ENGLAND: Archbishop addresses synod on Anglican Communion issues
Episcopal News Service –Anaheim, California. July 13, 2009 [071309-11]
Matthew Davies
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams addressed the Church of England's General Synod July 13 about issues related to the Anglican Communion, in particular the recent meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council.
During a question-and-answer session following his address, Williams responded to Chris Sugden of the conservative Anglican Mainstream group who asked about a resolution that passed in the Episcopal Church's House of Deputies on July 12 in support of opening the ordination process to all people.
Williams, who spent two days July 8-9 engaging with representatives at General Convention, acknowledged that the resolution in question, D025, also would need to be endorsed by the House of Bishops for the legislation to pass. Referring to the deputies' decision, Williams said, "I regret the fact that the will to observe a moratorium is not the will of such a significant part of the church in North America."
On July 13, the bishops passed an amended version of Resolution D025, which must now go back to the deputies for further action or endorsement. The resolution also reaffirms the Episcopal Church's continued participation in and financial support of the Anglican Communion.
During a July 9 meditation as part of a convention Eucharist, Williams expressed his gratitude to the Episcopal Church for its "continuing willingness to engage with the wider life of our communion." But he also expressed his hopes and prayers "that there won't be decisions in the coming days that could push us further apart. But if people elsewhere in the communion are concerned about this, it's because of a profound sense of what the Episcopal Church has given and can give to our fellowship worldwide."
Sugden, a leading conservative in the Church of England, questioned Williams July 13 about the extension of the Anglican Communion Listening Process and the authenticity of its $1.5 million grant from the Satcher Health Leadership Institute in Atlanta, Georgia.
"The intention of the Listening Process is to give an opportunity for informed reflection, discussion and the listening to the experience of lesbian and gay people and others in the church," Williams responded. "That is the explicit direction of that process; there is no agenda to that process. Some of the funding for this project is coming from American sources, which are connected with medical research. I was not aware at any point that there was an agenda to the funding or that conditions were attached to the funding."
The General Synod, the Church of England'smain legislative body, met July 10-13 in York, northern England. The members were played a DVD during which Williams described as "unforgettable" the Caribbean hospitality in Jamaica at the ACC meeting.
"Overall, looking back on the ACC meeting I feel that there is great deal to be grateful for. Some of the relationships shaped at the Lambeth Conference have been worked on a developed through," said Williams. "Some of the tensions that were at Lambeth have been looked at again and they're not going to go away in a hurry and nobody expects them to, but at least we have a framework of trust in which to discuss them. The interdependence of the communion … has been reaffirmed quite importantly and quite deeply."
Williams highlighted four of the 41 resolutions passed by the ACC that dealt with an Anglican Relief and Development alliance; the Bible in the Life of the Church project on hermeneutics; the work of the Windsor Continuation Group; and the establishment of the Anglican Health Network.