The context of serial re-evangelization will take account of the peculiar circumstances of the present day and in Ireland we minister in circumstances uniquely our own:

* circumstances of political and social division: therefore we must be apostles of peace and justice;

* circumstances of denominational and religious diversity: therefore we must be apostles of respectful restraint and gracious dialogue;

* circumstances of recession, fear, rising unemployment and renewed poverty: therefore we must be apostles of generous care and a socially responsible morality.

* We minister among highly educated and sophisticated people: therefore we must be the apostles of learned simplicity but never of the simplistic.

* We minister in an environment, partly of our own making, in which religion is seen as discredited and irrelevant, faith is dismissed, worship is ignored and religious culture is no longer thrilling: therefore we must be apostles of joy and fulfillment, not by turning worship into entertainment but with the recognition that by worshipping and serving with integrity we may be serving angels, for God writes off no one.

These are our circumstances. The challenge to us is not to lament our circumstances but to transform them. Evangelization is the work of transformation. The role of the Church, in good times and in bad, is to stand alongside those who are finding it hardest to cope, whatever their circumstances; to exhibit in practical and personal ways the loving concern of God for all people but especially for the vulnerable; and to be a beacon of hope to the living, for nothing is more spiritually, socially and physically restorative than love and hope. We have to shape our life and institutions at all levels to reflect these priorities. We need to be less concerned about defending the institution and more concerned about enhancing the lives of people.

In the parishes, evangelization and thus transformation is rooted in, but not confined to pastoral care: clergy having time and spending time with their people and others who come to them for help; clergy enabling liturgical worship to be attractive and accessible; clergy standing beside the people of their communities in life’s difficulties. But let us not fall into the trap of assuming that all pastoral, ministerial and missional endeavour is reserved to the clergy. It is the whole People of God, the Body of Christ, present in every parish, which is called through baptism to share in the mission of God.

Read the whole thing.

The Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina is seeking to establish a missional partnership with the Church of Ireland Diocese of Kilmore Elphin and Ardagh.

Who: Our team consists of 14 teens and 3 adults that represent 8 churches as well as Porter Gaud (Episcopal) School.

What: As ambassadors, we will seek to build relationships with and serve alongside local teens to reach out to others in their communities. Our team will begin by joining the youth of their diocese in attending a large youth event, then travel to two communities where we will engage with young people. Our aim will be to share our faith with others and encourage the youth of the Church of Ireland while getting to know one another’s cultures. Then in the summer of 2011, we will host a group from their diocese here in South Carolina to continue developing the partnership.

Check it out.

We are encouraged by and welcome the Communique from the Fourth Anglican Global South to South Encounter in Singapore, with its positive emphasis on mission. We particularly endorse….

2. Their agreement that the future of the Communion lies in winning the next generation for Christ and therefore their call to each region to adopt initiatives to better understand the needs and characteristics of this new generation so that we might better communicate the Gospel and Christian values to them. [12]

3. Their statement of ”˜the absolute necessity and priority for the Church to disciple her members under the authority of the inspired Scriptures so that they may transform their societies and reach the nations with the Gospel’. [13]

4. Their recognition that TEC and ACC’s ”˜continued refusal to honor the many requests made of them by the various meetings of the Primates throughout the Windsor Process have brought discredit to our witness’; the urging of the Archbishop of Canterbury to implement the recommended actions’; and their encouragement to Provinces ”˜to reconsider their communion relationships with The Episcopal Church USA and the Anglican Church of Canada until it becomes clear that there is genuine repentance’. [18 and 19]

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The Windsor Report of 2004 recommended “that the Episcopal Church (USA) be invited to effect a moratorium on the election and consent to the consecration of any candidate to the episcopate who is living in a same gender union until some new consensus in the Anglican Communion emerges” [Section D subsection 134, bullet point no 3].

That request was reiterated at the Primates’ Meeting in Dar es Salaam and followed at the Primates’ Meeting in Alexandria with a request for ”˜gracious restraint’. The decision of The Episcopal Church in respect of the confirmation of an election and subsequent consecration of a partnered gay person to the episcopate has clearly signalled the end of ”˜gracious restraint’. This is a development which I deeply regret. Whatever may be ”˜the mind of a majority of the elected leaders in The Episcopal Church’, it does not reflect the mind of a majority of those in positions of leadership in the Anglican Communion and it is bound to create even greater stresses within the Communion at a time when consultations on an Anglican Covenant are at an advanced stage.

The action of The Episcopal Church also has implications for another serious issue that has strained the bonds of affection within the Communion, namely extraterritorial interventions by other provinces in the life of The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada. A moratorium on such interventions and also on the authorization of public rites of blessing for same-sex unions was requested by the Primates at Dar es Salaam. In neither of these cases has “gracious restraint” been wholly exercised.

Read it all.

The story of Easter is told this year in a context where many of our key ‘institutions’ are under serious scrutiny -and it is right that it should be so. Institutions are necessary for the ordering of society, but they can take on a life of their own and become self-serving. That applies, of course, not only to the institutions of politics and society, but also -and equally- to the institutions of the church, which can be just as fallen, just as sinful, and even more profoundly disappointing, because they claim to exist for the sake of Jesus Christ.

Holy Week is a time when the institutions of Jesus’ day are exposed for what they really were. Judas, the financier of the disciples, had become selfishly attached to money, and was prepared to sell his soul for a few pieces of silver. Pilate was a political leader without the courage of his convictions, prepared to wash his hands of decisions which would not gain the popularity of the masses. And the religious leadership of the day was not prepared to brook any opposition to their status and control – even if that meant destroying the Son of God.

In the midst of it all, Jesus stands out, both in one sense as the victim of the institution, and as the perfect example of One who knew what was truly important for the human spirit – a deep and loving relationship with the Heavenly Father, which is beyond and above any religious structures, and can never be contained in human systems.

Institutions do actually matter in society: we would be in chaos without them. But this week is a serious reminder of their weakness and Easter Day is a confirmation of something even more important to grasp: that the power and life of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is set and seen even more clearly when we find ourselves in the context where human institutions let us down. Institutions grow up, and institutions have their day, but the power and reality of the living Christ endure for ever.

May you have a truly blessed Easter in the presence of the Lord of Life.

–The Rt. Rev. Harold Miller

PH: What is the role of Central Chaplain to the Mothers’ Union and how did it come about?

BC: My role is to work with the Mothers’ Union (MU) senior staff/leadership team as a link to the wider Anglican Communion, reflecting the Church’s thinking to the charity on relevant issues, such as marriage and family life, and to represent the MU to the wider church. I will be present as Chaplain at its major meetings and provide pastoral care through giving support and advice.

This is a three-year honorary appointment which came about by invitation from the Archbishop of Canterbury – it was a total surprise when I was asked to take it on in January but it is of course a privilege. I formally took up the office last Friday (12 February 2010) at the gathering of the Worldwide Council in Swanwick, Derbyshire, during a morning Eucharist Service when I was commissioned by the current Worldwide President of MU, Mrs Rosemary Kempsell (Church of Ireland members will recall that Lady Christine Eames formerly held this role). I understand that I am the first Irish Central Chaplain.

The role may involve occasional trips overseas in connection with the huge range of projects undertaken by MU across the globe; however, it will primarily involve attending meetings in England where I will lead worship and give support in any way I can. However, I suspect, as so often happens, there will be a few surprises along the way. In a new venture I always remember the wise advice I was once given, ”˜Expect everything to be different to what you expect!’

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Married Anglican clergy would pose two problems.

At the moment when a Catholic priest retires, the church only has responsibility towards him.

But what if the priest was married, has a wife and family?

Where would they go if they had to vacate their parochial home? What would they live on? What would happen to clerical widows or, even more distressingly, orphaned children?

Secondly, how could the Catholic Church maintain its stance on clerical celibacy?

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At its last meeting, the Standing Committee of the Church of Ireland General Synod approved the following response to ACC-14’s request for reconsideration of the text of Section 4: “Having considered Section 4 of the Draft Anglican Covenant very carefully, and bearing in mind a full range of points of view, we believe that the text of Section 4 as it stands commends itself in the current circumstances. The term ”˜Joint Standing Committee’ clearly needs to be updated following its restyling at ACC-14. We appreciate the work of the former Covenant Design Group, not least in taking into account the Church of Ireland’s views, and encourage the Archbishop of Canterbury and his new group under the chairmanship of the Archbishop of Dublin as they seek to conclude the work on the text of the Covenant.”

Read it all (go to the bottom of the page).

From here:

The Archbishop of Canterbury, in his office, is accorded a place of honour among the bishops of the Anglican Communion as ”˜primus inter pares’. Much is expected of Archbishops of Canterbury in giving leadership in the Communion, especially in times of controversy. The personal reflections, therefore, of Archbishop Rowan Williams about the future direction and internal structures of the Anglican Communion are always to be welcomed, especially as he was among the many guests drawn from around the Anglican Communion who attended the recent General Convention of The Episcopal Church.

Archbishop Rowan’s reflections need to be seen in the context of the current discussions intended to lead to an ”˜Anglican Covenant’, the ”˜design group’ for which is currently headed by the Archbishop of Dublin. It remains to be seen whether, or to what extent, what the Archbishop of Canterbury describes as a ”˜two track’ model will recommend itself to the autonomous provinces of the Communion. These matters all call for the most careful and unhurried scrutiny at representative provincial level and it is to be hoped that they receive the consideration they rightly deserve.

However, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s proposed “two-tier” or “two-track” Anglican Communion is problematic in all sorts of ways, as he acknowledges himself, and we would urge him and others to think very carefully about the risks entailed.

* To be Anglican has always meant being Catholic. As Anglicans, we have always valued and defended our place within the “One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.” How could a secondary tier or track, which is walking away from the Church Catholic on matters of faith and practice as the Archbishop highlights, be considered authentically Anglican?

* To be Anglican has always meant being Scriptural. As Anglicans, we have always valued and defended the inspiration and authority of the Holy Scriptures. How could a secondary tier or track, which rejects the clear authority of Scripture on matters of faith and practice, be considered authentically Anglican?

* To be Anglican has always meant being Evangelical. As Anglicans, we have always valued and defended “the faith once delivered to the saints”. How could a secondary tier or track, which replaces the eternal gospel with secular culture, be considered authentically Anglican?

In this whole debate, there has always been a clear choice to be made. Do we remain faithful to the teaching of the Holy Scripture as received by the Church Catholic and so remain authentically Anglican? Or do we reject the teaching of the Holy Scripture and lose our right to be called Anglican, and more importantly Christian (1 Corinthians 6: 9-11)?

Sadly, The Episcopal Church in the United States has made its decision to break the moratoria, by continuing to bless same-sex unions and continuing to ordain practicing homosexuals, thus causing much pain and hurt for faithful Anglicans throughout North America and the rest of the world.

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Greetings to the Anglican Church in North America
from
the Church of Ireland Evangelical Fellowship

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ

The Church of Ireland Evangelical Fellowship includes in its membership lay people, clergy and bishops in the Church of Ireland. Our committee, meeting on 28th May 2009, unanimously resolved that we should write to encourage you in the formation of the Anglican Church in North America.

We have followed with sadness the unfolding developments in The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada. We know that many of you have suffered great loss (personal, parochial and diocesan) for upholding the orthodox faith in the face of radical innovation, and we want you to know that you have our full support.

We are glad to affirm you fully as fellow-Anglicans and we hope and pray that your new Province will be officially recognised by the Anglican Communion before long. We would like to share with you some words of the hymn known as St Patrick’s Breastplate*:

I bind unto myself the Name,
The strong Name of the Trinity;
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One, and One in Three.
Of whom all nature hath creation;
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my salvation,
Salvation is of Christ the Lord.

We assure you of our love and prayers in these times of testing.

Yours sincerely in Christ

Dermot O’Callaghan
(Chair of the Church of Ireland Evangelical Fellowship)

Divided Christendom has yet to be that vision of reconciliation through which human kind can believe. Nevertheless ecumenism has come a long way. When we are downcast it is worth looking backwards to see how far we have come. That progress slow as it is may not yet have produced full reconciliation – it has encouraged us to stand where others stand and in so doing to begin the process of understanding God’s purpose for this world.

In my work within the Anglican Communion I have been left with little doubt as to the centrality of the need for reconciliation not just between fractured Christendom but between members of the same world family of believers. What is known as ”˜The Windsor Report’ – as I have said a recognition that we did much of our work within these walls of St Georges’ – sought to produce a road map for greater understanding of the divisions within Anglicanism. Much of that division centred on and stemmed from questions of sexuality, but my experience at that time and since has left me with little doubt that behind the headlines of the main agenda there were significant questions to be asked to do with authority, power and influence. Certainly there were sharp divisions over the question of a practising gay bishop, division that represented contrasting interpretation of Scripture and the understanding of Tradition ”“ but whatever lies ahead for Anglicanism I am convinced that reconciliation must take account of what I have termed those other agendas. What this illustrates for me is that the process of reconciliation often involves the less obvious issues.

I am reminded of the words of the late Lord Hailsham during his lecture on Morality and the Law here in 1984: ”˜One of the great evils of the present day is the tendency to sound off about specifics without an examination of first principles.’

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(ACNS) From the Most Revd Alan Harper, OBE, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland:

I very much look forward to full confirmation of the complete decommissioning of all armaments held by loyalist paramilitaries. It will represent a further and extremely welcome step towards confidence building and the normalisation of society in Northern Ireland. I recognise that on the part of the leadership of the paramilitary groups full decommissioning has been a challenging outcome to deliver; therefore, I commend those within loyalism who have argued consistently for decommissioning over a considerable period. Now full energy and commitment can be devoted to community development and the enhancement of the lives of people in loyalist areas free from the dark shadow of the gun.

By the grace of God we are now one step closer to the replacement of swords with ploughshares and spears with pruning hooks in our society. God willing, we shall soon know the day when weapons are never again lifted by one group against another and come to know what it means to learn war no more.

THE leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland has pledged his full support for work with Irish Anglicans in combating the joint challenges of sectarianism, racism and secularism.

Cardinal Sean Brady made this solemn commitment yesterday when he spoke officially in the Church of Ireland cathedral of St Patrick in Armagh at a Eucharist ceremony closing its annual General Synod.

The Cardinal made his pioneering inter-church pledge in response to an earlier address by the Anglican Bishop of Limerick, Trevor Williams, who informed him of a three-year ‘Hard Gospel’ project by the Church of Ireland to tackle a range of problems that have divided Catholics and Protestants in the North.

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Archbishop Jensen, who said he had recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of his conversion at a Billy Graham crusade, told his audience that this was a “solemn time” for Anglicans, as the Anglican Communion was facing a crisis over the authority of Scripture. Dr Jensen said that the Anglican Communion was “a very significant body of Christians” in today’s world and that anything that divided it was bad. The Communion enabled a sharing of resources, the delivery of aid and important networking across the globe.

However, he said that the 2003 consecration of Bishop Gene Robinson, a practising gay man, had deeply torn the Communion. Bishop Robinson’s consecration, he added, had been the culmination of years of liberal teaching and had taken place despite the guidance of the 1998 Lambeth Conference, the view of which had been “set aside” by the US Episcopal Church.

Since 2003, there had been attempts to “put the Communion together again”, but a fundamental issue concerned the “locus of authority”. By contrast, however, he said that the policy of liberals in the Communion was to delay decisions because they thought people would eventually agree with them.

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Many people are facing this Easter with a great sense of fear and trepidation for the future. The recent dissident murders have created a degree of nervousness about the safety of members of the PSNI. And, with all the recent layoffs in manufacturing, there is also the devastation of unemployment for people in jobs which had seemed secure.

For all of us who experience traumatic circumstances in our lives, it can feel like the long Good Friday ”“ that nothing will ever be right again, that we will never laugh heartily again and that there is no possible future we can imagine.

The Easter story is a reminder that that is not so. There is always hope when God is involved and always new life to be experienced in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The message of Easter morning is this: Christ is risen! Life is worth living! God has the future in his hands both in this life and in eternity.

–The Rt. Rev. Harold Miller

Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops in Northern Ireland have united to condemn the recent paramilitary-style shootings in Londonderry.

In a joint statement the Most Rev Seamus Hegarty, Catholic Bishop of Derry, and the Rt Rev Ken Good, Church of Ireland Bishop of Derry and Raphoe, said: “The recent shootings in our city must be outrightly condemned as immoral and indefensible.

“The Christian Church teaches that life is sacred. An attack on the person is a rejection of the teachings of Christ. It is also an offence against the dignity of a person created by God….

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From the Most Revd Alan Harper, OBE, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland:

The lethal attack on Massereene Barracks leaving two people dead and four injured is deeply distressing and deplorable. I send my heartfelt sympathy to those who have been bereaved or injured.

It has been clear for some time that there are forces of evil intent on destabilising our community and returning to days of confrontation such as we knew in the past but have been steadily working to move beyond. Across our community, efforts must be redoubled to create a respectful and inclusive society that ensures that there is no place in our midst for agents of terror. We remember those affected by this incident as we continue to pray for a sustained peace.

The Anglican Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, the Most Revd Alan Harper, OBE has welcomed yesterday’s breakthrough in talks to secure the resumption of the Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont.

He said: “I warmly welcome the decision on the part of the main partners in the Northern Ireland government executive to resume meetings of the executive and to take forward proposals for the devolution of policing and justice powers. I also very much welcome the decision that the executive will meet much more frequently and purposefully in order to deal with the backlog of business that has accumulated over the past five months.

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Listen to it all-featured is Saint George’s, Belfast.

The publication of the communiqué from the recent London meeting of the GAFCON Primates’ Council (report, page 1) marks a further development of what is termed a “movement” within Anglicanism. The development is particularly significant because of the impetus given to the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (FCA) and because of the formation of a secretariat. One thus sees three strands to this formalised, traditional Anglican movement: first, a Primates’ Council; second, a wider body (the FCA) which is open to membership of individuals, Churches, dioceses, provinces and parachurch organisations; and third, a secretariat. A further and most significant aspect of the GAFCON Primates’ communiqué is the reference to the possible formation of a province in North America for the Common Cause Partnership. This would very probably have serious funding implications for The Episcopal Church, USA and possibly also for the Anglican Communion itself and its Communion-wide organisations.

All of this witnesses to a structured Anglican realignment, although the GAFCON constituency remains in communion with the See of Canterbury. However, what is happening all round is certainly not bringing everyone together and, as we know, there are those bishops now who simply will not receive Holy Communion with fellow bishops. Nor does the proposal to have an Anglican Covenant fare well in the GAFCON Primates’ communiqué.

The fact of the matter, however, is that the traditionalist point of view in relation to same-sex relationships – and that, after all, is the real presenting issue leading to all of this confusion – is eminently reasonable and, indeed, eminently traditional and scriptural, but it is unfortunate that the GAFCON Primates use somewhat emotive language in their communiqué (e.g. “sinful practices”), however justifiable they may consider such terminology to be. Yet the 1998 Lambeth I.10 resolution did call for sensitivity, and effectively calling good people sinners is not a sensitive approach. That, however, is not the core issue. The core issue for Anglicans is that the consecration of bishops and the ordination of clergy in active same-sex relationships and public rites of blessing of same-sex relationships are all simply so lacking in consensus within Anglicanism that we have come to this very sorry pass, which has witnessed a Lambeth Conference boycotted by one-fifth to one quarter of those bishops invited. Unity-in-diversity just cannot cope in this case.

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I hold doggedly and dearly to the primacy of Scripture. It forms the bedrock of both my faith and my action. It constantly and properly confronts me with inadequacies and failures along with inspirations and opportunities. At the same time, I see no way in which contemporary people can continue to fly in the face of what, for example, a scientific discipline such as Genetics may yet reveal about why any of us is as we are. But through-out my main point is that the dynamic, pro-active theological method of Scripture, Tradition and Reason contains within it an elasticity of approach and a faithfulness of intention to new situa-tions, problems and difficulties: with Scriptural authenticity; within the total Tradition; informed by Reason both in terms of Hooker’s understanding of the natural law as revealing something vital
of God and in terms of rigorous criticism, scholarly acumen and scientific credibility. For none of these I make an apology in an Anglican world. The Church of Ire-land is not a confessional church and the
Anglican Communion is not a confessional Communion. Anglicanism is built on a foundation of the saving work of God in Christ but also on the utter provisionality of existing ecclesial institutions and earthly articulations of belonging. This is to do nothing more radical than to say that Anglicanism, in its self-definition, takes eschatology very seri-ously. I see a great deal of sense in the final sentence of the Editorial of The Church Times of June 20th 2008 following events in St Bartholomew’s Church, Lon-don: ”˜The challenge for the Lambeth Con-ference, and for GAFCON before it, is to demonstrate how Christians can disagree profoundly and yet recognize the work-ing of the Holy Spirit in those with whom they disagree.’ This, my friends, is where The Tower of Babel meets The Day of Pentecost and is redeemed in the encounter.

Read it all.

One of my many disappointments with certain radio websites is that their material is only available for a short time after it is originally broadcast. Thus, the BBC Northern Ireland Sunday Sequence segments from last Sunday, August 10th, are now no longer available. However, for those of you who can do podcasts you can get the August 10th show via podcast and it really is worth the time. It is quite a long show (almost one hour and 27 minutes total) and includes many sections and interviews, including, for example, a section on blogging and Lambeth which includes comments from Simon Sarmiento. There is also an interview with Bishop Clive Hanford, Chair of the Windsor Continuation Group, and Archbishop Ian Earnest, Primate of the Indian Ocean, and an interview with Irish Archbishop Alan Harper. The final segment is a panel discussion with Lisa Nolland, David Virtue, Bishop Chilton Knudsen, and activist Peter Tatchell.

The link for the podcast (and remember the date of the one you are after is August 10th, the show entitled “Live from Lambeth”) is here.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, in responding to a Times report last week on correspondence in which he engaged some eight years ago on the issue of homosexuality, affirmed his acceptance of Resolution 1.10 of the 1998 Lambeth Conference “as stating the position of the worldwide Anglican Communion on issues of sexual ethics”. Dr Williams continued: “As Archbishop, I understand my responsibility to be to the declared teaching of the Church I serve, and thus to discourage any developments that might imply that the position and convictions of the worldwide Communion have changed.”

This statement raises questions about the role of the Lambeth Conference itself and, indeed, the ecclesial nature of the Anglican Communion.

The Lambeth Conference is, precisely, a conference. It is not a synod. To that extent, its resolutions do, indeed, carry great moral weight, but the Lambeth Conference’s decisions are neither definitive nor binding in the Churches of the Anglican Communion.

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And, entering the debate over Archbishop Alan Harper’s comment that if science can prove homosexuality to be “natural” then the Church may need to reconsider its approach to the issue, Bishop [Harold] Miller explained why he disagreed.

“If you say that because you are born with a certain inclination then it is God-given and you should be free to follow that through in your life, it doesn’t make any logical sense whatever,” he said.

“You would then have to say that there are many different inclinations with which people are born ”” even if it is true that this is an inherent thing ”” and which people spend their lifetime trying to subdue.
“The fact that you are born with it doesn’t make any moral judgement on the inclination. People fight to subdue inherently bad tempers, depressive streaks or lots of sexual inclinations. Some inclinations are good, some are not good and some are mixed.”

Bishop Miller warned that changing positions on homosexuality would open up other areas of debate, some of which may be even more divisive.
“I stood at the front gate of a Cathedral in America last month and read a notice saying ‘Anybody going on the LGBT parade come to the Cathedral first and have your relationship blessed by the bishop’.

“There’s no doubt about it ”” it’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered for a start ”” so the thing has widened already and you have to ask: what does it mean for someone who’s born bisexual to follow their inclination or inclinations?”

Read the whole interview and there is an additional article about the interview here.

Metropolitan Kallistos Ware (Orthodox) was simply outstanding. ”˜If one member of the body suffers, all suffer’, he began, referring to 1 Corinthians 12.16. ”˜Your questions are our questions’. He continued by noting that there are two questions he would be asked on his return from Lambeth (I wonder will they be the same two in Down and Dromore for me?)

* Did the bishops at Lambeth clearly proclaim Jesus Christ as the only Saviour of the world?
* Did they clearly uphold Christian teaching on marriage and the family?

On the first, from the Indaba reflections, he is clear we pass the test, but on the second, he felt there was a degree of ambiguity. Have we fully affirmed Lambeth 1.10, he asked? His speech finished with a clear comment that our answers on these questions would have a decisive impact on future ecumenical dialogue with the orthodox churches, and that truth matters more than outward unity. I wanted to say ”˜Amen’!

The second ecumenical speaker was Professor Ian Torrance, representing the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, who was also most helpful in his comments. He noted that some people were living with the notion that the Anglican Communion might ”˜self-correct’, which he said he did not believe. A quiet and reserved man, he had given himself to a great deal of listening, and said ”˜I could feel the anxiety’. His speech ended with a quote from St Cyprian about bishops (great to have a Presbyterian telling us what bishops should be!), ”˜The episcopate is one, each part of which is held by each bishop for the whole.’ The message couldn’t be clearer.

Read it all.

The communion’s strength has always been its capacity to fudge difference in the interest of cohesion; to place human relationship before rigidity.

This does not mean Anglicanism is out of the woods on human sexuality issues. The risk of schism remains.

But what it succeeded in doing at Lambeth was to secure more – and very necessary – time. It also allowed those present to gain a deeper understanding of where others are coming from on same-sex issues.

The scale of the differences between liberal and conservative elements within the communion is demonstrated by the fact that approximately a quarter of the communion’s bishops were absent from the conference – in protest at the handling of these same-sex issues by Dr Williams and others.

Read it all.

BMJ: We have, as you’ll know, been looking at various themes in our ”˜indaba’ groups: the bishop in mission; as a leader in faith in inter-faith encounter; at the environment; and as bishops in solidarity with the world’s poor. Some might think that these seem peripheral. I would say, however, that they are intrinsic to our life and work as bishops. These discussions have had tremendous vitality and been of great importance, enabling us to go back to our own dioceses and countries with a sense of relationship.

Today (Friday 1/8/08) and yesterday we have explored the matter of the Anglican Covenant and the continuation of the Windsor process. Our focus yesterday on human sexuality was looked at in its total context, looking at relationships and exploitation, for example. People were honest with each other and I was encouraged and inspired. We certainly do have difficulties within the Communion in this area, but other areas are also important.

It is worth mentioning that our ”˜indaba’ groups are, of course, made up of 40 or so bishops who are used and conditioned to acting as chairpersons in their day-to-day lives, so they have set that ”˜chairing’ role aside in order to really listen to one another.

I think it is clear that the Anglican Covenant will have to be something more than an exercise in discipline but draw on all the other reflections of our time here at Lambeth.

Read it all.

In their letter, the group ”” which is largely formed from the northern Church ”” said of Archbishop Harper’s address in which he made his comments about homosexuality: “We are saddened that one who is to protect the faith…should so confuse, hurt and divide the people of God.”

The group said that the archbishop’s address had “contradicted the Church of Ireland’s own position,” and added: “We are dismayed at the lack of clarity and the resulting confusion of the archbishop’s approach to human sexuality, especially homosexuality.

“We are painfully aware that this issue has the potential to rip the fabric of the Anglican Communion apart…and we are distressed that the archbishop should inflame divisions even further.”

And, speaking of the recent Global Anglican Future Conference gathering of traditional and evangelical Anglicans in Jerusalem, the group said: “Their conference statement fills us with greater confidence and engenders a greater unity than our own Primate’s speech.

“We call upon the archbishop…to reconsider his position on this issue.”

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Listen to it all.