Letters from 26 February
to 4 March 2007
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Time will tell
THANK
YOU for
your reasoned and thoughtful comments on the interaction between
lay and church parties and church governance. It is clear that
power is the real issue in the current controversy, and not sex
as behavior, though gender may indeed be a big piece of it — as
women and other minorities "gain" power, men inevitably "lose" it,
in a paradigm of government/life which presumes a finite quantity of
almost everything, including power. I trust that your final [or
almost final] comment about time and process favoring democracy
over monarchy proves to be true.
Helen-Louise Boling
St. Andrew's Parish
Toledo, Ohio, USA
hlboling@toast.net
26 February 2007
The majority is always right?
With the primates’ validation (although “difficult”)
of the ministry of CANA and AMiA, when will you add CANA and place it, and AMiA, in the In Communion listing? They must certainly
be recognized by all as In Communion now. The primates would certainly not tell the faithful to leave the communion when they
will not eject the apostate.
CH (CPT) Steven G Rindahl
Anglican Community of Camp Liberty
Baghdad, IRAQ
26 February 2007
L'Etat, c'est moi
Thank you for
your editorial comment on the tight hold on power bishops have in most churches, including the Episcopal Church. And also for
noting the high level of authoritarianism of those churches seeking to take over parts of the Episcopal Church.
However, I fear
your republican sentiments are confusing state and governmental distinctions. May I point out that a majority of the progressive
democratic countries in the world are also monarchies. Indeed, the intertwining of power and policies of the American Government
in D.C. and the "Christian" fundamentalists sounds very medieval indeed — and just as worrisome to those of
us who believe the Church still has a vital role to play in helping all people to recognise their spiritual centre through guidance
rather than dictation.
Father Stephen
Bartlett-Re
American Catholic Church of New England (independent Catholic)
San Francisco, California, USA
26 February 2007
But there's no such thing as normal
We need to appreciate the struggle Jesus had to define his own values
and to consequently take a different path from what would have been deemed 'sensible' in society at that time. It would undoubtedly
be easy to give in to the pressures 'to be normal' (whatever normal is) which equates to being acceptable, because usually
that causes less stress and keeps people happy avoiding controvesy.
This is what the various provincial synods of the Anglican Church
will be doing by agreeing to a convenant that will limit our inetrpretation of scriptutre and the historic creeds! Are we seriously
going to capitulate on the significant understandings and learnings, not to mention developments, both theologically and culturally
that the church has encountered over the last fifty years?
We have to ask: 'what do each of us stand for?' We have to accept
each others differnces, not be arrogant about our own perspective and realise that answers to prayer is not a limited select
chosen resources given for just a few!
For me to turn the clock back to a much more restrictive and dogmatic
way of being Anglican is as stupid as not accepting that we all have a different perspective and understanding. The liberty
to explore and use reason as much as scripture and tradition in discerning God's purpose for the world today is for many of
us completely consistent with the life and witness of Jesus the Christ.
Colin Dale
St Luke's Anglican Church
North Shore City
Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
27 February 2007
We drew a circle that took her in
In your most recent editorial I was suprised to read the following
phrase "We note that the US Episcopal Church has a form of governance in which outsiders (lay people) share power with insiders
(bishops)." Surely Christians believe that, in and through baptism, there are no "insiders" and "outsiders"? Ordination is
not necessary to salvation, only baptism and holy communion, according to the 39 Articles of Religion. Much bitterness and
discord could be avoided if Holy Orders were not seen as a way to power for individuals but a gift to the whole Church.
David Swyer
Benefice of Albourne with Sayers Common & Twineham
West Sussex, UNITED KINGDOM
28 February 2007
Ah, authority
You
write 'a
(male) archbishop often has metropolitan authority, which makes him
the equivalent of a king'. This is something of an over-simplification,
and it is not what metropolitical authority is about.
In the classic mon-episcopal system there is (as the name implies)
one bishop in an area, and that bishop exercises authority and jurisdiction. The archbishop exercises metropolitan jurisdiction,
but this is essentially the power of a visitor, and of appeal. It is not, properly, a power of ordinary jurisdiction, which
belongs to the diocesan bishop alone, except during an official metropolitical visitation. (In the Roman Church they have declared
that the Bishop of Rome also has a universal ordinary jurisdiction, but even there I don't think than the metropolitical authority
of an archbishop extends to ordinary jurisdiction of the dioceses in his province.)
The authority exercised by an archbishop is very often authority
of another kind: it is 'moral' authority — the natural deference we give to those who are senior, those who are leaders. And
it is force of personality (or personal 'charisma' if you prefer) and force of argument. Maybe it is also political authority
— the recognition that they speak on behalf of some number of other people. But these forms of authority are generally not
recognized in canon law!
Simon Kershaw
All Saints, St Ives, Diocese of Ely
St Ives, Cambridgeshire, UNITED KINGDOM
28 February 2007
Arise and be crazy
Am
glad about
the stuff I found on AO. I would want to use this medium to reach
out to all the brethren in the Episcopal world, especially the
youth, that we need to arise and be crazy for the Lord. We have
a great way of worship, but it is just an aspect of our calling.
We are not leaders of tomorrow, but now!
Hayford Mensah Ayerakwa
Christ Anglican Church
Accra, GHANA
hmayerakwa@yahoo.com
1 March 2007
Earlier letters
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