Ian Gomersall St Chrysostom’s Church News and Views Visiting the Archbishop of Canterbury
Giles Goddard ViaMedia.News Nye Letter & The Silencing of Debate
Mark Harris Preludium GAFCON alternative universe expands
Martyn Percy Modern Church The Church of England: Mission and Ministry after the Decade of Evangelism
There is a summary here. The full text of the article can only be found by following the link at the end of the summary.
‘I was struck at how the Justin Welby who is said by some to be too managerial in style, and to have a clearly evangelical approach, came across to me as sympathetic and understanding of an inclusive Catholic position, and clearly wanted it to flourish. I couldn’t help but feel that the impression of the Archbishop I receive from some clergy and from the church press did not quite match the sensitive and sympathetic person I met at Lambeth.’ Ian, I hope you are right. But I was equally impressed by what seemed Justin’s passionate and sensitive response at the… Read more »
I’ve often heard the argument that training courses and curacies prepare people for ministry, but not the specific role and nature of a priest. Sadly, what this seems to imply is that courses and curacies no longer produce identikit ‘priests’ in the rigid mould expected by people from years past (i.e. male, married, with children, in full-time ministry, wears black with a collar all of the time). In this argument, there is also a strongly clericalist slant here that overlooks the rightful role of the laity and the important of collaborative ministry for the flourishing of the church. (Here, I… Read more »
I read Ian Gomersall’s piece and found myself asking whether this was a charm offensive that was all about style and very little about substance. When Welby affirms the catholic tradition, he has very little in-depth understanding of what that really is, either from study or lived experience (has he read any Aquinas, Rahner, von Balthazar, not to mention Gore, Ramsey and Leech?). I suspect this is a case of Welby seeing it as another ‘brand’ or ‘franchise’ to attract consumers to his business model, where the successful and the economically active can turn around a failing institution. I am… Read more »
I don’t see that there’s an opposition between ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ and the kind of creative evangelism Martyn Percy calls for in his full article. It’s surely possible both to pray for the power of the Holy Spirit/people to find faith and to engage with the community in a way that is less ‘broadcast mode’ and more mutual. In our parish there has been a regular monthly prayer group for one estate that has met for the last 10 years. 5 years ago the church started growing, and has now doubled in size (though still fairly small). This year it… Read more »
What does the SCP (of which I’m not a member) think about the letter that was sent to the US Episcopal Church by William Nye on the Archbishop’s behalf? Ultimately “sensitive and sympathetic” is wider than just the way a particular meeting goes.
“I couldn’t help but feel that the impression of the Archbishop I receive from some clergy and from the church press did not quite match the sensitive and sympathetic person I met at Lambeth.”
Or, perhaps, he’s just a politician in love with his own (sense of) power adjusting his words to each audience, like Saruman directing his voice at each besieger?