Wednesday, June 02, 2010

Responses to Rowan’s Loathesome Letter

I am determined to focus my energies on my sermon prep. In keeping with that, I have not commented on the odious Pentecost letter of the Archbishop of Canterbury in which he comes out swinging hysterically because the Episcopal Church consecrated a godly priest as a bishop in the Diocese of Los Angeles. Nor will I call attention to his venom against one of our new bishops, compared to his complicity with the bishops who actually murder and imprison people. Nope. Not going to do it.

Strangely enough, his letter was prefaced by a press release and Q&A. [How weird is that??] I just can’t put the energy into parsing and analyzing the Archbishop’s letter; all I can say is that it is abysmal, and he seems more and more irrelevant to my life in the Anglican Communion. But others have written well, and I assume you all are reading the same blogs and websites as I. Others wrote in some depth, offering helpful analysis – including Mark Harris, Father Jake, Grandmère Mimi, and Caminante. Thinking Anglicans has a great round-up of responses from within the church and from the news media here and here. Earlier, Jim Naughton asked what the Episcopal Church might/should do if we are “dis-invited” from some Anglican Councils; once the letter appeared, he responded to the Archbishop’s letter. Also at the Episcopal Café, Andrew Gerns did some fine analysis.

Today, I was struck by the response of Marc Andrus, Bishop of California, whose comments are here. He cuts to the heart of the matter, and avoids the kind of venom and derision that I surely would have employed. He manages to be kind and respectful, while outlining critical problems with the Archbishop’s letter. What a bishop! Hats off to Bishop Marc.

And deep thanks to all your others who have taken the time to analyze the vicious letter from the Archbishop of Canterbury upon the feast of Pentecost.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home