Culture change in financial services will not be achieved by “light touch” or “heavy touch” regulation, Archbishop Justin said at a Westminster discussion organised by the Bible Society.

Instead the banking sector must adopt “an aim of service to society and not mere rent-seeking, and a culture of virtue based in the realities of daily life and not a fantasy nirvana,” he said.

Describing what this change of culture might look like, the Archbishop said it would require “a ruthless honesty and a deep willingness to be made very uncomfortable indeed through listening to things one does not want to hear”.

Read it all.

Speaking at a Parliamentary event on “finding long-term solutions to the financial crisis”, Archbishop Welby said there needs to be a “revolution in the aims” of banks to ensure they serve society rather than “self-regarding interest” or even just shareholders.

“What we’re in at the moment isn’t a recession but some kind of depression,” he said. “It needs something very, very major to get us out of it, in the same way it took something very major to get into it.”

The Archbishop, who sat on the recent Banking Standards Commission but said his ideas were not those of the Commission, also called for professional banking standards to be introduced as a way of transforming ethical standards in banking.

Read it all.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has signalled that he will back moves to change the law to allow straight couples to have civil partnerships.

He offered his support for a parliamentary amendment to the gay marriage bill during a landmark meeting with the veteran gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell at Lambeth Palace.

It is thought to be the first time the head of a major world church has invited a prominent gay rights leader to a meeting. The Archbishop, who is from the evangelical wing of the Church which supports a traditional interpretation of the Bible on issues such as homosexuality, said he wanted to open a “dialogue” with gay and lesbian groups.

Read it all.

Speaking at a makeshift news conference in the rain across the road from Lambeth Palace’s imposing red brick gatehouse with its big oak doors, Tatchell said their meeting was a breakthrough.

“Rowan Williams never invited me to Lambeth Palace but Justin Welby did,” Thatchell said. “He strikes me as someone who genuinely wants to listen and to have a dialogue.”

Welby faces the challenge of uniting the Anglican church, which during his predecessor’s decade in office risked tearing itself apart over same-sex marriages and the ordination of [partnered] gay priests.

Read it all and a press release from Mr. Tatchell is there.

Archbishop Justin said damage caused by the financial crisis in 2008, which has severely undermined trust in society, may take “a generation” to repair.

This negativity has crept into the church, he said, citing last year’s synod debate on women bishops as an example. We have a culture where it is assumed that “if one person is in favour of something they must be bitterly against everything else,” he said.

“If we start with mistrust, our capacity to cope with events becomes crippled, inadequate, impossible.”

Read it all.

But so often the critics ignore the many instances where aid truly works ”“ especially in vulnerable conflict and post-conflict situations. Certainly that was what I saw during more than a decade of working in Africa.

When money is put in the hands of faith-based and civil society networks, it can be utterly transformative. Because these organisations are highly accountable, very little money is lost to corruption. Local clergy know exactly what their communities need and how to spend funds wisely.

Read it all.

We have to know God as well as human beings, or we are left with cynical despair. The disciples also had a wrong view of God. They did not understand that Jesus must die and must rise from the dead. Human disaster thus became ultimate disaster.

The accounts of the resurrection are brutally honest about the pervasive ignorance of the disciples. Key phrases are about not knowing, not understanding, believing without insight. Even Mary, the apostle to the apostles, the first witness, is able to say no more than “I have seen the Lord”, and what He said.

The reading from Acts shows the consequence of the Easter revolution. Peter has an open mind to the biggest change that could be imagined, the recognition that God has no favourites and that the Gentiles can be part of the church. He is spending his life in a state of joyful expectation because God is the one who raised Jesus from the dead. He is exploring the love and mercy of God in reaching to a lost and sinful humanity with a saving love for all.

That brings us back to our own day. Isaiah was speaking to a people in despair, and his treatment is celebration. “Be glad and rejoice for ever in what I am creating”. A right view of God sees Him as overflowing with such creative force that all our expectations of the future are radically altered and our joy leaps. Alleluia, Christ is risen.

Read it all.

[Pollesel] credited last January’s visit and subsequent report by the Rev. Canon Kenneth Kearon, Anglican Communion general secretary, as having allowed the diocese and the province to “find a way out of being stuck.” Zavala decided to invite a small delegation from the diocese to attend part of the Southern Cone’s House of Bishops meeting, a recommendation in the Kearon report.

“At the face-to-face meeting I believe we were able to bring down some defensive walls that had been built and also build some bridges of understanding and reconciliationâ„¢,” said Pollesel. “We’re not there yet. But we’re certainly moving in a good direction.”
….
Pollesel resigned as general secretary of the Anglican Church of Canada in 2011 and later became interim priest-in-charge at Toronto’s St. Nicholas Church, Birch Cliff.

Read it all and there is background here

Thursday 21st March 2013

Archbishop Justin Welby

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and The Lord Jesus Christ.

We greet you on this day of celebration and assure you and your family of our prayers for your future ministry.

We are grateful for this opportunity to worship in Canterbury Cathedral and be reminded of our historic faith that is grounded in the revealed Word of God.

We encourage you to stay true to the ‘faith once delivered to the saints’ and as you do we will stand with you for the sake of Christ.

We do look forward to a future opportunity to meet and discuss how we can work together.

To Him be all the glory..

The Most Revd Dr. Eliud Wabukala Anglican Church of Kenya
The Most Revd Nicholas Okoh Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion)
The Most Revd Stanley Ntagali Church of the Province of Uganda
The Most Revd Onesphore Rwaje Province de l’Eglise Anglicane au Rwanda
The Most Revd Daniel Deng Bul The Episcopal Church of the Sudan
The Most Revd Hector Zavala Iglesia Anglicana del Cono Sur de America

Read it all

With ever-increasing pressure from the society, the church needs not to be politically correct at the expense of the truth. The church resisted this from the early centuries and preferred to be faithful to the Gospel, even if this led to persecution and martyrdom. We are called to be“salt” and “light.” In other words, we are called to be distinctive. The modern societies of the “West” or “North” are pushing many issues, including same-sex marriages and civil partnerships. Should the church yield to the pressure of these societies and compromise the truth? I personally think that these issues are superficial symptoms of a much deeper illness which attempts to shake the foundation of our faith. This illness puts into question the essentials of faith like the crucifixion, the resurrection, and the doctrine of salvation. It ignores the primacy of Scripture and 2,000 years of church tradition. It is a spirit of individualism and cultural pride that ignores the fact that the whole truth is revealed to the whole church.

In both the theological and numerical differences, we need to affirm our interdependence as Anglican churches. What affects all should be decided by all. There is a great need to recover the conciliar nature of the Anglican Communion that is practiced through the Lambeth Conferences and the Primates Meetings. Losing our conciliar ethos will lead to disunity as churches take uncoordinated, independent and unilateral decisions.

Read it all thanks to Anglican Ink and there is a larger version here

Read it all

Two Recent Reports on Archbishop Welby’s views, a Tweet and a Radio Interview:

1. Telegraph March 8th – ‘Archbishop of Canterbury opposed gay sex and adoption’:

The Archbishop of Canterbury voiced opposition to same-sex couples adopting children and insisted that the Bible is “clear” that gay couples should not have sex, previously unpublished writings show.

2. Bishop Nick Baines March 8th – ‘Growing up ‘

Now, I know anyone in public life is not allowed to have been a child or to have grown or changed. I realise that my own archive of parish magazine articles, etc. might be found to contain expressions that might embarrass me now. This is what happens to human beings as they grow up.

The bizarre thing is that anyone thinks this is anything other than story-creation. The Archbishop might or might not hold to views held or expressed in the past. I have no idea, and he can speak for himself. But, the notion that he should now be entirely consistent with what he said or thought or wrote twenty, ten or five years ago is utter nonsense. It simply suggests that he should never have grown up.

What matters is what he thinks now. The journey there might also be interesting. But, the fact that he might have said things or thought things in the past matters little”¦ except, of course, to those looking for contradictions

3. Tweet from Archbishop Welby on March 8th

Good blog (as ever) by Bishop of Bradford, unrequested by me.
http://wp.me/pnmhG-12d .

4. Iain Dale March 12th – ‘Archbishop Softens Line on Gay Marriage’

Iain Dale: You said once that you’re always averse to the language of exclusion and what we’re called to do is love in the same way as Jesus Christ loves us, how do you reconcile that with the church’s attitude on gay marriage?

Justin Welby: I think that the problem with the gay marriage proposals is that they don’t actually include people equally, it’s called equal marriage, but the proposals in the Bill don’t do that. I think that where there is”¦ I mean I know plenty of gay couples whose relationships are an example to plenty of other people and that’s something that’s very important, I’m not saying that gay relationships are in some way”¦ you know that the love that there is is less than the love there is between straight couples, that would be a completely absurd thing to say. And civil partnership is a pretty”¦ I understand why people want that to be strengthened and made more dignified, somehow more honourable in a good way. It’s not the same as marriage”¦

Iain Dale: But if it could be made to work in a way that’s acceptable to the church you would be open to discussions on that?

Justin Welby: We are always open to discussions, we’ve been open to discussion, we’re discussing at the moment. The historic teaching of the church around the world, and this is where I remember that I’ve got 80 million people round the world who are Anglicans, not just the one million in this country, has been that marriage in the traditional sense is between a man and woman for life. And it’s such a radical change to change that.

I think we need to find ways of affirming the value of the love that is in other relationships without taking away from the value of marriage as an institution.
[Audio by subscription here March 11th]

Confused?

There is every possible reason for optimism about the future of Christian faith in our world and in this country. Optimism does not come from us, but because to us and to all people Jesus comes and says “Take heart, it is I, do not be afraid”. We are called to step out of the comfort of our own traditions and places, and go into the waves, reaching for the hand of Christ. Let us provoke each other to heed the call of Christ, to be clear in our declaration of Christ, committed in prayer to Christ, and we will see a world transformed.

Read it all

Heaney was ordained a priest in the Church of Ireland in 2002, and has been active in Anglican parishes in Ireland, England, and Tanzania. He is married to Dr. Sharon Heaney and they have one son, Sam.

As director of the Center for Anglican Communion Studies, Heaney will ensure the Center’s continued support of theological education; the engagement of Anglican leaders and scholars in study, research and conversation; and interreligious dynamics across the Communion.

Read it all

This Broadcast is now over – there are some highlights here. In the UK only, the full service may be watched again using the BBC2 TV link here. If someone gets their act together and a recording which may be watched worldwide is made available, we will post it here.
Worldwide Live Streaming:

[1] Watch here on BBC News

[2] or according to ACNS, the BBC will be livestreaming the ceremony here [www.bbc.com] at 10:30 am Eastern Daylight Time 2.30 pm London Time [GMT] Time Converter.

BBC Radio 4 Longwave here [may be available worldwide]

In the UK BBC2 TV here [UK Only]

Order of Service here

Twitter: #ABC105

Let us know of other links you find below please.

Edward Stourton: the press release from Lambeth Palace says ”˜his [that is your] focus will be on supporting creative ways of renewing conversations in relationships around deeply held differences within the Church of England and the Anglican Communion’

Canon David Porter: Well I think we recognise that if the church is going to make any constructive contribution to the conflicts that are going on in our world then we need to look to ourselves and we need to be a people who are on a journey of Reconciliation who are modelling, not necessarily that we agree because it doesn’t necessarily mean that we are all going to agree, but that we hold our differences in a very Christian and constructive way

ES: Well, doesn’t this put a huge burden on your shoulders because the truth is that these tensions within the Anglican Communion and the Church of England have as you have just reflected in a way, have arisen because of very deeply held theological doctrinal disputes about questions like women bishops, like homosexuality, and it is difficult to see how one man by focussing on ”˜process’ can overcome those.

Porter: Well in one sense it isn’t my job to overcome those issues ”“ there are plenty of more intelligent more creative people who have lived and journeyed with these issues for quite a number of years. My job is actually to look at ”˜process’ ”“ it is to look at how we create the space for conversations to take place where people will still differ and they still will disagree but they will do so in a way that is able to say ”˜look this is how Christians disagree, this is how we hold tensions and differences together’

ES: Except that on some of these issues people will believe that the disagreements go to the very heart of what it means to be a Christian

Porter: that is true

ES: so how can, how can a better ”˜process’ overcome that?

Porter: well, in my background in Northern Ireland I used to say to people that if you are a fundamentalist protestant who believes that the catholic church are not Christian or if you are a strong catholic who believes there is no salvation outside the church and you’re in that conversation, the reality is that Jesus still tells you to love the people that you perceive as your enemies and that shows that you are holding what you hold on to in a Christian way and are able to disagree within that commitment of Jesus teling us how we disagree”
Listen to it all here on the Sunday Program starting at 26 mins in for 4 minutes and an unofficial transcript is below
____________________________________
Edward Stourton: The new Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby has made his first appointment. Canon David Porter from Coventry Cathedral will be the first Director of Reconciliation at Lambeth Palace. Good morning.

Canon David Porter: Good morning Ed

ES: and as I understand it your first target will be the home team ”“ your own church?

Porter: Well yes, the role is to help the Archbishop fulfil his commitment to making Reconciliation one of the key hallmarks of his service as Archbishop and he has invited Coventry Cathedral to take the lead in this. Of course he spent some time in Coventry Cathedral being on the Reconciliation team here so it is close to his heart and we are really privileged to be asked to do this.

ES: But so I am clear returning to my question, the press release from Lambeth Palace says ”˜his [that is your] focus will be on supporting creative ways of renewing conversations in relationships around deeply held differences within the Church of England and the Anglican Communion’

Porter: Well I think we recognise that if the church is going to make any constructive contribution to the conflicts that are going on in our world then we need to look to ourselves and we need to be a people who are on a journey of Reconciliation who are modelling, not necessarily that we agree because it doesn’t necessarily mean that we are all going to agree, but that we hold our differences in a very Christian and constructive way

ES: Well, doesn’t this put a huge burden on your shoulders because the truth is that these tensions within the Anglican Communion and the Church of England have as you have just reflected in a way, have arisen because of very deeply held theological doctrinal disputes about questions like women bishops, like homosexuality, and it is difficult to see how one man by focussing on ”˜process’ can overcome those.

Porter: Well in one sense it isn’t my job to overcome those issues ”“ there are plenty of more intelligent more creative people who have lived and journeyed with these issues for quite a number of years. My job is actually to look at ”˜process’ ”“ it is to look at how we create the space for conversations to take place where people will still differ and they still will disagree but they will do so in a way that is able to say ”˜look this is how Christians disagree, this is how we hold tensions and differences together’

ES: Except that on some of these issues people will believe that the disagreements go to the very heart of what it means to be a Christian

Porter: that is true

ES: so how can, how can a better ”˜process’ overcome that?

Porter: well, in my background in Northern Ireland I used to say to people that if you are a fundamentalist protestant who believes that the catholic church are not Christian or if you are a strong catholic who believes there is no salvation outside the church and you’re in that conversation, the reality is that Jesus still tells you to love the people that you perceive as your enemies and that shows that you are holding what you hold on to in a Christian way and are able to disagree within that commitment of Jesus teling us how we disagree

ES: Do you think that some senior members of the Anglican Communion have forgotten that basic fact in the way that they have conducted themselves in these debates?

Porter: I think all of us when we get caught up in conflicts that are deep to who we are and to the values that we hold on to ”“ we do forget that bigger voice from God that calls us to a different way of engaging with difference

Porter: and I am slightly pointing out something to you that you have already recognised but as you say unless you get this sorted out it is very difficult to see how the church can offer a model for reconciliation to other people isn’t it?

DP: There is truth in that, but equally the church is also – we are fallible human beings, and the fact is that wherever you find conflict, there are times that you get it right and there are times that you get it wrong, and I think what is needed actually is honesty on behalf of the church, not over pretending that we can always get it right but being honest where we are actually failing to live up to what Christ calls us to

“there is nothing in what Welby has written before being appointed to the chair of Canterbury, there is nothing that at least that I have read that Canon Porter has written that would indicate that for them that Reconciliation means anything more than learning to live with very difficult differences and maintain institutional unity despite that: Reconciliation means living with utter differences and finding ways to cooperate on various things that we can cooperate on.
……..
And to that, to that idea, how can any Christian who knows his or her Bible well, not say ”˜NO’? No, we can’t engage in common mission and walk across the rainbow bridge to share a common Gospel because we don’t share a common Gospel. The behaviours that men like Bishop [Shannon] Johnston are promoting, St Paul says will keep people out of the Kingdom of God, if they engage in them ”“ will keep people out of the Kingdom of God!
………
How can we join hands and go along in a common Christian mission if the things taught and promoted by one man, by the people we are holding hands with can and do lead people to the Pit? There is a different gospel at play here, a different understanding of Scripture, a different understanding of its authority, of its meaning ”“ a different jesus altogether. So the jesus that Bishop Johnston walks across the bridge to proclaim is not going to be the Jesus of the New Testament. It’s going to be a different jesus who cannot save. So we cannot engage in common mission, we cannot proclaim the same gospel, we can’t even ”“ we can’t do anything that will legitimise in the eyes of any onlooker, be it with a person within the church or a person outside of the church ”“ we can’t do anything to legitimise in any way a false teacher’s office or teaching.

And by holding hands, maintaining institutional unity, doing what we can to “reconcile” with those people, short of repentance, then what we are doing is we are saying ”˜this person is a Christian brother, this person is a leader and the issue over which we disagree is a small, inconsequential issue that is worth debating, and is worth disagreeing over, but is not worth dividing over, because we all share the same gospel. In other words, you reduce the issue of homosexual behaviour in the church to ”˜a diaphora’, a non-essential issue. And that, my friends, is a betrayal of the Gospel ”“ that’s a betrayal of the Gospel.
……..
if he means what he says, if reconciliation means what he has said reconciliation means, then it is not true reconciliation, it is surrender, it is compromise, it is collaboration, it is something that we cannot go along with.

Listen to it all with thanks to Stand Firm where there is more and an unofficial transcript is below:
____________________________________________

Fr. Matt Kennedy: Summing up the ++Justin Welby Debate

After the many debates on facebook and elsewhere regarding Justin Welby, his appointment of a Director of Reconciliation, and my friendly response to Kevin Kallsen and Fr. George Conger’s glowing review of his first few days, I thought I’d sum up my thoughts on Justin Welby:

I thought I would take a few minutes and talk about the Justin Welby situation. I know there has been a lot of discussion online, on my facebook page, on Stand Firm about his recent appointment of a Reconciliation Director, a Director of Reconciliation, I don’t know exactly how that title was said, but I do know that there is a lot of hope out there. A lot of people are hoping that Archbishop Welby will be our saviour, that he will deliver the Communion, that because he is an evangelical, he had a conversion experience at Nicky Gumbel’s church that he is therefore the one to look to to rescue the Communion. In fact I wrote an article this morning because I heard on Anglican TV a discussion of Welby, and my good friend Kevin, and my good friend George both gave him ”“ well George gave him an A for effort in his first few days, and Kevin gave him an A+ I think it was, based on the reasoning that, well, Archbishop Welby is an Evangelical, he had his conversion experience so when he appoints a Director of Reconciliation, then he must mean by that, that he is going to engage in a Reconciliation Process that is conducted in a manner that is consistent with the Evangelical understanding of reconciliation ”“ which would mean therefore that there is going to be a call for repentance, a call to Biblical faithfulness, and then on that basis we all agree to reconcile.

And if that is the case, oh and I hope it is [don’t get me wrong!], if that is the case, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, that’s wonderful. But ”“ there is nothing in what Welby has written before being appointed to the chair of Canterbury, there is nothing that at least that I have read that Canon Porter has written that would indicate that for them that Reconciliation means anything more than learning to live with very difficult differences and maintain institutional unity despite that: Reconciliation means living with utter differences and finding ways to cooperate on various things that we can cooperate on. So if you happen to read then Bishop Welby’s article that he wrote for the Centre Aisle, for the diocese of Virginia, he indicated very clearly in that article that one way to accomplish a form of reconciliation between people who promote same-sex blessings and want to ordain people who are living in same-sex relationships to the priesthood and to the episcopate ”“ one way reconciliation can be accomplished between those people and orthodox Christian leaders is by engaging together in common Christian mission because we can all walk together across the bridge to other peoples and give the Gospel.

And to that, to that idea, how can any Christian who knows his or her Bible well, not say ”˜NO’? No, we can’t engage in common mission and walk across the rainbow bridge to share a common Gospel because we don’t share a common Gospel. The behaviours that men like Bishop [Shannon] Johnston are promoting, St Paul says will keep people out of the Kingdom of God, if they engage in them ”“ will keep people out of the Kingdom of God!

How can we join hands and go along in a common Christian mission if the things taught and promoted by one man, by the people we are holding hands with can and do lead people to the Pit? There is a different gospel at play here, a different understanding of Scripture, a different understanding of its authority, of its meaning ”“ a different jesus altogether. So the jesus that Bishop Johnston walks across the bridge to proclaim is not going to be the Jesus of the New Testament. It’s going to be a different jesus who cannot save. So we cannot engage in common mission, we cannot proclaim the same gospel, we can’t even ”“ we can’t do anything that will legitimise in the eyes of any onlooker, be it with a person within the church or a person outside of the church ”“ we can’t do anything to legitimise in any way a false teacher’s office or teaching.

And by holding hands, maintaining institutional unity, doing what we can to “reconcile” with those people, short of repentance, then what we are doing is we are saying ”˜this person is a Christian brother, this person is a leader and the issue over which we disagree is a small, inconsequential issue that is worth debating, and is worth disagreeing over, but is not worth dividing over, because we all share the same gospel. In other words, you reduce the issue of homosexual behaviour in the church to ”˜a diaphora’, a non-essential issue. And that, my friends, is a betrayal of the Gospel ”“ that’s a betrayal of the Gospel.

So, if Bishop Welby means by reconciliation what he has written that he means by reconciliation, what he has said many times, not just in that article from the Centre Aisle, but you can read a sermon that he wrote, that we posted on Stand Firm, you can read his address before the Episcopal Church House of Bishops, if he means what he says, if reconciliation means what he has said reconciliation means, then it is not true reconciliation, it is surrender, it is compromise, it is collaboration, it is something that we cannot go along with.

So I just wanted to put this out there, today so that you can all hear it, and let me know what you think in the comments.

Here’s a link to the facebook discussion/debate that ultimately involved Kevin Kallsen and Peter Ould

And here’s a link to some of the documents I reference in the audio above:
Center Aisle article
Pentecost Sermon
Address to the TEC HOB
Article Quoting Canon Porter

“David Porter is an ”˜Evangelical’…and just as Justin Welby is an ”˜Evangelical’. When they talk about reconciliation it’s a multi-part process and the first part of that sort of reconciliation is not between man and man, but between man and God, and once you are reconciled with God, once you are basically looking at things through the prism of holiness and godliness, you then move on to reconciliation with the people around you.

… we need to come back to what is the first significant staff appointment the Archbishop of Canterbury has made, it’s this guy, David Porter, to work on the Godly reconciliation of warring factions within the Communion. That is the agenda that Justin Welby is setting down as his priority at Lambeth Palace. And to me ”“ if it works, that’s wonderful ”“ if it doesn’t work it may be very well because that’s God’s will for the church at this time. But in any event that’s the focus, not mosquito nets, not carbon fasts, not global warming, reconciliation under Christ ”“ that’s a wonderful thing.”

Watch it all – With thanks to Kevin and Fr George at Anglican TV here who talk about Archbishop Welby and Reconciliation from 10 mins 40 seconds in to 21 mins in – and there is an unofficial transcript of the section below
___________________________________-

ANGLICAN UNSCRIPTED EPISODE 65

Can Canterbury be relevant again:

Kevin: We’re going to talk about the new Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby. Last week was his first week in office and he arrived at Lambeth Palace probably in a chariot, I don’t know how the first week works ”“ they open up the doors and the staff welcomes him, it’s probably right out of Downton Abbey. And he comes in and they show him around ”“ he probably knows what it looks like but they show him around anyway, it’s his first day and he gets to sit at his desk for the first time and they show him his nice leather chair and the little lamp on the desk he can turn on and off and he hears off in the background a squeak, squeak, squeak, as a dolly comes in bringing an appointment book. We call it a calendar, they call it over there a diary and they put it on his desk and they open up the book and dust comes off and they open up to the first page and there’s thirty-five items for his first day in office. George ”“ what does our new Archbishop say?

George: ”˜No ”“ I’m not going to be house-broken’. This could have been straight out of the TV show, ”˜Yes Minister’ where Jim Hacker comes in and brand new cabinet minister – and Sir Humphrey the head of the civil service in that department gives him his appointments diary, and for the next six months Jim Hacker is kept busy doing busy work, so that he is out of the hair, out of the power and authority that should be exercised by the staff. Well that’s what Lambeth Palace, the Church House tried to do to Justin Welby. They tried to neuter him, tried to house-train him so that he would be kept busy while they did the important stuff. Justin Welby would be allowed to choose what color wallpaper he had in his office, but he really wouldn’t be allowed to decide what the priorities of his job would be – and Justin Welby said no.

Kevin: And that’s the interesting reality here is a busy minion staff can keep their boss busy enough so nothing changes. And basically nothing has changed since Carey and Rowan Williams because the staff has kept the boss so busy. There’s been no classical change in Anglicanism since Lambeth 1:10 because the minions at Church House says ”˜we don’t need any more of those decision-making things from our Primates or from Lambeth. We just need to keep things going at an even flow, no conflict like there’s nothing happening here ”“ walk away ”“ those flames are nothing.’ Justin Welby has from his first day stopped that.

He’s also done something brand new. Yesterday he appointed a new Reconciliation Minister called Canon David Porter, who is from Ireland. Now a quick backdrop of Ireland ”“ Northern Ireland used to live in great conflict in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s and there was basically a war in north Ireland between the IRA and the Ulster Union, and some would say it’s been between the Roman Catholics and the Protestants. Whatever it was between, it was a mess of people who were so involved in hating each other they forgot why they hated each other. And it ended up in shootings, bombings, assassinations, grenades thrown into school yards, grenades thrown at funerals. Here, watching in America you just couldn’t understand what was really going on, to the point where the people in Ireland really didn’t know what was going on.

People like David Porter, and who was that famous Anglican that was over there?

George Conger: Robert Eames

Kevin: helped these people draw to a peace. Now the peace wasn’t between Christians ”“ the peace was a man-level peace: I will not annihilate you if you don’t annihilate me ”“ that is how man agrees at peace. We’ve done that with Russia and China and other places ”“ the natural ”˜we won’t self-destruct assurance. That isn’t God level reconciliation. We’ve brought this man, David Porter in to Lambeth Palace to help deal with what we call the war of the Anglicans. The Anglican Communion is currently shattered and scattered because of heresy within the church. David Porter is going to be brought in to be a Minister of Reconciliation. Can he do that job George?

George: Well in many ways the situation is just as bad verbally as it was in Northern Ireland. Last month Katherine Jefferts Schori went to Charleston and called Mark Lawrence and the conservatives in that diocese terrorists and murderers, authoritarian thugs who had taken over the church unlawfully. And you and I get emails and see comments all the time by conservatives calling Katherine Jefferts Schori a witch and a heretic. That level of vitriol seems next to impossible to reconcile and the way that the Anglican Communion has been trying to do it through the Indaba process, through a psychological approach with small groups and what not, it’s basically a waste of time; that’s what it’s shown to be ”“ the Panel of Reference, the Indaba, all these different groups have produced absolutely nothing.

Now what is different about this time around? Well, I am excited, I am encouraged because, it’s a dirty word Kevin for some people, but I am about to say it, so you may need to bleep this out, but David Porter is an ”˜Evangelical’

Kevin: Oh, my ears, George

George: and just as Justin Welby is an ”˜Evangelical’. When they talk about reconciliation it’s a multi-part process and the first part of that sort of reconciliation is not between man and man, but between man and God, and once you are reconciled with God, once you are basically looking at things through the prism of holiness and godliness, you then move on to reconciliation with the people around you. And that is what has been able to effect change in Northern Ireland. So in that way Martin McGuiness and Jerry Adams is part of the same government as Ian Paisley, and it’s working and they are happy, those are IRA leaders and the Ulster Unionist leaders. Is it possible that Katharine Jefferts Schori and Bob Duncan could be brought to the same table and work in peace and harmony like the IRA and the Democratic Ulster Unionist Party. If it worked in Northern Ireland it could very well work in South Carolina ”“ I don’t know.

Kevin Kallsen: It’s different. This isn’t Indaba ”“ this is taking a direct charge of a situation and putting a man in charge of ”“ this isn’t the Panel of Reference, this isn’t all the things that were tried before, this is something new. Now the destination may be the same, we may still have a fractured Communion at the end because they cannot reconcile, and this may reveal that there is no reconciliation possible, but we have a person who can help in identifying whether or not there is a possibility of reconciliation. If, you know, ten years from now the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church in Canada are no longer part of the Communion well this is something to help get us there

George: and Kevin when – we need to come back to what is the first significant staff appointment the Archbishop of Canterbury has made, it’s this guy, David Porter, to work on the Godly reconciliation of warring factions within the Communion. That is the agenda that Justin Welby is setting down as his priority at Lambeth Palace. And to me ”“ if it works, that’s wonderful ”“ if it doesn’t work it may be very well because that’s God’s will for the church at this time. But in any event that’s the focus, not mosquito nets, not carbon fasts, not global warming, reconciliation under Christ ”“ that’s a wonderful thing.

Kevin: Another thing an Archbishop usually does in first week in office is sit down with the BBC or ITV or somebody for his interview ”“ but they don’t sit down with Christian press, we don’t see that from archbishops of Canterbury very often

George: Not with the last one, the one before we did, Rowan Williams never

Kevin: And for whatever reason I didn’t get to interview him. You got to interview him once, right?

George: 2005 ”“ and never again after that

Kevin: ”˜they ask hard questions ”“ we are not going to have that’
Well this British interviewer for ITV sat down with Justin Welby. He thought he had the perfect candidate: a European liberal, business background, hates banks and financial institutions, obviously this was going to be a great conversation that will play forever in interviewdom and he sits down and says Justin Welby ”“ I am being ”“ this isn’t quite verbatim but ”“ sits down and says Archbishop Welby, you’re the new Archbishop of Canterbury and there has been conflict in the Communion over same-sex marriages and gay bishops and women clergy. Can you as the Archbishop of Canterbury in England, in Britain, help save us from those evil Anglicans around the world and let them know that, you know, that this is OK stuff? George, what does Justin say?

George: ”˜No, no, first off it’s not OK ”“ the Church of England, I Justin Welby do not agree with the government’s position on gay marriage and the changes it is making. ”˜And secondly’ you have to remember, Justin Welby said, ”˜that I am Primate of All England and Archbishop of Canterbury as Archbishop and Primus Inter Pares, first among equals, and I will not subordinate the Anglican Communion to British Politics. I’m not going to force everybody to be English’ ”“ which was what the Welshman, Rowan Williams wanted to do. This is a tremendous change. He is reasserting the independence of the Church, he is reasserting the authority of the Archbishop’s office as an archbishop for the Communion as opposed to a local chairman of the board.

Kevin: so for the first week in office, I’m going to give you know, Archbishop Justin Welby a Ten, you know, he did very well for the first week. I look forward to nothing but good things in the second week. The reality is we don’t know what it is going to look like when he finally resigns a decade down the line, whether he has had a real effect on the Anglican Communion or not. However based on what I’ve observed from the first week, I can’t complain. George, how about you?

George: A for effort

Kevin: A for effort

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:
“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied: “Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”
So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night

By Canon Chris Sugden
Welby himself reflected on lessons from treasury management for conflict resolution: synthesise a lot of information quickly and under pressure; flexibility in attitude, analytical models, planning and execution; and steely determination towards key goals.

His reconciliation ministry developed six “Rs” for work in conflict situations: Researching ”“ carefully listening to all sides and also identifying ”˜spoilers’ with a vested interest in continuation of the conflict and planning to deal with them; Relating ”“ to people not to an office and not because they are good but because they are there; Relieving ”“ alleviating the socio-economic roots of conflict; Risking ”“ and trusting the sovereignty of God; Reconciling ”“ to enable warring communities to continue to disagree without violence or mutual destruction, a process that cannot be contained simply within the Church; and Resourcing ”“ enabling communities to address their own conflicts without outside assistance. Christ’s shed blood was ”˜the fountain of reconciliation with God , from which all other reconciliation flows’.

From his study of Thiselton’s commentary on 1 Corinthians Welby noticed that although the Corinthians were in error on several major theological issues, the Apostle Paul continued to treat them “as fellow members of the family of God”.

In moving to Liverpool as Dean and then Durham as bishop he focused on risk-taking in decisive leadership interwoven with collegiality and consensus.

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Archbishop Welby agrees there are many strengths of the Anglican parish system, but ‘we fish badly’: ‘The church is good at contact and presence but too often poor at bringing people to faith in Jesus. … We are excellent at building bridges into the community and into society and rather less good at getting the gospel across the bridge, and bringing people back. Or to put it another way our net holds many but we land few.’ His evangelistic passion is best encapsulated by a recent address to an Alpha Vision Day in Sheffield, attended by over 700 church leaders from across the north of Britain: ‘We are facing in this country the greatest opportunity that God has given us since the Second World War. … It is a moment of unique opportunity and the challenge that the Spirit is saying to the Church today is, “Will you take this moment and reverse the decline that we have seen for the last 70 or 80 years?”‘ With buoyant confidence in the grace and power of God, the new Archbishop believes that great things are possible in our generation. The task of the church, he insists, is ‘to go out and … to reconvert our land, to transform its society and all that goes with it.’

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The Cathedral can hold only 2,000 people for the Service and there have been many discussions about whom to invite. Bishops and Archbishops from the world wide Anglican Communion will attend as will the leaders of many churches in Britain and representatives of Jewish, Moslem, Hindu, Sikhs, Jain and Buddhist faiths, along with a senior member of the Royal Family, the Prime Minister and leading politicians. In addition, ballots have been held, so that members of the regular congregation, volunteers, and staff have a chance to attend the big day.

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According to leaked documents seen by The Mail on Sunday, at least three senior African archbishops have privately urged conservative colleagues to shun the gathering.

In the documents, the Primate of Kenya, Archbishop Eliud Wabukala, said he recommended that ”˜we show our commitment to the Anglican Communion by being present for the service at Canterbury Cathedral”‰.”‰.”‰. but do not participate in the “collegial time” being proposed by Archbishop Welby’.

He said the new Archbishop of Canterbury had ”˜given us no clear indication of the matters for discussion’ and that primates ”˜who have led the way in promoting false teaching’ will be welcomed by Dr Welby.

Read it all remembering the source.

I am thinking there may be much confusion between what we mean when we say forgiveness and reconciliation. In order for any of us to be reconciled to God and to one another there must be repentance.

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me.”

Our reconciliation to God is through the cross of Christ and what we bring is our repentance. No repentance, no reconciliation.

Forgiveness is another matter. We begin with the forgiveness God has for us, again through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. We are forgiven not on our own merit, but in the merits of the Son of God who gave His life that we might have life. He has paid the debt we could not pay….

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Read it all and there is also a Prayer for the New Pope

Lambeth Palace has a new incumbent, who will be formally enthroned on March 21st as head of the Church of England, and hence of the global Anglican Communion. Anglicanism has replaced a scholar and theologian with a more practical, hands-on type, as the Roman Catholic church would be well advised to do. But on the face of things, Justin Welby’s first foray into politics seemed to mark him out as yet another cleric of the centre-left…

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Dear Archbishop Justin,

It is an immense privilege to write to you about the future of our Church. As an evangelist and a pastor, you will know that we need to connect with the deepest longings of our people for significance and meaning in the course of a hard life, for love that proves elusive and for justice, often denied.

The good news of Jesus Christ has to be shown to meet their deepest needs….

Read it all and you can listen to the sequence on the Sunday Program here starting 10 minutes 40 seconds in for about 3 minutes

All are welcome to join Archbishop Justin on this Journey in Prayer in the days before his enthronement in Canterbury Cathedral.

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Bill Marsh interviews the Revd Tory Baucum and Bishop Shannon Johnston at the Coventry Cathedral ‘Faith in Conflict’ Conference
Listen to the Audio here and there is a transcript here and a pdf here

“His initial focus will be on supporting creative ways for renewing conversations and relationships around deeply held differences within the Church of England and the Anglican Communion.”

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