Wednesday, August 05, 2009

Thanks be to God

for a touch of sanity...
13 groups in the Church of England have now responded to ++Rowan's disappointing "Communion, Covenant and the Anglican Future" and their words are the ones I'd been longing to hear.
We wish to reaffirm our loyalty to the Gospel of Jesus Christ as revealed in the scriptures, our commitment to the Anglican way, and our celebration of and thanksgiving for the tradition and life of the Church of England. Above all, our concern is for the mission of the Church in our world. We have no doubt that the Church of England is called to live out the Gospel values of love and justice in the whole of its life; these values are intrinsic to the calling of Jesus Christ to follow him and it is out of this context that we speak.

I'm glad that 2 groups to which I belong are represented (Inclusive Church, and WATCH of course) but slightly perturbed that Affirming Catholicism is missing from the list of signatories...I'd be very sad indeed if they felt unable to sign up to this.I've emailed to find out what is going on - the fact that there is a Catholic & Contemplative Fresh Expressions day scheduled for the middle of the Inclusive Church conference The Word on the Street worries me slightly too - as I'm pretty certain I'm not alone in believing that catholicism and inclusion should be synonyms. It may of course simply be a case of overloaded diaries, but I'd really prefer not to have to choose here - and I suspect there are others who are in a similar position...

Still, despite worries, this statement is an excellent expression of the views of so many. Now we must simply pray that it is heard.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for this. My boss is on holiday and I've been agonising about spoiling it by letting him know what is going on but now I see he has made a response. Sarah

Song in my Heart said...

I was wondering where Affirming Catholicism is on the list, too.

I'm feeling very hopeful about the statement, though.

Linda Ryan said...

From the other side of the pond I pray they are heard as well. Yet I have little faith that they will be unless the prayers for hearing are accompanied by continued audible and visible reiterations of the beliefs and words are expressed. Perhaps if enough speak out often and firmly enough, the seemingly deaf ears might be opened.

mibi52/ The Rev. Dr. Mary Brennan Thorpe said...

Amen. Thank you.

Suem said...

Apparently, Rowan Williams was involved in the setting up of Affirming Catholicism. Some people have noticed that AC have removed all references to RW from the website and there are few LGBT references, except for "inclusive" and Jeffrey John's book on their booklist? Is it because Rowan Williams wants to disassociate himself from his earlier opinions and seem more neutral, I wonder?