The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church USA (ESUSA), the Most Red. Frank T Griswold was recently in Berea for the ECUSA’s international youth convention.
Rev Griswold has been the centre of great controversy over the past few years since he presided over the ordination of the first openly gay bishop in the Anglican Church.
Since that time, Griswold has faced great challenges in keeping his 2.3 million-member Church united and avoiding a schism.
In a recent interview with religion reporter Frank Lockwood, the controversial Griswold spoke about his Church and the challenges that he has faced and which lie ahead for the denomination.
Question: Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church USA: Is that a tough job these days?
Answer: It has its challenges, quite definitely. I see my ministry as one of connecting pieces, reminding people of a variety of points of view, that they don't have a corner on God's truth. God's truth has many dimensions. The Anglican tradition has always ... been a tradition in which widely divergent points of view have been held together not by one point of view capitulating to another but by common prayer, focusing beyond opinions on the person of Christ.
Q: What will it take to heal the divisions in the Anglican Communion?
A: Well, I think I see the healing already taking place. There is the public rhetoric, and then there is the actual reality. ... There are all these webs of relationships across the communion that are strong and doing good work. And certainly none of the provinces of the Anglican Communion are monochromatic. You may have angry words coming from a particular place, and yet on the ground, the relationships between bishops here and bishops there are quite strong and very positive. I think it's a question of mutual respect, time, and reliance upon the Holy Spirit, who can do amazing things in overcoming divisions.
