we see and experience is driven by religious intolerance from our brothers of different religions with whom we have lived together for generations, in some cases centuries, or whether in fact it is a result of a much greater problem of exploitation of ignorance and religious beliefs for political gain.

"Whatever the cause, the subsequent violence is devastating. In most cases, this societal decline has resulted in bloodshed, loss of life, livelihoods, poor living standards, and has bred bitterness and hopelessness."

Highlighting conflict in Sudan, South Sudan, Egypt and Nigeria the statement–signed on behalf of CAPA by the outgoing Chairman Archbishop Ian Ernest–called for an end to violence that "destabilise whole communities".

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By George Conger, CEN

By Riazat Butt, Guardian

The St Paul's situation puts Rowan Williams and other bishops who have decried banking practices in an impossible quandary

The last few years have seen senior clerics in the Church of England rush to decry banking practices. And they come no more senior than Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, who has dim views of the frailties of global finance.

In September 2008 in an article published in the Spectator magazine, he wrote: "It is no use pretending that the financial world can maintain indefinitely the degree of exemption from scrutiny and regulation that it has got used to. This crisis exposes the basic level of unreality in the situation – the truth that almost unimaginable wealth has been generated by equally unimaginable levels of fiction, paper transactions with no concrete outcome beyond profit for traders."

Williams, therefore, has common cause with the protesters outside St Paul's Cathedral in London. Whereas the cathedral's former canon chancellor recently said he could imagine Jesus being born in the camp, it is easy to imagine Williams, below, in another life pitching his tent in the churchyard in solidarity with the activists.

In 2009 Williams was still pursuing bankers. "We haven't heard people saying, 'Well actually, no, we got it wrong. And the whole fundamental principle on which we worked was unreal, was empty'."

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by Melanie Phillips

[...]  This reporting is simply disgraceful and inexcusable. Such selective manipulation of the facts and consequent misrepresentation of cause and effect reverses victim and aggressor in the Middle East, serves the cause of Arab propaganda and foments public hatred of Israel, all with untold consequences around the world.

As has been observed for years, the BBC’s reporting on Israel is out of control. The BBC is clearly incapable of putting its own house in order; its abuse of journalism on this most sensitive of issues is now so egregious that it is surely a matter that should be raised in Parliament.

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Read also:  Journalism, propaganda and moral confusion (part two)

From St Paul's website

‘St Paul’s Cathedral stated on Monday that it was still trying to provide worship and welcome to all in spite of the presence of the protest camp in the churchyard. St Paul’s asked everyone to respect this need and to acknowledge the risk to the life of the cathedral posed by the current situation.”

"The cathedral has managed so far to remain open on a reduced basis. The increased scale and nature of the protest camp is such that to act safely and responsibly the cathedral must now review the extent to which it can remain open for the many thousands coming this week as worshippers, visitors and in school parties. Is it now time for the protest camp to leave? The consequences of a decision to close St Paul’s cannot be taken lightly’.

By Riazat Butt, Guardian

With their camouflage Bibles and combat crosses, the forces' 278 chaplains are outsiders in the church and the military

By Peter Baklinski, LifeSite News

The head of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has expressed his “strong disappointment” in an open letter to the U.S. president over his policies that threaten true marriage and the traditional family.

“Recent actions taken by your Administration … both escalate the threat to marriage and imperil the religious freedom of those who promote and defend marriage,” wrote New York’s Archbishop Dolan to President Obama on September 20th, 2011.

“Mr. President, I respectfully urge you to push the reset button on your Administration?s approach to DOMA,” wrote Archbishop Dolan to the president in a recent letter.

This letter comes at a time when the Obama Administration has shifted from not defending the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) to actively attacking the Act’s constitutionality. Just two months ago the Department of Justice (DoJ) filed a brief in Golinski v. U.S. Office of Personnel Management, arguing that DOMA should be struck down as a form of sexual orientation discrimination.

In the letter, the archbishop states that he and his brother bishops cannot be silent “when federal steps harmful to marriage, the laws defending it, and religious freedom continue apace.”

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Read also:  White House denounces pro-marriage ballot initiative in North Carolina

Telegraph editorial

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, is right to expose himself to risk by visiting Zimbabwe, where many Christians practise their faith in fear, and meeting its President, Robert Mugabe.

The Archbishop of Canterbury is head of the Anglican Communion. That is not an enviable position to hold: the doctrinal splits in worldwide Anglicanism have become so bitter that Dr Rowan Williams has spent much of his time in office caught in the crossfire between liberal and evangelical lobbies, acting more as a harassed chairman than any sort of leader. This week, however, Lambeth Palace announced that Dr Williams plans to display leadership in a practical and brave way. He will travel to Zimbabwe next month to show solidarity with Anglicans caught up in the vicious factional disputes associated with Robert Mugabe’s violent regime.

Dr Williams has also requested a meeting with Mr Mugabe, which promises to be an awkward occasion. The Zimbabwean president already commands the loyalty of several discredited Anglican and Catholic bishops in his country – a situation that should be a source of shame for both Churches. The encounter requires a mixture of plain speaking and diplomacy; the Archbishop must resist the temptation to waffle. And he should be aware that Mr Mugabe – nominally a Roman Catholic – is a master of the dictator’s art of turning visits by well-meaning dignitaries into publicity stunts, and especially good at exploiting the naivety of Left-wing clergymen.

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By Riazat Butt, Guardian