Rowan Williams Fears Schism in Anglican Church
The Anglican Church is on the brink of separation over homosexuality, and the Archbishop of Canterbury has admitted that he fears losing control of the Church.
by Anne Thomas
Posted: Saturday, January 6, 2007, 9:14 (GMT)
The Anglican Church is on the brink of separation over homosexuality, and the Archbishop of Canterbury has admitted that he fears losing control of the Church.
Dr Rowan Williams said that he feared anything that set Christians more deeply at odds with each other.
"And because I am an ordinary, sinful human being, I fear the situation slipping out of my control, such as it is," he said.
"I fear schism, not because I think it's the worst thing in the world but because, at this particular juncture, it's going to be bad for us. It's going to drive people into recrimination and bitterness."
In a documentary on Canterbury Cathedral to be broadcast on ITV, the Archbishop added: "We can't take it for granted that the Anglican Communion will go on as it always has been.
"Of course that's unsettling, of course that's painful for everybody, but there's no way of moving on without asking the hard questions."
His comments, which will be leapt on by critics who accuse him of weak leadership, come at a highly sensitive time for the worldwide Church, which is being pulled apart by warring factions.
Dr Williams will chair a make-or-break summit in Africa next month with his fellow primates, the archbishops who head the 38 self-governing churches or provinces that make up the 70 million-strong Anglican Communion.
The Archbishop is hoping that a compromise will emerge, allowing conservatives and liberals to co-exist relatively peacefully until a more formal split can be worked out over the next decade.
Meanwhile, the Archbishop is facing fresh turmoil in the Church of England following the disclosure that more than 50 gay or lesbian priests have "married" in civil partnership ceremonies.
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Added: Wednesday, January 24, 2007, 13:35 (GMT)
I like Rowan Williams a lot. He clearly has the toughest job in the Church of England, and yet he pulls it off with grace and authority. I decided I would like a Rowan T Shirt, but I couldn’t find one, so I made it myself.
http://www.cafepress.com/cofeunderground
Mark, United Kingdom
Added: Sunday, January 7, 2007, 23:08 (GMT)
Wait and think clearly. If I understand it, there are 50 false prophets in the Anglican church who have come in masquerading as clergy practice abominations in the sight of God and have gone thru an unscriptural union.
So they are not clergy at all, but patients who have tried to take over the hospital and risk giving everyone what they are suffering from unless that spirit is bound! If they desire to stay in the church then the root of their personal problems must be dealt with - were they victims, culprits or do they need prayer to ask the Lord of all heaven to recreate them so they are not twisted within. A broken and contrite heart the Lord does not despise ..............Wales has always produced very brave Christians, but the nation is also immersed in nature mysticism, spirtism and druidism - all spirits which would set themselves up against the true knowledge of God, so perhaps someone should help our Welsh Arch-Bishop see the wood from the trees. The Lord made male and female and speaking as a female I do not remember the scriptures saying that as a weaker vessel I or my sisters could be replaced by some spurious third way. Come on gentlemen think it through, pray it through and then do something about it.
A lesbian or homosexual spirit has to go at the name of Jesus - they get ejected!
Valerie, Hastings UK
