On the matter of the concerns before us from the Primates and the rest of the Anglican Communion, I want to offer a few reflections. The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Rowan Williams, was with us to both hear from us and to share with us. In addition were members of the Joint Standing Committee of the Anglican Consultative Council and the Primates. They listened to us, were fully a part of our work, and spoke to us. I believe that we came away with a better understanding of one another. Of greatest importance, is that we understand what it means to be in communion, and on an even deeper level, what it means to be the Church. We are in challenging times, and also times of great opportunity, if we can truly listen to one another and walk together. My analogy is that when people are trying to walk and talk it is often the case that one is walking ahead of the other which makes it impossible for the other to hear or be heard. My hope and my prayer is that this meeting will make it possible for us to walk together and to truly listen, one to the other. Some of you may feel that we gave up too much; others may feel that we did not go far enough. I understand these feelings. It is critical that you know I have never seen the House of Bishops work more respectfully or more prayerfully. All bishops were engaged, across the theological spectrum.
If we can truly listen! Why not? I thought we have been in dialogue for decades.
Wow, he sure uses a lot of words to say nothing.
RSB
Vacant. LM
“Peace, Peace”…where there is no peace!
Woe to those who say “the Temple of the Lord; the Temple of the Lord”. Woe to those who say “the bishops worked respectfully, the bishops worked so prayerfully”.
Yep – he got the template from 815. No original thought by any of these sycophants out there.
I was very disappointed when I read this. Maryland is going through an extremely difficult time, having to replace Ihloff, a definite liberal who had to fight against a radicalized clergy in an extremely diverse diocese. We needed to hear some sort of commitment, but instead we got a lot of vacuity. OTOH, I have to say, reluctantly, that this isn’t that out of character for his public addresses.