In his presidential address that marked the end of the conference in Canterbury, he told Anglican bishops that the “pieces are on the board” to resolve the wrangling over homosexuality. He advocated the concept of a “global Church of interdependent communities” but conceded that there was much work to do before Anglican difficulties over gays were overcome.
Dr Williams is pursuing a plan that will depend on three moratoriums being observed by liberals and conservatives at opposite poles of the divided church. The Episcopal Church, which consecrated the openly-gay Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire in 2003, and the Anglican Church of Canada, where a diocese authorised same-sex blessings, must both guarantee to desist from any further such moves.
For Dr Williams’s strategy to work, conservative primates from Africa must also pledge a moratorium on consecrating cross-boundary bishops to minister to evangelical congregations in liberal dioceses.
Bishop Trevor Mwamba of Botswana, a favourite for the vacant post of Primate of Central Africa, said: “The conference has been excellent, I would even say it has been divinely inspired. There was a growing sense of oneness, a sense that we all have a lot in common. We have been transformed by the relationships we have formed.”
If anyone thinks peace is restored they have been smoking some strange herbals, whats gone before has been skimishes now comes the war.
I have a simple proposal which would make this very doable from the point of view of the Global South primates. The GS folks promise to enter a cease fire. As long as TEC keeps its part of the bargain (including no further SS blessings of any kind in any parish inside TEC) then the GS bishops will do no further border crossings of any kind with any parish inside TEC.
Of course, such a moratorium will last about a few weeks at the most. Surely some TEC parish will hold a gay marriage ceremony in August and another in Sept and one more in Oct and so on.
But such a proposal would at least clearly demonstrate the GS primates willingness to abide by what was requested.
So, to repeat:
The cease-fire begins any time KJS says.
The cease-fire is in effect until either side breaks it.
Once one side breaks it, it is no longer in effect.
With this agreement, the GS primates could agree to it with total confidence that border crossing three months from now won’t be a violation of the cease fire — since TEC will have already broken by then.
#2 Jon; I am reminded of a learned British negotiator who claimed “..peace in out time..” and then Germany broke the truce and the hell that was WWII began. The TEC PB’s track record is not good. For her to even say she has no control over some of her own Bishops and Priests makes me start to wonder.
‘Restores peace’? LUDICROUS!! RW is simply doing what a veteran of academic wars does: counting the days until his full pension is acheived, and who cares what happens after that momentous day?!?!
Bartender, I’ll have what the man in the ink-stained shirt is having.
A footnote to the subject of border crossing. It would seem to me that a lot of border crossing has occurred by parishes ( with or without their property) that have left the TEC, and happened before any external conservative Church came in willing to help.