One of the few to address both letters is Mark Harris on his Preludium site. I think he hits the nail on the head when he writes:
The message to the Communion is much the better letter. It soars. At its close he asks, "Let us ask ourselves honestly whose company we are ashamed to be seen in - and then ask where God would be. If he has embraced the failing and fragile world of human beings who know their needs, then we must be there with him." Meditations like this is [sic] why so many of us have had such hopes in the ABC.Having had time to digest the Advent Letter, however, I can understand why everyone is so upset--why I am upset. We wait for Rowan Williams to display our version of decisive leadership, and the Archbishop issues yet another tiptoe through the tulips. I see him trapped in the belief that the Windsor Report, the "Instruments of Communion," and the mythical Covenant will save the Anglican Communion, which itself has achieved mythical status in the eyes of many. The reality is that the Anglican Communion as we thought it was has ceased to exist, if it ever really did. What will emerge from this time of discernment, debate, and procedural maneuvering remains to be seen.
Perhaps the Archbishop understands what swirls around him more than we give him credit for. Maybe that explains officially releasing to the wider Communion his Advent Letter to the Primates on the same day as his Christmas Message to the Communion. Or, maybe he is simply grasping at anything to keep the Communion from falling apart on his watch.
The jury is still out.
Peace,
Jeffri
I think the Archbishop is leading. He's being a clear voice in an increasingly bizarre and un-Christian debate. I hear both sides calling for the Archbishop to take decisive leadership, which I guess means pronouncing on who is right, and intervening to make sure the 'right' prevails. Well, he can't, because Anglican polity doesn't work like that.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things both sides in this debate have in common is a demonisation of Williams, and a lack of patience with the process of discernment.
For what it's worth, I'm a liberal, gay, male Anglican (from Australia), too, where the debate is not nearly as progressed as it is in the US or Canada. But one of the striking things about here is a willingness, generally, to be respectful of all sides and a desire for the whole of our national church to maintain unity. I don't doubt that this involves sacrifices - as someone trained to be a priest, and called to be one (as recognised by the Church), I make the sacrifice too.