> Interstingly this ordainer of women and approverof bishopettes/esses is (so he says now)favourably inclined towards the FIF/COC 3rd Province. Hmmm.Please pray for me; I'mhaving some circulatory problems whichhave not proven amenable to intervention so far. A blessed Embertide. Lets notforget tocount our people for 4th Advent/Christmas 2002 to get an ideaof howmany we have in APA. I think we will do better for Christmas than Easter all things being equal. Blessings. GDVW+ > > > > Rowan Williams The patron saint of disruption > By Paul Handley > 30 November 2002 > > Rowan Williams: The patron saint of disruption > Prudent. Discreet. Kind. Clever. A thoroughly nice bloke. This is what > they say about the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury. He is all these > things, and a beardy to boot. But don't be fooled. He doesn't pull his > punches on the big issues. > > There is a good chance that, at lunchtime tomorrow, Dr Rowan Williams > will be feeling a bit of a prat. That is when he is officially made > Archbishop of Canterbury; not back in July, when his name was selected > by the Prime Minister, nor next February, when his big enthronement > takes place at Canterbury, but in St Paul's Cathedral in a legal > ceremony dating from 1534. He was elected by the Dean and Chapter of > Canterbury a fortnight ago (they aren't allowed to decline) and > tomorrow's ceremony confirms that election. As the legal phrases roll > around him ("schedules ... porrection"), Dr Williams might glance down > at the white cuffs of his rochet, a tad frilly for a Welsh bard, and > wonder what on earth he is doing. > > Because he was always the favoured candidate, and the appointment > process was so leaky, his honeymoon period happened before the > marriage. Since his nomination, he has had to cope with various > sections of the Church of England threatening divorce, sometimes in the > most unchristian language. He might enjoy the moment in tomorrow's > ceremony when objectors to his appointment are declared "contumacious". > > It has been an extraordinarily hostile reception for a man who is > transparently "prudent and discreet, deservedly laudable for his life > and conversation", as he will be described tomorrow. He leaves Wales, > after three years as its archbishop, to almost universal plaudits. "He > is a very kind pastor, a great theologian and a great thinker," said > one Welsh priest. "One of his great achievements has been to help > churchpeople of different persuasions listen to each other," said > another. "He is a great man," said a Welsh bishop. Note the repeated > adjective. > > Rowan Williams was born in 1950 and brought up in Swansea, where his > father was a mining engineer. His academic ability was apparent early, > and he went from grammar school to Cambridge, and then to Oxford for > his doctorate. There was a short spell in the North, where he trained > for ordination, then he repeated his Cambridge and Oxford tenures, > first as Dean and Chaplain of Clare College, and then, aged 36, > becoming the youngest professor at Oxford. He can lecture in five > languages and reads several more. One of his Cambridge counterparts > described him as "the best theologian in Britain". > > In 1992 he surprised colleagues by accepting the post of Bishop of > Monmouth, seen as a backwater by the Oxford élite. But the post spoke > to his pastoral calling, and his Welsh roots, and it was a good place > for Rowan and his wife, Jane, the daughter of a missionary bishop, to > bring up their daughter (now 14) and produce a son (six). It wasn't > long, though, before wistful glances were cast in his direction. > Williams's name came up almost every time an English diocese fell > vacant, and in 1997 he came close to being offered Southwark. But there > were fierce wrangles at the time between anti- and pro-gay lobbies in > the diocese, and when Dr Carey, the former archbishop, invited Dr > Williams to distance himself from his pro-gay writings on the subject, > he declined. Shortly afterwards he was appointed Archbishop of the > Church in Wales. Carey, an evangelical with a traditional view of > homosexuality, timed his retirement just right, allowing Williams to > leave Wales with a sense of achievement, rather than a sense of guilt at > abandoning his homeland. > > Nearly three decades of academic work have left a large paper trail, > including 16 or more books, for anyone who wants to find fault with > Rowan Williams's theology, but the hunt will be a long and difficult > one. In general, his theology is orthodox, nurtured by > Anglo-Catholicism, Russian mysticism, and scores of encounters with > other traditions. Many of his ethical positions are orthodox, too he > is opposed to abortion, for example but homosexuality has been the > cause of his recent difficulties. Several years ago he employed a > priest he knew to be living in a homosexual relationship, unlike the > many bishops who take care not to know about any relationships. It was > this, coupled with his conviction that the Church should reassess its > approach to faithful gay partnerships, that alarmed conservative > evangelicals and drew criticism. Because of his self-imposed reticence > over these past four months, his critics have had the field to > themselves; but last week he said he would not go against the current > position of the Anglican Church, and would not therefore ordain someone > in a homosexual partnership. Will the row die down? We'll see. > > What he can't afford is for a significant number of evangelical churches > to withdraw from the Church of England, taking their congregations and > their cash but leaving those big expensive buildings. There is already > a tricky piece of footwork to be done to keep Anglo-Catholic churches > from splitting off when, as most people expect, the Church decides to > consecrate women as bishops. Wholesale schism is extremely unlikely; > nevertheless, the Church of England needs to keep as many priests and > parishioners as it can. The number of full-time, paid priests fell by > 14 per cent in the past decade, and one projection puts attendance at > 500,000 by 2030, little more than half the present figure. Dr Williams > disparages the trappings of a state Church (he can be heard doing so on > BBC2 tonight) but this is a minor matter compared to the economic and > staffing crisis facing the Church. His time in office might well see > the end of the parish system the myth that the Church of England > provides a blanket of pastoral care over the whole country. > > Williams's response is to put aside the gloom and obsession with > manipulating figures that characterised the failed "Decade of > Evangelism" of his predecessor. In his acceptance speech he spoke of "a > confidence that arises from being utterly convinced that the Christian > creed and the Christian vision have in them a life and a richness that > can embrace and transfigure all the complexities of human life". He > went on to describe a kind of confidence "that saves us from being led > by fashion, by the issues of the day: the truth for and about human > beings is not something that can be decided simply by the majority vote > of our culture". It might be a recipe for withdrawing into an > other-wordly piety, but no one who knows Dr Williams's left-wing > credentials believes that for a minute. > > Instead, it is an approach that looks set to make him a disruptive > political influence in the years ahead: a commentator who can criticise > Disney because he doesn't need their advertising; a critic of war in > Iraq because he has as many connections with the Middle East as with > the United States; a spokesman for social outcasts because, in his > game, injustice trumps fiscal policy every time. The present government > will find him hard to handle, and the right-wing press is just biding > its time. > > It is hard to describe a paragon convincingly, but that is what Rowan > Williams is, and likeable too. It is also hard to live with a paragon, > as the Church of England will find out shortly. Crucially, how hard is > it to be a paragon, when the usual methods of self-preservation > wiliness, evasion, caution, obfuscation are as yet unlearnt? Can such > goodness survive in public life? It's something we have to believe in. > > The writer is editor of the 'Church Times' > > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > Protect your PC - get McAfee.com VirusScan Online > http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963 > > > -- > To unsubscribe, send ANY message to > <faithandlife-unsubscribe@...> ----------------------------------------- This Advent Season our sponsors are selling goods and services you don't want to miss! Support our sponsors with your purchase by clicking here. http://www.catholic.org/clife/advent/specials.php This email was sent using FREE Catholic Online Webmail. Please tell your family, friends and children about COL Webmail! http://webmail.catholic.org/