Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Archbishop Shoots Self in Foot on YouTube

Below is the video of a taped message from the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, for those gathered in Singapore for a meeting of the Global South Anglicans. If you pay attention to roughly the first seven minutes of the video, he states all those those things that should bind us all together, quoting from Paul's letter to the Romans with talk of being adopted as children of God. All of this is in the context of talking about covenants, and the covenant that God has made with us. It's also the set-up for why the Archbishop believes that the covenant God has made with God's people isn't enough... and we need an Anglican Covenant crafted by "seventy people" to bind us as a communion.
And then the Archbishop loads up a rifle at roughly the eighth minute of the video, and aims it directly at his foot. See, I am willling to accept the first seven minutes of what he has to say because I buy into the belief of being a child of God. But ++Rowan continues to see me and other "mes" as embodied now in Rev. Canon Mary Glasspool as somehow not really part of that adopted group of children. (Please note: the Archbishop refused to even acknowledge that she is "Reverend Canon"!) We are the cause of pain, and suffering for the Global South... and Lambeth Palace. Our presence and our desire to claim the blessing that Jesus Christ so generously offers to all people is something that requires a new covenant to deal with us.
And what exactly does he mean at the end by "a new Pentecost"? Is that one where the Holy Spirit settles on only those who sign the covenant of Anglican exclusion?
Think what you will about the Archbishop's comments. I wish he had stopped at the seven minute mark.

2 comments:

Phoebe said...

I'm glad I'm and Episcopalian!

Anonymous said...

Thank God I live here in the USA

Peggins