…the Church of England ”“ and the Anglican Communion ”“ needs someone with a pastoral touch. It needs a man ”“ and it will be a man, because the Church of England is years away from appointing a female bishop let alone a lady archbishop ”“ who can be fair to all points of view rather than imposing absolutes on difficult issues, and someone who can put their personal beliefs aside for the greater good.
Sentamu has come out fighting on the issue of gay marriage and has become the darling of conservatives inside and outside the Church of England. But his views alienate and polarise: there are clergy and parishioners who would love to see same-sex relationships registered in places of worship. An archbishop is not a spokesman or a pundit to be wheeled out to comment on the hot topics of the day. His job, in fact, is an impossible one: to accept that some Anglicans will never agree on the issues of gender or homosexuality while at the same time holding everyone together on common issues such as the Millennium Development Goals and the persecution of minority Christian communities around the world.
[blockquote]His job, in fact, is an impossible one: to accept that some Anglicans will never agree on the issues of gender or homosexuality while at the same time holding everyone together on common issues such as the Millennium Development Goals and the persecution of minority Christian communities [/blockquote]
Ah, the “Great Commission.”
In other words, we need an ABC who is wishy washy and well versed in the ways of the Jedi Fudge.
It’s weird that the putting aside one’s personal beliefs for the greater good, only seems to apply to conservatives. Being fair to all points of views seems to amount to conservatives shutting up and liberals pushing on. That seems fair…
Definitely a candidate for the worst op-ed of the month award.
Ummm…I believe that Miss Butt is a Muslim. Should we voice our opinion on who should be the Grand Ayatolla of Iran or the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia? BTW, did anyone see the Grand Mufti’s fatwa this week calling for the DESTRUCTION of all churches in the kingdom? Frankly, we could use a good solid orthodox AbC who knows the danger of Islam like Nazir Ali.
Give us a leader who will not lead?
Or is it give us irrelevance so each of us can do what we want?
Neither position shows any concern for the good of the whole church.
All of the above: ditto.
“and someone who can put their personal beliefs aside for the greater good.” An archbishop of C needs prudence, but what she states is not prudence. Prudence means applying principles within actual, difficult situations. That process may involve compromise and it always involves negotiation, but it does not mean dropping one’s own beliefs and principles. An Abp of C is not simply a meeting facilitator. Did anyone think of William Temple or Michael Ramsey in those simple terms? Both were good at working with others–Ramsey at Lambeth Conference even before he was translated to Canterbury and Temple famously in all sorts of bodies. I think her comment is less about a Christian communion and more about societal relativism in this day and age.
Nikolaus wrote:
[blockquote]Frankly, we could use a good solid orthodox AbC who knows the danger of Islam like Nazir Ali.[/blockquote]
Agreed. The same thought has crossed my mind.
Here is what one African Bishop – of the Anglican Church of Tanzania – says of ++Sentamu:
“Here is my worry, it seems the Archbishop of York Bishop Sentamu may become the next and this will be another hell! Archbishop Sentamu is very much known to be gay advocate and very liberal and secularist. Let us pray for God,s mercy.”
#7: That is a great paragraph. I missed this part:
[blockquote]It needs a man [sniff sniff] who can be fair to all points of view rather than imposing absolutes on difficult issues[/blockquote]
Finally, Christianity without all those pesky (piskie?) absolutes. We should eliminate absolutes in the sciences as well: as soon as that happens, I’m going to invent seeds that grow iPads.
Oh, shoot, Nazir Ali would be a great ABC! He was supposedly on the short list last time. Is he still eligible?
Weird that she doesn’t “fear” +Chartres. Isn’t he conservative on more issues than +Sentamu?
Predictable almost to the point of being a self-parody. However, spare a thought for Guardian and all other newspaper journalists on major titles in London. With the spread of internet news, newspaper circulations have been falling like a stone for several years. The Guardian which used to sell well over 400,000 copies daily now sells only around 230,000. There are persistent and apparently well-founded rumours that its bosses are toying with the idea of ceasing print and making it a web-only newspaper. However, newspapers know that the internet can produce only a fraction of the revenue that print can.
A Presiding Archbishop is needed who is conservative orthodox and who will aggressively exercise all elements available to him to re-establish the scriptural foundation of Christian tradition and practice in the communion. This may involve some significant upheaval and loss of heretical elements (TEC comes to mind). So be it. Better to excise the cancer than let it grow apace. One wonders if there is such a person and could he ever be appointed. I’m sure that Queen Elizabeth the First would/could have done it. Is Q2 up to it?
Amen, Riazat Butt
Retired Bishop Nazir Ali? A great choice, and my second choice would be the Bishop of Liverpool, the Rt Rev James Jones.
Cennydd13, I respect your opinions expressed here and on other sites, but your second choice seems [url=http://new.kendallharmon.net/wp-content/uploads/index.php/t19/article/9867/]off the mark[/url].
#12: You’re right, and the Guardian would be in even worse state if it didn’t have some offshore financial arrangements as a tax shelter and if it didn’t get 80%+ of BBC adverstising revenue.
The young Riazat Butt got the religion job because, following the PC playbook she’s a female “progressive” Muslim, i.e. she drinks and doesn’t wear a hijab. She knows little about religion and is pretty conflicted about her own faith – she does record she was given a hard time when she went on hajj for her paper.
….. however, she isn’t with The Grauniad anymore, she’s going back to being a student (I hope she’ll do some serious study this time), and this was a freelance piece for The Daily Telegraph, which drew this sharp rejoinder:
“I knew that the world is increasingly turning mad, but I am surprised to find in the DT a Grauniad-publishing Leftist Muslim journalist commenting on the suitability or otherwise of a candidate to the position of the Archbishop of Canterbury. I don’t expect a Christian journo to know much about the suitability of any candidate for the post of Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and I am convinced beyond doubt that whatever views our esteemed young, female, muslim, PC-correct, Leftist journo helds are bound to be different from those held by a vast majority of CoE Christians”
16. Since I’m not a member of the Church of England, I don’t really have a stake in who’s appointed as ABC, and since my province isn’t yet part of the Communion, except through the back door, I suppose my opinion doesn’t matter much. However, I do wish you would explain your remark.
Cennydd13, I was surprised at the second choice you mentioned, Bishop Jones of Liverpool, and I linked to earlier Titus One Nine coverage of his “Making Space for Truth and Grace.” Assessments of it are [url=http://new.kendallharmon.net/wp-content/uploads/index.php/t19/article/9867/#181179]here[/url] and [url=http://new.kendallharmon.net/wp-content/uploads/index.php/t19/article/9867/#181179]here[/url]. (Also, my comment about respecting your opinions was fully sincere; I appreciate your comments here and at other Anglican blogs.)
What you are suggesting is that there may be implied consent on his part, and if it’s true, then I would withdraw my suggestion. I remain firm, however, in my choice of Bishop Nazir-Ali as my first choice. ++Sentamu would not be acceptable for a variety of reasons……none of which I feel is necessary to discuss here.