“I send my greetings to Bishop Katharine and she has my prayers and good wishes as she takes up a deeply demanding position at a critical time. She will bring many intellectual and pastoral gifts to her new work, and I am pleased to see the strength of her commitment to mission and to the Millennium Development Goals.
Her election will undoubtedly have an impact on the collegial life of the Anglican Primates; and it also brings into focus some continuing issues in several of our ecumenical dialogues.
We are continuing to pray for the General Convention of the Episcopal Church as it confronts a series of exceptionally difficult choices.”
What is interesting to note in Rowan Williams statement - nuanced as ever - is that he recognizes that this election not only impacts the larger Communion (I don't recall if we consulted with the Communion before taking this bold step - it appears we just went ahead and did it and then expect the rest of the Communion to deal with it). Where ever we stand on women in leadership (I favor it), it's still arrogant to go about doing these sort of relationship-changing decisions without considering the impact it will have on the larger Communion. Once again, ECUSA does whatever it wants and then expects the rest of the wider Church to deal with it. ECUSA calls it "evolutionary," which again implies that everyone else is living in the Stone Age. Again, I am in favor of women in leadership, but it's the arrogance of ECUSA that is alarming.
Rowan is gracious in his statement, but he does not ignore what this action does to the wider Anglican Communion. He does not call it prophetic, or revolutionary, or acting out our "baptismal covenant" or a giant step for the rights of women, or a repeal of male domination or any of the other sort of phrases we're hearing at General Convention. The fact is that this action of ECUSA (done unilaterally once again - there was no study to consider how a female primate might affect both ECUSA and the wider-Anglican Communion - ECUSA appears at heart to really not care) "will undoubtedly have an impact on the collegial life" of the leadership of the Anglican Communion and that it does "confront a series of exceptionally difficult choices," difficult choices that are all ready endangering a split in the Church of England itself. Rowan also recognizes that this a blow to Anglican dialogues with Rome - it is clear the Episcopal Church has little desire to give space to others around the Communion and in other major Christian traditions. ECUSA is "evolving" and the rest of the world remains in the stone age. How nice - we're all evolving to a higher plain. See you on the summit. Just watch your step on the way down.
bb
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