A sermon preached June 15 at St. Paul's Cathedral, London, England, by
the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, on the occasion of the
Service of Thanksgiving for the Eightieth Birthday of Her Majesty The
Queen, was commended to the media. Williams begins his sermon by saying
"The curse of our age has been the inhumanity of absolute ideology and
of myths of racial supremacy, the great lies that have plunged our
continent and our world into darkness and butchery so many times since
the nineteen twenties. And in the new century and millennium, what we
have to fear is a toxic mixture of religion that has become inhuman,
economic power sustained at massive human cost, and the technologies of
destruction that can be used by armies and by terrorists alike for
impersonal killing." The text is available at
http://www.anglicancommunion
Brief Wisdom:
"I believe we will be pushed to understand and re-understand the polity
of this church." -- the Rev. Sandye Wilson, responding to a question
from the London Times concerning the June 14 evening hearing on the
Windsor Report and the resolutions moving through the Special Committee:
Today's briefing panel consisted of the Rev. Sandye Wilson, Diocese of
Newark; Mr. Sam McDonald, Diocese of Ohio; Bishop Michael Curry, Diocese
of North Carolina and
Bishop Bruce McPherson, Diocese of West Louisiana.
Highlights of the June 15 morning legislative committee hearings
Canons
Progress is being made on Title IV revisions, the Legislative Committee
on Canons heard Thursday. "We found some common ground ... but there is
more work that needs to be done," said Stephen Hutchinson from the
Diocese of Utah, who is leading the rewrite. The committee may remove a
controversial provision to include laity in the disciplinary canons in
order to salvage the resolution that would replace the current
court-oriented system with a complex one that stresses mediation and
reconciliation.
Consecration of Bishops
The committee did not make a recommendation on consent to the election
of the Rev. Barry Beisner to be bishop coadjutor of the Diocese of
Northern California. The committee met for more than an hour on June 15.
The committee will meet again at 7:30 a.m. June 16 and has asked Beisner
to meet with them then.
Evangelism
The Evangelism Committee considered a substitute resolution for A038, "A
Diocesan Development Initiative," that would direct the Convention's
presiding officers, Executive Council and staff of the Episcopal Church
Center to develop new resources, endorse existing programs and encourage
dioceses to share best practices in organizational development and
leadership training. A revised version will be considered June 16 at the
morning meeting of the committee. A041, "University Ministry" affirming
college ministry and giving college ministry mission status (where
appropriate) and providing staff (where appropriate) received extensive
discussion. A subcommittee is working on amending the resolution after
hearing from several college students and chaplains.
National and International Concerns
The committee held a public hearing on resolutions A011, A012 and A013
which addressed the Palestine/Israel peace process and investment in
Palestine. Given the large number of speakers, Resolution B012,
submitted by Bishop Edward Little of Northern Indiana, which suggests
apologizing to the Jewish community "for our consistently unbalanced
approach to the conflict in the Middle East," was postponed until the
committee's next session on the morning of June 17.
Social Urban Affairs
The committee heard testimony on four resolutions: A123 focusing on
slavery and reconciliation; A124 studying the "complicity" of the church
in the Institution of slavery and how "recompense" can be made; C005
from the Diocese of New York requesting the establishment of a
commission to research the history of any complicity of the church and
its several dioceses in slavery and any necessary steps to make
reparations and C011 proposing a task force of the Executive Council to
study, document and report on the enslavement of Africans and their
descendants. The committee was also asked to consider A127 which would
endorse of the concept of restorative justice as a "fresh means" of
achieving "wholeness" in the church.
Members of the Special Committee on the Episcopal Church and the
Anglican Communion discussed resolution A165, which focuses on the
Anglican Communion's Listening Process. This work was referred to a
sub-committee to propose the text that will form the heart of its work
during the June 16 hearing in the Hyatt Regency Ballroom. The committee
also concluded its open hearing on resolutions A160, A161, A162 and A163
and will begin discernment on that legislation June 16. It discharged
resolutions C009, C027, C037 and C039 because the language and concepts
will inform the committee's work on other resolutions.
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