The Archbishop of Canterbury will today spell out how he hopes a new set of rules can solve “one of the most severe challenges” in the history of the Anglican church.
In an impassioned opening speech last night to the 600 bishops gathered for the once-a-decade Lambeth Conference, Dr Rowan Williams criticised both conservatives and liberals for their actions in the crisis over sexuality.
He said the “new doctrine” on homosexuality being adopted by progressive churches in America and Canada, who have elected an openly gay bishop and blessed same-sex unions in defiance of guidelines, was causing “pain and perplexity”.
But Dr Williams claimed the reaction by traditionalists, some of whom have defected from their national churches and who are now planning to create a new church-within-a-church, had also created “pressures”.
++Williams said:
Umm….so ++Williams is looking for a “vision” that is neither liberal nor orthodox, but as “theologically deep” as any other. And he expects to get it from the motley crew assembled at Lambeth. Good luck with that.
I am starting to feel that ++Williams’ own reputation for theological depth is way overblown.
As I opined on a different thread, the make-or-break criterion will be whether TEC or TEC-like provinces/diocese/parishes will be free to trample Scripture as TEC and other TEC-like bodies have done the past few years. If ++Rowan cannot provide a solid, unequivocal “no” to that question, all of his lofty lefty rhetoric is just so much hot air and the Communion will fracture.
On the one hand, blah, blah, blah. But on the other hand, blah, blah, blah, blah, bleack, no, no, no. And the blather continues.
There are few more Confessional churches on earth than TEC. Does the Archbishop really not know this?