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.
“These matters all call for the most careful and unhurried scrutiny at representative provincial level…”
I love this stuff–for the same reason that I love Charles Dickens. You just have to picture this guy, looking out over his pince-nez and saying in a slow, very British sort of way, “These matters all take time, my dears….”
I mean, ya gotta love it for the same reason that the Circumlocution Office in Dickens’s Bleak House is so wonderfully awful. You don’t think this kind of prelatical prattle has anything to do with mainstream Anglicans’ getting turned off by the ecclesiastical bureaucracy, do you?
Or, for that matter, ordinary, decent folk being alienated from organized religion entirely by this kind of pompous and ridiculous figure?
I wonder what people think anymore when they hear the phrase “apostolic succession,” which, in my youth, still meant a great deal. It–the episcopate in historic succession from Jesus’ apostles–was a principal reason for affirming the Anglican tradition over other Protestant bodies. But now I tend to find that whole notion decidedly overblown.
I think that the ABA means that the ABC is on the right track and that his article is a signal that the provinces need to build momentum behind the two track idea.
http://www.churchoftheword.net
No. 2: Thank you for that reading. The text does not rule it out, and I hope that you are right. If you are right, then my judgment–rooted in profound annoyance at that one sentence I quoted–is probably too harsh.
But I must say that in that case understanding this statement requires the exegetical skills of an oldtime Vaticanologist or Kremlinologist to decipher. Tom Wright’s recent statement, OTOH, I think I understood.
[blockquote]The Archbishop of Canterbury, in his office, is accorded a place of honour among the bishops of the Anglican Communion as ‘primus inter pares’[/blockquote]
Indeed he is.
[blockquote]Much is expected of Archbishops of Canterbury in giving leadership in the Communion, especially in times of controversy[/blockquote]
We live in hope
[blockquote]The personal reflections, therefore, of Archbishop Rowan Williams about the future direction and internal structures of the Anglican Communion are always to be welcomed[/blockquote]
Very welcome
[blockquote]especially as he was among the many guests drawn from around the Anglican Communion who attended the recent General Convention of The Episcopal Church[/blockquote]
Would that they had listened to him
[blockquote] Archbishop Rowan’s reflections need to be seen in the context of the current discussions intended to lead to an ‘Anglican Covenant’[/blockquote]
I expect so, especially since the word Covenant is in the title
[blockquote]the ‘design group’ for which is currently headed by the Archbishop of Dublin[/blockquote]
We are going to put our oar in as well but will keep our powder dry for the moment
[blockquote] 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[/blockquote]
Or not as the case may be; noting carefully the emphasis on ‘autonomous’
[blockquote] These matters all call for the most careful and unhurried scrutiny[/blockquote]
Oh yes, terribly careful, painstaking even, and in absolutely no hurry whatsoever – we wouldn’t want to be rash would we?
[blockquote]at representative provincial level[/blockquote]
By us, not some other group
[blockquote]and it is to be hoped that they receive the consideration they rightly deserve[/blockquote]
read it all – carefully.
Note how the latest committee appointed has become THE Design Group after the draft was unceremoniously taken out of the hands of THE COVENANT DESIGN GROUP.