kneel in wonder at heaven touching earth» Anglican Church

The Wealth that is our Fellow Human Beings

Paul Sibley — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 17:00:26 +0000

The Wealth that is our Fellow Human Beings

The Archbishop of Canterbury has recorded his New Year message. In the message, Dr Williams asks us to consider the importance placed on material wealth, to ‘turn outwards’ and appreciate the treasure that is our ‘fellow human beings’ during this time of financial crisis.

He encourages us to consider ‘treasure’ and question the importance placed on material wealth. “Jesus said that where our treasure is, there our hearts will be. Our hearts will be in a very bad way if they are focused only the state of our finances. They’ll be healthy if they’re capable of turning outwards – looking at the real treasure that is our fellow human beings”.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Archbishop of Canterbury’s Christmas sermon

Paul Sibley — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 17:21:10 +0000

Archbishop of Canterbury’s Christmas sermon

The text for the Archbishop of Canterbury’s thought provoking Christmas sermon follows. He says that one of the lessons of the coming of Christ is that people shouldn’t waste time waiting for larger-than-life heroes to bring comprehensive and total solutions to the ills of the world.

Archbishop of Canterbury’s Christmas sermon

Donnerstag 25 Dezember 2008

‘There went out a decree from Caesar Augustus’; we’ve very likely heard those words many, many times in carol services, like an overture to the great drama of the Christmas story. The emperor Augustus would have been delighted, I’m sure, to be told that his name would still be recalled after twenty centuries – but more than a little dismayed that it would be simply because he happened to be around at the time of Christ’s birth. There were all sorts of things for which he would have wanted to be remembered, and many of his contemporaries were not slow in telling him about them. And in fairness he had quite a good claim to fame: he had, after all, restored order to the Roman state and consolidated its global influence as never before. For many decades, a kind of peace prevailed from Germany to Syria – enforced by typical Roman brutality when any signs of dissent appeared, but still probably better than the chaos of the Roman civil war that had been going on before. It made sense to hail him as restorer of peace, and to look forward to a long period of stability and prosperity.

It didn’t turn out quite like that, of course; but Augustus’s reign was for many people a sort of golden age. In later generations, new emperors set themselves the goal of bringing back something of that stability and confidence, and they would describe themselves on their coins and statues as the rescuers of the world’s good order – as ‘saviours’: something that had already been common among the kings of the Middle East in earlier centuries.

So if you’d asked people of Jesus’ day what the word ‘saviour’ meant, the answer would be pretty plain. It was someone who would bring back the golden age, who would put an end to conflict; you could almost say it was someone who would stop things happening. Salvation was the end of history, brought about by one unique charismatic leader.

Curious that, all these years later, the same language still survives. Twentieth century totalitarian systems looked forward to a state of things where all conflict was over and change and struggle stopped. On the other side, after the end of the Cold War, some scholars were writing about the ‘end of history’, and an American President spoke of a ‘new world order’. In recent weeks, we’ve seen some of Barack Obama’s advisers and colleagues warning about the level of messianic expectation loaded on to the President-elect – wisely recognising the risks involved in tapping in to this vein of excited imagination always just below the surface of even the most cynical society. We have certainly not, as human beings, grown out of the fascination of saviours who will restore the good times. The Lord has bared his arm and is once and for all returning to Zion; surely that is real salvation?

And as always the gospel comes in with a sober ‘Yes, but…’ The saviour arrives, but goes unrecognised. He is hidden in the form of poverty and insecurity, a displaced person. Instead of peace and the golden age restored, there is conflict, a trial, a cross and a mysterious new dawn breaking unlike anything that has gone before. He was in the world and the world did not know him. Yet to those who recognise him and trust him, he gives authority (not just ‘power’, as our translations have it) to become something of what he is – to share in the manifesting of his saving work.

So what’s happening here to the idea of a saviour? The gospel tells us something hard to hear – that there is not going to be a single charismatic leader or a dedicated political campaign or a war to end all wars that will bring the golden age; it tells us that history will end when God decides, not when we think we have sorted all our problems out; that we cannot turn the kingdoms of this world into the kingdom of God and his anointed; that we cannot reverse what has happened and restore a golden age. But it tells us something that at the same time explodes all our pessimism and world-weariness. There is a saviour, born so that all may have life in abundance, a saviour whose authority does not come from popularity, problem-solving or anything else in the human world. He is the presence of the power of creation itself. He is the indestructible divine life, and the illumination he gives cannot be shrouded or defeated by the darkness of human failure.

But he has become flesh. He has come to live as part of a world in which conflict comes back again and again, and history does not stop, a world in which change and insecurity are not halted by a magic word, by a stroke of pen or sword on the part of some great leader, some genius. He will change the world and – as he himself says later in John’s gospel – he will overcome the world simply by allowing into the world the unrestricted force and flood of divine life, poured out in self-sacrifice. It is not the restoring of a golden age, not even a return to the Garden of Eden; it is more – a new creation, a new horizon for us all.

And it can be brought into being only in ‘flesh’: not by material force, not by brilliant negotiation but by making real in human affairs the depth of divine life and love; by showing ‘glory’ – the intensity and radiance of unqualified joy, eternal self-giving. Only in the heart of the ordinary vulnerability of human life can this be shown in such a way, so that we are saved from the terrible temptation of confusing it with earthly power and success. This is, in Isaiah’s words, ‘the salvation of our God’ – not of anything or anyone else.

For those who accept this revelation and receive the promised authority, what can be done to show his glory? So often the answer to this lies in the small and local gestures, the unique difference made in some particular corner of the world, the way in which we witness to the fact that history not only goes on but is also capable of being shifted towards compassion and hope. This year as every year, we remember in our prayers the crises and sufferings of the peoples of the Holy Land: how tempting it is to think that somehow there will be a ‘saviour’ here – a new US president with a fresh vision, an election in Israel or Palestine that will deliver some new negotiating strategy…It’s perfectly proper to go on praying for a visionary leadership in all those contexts; but meanwhile, the ‘saving’ work is already under way, not delayed until there is a comprehensive settlement.

This last year, one of the calendars in my study, one of the things that provides me with images for reflection e very day, has been the one issued by Families for Peace – a network of people from both communities in the Holy Land who have lost children or relatives in the continuing conflict; people who expose themselves to the risk of meeting the family of someone who killed their son or daughter, the risk of being asked to sympathise with someone whose son or daughter was killed by activists promoting what you regard as a just cause. The Parents Circle and Families Forum organised by this network are labouring to bring hope into a situation of terrible struggle simply by making the issues ‘flesh’, making them about individuals with faces and stories. When I have met these people, I have been overwhelmed by their courage; but also left with no illusions about how hard it is, and how they are made to feel again and again that they come to their own and their own refuse to know them. Yet if I had to identify where you might begin to speak of witnesses to ‘salvation’ in the Holy Land, I should unhesitatingly point to them.

In any such situation, the same holds true. In recent days, I have been catching up with news of other enterprises in the Holy Land, especially from the Christian hospitals in Bethlehem and Nazareth, struggling with all kinds of pressure on them from various sources and with the chronic problem of desperately small resources, yet still obstinately serving all who come to them, from whatever background. And last week I spoke with someone helping to run a small community theatre project in Bulawayo, supported by local churches, working to deepen the confidence and the hope of those living in the middle of some of the worst destitution even Zimbabwe can show. Signs of salvation; not a magical restoration of the golden age, but the stubborn insistence that there is another order, another reality, at work in the midst of moral and political chaos; the reality that is the eternal ‘Logos’, St John’s Greek term that means not simply a word but a pattern of harmonious relation.

That is what is made flesh at Christmas. And our own following of the Word made flesh is what gives us the resources to be perennially suspicious of claims about the end of history or the coming of some other saviour exercising some other sort of power. To follow him is to take the risks of working at these small and stubborn outposts of newness, taking our responsibility and authority. In the months ahead it will mean in our own country asking repeatedly what is asked of us locally to care for those who bear the heaviest burdens in the wake of our economic crisis – without waiting for the magical solution, let alone the return of the good times. Internationally, it is remembering that our personal involvement in prayer and giving is utterly essential, whatever pressure we may rightly want to bring to bear on governments and organisations.

Isaiah looked towards the day when the guards on the deserted city’s wall would see the return of the Lord ‘face to face’. So much of our witness to salvation depends on this face to face encounter (and yes, that was one of the ideals that helped to shape the work of this year’s Lambeth Conference). We can’t pass the buck to Caesar Augustus, Barack Obama or even Canterbury City Council – though we may pray for them all and hope that they will play their part in witnessing to new possibilities. To follow the Word made flesh is to embark, with a fair bit of fear and trembling, it may be, on making history – not waiting for it to stop. And that means speaking and working for Christ in the myriad face to face encounters in which he asks us to be his witnesses – to see and to show his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth.

Lambeth Conference – From the Bishop of Ely

Paul Sibley — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 16:57:24 +0000

Lambeth Conference – From the Bishop of Ely

The Bishop of Ely has written a report about how he feels the Lambeth Conference went. For me, it summarises very well what I’ve been reading on various blogs throughout the Conference, and is very positive. I hope it’s okay for me to publish it in full here — it was posted to a public email list, so I’m hoping that means it’s in the public domain.

There are three paragraphs I particularly want to highlight:

There can be no doubt that, as a leading article in The Times recently said, ‘the Conference has gone far better than the Archbishop or even the most optimistic Anglicans could have imagined’. It was a remarkable and in many senses unexpected success. The Press, who arrived ready to file their obituaries of the Anglican Communion, found they were writing a very different story. It is clear that through the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the vision and spiritual stature of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Conference has been a considerable success, and that the Anglican Communion has made remarkable and unexpected progress.

I’m sure many of those participating were filled with trepidation about what might happen. But by working together; listening to each other; and, most importantly, listening to God; those fears were replaced by something quite amazing.

As the Conference proceeded, it was impossible not to be aware that we had the privilege of being present at a very significant occasion — an occasion at which it can truly be said that the Holy Spirit had led the Church through and around its difficulties into a new place.

God is still active today, sometimes even in the Church!

The Lambeth Conference has put new heart into the Anglican Communion, significantly raised its profile, and strengthened its internal structures. The widespread agreement of the moratoria indicates some change of direction in the thinking of many in the Communion.

I feel honoured to be a small part of the Anglican Communion. Our Bishops have been fantastic at this Lambeth Conference. I just hope and pray that the rifts, with those who felt unable to come this year, can be repaired as positively.

The full report by the Bishop of Ely follows:

LAMBETH CONFERENCE 2008

On returning home – impressions from the Bishop of Ely

It is too early to gauge the consequences and long-term effects of the Lambeth Conference, though no doubt much will be written in the months to come. What follows is a report written shortly after returning to Ely.

Along with a number of other Dioceses, we offered hospitality before the Conference. Most visiting Bishops were with us for the whole five-day period, but a number came and went. Our total number was nine, including Bishops from the USA, Canada, Papua New Guinea, Australia, South India and Japan. The pre-Lambeth gathering was an important part of the whole Conference, and gave the opportunity to get to know a number of Bishops well before we were submerged in a Conference of 1,500 people. Can I thank all those who played a part in receiving and providing hospitality for this group. We continued to meet and share and exchange our impressions of the Conference as it proceeded.

There can be no doubt that, as a leading article in The Times recently said, ‘the Conference has gone far better than the Archbishop or even the most optimistic Anglicans could have imagined’. It was a remarkable and in many senses unexpected success. The Press, who arrived ready to file their obituaries of the Anglican Communion, found they were writing a very different story. It is clear that through the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the vision and spiritual stature of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Conference has been a considerable success, and that the Anglican Communion has made remarkable and unexpected progress.

With memories of the 1998 Conference still in his mind, the Archbishop was determined that this time, it should not be a quasi-political occasion. The Lambeth Conference was to be a meeting under God, where the single agenda item was the Lordship of Christ and the extension of his Kingdom in mission. There were 650 Bishops present, called together to listen as much as to speak. It was sad that there were some absentees. The figure used by the Press of 230 includes those who were ill, those dioceses which have no current appointment, and those too elderly to travel – the number of those who actually declined the invitation was much smaller, though sadly included three English Bishops.

A number of Bishops were present who had attended the GAFCON Conference, and one said to me that he was surprised at GAFCON by the breadth and generosity of that Conference, and by its congruence with large parts of the Lambeth Conference.

By beginning the Lambeth Conference 2008 with a three-day retreat in Canterbury Cathedral, the Archbishop signalled that worship, prayer, and the development of our spiritual life should lie at the centre of this Conference. Throughout, his theme was that we should choose life, and that we should speak words of life to one another, rather than those of death. Unity was preferable to schism, and unity was a prize well worth struggling for. The Conference was characterised by a spirit of friendship, a willingness to learn and understand the different contexts in which we work, but above all, a determination by the majority of Bishops to hold together and to seek God’s will as we move forward.

After the retreat, there followed twelve days which had a similar pattern. First, morning prayer (6.15 a.m.), followed by the Eucharist, celebrated by different Provinces. This was followed by an hour and a quarter of Bible Study. The Bible Study groups were one of the deepest and most important experiences of the Conference.

The group I was in included Bishops from Zululand, the Seychelles, South East Florida, Nelson (New Zealand), North California, and Bishop Winston Halapua (Principal of the Theological College in Auckland, New Zealand, for the Polynesian Province). Each day, we studied the Gospel reading from St John’s Gospel containing one of the ‘I am’ sayings. This was seen as the focus of each day, on which we had a homily at the Eucharist and helpful notes.

Half-way through the morning, four Bible Study groups formed into one Indaba Group. ‘Indaba’ is a Zulu word for ‘a purposeful meeting to address matters of common concern’. Those Bishops who are more naturally used to speaking than to listening found this a difficult experience, and it took some time for the Groups to settle. A combination of daily topics and well-prepared leadership eventually made the Groups function successfully. Each Indaba Group had a designated ‘listener’, who conveyed the content and nature of the discussion to the central Reflection Group, who produced the document which is a record of where the majority of those at the Conference felt they stood on the central issues (see Lambeth Indaba www.lambethconference.org/reflections/document.cfm).

In the afternoons, there was a wide variety of groups addressing other issues, and in the evening there was a major lecture. A seventeen-and-a-half hour day if you were present for everything.

Two aspects that formed a continuing thread through the Conference were those of mission and support for the Millennium Development Goals. This is what the Anglican Communion does in its day to day life in the wider world. The march down Whitehall past Parliament to Lambeth Palace was deeply impressive. As one policeman said to Sheila and me, it is rare to have a demonstration in favour of something. The significance of the Millennium Development Goals was reinforced at many points in the Conference, and when the Bishops gathered in front of Lambeth Palace, we were addressed by the Prime Minister. It was a remarkable speech, in which he demonstrated his deep concern and great knowledge of these issues; it was greatly appreciated by the Bishops.

As the Conference proceeded, it was impossible not to be aware that we had the privilege of being present at a very significant occasion — an occasion at which it can truly be said that the Holy Spirit had led the Church through and around its difficulties into a new place.

Many expected that the Anglican Communion would not survive the Conference, but it was clear that the vast majority were determined that we should stay together within the Communion, and behind the Archbishop’s leadership. Whilst there was no expectation that all the problems would be solved, there was a confidence that a new way of being the Church was emerging, based on a willingness to listen and participate in the struggle to grapple with these issues. This made the absences all the more painful.

Ten years ago, the Conference concluded with three days in which the Resolutions developed by the various Sections were debated in a plenary session and voted on. Hurriedly written and densely worded Resolutions were passed by an assembly of people, many of whom could not have been aware of the implications of the actions, and were unable to follow the proceedings or take part in them. A moment lodged in my memory, is the occasion when a Sudanese Bishop tried to speak about violence and warfare (his wife had been killed a month beforehand), but was prevented from doing so because he had not put his name down to speak two days beforehand. It was the Archbishop’s determination that the end of this Conference should be different that shaped its structure.

The Anglican Covenant, has been developed since the Windsor Report of 2004, and has been refined at various subsequent meetings. This document was examined by the Bishops, they did not vote on it, and the process of refining the Covenant goes on (possibly for some years). It was surprising that there was such broad support for so much of the Covenant, and it is now referred to the Anglican Consultative Council in September, and will be seen by the Provinces and Dioceses after that – so that we will see it in due course.

Alongside the Covenant, there are proposals for a Faith and Order Commission to deal with matters of doctrine, and for a Pastoral Forum to deal with matters of discipline. In addition, there will be an Anglican Development Fund. There was much discussion of the four means by which the Anglican Communion is bound together (the Archbishop of Canterbury; the Lambeth Conference; the Anglican Consultative Council and the Primates’ Meeting). In some quarters, there is concern that the role of the Archbishop of Canterbury in all this needs further examination. This is not the first time such issues have been raised, but this is work that will have to be addressed in the future.

A part of the Covenant process was to agree that there should be a moratorium in three areas:

on the election and consent to the consecration of a candidate for the episcopate living in a same-gender relationship

on public rites of blessing of same-sex unions

on further intervention by Bishops in Provinces, Dioceses and parishes other than their own

Whilst there were still a very few Bishops willing to step outside and seek a platform elsewhere (their comments were duly relayed by the Press), the level of consensus on the proposed Covenant came as a surprise to the Conference organisers. Whilst the problems that beset the Communion have not been overcome – and there are certainly Bishops who are saying that they are not able to accepts of the moratoria – nonetheless, it was clear that there was a strong determination by the majority that it should work, and that the means to guarantee this end should be provided.

So what does this mean for us in Ely?

First, and perhaps most important, the Lambeth Conference 2008 has established a new way in which the Church can conduct its business. Bounded by prayer and attention to the Bible, the Conference adopted a method which, though initially the subject of some criticism, allowed substantial progress to be made.

The Lambeth Conference has put new heart into the Anglican Communion, significantly raised its profile, and strengthened its internal structures. The widespread agreement of the moratoria indicates some change of direction in the thinking of many in the Communion.

Those who attended had the privilege of meeting Bishops from around the world, of learning a great deal about the context of their work, and sharing in prayer and study with an inspiring and deeply committed group of people.

When the Covenant eventually reaches its final draft and is adopted across the Provinces, the Church will have been placed in a new position. As one Bishop said, ‘We have never really had an Anglican Communion. It’s starting now.’ Another Bishop in my Bible Study group said, ‘The Bishops did not allow matters of sex and gender, schism and separation to dominate the agenda. Whilst the difficulties and the burdens remain, we now feel that they are bearable because of the fellowship that has been developed, and because there is in view a structure through which they can be addressed, and a hope that we can proceed forward together.’

+Anthony

August 2008

A Voice of Reason

Paul Sibley — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:50:58 +0000

A Voice of Reason

With so much doom and gloom being written, in the press and around the blogosphere, about the Anglican Communion at the moment it was refreshing, today, to read the voice of reason that is Bishop Alan Wilson. I hope and pray his voice will be heard, and taken notice of: especially this weekend with General Synod meeting in York (Friday 4th — Tuesday 8th July).

There have been a lot of scare stories, about the possibility of the Anglican Church splitting (shattering(?)), hitting the press recently — Ruth Gledhill is covering the majority of them in her blog at The Times Online.

But Bishop Alan reminds us that, “it’s time for fresh thinking, not trench warfare”. It seems that it’s trench warfare that we’re currently facing as each side in the various disputes wants to just dig in and defend its position. Whereas we should be finding ways to talk. We should be thinking differently!

Whether you’re running the Lambeth conference, pathfinding for the Anglican Communion, getting life expectancy in Zimbabwe higher than it was in England in the 11th century, or finding how to be radically inclusive in a fully traditional church, the only method is not Power Play, Militant Entryism and Dumb-Boy Thuggery, but FAITH!

Bishop Alan Wilson

The Archbishop of Canterbury is a good man

Paul Sibley — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 18:59:13 +0000

I think I must finally be beginning to “get” facebook. I joined another group on there today.

I’ve been becoming increasingly irritated and frustrated by the media fracas surrounding the Archbishop of Canterbury’s recent comments. When I visited Dave Walkers blog this morning, as I generally do most mornings, I found an article pointing to a facebook group — The Archbishop of Canterbury is a good man — that’s been set up in support of the Archbishop. And, as I find myself agreeing wholeheartedly with it’s aims, I decided to join. They are:

Joining the group affirms that you believe:
1) The media has misinterpreted the spirit of what Dr Williams was talking about in his lecture
2) As an intellectual, and a spiritual leader, Dr Williams should feel free to express a carefully considered opinion.
3) That Dr Williams is one of the most gifted minds in Britain, and his views should be given careful consideration.

Who is your virtual neighbour?

Paul Sibley — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 14:08:57 +0000

Who is your virtual neighbour? Social networkers given guidance to stop, think and act for change this Lent

The Church of England is making a very real attempt to embrace the latest internet trends. This year’s Love Life Live Lent campaign is appearing on the Social Networking sites too. Here’s what they have to say on the Church of England site:

This Lent, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, Dr Rowan Williams and Dr John Sentamu, are calling for ‘good neighbours’ – online and offline – to try out daily suggestions to help create a safer and more pleasant environment in the real world.

The innovative campaign will use popular social networking websites and blogs to share actions to make the world a better place in small and simple ways. These range from leaving a thank-you note for your postie to going a whole day without gossiping.

Last year, more than 130,000 people joined in with Love Life Live Lent, launched by the Church of England to inspire, by text message, simple acts of service that spread happiness in our communities.

Read the rest of the press release here: www.cofe.anglican.org

For Facebook users, here’s a link to the group: www.facebook.com/

Lambeth Conference 2008

Paul Sibley — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 20:52:56 +0000

The Archbishop of Canterbury launches the Lambeth Conference 2008 programme:

January 21st 2008: Lambeth Palace, London: first of three films featuring the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, as he launches the programme for the 2008 Lambeth Conference, to be held later this year.

The conference, under the title ‘Equipping Bishops for God’s Mission’ is intended to bring together around 700 bishops from Anglican churches across the world. The Bishops’ spouses will meet in a separate conference being run parallel to the main conference. This is Dr Williams’ introductory speech; the question and answer session films will appear overnight.

More detail on the Lambeth Conference can be found at www.anglicancommunion.org or via the Archbishop’s website at www.archbishopofcanterbury.org

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The question and answer session films are also available on YouTube and can be found at these links:
Lambeth 2008 — question and answer session part 1
Lambeth 2008 — question and answer session part 2

God doesn’t do waste

Paul Sibley — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 22:07:23 +0000

The Archbishop of Canterbury’s New Year Message

I thought this years message from Dr Rowan Williams was very good, and thought-provoking. I especially liked the quote I’ve used, partially, for the title of this post. God doesn’t do waste, he doesn’t regard anyone as a waste of space, and not worth his time. It’s a tremendous thought, that God values so highly the whole of the created world — including you and I!

In his annual televised New Year Message the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams reflects on how a ‘disposable’ attitude to living can affect other areas of life and that ‘God does not do waste’. Filmed in Canterbury Cathedral and at a nearby recycling centre.

Click here to view the embedded video.