The strain caused by differences of opinion about matters of sexuality appears to be evident among primates of the world’s Anglican churches. This could affect a primates’ meeting planned for January, says the primate of the Anglican Church of Canada.
“There is a lot of tension within the group,” Archbishop Fred Hiltz said last Sunday in his address to the Oct. 22-25 joint meeting of the Anglican House of Bishops and the Lutheran Conference of Bishops in Montreal. Some primates seem “unwilling to come to the table with everyone present,” he said. This suggests that some primates strongly opposed to same-sex marriages would not be willing to attend with primates of more favourable or nuanced views.
Archbishop Hiltz said the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams may try to deal with this problem by arranging prior meetings of smaller groups of like-minded primates.
[i][b]MAY[/b][/i] effect the Primates meeting!?!
Hey, ya never know.
I think the most incredible part (i.e., not credible) of all the spinning came at the end. In typical fashion for an ecclesiastical bureaucrat, the primate assures the insitution that “All is Well.” For he insists that in his travels across the land, he’s seen “a buoyancy” in the Church.
Hmmm. Isn’t that like whistling in the dark while passing the cemetery? Maybe some Canadian Anglican leaders’ spirits are buoyant, but the denomination sure isn’t. Its membership and ASA are plummeting rapidly, sinking like a rock thrown in a pond. Look at the closure of all those congregations in the Diocese of British Columbia, or the sharp cuts in the national staff and budget, etc.
Denial is an amazingly strong dynamic in a declining institution like the ACoC. It would be ludicrous, if it weren’t so serious.
David Handy+
[blockquote] Speaking in a broader context, the primate said his recent visits to Canadian dioceses have encouraged him. “This is a time of buoyancy in the life of the church.†[/blockquote]
His Archepiscopalness must be referring to what it’s like to be up a creek without a paddle.
David Houk+
Some primates seem “unwilling to come to the table with everyone present,†he said.
A quaint way of expressing it. Using nice language to describe a dire and catastrophic situation which the structures have totally failed to address or resolve.
Is he just realizing this? Has he been asleep for 7 years?
And it is those “some Primates” who are the obstreperous ones, mind you.
“This is a time of buoyancy in the life of the church.â€
Buoyancy? Like “floaters”?
Time for another metaphor.