Synod yes to Covenant

General Synod's vote to give the green light to the Anglican Communion Covenant is a double if predictable blow against both compassion and freedom. Key gospel values are being sacrificed for the sake of ecclesiastical politics. The conservative bishops are not content simply to disagree with their more liberal colleagues over human sexuality: they want to make it a test of anglican orthodoxy. But liberals cannot and should not accept this. What is at stake is whether Anglicans are prepared to let our spirit of openness to truth in reason and experience be quenched by a basically fundamentalist approach. It is deeply tragic that more bishops are not prepared to stand up against the conservatives. And most tragic of all is Rowan William's belief that he must lead by seeking resolution of these differences in this way rather than leading the Communion to greater engagement with the issues; tragic because of recent Archbishops he is the most well equipped intellectually and spiritually to make the case for diversity within unity.

Voice of sense

Kathy Galloway from Iona Community writes sensibly and compassionately on the Christians and homosexuality issue in The Times.

Truly evangelical

The link in the title is to a piece by Elaine Storkey, (posted on the blog fatherjones.com) about her evangelical faith. Storkey is a leading evangelical Anglican scholar and was on the staff of Wycliffe Hall theological college, now in the grip of conservatives. If this understanding of Christian discipleship were what the term "evangelical" referred to then I'd be happy to call myself an evangelical. As it is I eschew those categories really. I am not "an evangelical" and I am not "a liberal" or "a catholic". But I believe that to be authentically and faithfully Christian I need to be evangelical, to be liberal, and to be catholic.

Wycliffe Hall controversy

A formerly respected Anglican evangelical theological college has been captured by conservative extremists. Wycliffe Hall in Oxford now has a principal, Richard Turnbull, who believes that 95% of the British popoulation is going to hell and a vice-principal who won't allow women to teach men in church. As Giles Fraser wrote in the Guardian:

"Of course, what should really happen is that the bishops of the Church of England stop using colleges like this to train its priests. Places such as Wycliffe are turning Anglicanism into a cult. But it's a symptom of how bad things are in the C of E, and how frightened its bishops have become of the financial muscle of conservative evangelicals, that they won't find the gumption to cut Wycliffe adrift."

I agree. The Church of England has let conservative theology drive its agenda for too long. An approach to the Bible and the faith which is basically fundamentalist and anti-intellectual has gone unchallenged. The Church of England is becoming a cult - retreating from the findings of modern science and cultural development and hiding behind a wall of false certainty based on a default literalism about the Bible and faith. Most sermons I hear outside my own parish are implicitly fundamentalist. It's as if the explosion in human knowledge of the last two centuries, including all we know about the origins and history of Christianity, never happened.

Christians who care about this need to work harder to persuade and inpire others that there are ways of being faithful to Christ which can constructively value and engage with modern culture.

Richard Turnbull's reply

A letter from leaders of the student body at Wycliffe

The gadget of my life

My Palm Treo 600 is the gadget of my life. It is my combined diary,
notebook, addressbook, bible, phone, emailer, mp3 and video player, pocket
camera and instant messenger. And because it can access the internet it is
an encyclopedia, dictionary. newspaper, and train timetable. Google is
always to hand. Using instant messaging, I can communicate with my son
whilst he sits at his desk at work, or with my daughters whilst they study.
I read my favourites blogs whilst sitting on trains or waiting for late
appointments to arrive. I use it to access the online prayers and bible
readings for the Church of England morning and evening prayers.Or if really
needed I can check my work emails away from the desk. Using a nifty
cassette that slots into my car's tape player I connect the Treo to the
in-car stereo. With a 1GB SD card inserted I can drive from the south to
the north of England without hearing the same track twice! It also converts
the phone into a hands-free car phone so I can take calls whilst driving.
Everything is backed up on the desktop PC and my crucial diary is backed up
on a Yahoo! online calendar so even if both Treo and desktop fell apart at
the same time I can still find out where I am meant to be!
Needless to say this post is written on and posted from the Treo whilst
listening to some favourite music tracks playing in the background.

Slavery, Sexuality and the Inclusive Community

Richard Burridge, Dean of King's College London has delivered the Eric Symes Abbott Memorial Lecture 2007 on the biblical roots of the church as an inclusive community. This demonstrates further that there are senior evangelicals who want to dialogue on the subject of homosexuality in the church and want to engage in that dialogue with lesbian and gay members of the Church.

Archbishop of Canterbury on current situations in Anglican Communion

Rowan Williams gave a press conference on his arrival in Canada at the beginning of this week about issues facing the Anglican Communion and his own role within it. Here are some extracts from it.

Archbishop of Canterbury on The Bible

Rowan Williams has given a speech in Canada describing the need for the Church to listen properly to the Bible. In his characteristically dialectical way he criticises both ultra-conservative and liberal readings of the Bible as being inadequate. Link here to the summary page where there is also a link to the full text.

How cheesy is this?

Found this quote on a blog I chanced across via Twitter.com - its just about the cheesiest thing I've seen for ages:

"If God had a wallet, your picture would be in it."

Maybe we could start a - "cheesiest spiritual quote of Holy Week" contest!

Anniversary of abolition of Slave Trade

Today churches across Britain are remembering the anniversary of the passing of the act of Parliament which abolished the slave trade.The Archbishops of Canterbury and York reflected on this when they visited the slave pits of Zanzibar recently. See their reflections on YouTube here.

Ben Okafor to appear on BBC1

Born in Enugu, Nigeria, Ben’s music and early life were shaped by his experiences as a boy soldier in the Biafran army during the country’s civil war, The pain and destruction he witnessed during that period soon began to influence the lyrics he wrote, his songs reflecting a heart felt plea for justice, truth and love.

An ongoing involvement in peace and justice initiatives followed with Ben currently involved with the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, Amnesty International and others.

BEN OKAFOR will be appearing on BBC1's "Heaven and Earth Show" this weekend.

Broadcasting from 10.00am to 11.00am on Sunday morning (March 25th), the programme will be looking at the issue of slavery and trafficking as we reach the 200th anniversary of the passing of the Slave Trade Bill by the UK government which made the slave trade illegal.

As we unfortunately know, the modern day slave trade is still very active. Rob Taylor, Ben's manager informed us that "Ben will be giving a long interview and will be performng a song live in the studio from his latest album Acoustic Close-Up"

So, tune in or set your recorders!

You can visit the programme's website
here

The truth isn't sexy

New campaign on the issue of sex trafficking is launched to co-incide with the 200th anniversary of the British abolition of slavery.

Charles Taylor awarded Templeton Prize

I have been quoting from Charles Taylor in sermons since the early nineties. I was delighted to hear he has received this award.

Spiritual revolution

Why do conservatives face both ways?

It interests me to hear that the Roman Catholic hierarchy in England wants its adoption agency to be exempted, on the grounds of conscience, from the provisions of the Equality Act which would disallow discrimination against homosexuals in the provision of goods and services. They are protesting against the application of the Act to the adoption agency run by their church. They say today that the agency will close because in all conscience it cannot accept the placement of children with homosexual couples as this is contrary to the tenets of its faith. I have a lot of sympathy for the Roman Catholic case here - not because I think homosexual couples should be discriminated against, nor do I think that they are unsuitable to adopt children; but because I believe that faith-based conscience should be respected and diversity of belief and practice in these matters tolerated. (It would be a different matter if the Roman Catholic church controlled all adoption agencies but there is a wide range of other agencies available to homosexual couples.)

But what interests me is the character of the conservative religious mindset in this issue. The Roman Catholic hierarchy and conservative Anglicans may not be the same groups of people but they have a similarly conservative and negative view of homosexuality in practice. But whilst the Roman Catholic hierarchy seeks exemption from secular equality law on the basis of conscience; there is no such "exemption" apparently granted by conservative Anglicans to the United States Episcopal Church which in all conscience wants to offer full equality of membership to homosexuals in its church community. Conservatives thus face two ways - exemption from laws for themselves on matters of conscience but no exemption on matters of conscience for those with whom they disagree. Didn't Jesus once say "Do unto others as you would have then do unto you" ?

The blood never dried

"The Blood Never Dried" is a book by John Newsinger, subtitled, "A People's History of the British Empire" (Bookmarks Publications 2006). The title comes from a quote of Ernest Jones, Chartist and socialist, about the British Empire in 1851: "On its colonies the sun never sets, but the blood never dries". It describes the violence of the British Empire and how that was met by freedom struggles, from the slaves' revolt in Jamaica to the war for independence in Kenya. It makes for salutary reading if you think that the British Empire has been a kinder force in the world than the United States for example. For me it uncovered episodes in history which I had never even heard about before and also explained situations I was aware of already but only very hazily understood. I haven't seen much analysis of the current crisis in the Anglican Communion which relates it to the legacy of the British Empire and its relations to the US empire but this book would certainly be useful background for thinking about our situation in that way.

New C of E campaign for Lent

Church of England news reports that:
The season of Lent – a period of penitence in preparation for Easter - has been given an extra twist this year with a multi-media campaign backed by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, Dr Rowan Williams and Dr John Sentamu.
Love Life Live Lent gives inspiration for simple things that people can do to spread a little generosity and happiness in their community, and particularly aims to bring Lent alive for people who might not go to church. In a bold move, the campaign is being delivered through two colourful booklets, an interactive website, and a text message service.
From today, mobile phone owners can text the word ‘Lent’ to 64343 to begin receiving daily suggestions for actions from Monday 19th February through to Easter Monday, at a price of 10 pence a day. Actions include:
Give up your place to someone in a traffic jam or a queue
Have a TV-free day and do something you have meant to do for ages
Take part in an environmental clean up
Watch the news and pray about what you see
Leave a £1 coin in the shopping trolley or where someone will find it.
The actions may seem small, but can add up to something bigger when lots of people get involved, say the Archbishops of Canterbury and York in their joint introduction: “It’s all too easy to feel we are powerless to make a difference. But the truth is, with God’s help we can change the world a little bit each day. Each of us can be the change we want to see in the world… Together we can build better and more generous communities. Together we can lighten the load on our planet. We show God’s love when we do these things,” they say.
Everyone can join in Love Life Live Lent by visiting www.livelent.net, which will feature each day’s actions, games, resources, and an opportunity to share experiences with other people who have tried out the suggestions through a forum area. A special area of the website, supported by a separate booklet with activities focused on school life, have been designed for under 15s to join in.
Love Life Live Lent started life in the Diocese of Birmingham in 2006, inspired by a local pilgrimage. The booklet was such a hit that the original print run for the booklets had to be increased repeatedly, and 70,000 copies of the booklets were distributed through churches, schools and community centres.
The Rt Revd David Urquhart, Bishop of Birmingham, believes the campaign shows a different side to Lent: “Doing something positive or generous can be as transforming as giving something up. It helps us to reflect on how we normally behave, and how we can make changes to our lifestyles that reflect God’s love more fully.”
Church leaders hope that ‘Living Lent’ this year could be the beginning of a journey of faith, and the campaign’s dedicated website offers a range of resources and links to help explore Christianity and the Bible.
Love Life Live Lent is available as a full-colour booklet for just £1 (ISBN 0978 07151 41113, childrens’ version 0978 07151 41144) or buy 10 for £8 (0978 07151 41120, childrens’ version 0978 07151 41151), or a value pack of 50 for £35 (0978 07151 41137, childrens’ version 0978 07151 41168) from Christian bookshops including Church House Bookshop, 31 Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3BN, tel. 020 7799 4064, email bookshop@chbookshop.co.uk, or on the web (mail order available)

Media atheists and fundamentalism

Giles Frazer, Vicar of Putney and columnist for the Church Times, wrote for The Guardian last Monday an article entitled "Atheists: the bigots' friends: most Christians back gay rights, to claim otherwise only boosts the fundamentalists". His argument, as I read it, is that many vocal anti-religion pundits are actually boosting extreme conservative versions of Christianity by representing it as the majority and authentic voice of the Christian church. By doing this fundamentalist Christianity is given the oxygen of publicity and made to appear as if it expresses the beliefs of the majority of present-day Christians; when in fact it does not. This was exemplified recently by the media coverage of protests at Parliament over the debate on gay rights legislation. Giles argues that both media coverage of the protests of conservative Christian voices opposing the anti-discriminatory legislation and critical reaction to it by secular voices were not careful enough to distinguish between the position of conservatives and that of mainstreanm Christian churches. The impression is given that all Christians and churches disapprove of the legislation. In fact there is broad support for the Act from the Church of England; and it is well established that the majority of Christians in Britain do not think that homosexuality is a sin.
The comments on Giles' piece are worth reading partly because they illustrate the intensity of antipathy to religious belief that exists in some people. But there are other points well-made. The headline of the article gives the mistaken impression that Giles is stereotyping all atheists as promoters of a false perspective on Christianity - so committing the error of which he is accusing his antagonists of committing. In fact the article itself speaks about a particular gouping of athesits - namely media ones - those whom we all know have grabbed the attention of editors,producers and publishers by their vociferous denunciation of all things religious. But at least a slightly overstated headline stimulates the analysis further. One comment asks why Giles and other liberal Christians who support the legislation were not at the anti-fundamentalist protest. Perhaps there were some liberal Christians in support, who knows; but they were not apparently in evidence as such.
Is it possible that liberal Christians might make common cause on some of these issues with some secular atheists? And are there not situations already where that happens - such as in the world development and peace movements? But this is not easy when vocal antagonistic atheists persist in misrepresenting all Christians' beliefs and motives. Is there a need now for peace negotiatons between liberal Christians and militant atheists?

There are evangelicals who love the US Episcopal Church

Rick Lord, an American priest of the US Episcopal Church writes movingly of his reflections on the 25th anniversary of his ordination. On the current crisis in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion he writes: "I have served almost half of those years in the Diocese of Virginia under Bishop Peter Lee who has been an extraordinary mentor and friend. Yes, there are evangelical priests who love the Episcopal Church and who remain faithful to its doctrine, discipline, and worship. I'm one of them. Yes, there are matters in our family over which I am deeply vexed. But for me, relational unity precedes doctrinal unity, a conviction grounded in the writings of St. Paul (see 1 Corinthians, chapter 12)."

Cartoon view of Evangelicals' Covenant

Dave Walker's Cartoon Blog brings his refreshing take on church matters to bear on the Church of England group of conservative evangelicals and others similar who recently issued a "covenant". There are some great links to other blogs with excellent comments also on this.