WCC Participants Treated to an Encounter with the Next Archbishop of Canterbury
Episcopal News Service. February 28, 1991 [91052]
The man who will become the 103rd archbishop of Canterbury and leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion treated participants at the World Council of Churches (WCC) Assembly in Canberra, Australia, to a glimpse of his theological convictions.
Although he is avoiding the media until his enthronement in April, Bishop George Carey charmed a crowd of about 500 with a combination of theological critique, wit, and rigorous honesty. Speaking of his personal faith journey, Carey encouraged his audience to "never be afraid of hard, tough questions," admitting that his own life has been filled with "questions, doubts, and fears."
Carey said his faith journey has been enriched by his own background in the evangelical tradition of the church and encounters with Roman Catholics and charismatics. In fact, during a critique of how the WCC Assembly was handling its deliberations, Carey expressed some doubts that the assembly was making room for the unpredictable Holy Spirit, attempting to control it instead. "But the Spirit is wind and the wind can shake; the Spirit is fire and can burn away our indolence and unbelief; the Spirit is water and can cleanse us from unholiness."
While admitting that some charismatics can be fundamentalist, arrogant, and simplistic, Carey said the church must "consider the possibility that God may be telling us something through these movements."
In addressing the agenda of the assembly, Carey said he was happy with the emphasis on the environment because "we have done such incalculable harm to our world, and left future generations to pick up the tab." Known as a "green" bishop for his environmental concerns, Carey added that he hoped "we can do more than pass resolutions," but also call on WCC member churches to "adopt an ecumenical lifestyle."
In addressing one of the more nagging issues faced by the assembly, Carey said he hoped the WCC would make theological issues "a matter of extreme urgency." Referring to a "clear disquiet about the lack of concentrated theological work" that emerged from the last assembly in Vancouver, Canada, he said, "We should look no further than the coherence of a Trinitarian framework of faith that has served the church well enough for 2000 years." He added that he saw "no divine mandate to create fresh theologies unrelated to the faith delivered to the saints."
Our allegiance to the distinctiveness of Christian revelation should not keep us from dialogue with peoples of other faiths, according to Carey. "Our preaching and our humble sharing of what we know in Christ must flow from knowledge of other faith communities and must not be another form of Crusade," he said.
Not all forms of spirituality are Christian, Carey contended, adding a critical note: "Some of the things I have read and heard here make me wonder if I am hearing the authentic tones of biblical and historic Christianity or the tones of spirituality which have but an uneasy connection with Christian truth." It is important that "we do not imprison our Gospel by uncritical acceptance of culture," Carey scolded. He quoted Scottish theologian Elizabeth Templeton, who said that she had "a curious feeling at this assembly that we swallow camels of alien ideology if they come in the guise of ethnic religion, while we strain at gnats of Christian liturgical practice."
Touching on an obviously sensitive issue, Carey said that he rejoiced in the role women are playing in the church, detected "a danger when feminism moves away from issues of order and ministry to the way we talk about God." Adopting the tone and posture of the professor that he once was, Carey argued that language is a tool that uses analogy and symbolism, and "to lose sight of the analogical basis of language leads to confusion and possibly departure from historic and mainstream Christianity." He expressed clear discomfort "when passages of Scripture have been altered to avoid reference to God the Father or God the Son." He called that "theologically dubious" because the analogy describes "a relationship with God that can only be understood in personal terms," and "we have no right to alter the analogy or try to improve on words of Scripture."
No one was particularly surprised when someone rose to challenge Carey on his own use of sexist language. Carey hesitated for a moment before answering that he always tried to be sensitive to the use of inclusive language and that his challenge "is to those who make changes uncritically." He said that "we must do our theology on this, or we could end up in all kinds of distortions.... We must struggle to get it right" even while admitting that the inadequacy of language will make that difficult.
Carey said that he agreed with WCC General Secretary Emilio Castro that the church's disunity is affecting its mission and evangelism. "We have so much in common but are seemingly so powerless to deliver." In sketching some possible solutions, Carey said with obvious enthusiasm that we must "affirm grassroots ecumenism -- that's where the work is going on in the body of Christ." While encouraging grassroots ecumenism, he said that "we must continue our bilateral and multilateral discussions" even if there are signs of "ecumenical stagnation." He added that he applauded the role the WCC has played in bringing the churches "much closer together than we have ever been in history." Carey called the document, "Baptism, Eucharist, and Ministry" (BEM), "a thrilling statement of our unity." Yet it is time to move beyond friendship to a freedom to ask each other tough questions, he continued.
Carey said that he found discussion of the Decade of Evangelism "muted" at the assembly. The burning question is what it means to proclaim the kingdom of God in today's world, he added. "How do we motivate our churches to be more open to their mission in the world? The task of assisting our congregations to know the faith of the church and be able to communicate it is of the greatest urgency." He said that the challenge becomes obvious when, for example, he discovers that only 10 percent of the English people are in touch with organized religion and the Church of England is described as "the least taught of all Christian groups today."
"We should not accept decline as inevitable," Carey asserted in response to a question. He said that he senses "a great hunger and longing to know God" but is disturbed that people don't find an answer in organized religion. "We are deeply ashamed when we hear that." He admitted that part of the problem is that the Church of England has in the past been too elitist and reactionary. He argued that "evangelism must be community-centered," using small groups and based on a struggle to help people understand the relevance of the Gospel. And, he concluded, we must begin to use language that people can understand rather than a private, internal language that excludes people.
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