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Will the sun set on the Anglican communion?The archbishop of Canterbury is going to resign next year. At least that’s the story making the rounds of newspapers in London, and the interesting part is not that the 61-year-old Rowan Williams should be willing to give up another decade in the job. Or even, if the Telegraph is right, that the clergy and his fellow bishops are working to push him out. No, the interesting news about the looming resignation is how little attention anyone appears to be paying to it. The Church of England just doesn’t seem to matter all...

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams thinks “atheism is cool” and that’s made it difficult for his church to convey its message. Well, he’s right that there’s been a recent surge in the popularity of atheism, but that’s not the reason the church isn’t growing. Think back to the “cool” people you know in high school. They were the ones willing to say what no one else was saying, the people who always maintained a certain level of confidence, the people who didn’t care what you thought because it just didn’t matter. That’s the position a lot of young atheists are...

The spiritual head of the Anglican Communion, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, will resign his position next year almost a decade before he is due to retire in order to return to academic life, a newspaper reported on Sunday. Williams, 61, who has worked hard to prevent the worldwide Anglican community from splitting over the ordination of women and gay bishops, may take up a senior post at Cambridge University, the Sunday Telegraph said. ...Williams has regularly come under fire for his outspoken comments, most recently making headlines in June with an attack on the British government’s deficit-cutting austerity programme....

The spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion admitted on Thursday that he felt “very uncomfortable” with the killing of Osama bin Laden when he was unarmed. Contrary to initial reports that bin Laden had engaged in a 40-minute gun fight with U.S. Navy Seals, it emerged on Wednesday that the al-Qaida leader had been unarmed when he was shot dead in his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on Sunday. Answering a question about the killing at a press briefing, Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Rowan Williams also criticized conflicting reports coming from the White House about the events surrounding bin Laden’s death....

Dr Rowan Williams warned that the shooting dead of the unarmed al-Qaeda leader meant justice was not "seen to be done". The differing accounts of the American special forces' operation which have emerged from the White House since Monday "have not helped", he said. At a press conference at Lambeth Palace, The Daily Telegraph asked Dr Williams whether he thought the US had been right to kill bin Laden. After declining to respond initially, he later replied: “I think the killing of an unarmed man is always going to leave a very uncomfortable feeling, because it doesn’t look as if...

A New Zealand teenager has faced death threats after boasting about stealing ice cream and insulted survivors of the devastating earthquake on her Facebook page. Amy Knowles, 16, sparked an embarrassed reaction from her mother after her page on the social networking site was bombarded with messages from furious residents. She was visiting Christchurch from her home in Canterbury when the earthquake struck on Tuesday. She wrote: 'Stole ice creams, got drunk and mished around seeing f***** up s***, earthquakes aren't soooo bad. 'Haha people give me s*** about loving in Rangiora. F*** you all, I have power, water, and...

Journalist and author Fareed Zakaria has made some grave accusations against those who oppose the building of the Islamic center near Ground Zero, and has predicated his own approval of the project on the moderateness of Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf. Zakaria wrote that Abdul Rauf “has said one or two things about American foreign policy that strike me as overly critical — but it’s stuff you could read on The Huffington Post any day.” Yes, indeed — you are likely to read similar “stuff” on the Huffington Post, since Rauf has written there. But how can that possibly constitute a...

ELCA Presiding Bishop, Delegation Meet Archbishop of Canterbury 10-052-JB LONDON (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson met with Dr. Rowan D. Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, in a private hour-long meeting Feb. 4 at Lambeth Palace here. After the meeting Hanson said the two discussed strengthening Anglican-Lutheran relationships, challenges each leader faces within his own communions, the proposed "Anglican Covenant" to deepen internal church relationships, global environmental issues, Christian-Muslim relationships, and mutual concern for conflicts in places such as Sudan and the Middle East. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop and president of the Lutheran World Federation, is leading an official delegation...

The Archbishop of Canterbury called for an end to economic growth to save the planet. Dr Rowan Williams said that economic growth based on consumer power had led to towards 'the death of what is most distinctively human'.

Poll reveals public doubts over Charles Darwin's theory of evolution Belief in creationism is widespread in Britain, according to a new survey. ... More than half of the public believe that the theory of evolution cannot explain the full complexity of life on Earth, and a "designer" must have lent a hand, the findings suggest. And one in three believe that God created the world within the past 10,000 years. The survey, by respected polling firm ComRes, will fuel the debate around evolution and creationism ahead of next week's 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin...

Sharia courts have operated in Britain for years. But previously they relied on voluntary adherence to rulings and their judgments were not legally enforceable. Enforcement of Sharia court judgments took effect one year after the Archbishop of Canterbury caused a major controversy by declaring that formal recognition of Sharia law “seemed inevitable.” Numerous politicians have expressed concern that the formal backing of Sharia courts marks the beginning of a parallel legal system based on Sharia law, such as exists in Lebanon. Dominic Grieve, shadow home secretary, made clear that he considers the court enforcement of Sharia judgments to be illegal....

An explosive article appeared Wednesday in the London Times entitled “Rowan Williams: Gay relationships 'comparable to marriage'”. Ruth Gledhill, the Religion Correspondent of the Times may have blown the lid off of the perceived pause in the internal battles threatening the the Church of England after the Lambeth Conference. Ms. Gledhill wrote: “Rowan Williams believes that gay sexual relationships can “reflect the love of God” in a way that is comparable to marriage, The Times has learnt. Gay partnerships pose the same ethical questions as those between a man and woman and the key issue for Christians is that they...

CANTERBURY, England, JULY 28, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The archbishop of Westminster says he is not skeptical about the ecumenical dialogue going on between the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church. Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor affirmed this Friday when he addressed the Lambeth Conference -- the Anglican once-a-decade meeting under way through Aug. 4. The cardinal looked at the history of the dialogue between the two groups, focusing on the work of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission. He acknowledged that the initial progress made by that commission brought greater expectations than successive steps have elicited. "The initial hope had been that some concrete...

CANTERBURY, England -- Gene Robinson's bodyguard didn't have to worry this time. The 40-year-old man who rushed over to Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in the worldwide Anglican church, just wanted to shake his hand. "Thank you for bringing the church into the 21st century, for moving things forward," said Martin MacCiarrain, a government employee. The bodyguard, a retired policeman who trails the American bishop because of death threats, eased back. On Sunday during a sermon Robinson delivered in London, a long-haired man had suddenly leapt up screaming at the American bishop: "Repent! Repent!" Since Robinson, 61, was consecrated...

The Archbishop of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan today declared that Gene Robinson, the openly gay Bishop of New Hampshire, "should resign for the sake of the church." In a press conference at the decennial Lambeth Conference, the Most Rev. Dr. Daniel Deng Bul said that homosexual ordination "is not what is found in the Bible" and that it is "not the norm of the Anglican world."

Senior Bishop Warns - Radical Islam is filling a ‘moral vacuum’ in Britain, a senior Church of England bishop has warned. The Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, has said that the decline of Christian values has meant that Britain is now gripped by the doctrine of ‘endless self-indulgence’ which had led to the destruction of family life. He warned that the ‘newfangled and insecurely founded doctrine of multiculturalism' has led to immigrants creating ‘segregated communities and parallel lives’. In an article published in the new political magazine Standpoint, Nazir-Ali claimed that the Church lost its influence over...

Carey weighs into Sharia law row Lord Carey said his successor was a "great leader" Pressure has mounted on the Archbishop of Canterbury after his comments about Islamic Sharia law were criticised by his predecessor.Lord Carey said Dr Rowan Williams's suggested acceptance of some Muslim laws was "a view I cannot share". But, writing in the News of the World, he said Dr Williams should not be forced to quit. Dr Williams has insisted he was not advocating a parallel set of laws, but has faced calls for his resignation. Supporters have described the reaction to his comments as...

The Archbishop of Canterbury will try to put aside the row over sharia law as he makes his first public appearance since the controversy erupted. Dr Rowan Williams hit back on Friday night over criticism of his comments amid growing calls for his resignation. He made no proposals for sharia, and "certainly did not call for its introduction as some kind of parallel jurisdiction to the civil law... his core aim was "to tease out some of the broader issues around the rights of religious groups within a secular state". At least two Synod members have already called for Dr...

Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has sparked a political storm by calling for aspects of Sharia law to be adopted in Britain. Your View: Is Sharia law in Britain unavoidable? Christopher Howse: Sharia is no law for Britain Damian Thompson: Williams' authority is in tatters Dr Williams said it "seems inevitable" that elements of Islamic law, such as divorce proceedings, would be incorporated into British law. Dr Williams backs adopting parts of Islamic Sharia law Dr Williams said the UK had to "face up to the fact" that some citizens do not relate to the British legal system,...

The Archbishop of Canterbury says the adoption of certain aspects of Sharia law in the UK "seems unavoidable". Dr Rowan Williams told Radio 4's World at One that the UK has to "face up to the fact" that some of its citizens do not relate to the British legal system. Dr Williams argues that adopting parts of Islamic Sharia law would help maintain social cohesion. For example, Muslims could choose to have marital disputes or financial matters dealt with in a Sharia court. He says Muslims should not have to choose between "the stark alternatives of cultural loyalty or state...

THE leader of the world's Anglicans has described the Christmas story of the three wise men as nothing but a "legend" and has said not all followers must believe in the virgin birth of Jesus. The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams has picked apart elements of the Christmas story, including how a star rose high in the sky and stood still to guide the wise men to Jesus's birth place. Stars simply don't behave like that, he told the BBC during an interview. Dr Williams said there was little evidence that the three wise men had existed at all....

THE Archbishop of Canterbury has said that the United States wields its power in a way that is worse than Britain during its imperial heyday. Rowan Williams claimed that America’s attempt to intervene overseas by “clearing the decks” with a “quick burst of violent action” had led to “the worst of all worlds”. In a wide-ranging interview with a British Muslim magazine, the Anglican leader linked criticism of the United States to one of his most pessimistic declarations about the state of western civilisation. He said the crisis was caused not just by America’s actions but also by its misguided...

THE Archbishop of Canterbury has said that the United States wields its power in a way that is worse than Britain during its imperial heyday. Rowan Williams claimed that America’s attempt to intervene overseas by “clearing the decks” with a “quick burst of violent action” had led to “the worst of all worlds”. In a wide-ranging interview with a British Muslim magazine, the Anglican leader linked criticism of the United States to one of his most pessimistic declarations about the state of western civilisation. He said the crisis was caused not just by America’s actions but also by its misguided...

King's College, Cambridge 10th September 2007 On September 11th, 1906, Mohandas Gandhi addressed a meeting of some 3,000 people in the Empire Theatre in Johannesburg to protest against the introduction of registration and fingerprinting for all Indians in South Africa – part of the first wave in the terrible history of legal racism in South Africa which ended at last in the final decade of the last century. It was a Muslim in the audience, Haji Habib, who first proposed that the decision for non-violent resistance to the legislation should be taken ‘in the name of God’. Gandhi stressed the...

For the first time in the history of Canterbury Cathedral, the Holy Fools UK will be holding a special service to cerebrate their 25th Silver Anniversary. The Service will take place on Saturday, 15 September at 6pm and will have up to 30 Christian clowns (Holy Fools) in the service, all colourfully made up and in costume ready to present this special service with all the energy and fun that clowns give. The public is warmly invited to the service to join them in this special celebration The Holy Fools is a national Christian organization with members throughout the UK....

Anglican Conflict: A Battle with 'Eternal Significance' http://www.christiantoday.com/article/anglican.conflict.a.battle.with.eternal.significance/10915.htm http://tinyurl.com/2ndbyg by Lillian Kwon, Christian Today Correspondent Posted: Saturday, May 26, 2007, 12:39 (BST) The recent non-invitation of two wayward bishops to a decennial global Anglican meeting produced a media frenzy this week. But what does all this mean? "First of all, it is clear that the Archbishop of Canterbury faces an impossible task – he is confronted by two irreconcilable truth claims," stated Rt. Rev. Martyn Minns, newly installed missionary bishop of CANA (Convocation of Anglicans in North America) – an orthodox Anglican splinter group and offshoot of the Church of...

PARIS (Reuters) - The spiritual leader of the world's 77 million Anglicans has said conservative Christians who cite the Bible to condemn homosexuality are misreading a key passage written by Saint Paul almost 2,000 years ago. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, addressing theology students in Toronto, said an oft-quoted passage in Paul's Epistle to the Romans meant to warn Christians not to be self-righteous when they see others fall into sin. His comments were an unusually open rebuff to conservative bishops, many of them from Africa, who have been citing the Bible to demand that pro-gay Anglican majorities in the...

(From last year) Service to commemorate the 450th anniversary of the Martyrdom of Thomas Cranmer 21st March 2006 From today’s epistle: ‘The word of God is not bound’. When it was fashionable to decry Cranmer’s liturgical rhetoric as overblown and repetitive, people often held up as typical the echoing sequences of which he and his colleagues were so fond. ‘A full, perfect and sufficient sacrifice, oblation and satisfaction; ‘Have mercy upon us, miserable offenders; Spare thou them which confess their faults; Restore thou them that are penitent’; ‘succour, help and comfort all that are in danger, necessity and tribulation’; direct,...

How can Anglicans and Catholics get together again? by Philip Otterman Translation of German article in the Spiegel Proposals are being drawn-up in a 42 page document by an international commission for the unification of both churches. This however has little to do with the day-to-day reality of the Church of England.

A pilgrimage by the Archbishop of Canterbury and fellow Church leaders to Bethlehem this week is in danger of being overshadowed by allegations of nepotism against the senior Anglican bishop in the Holy Land. The high-profile pilgrimage led by Dr Rowan Williams and Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, his Roman Catholic counterpart, is designed to demonstrate support for the beleaguered Christian community in the region. But the leaders could find themselves embroiled in an embarrassing row involving one of their hosts during the four-day trip, the Bishop in Jerusalem, the Rt Rev Riah Hanna Abu El-Assal. The bishop has come under pressure...

You'll soon get used to her looks, said he, And a very nice girl you'll find her: She may very well pass for forty-three In the dusk, with the light behind her! -- Gilbert & Sullivan, Trail by Jury, (1875). The current Tablet has an article by R. William Franklin on the Archbishop of Canterbury's upcoming trip to Rome. Franklin admits that Rowan Williams' visit with the Pope is likely to be "a subdued affair," but indulges in some wistful reminiscence about the early days when prelates could splash around together in the ecumenical wading-pool with no tantrums or tears:...

Division looms for Episcopal Churchhttp://www.christiancentury.org/article.lasso?id=2216 http://tinyurl.com/kr9gt July 25, 2006 Signs of a full-blown split between the Episcopal Church and most of the worldwide Anglican Communion appeared only days after the U.S. church's General Convention refused to renounce the election of gay bishops. The 2.2-million-member Episcopal Church would be reduced to nonvoting "associate" status in a proposed two-tiered membership policy for the 77-million-member communion that was announced June 27 in London. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said those national churches that sign a covenant affirming Anglicanism's traditional stance on homosexuality could be full members of the communion, while other churches would...

A Schismatic Canterbury Talehttp://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/07/14/opinion/main1805855.shtml http://tinyurl.com/r9z5a (The American Prospect) This column was written by Adele M. Stan July 16, 2006 It was with great joy that religious members of the progressive movement received, late last month, news of the election of Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori to the top leadership position in the U.S. Episcopal Church. For one, the fact of the bishop’s gender heralded an important first for Episcopalians, whose rites and rituals cling closely to those of the Roman Catholic Church. Furthermore, the inclusive position taken by Jefferts Schori with regard to the full participation of gays and lesbians in...

Archbishop - 'Challenge and hope' for the Anglican Communion 27th June 2006 The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams has set out his thinking on the future of the Anglican Communion in the wake of the deliberations in the United States on the Windsor Report and the Anglican Communion at the 75th General Convention of The Episcopal Church (USA). ‘The Challenge and Hope of Being an Anglican Today, A Reflection for the Bishops, Clergy and Faithful of the Anglican Communion’, has been sent to Primates with a covering letter, published more widely and made available as audio on the internet....

May 27, 2006 Saturday of the Sixth Week of Easter Psalm: Saturday 22 Reading 1Acts 18:23-28 After staying in Antioch some time,Paul left and traveled in orderly sequencethrough the Galatian country and Phrygia,bringing strength to all the disciples. A Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria,an eloquent speaker, arrived in Ephesus.He was an authority on the Scriptures.He had been instructed in the Way of the Lord and,with ardent spirit, spoke and taught accurately about Jesus,although he knew only the baptism of John.He began to speak boldly in the synagogue;but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him,they took him asideand explained to...

My gracious lord of Canterbury won't visit C-Bus next month: The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Rowan Williams, has declined an invitation to attend the 75th General Convention in Columbus, Ohio, next month, citing pre-existing obligations. The Presiding Bishop, the Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold, and the Archbishop of Canterbury “did talk about this some time ago and it is not possible on the Archbishop’s mid-June calendar,” an aide to Bishop Griswold told The Living Church. Sources at Lambeth Palace note the absence of the Archbishop of Canterbury is not intended as a snub to the Episcopal Church, but...

The Crusades were a serious betrayal of Christian beliefs, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, said yesterday. Speaking 900 years after Christian warriors sacked Jerusalem, the Archbishop said that any attempt to revive the crusading ideal today would not garner much support among Christians. His comments, made in Pakistan, appeared to be an attempt to reassure Muslims that the Churches are anxious to avert confrontation between the West and Islamic states. In the past he has warned western leaders, particularly President Bush, against using sensitive religious language such as the term "crusade" to justify the war against Iraq. But...

Let me begin by giving you a summary of the sermon that I'm not going to preach. It's very tempting when we hear the New Testament lesson today to use it as a way of thinking about the Church including strangers. The Church moves from one ethnic group to another and proves that it is adaptable for new people. The Church is always changing itself so as to be a welcoming place for the stranger, the unfamiliar neighbour. And that wouldn't be a bad sermon, but I have a suspicion that it's not quite what the Acts of the Apostles...

May 27, 2005Friday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time Psalm: Friday 24 Reading ISir 44:1, 9-13 Now will I praise those godly men,our ancestors, each in his own time.But of others there is no memory,for when they ceased, they ceased.And they are as though they had not lived,they and their children after them.Yet these also were godly menwhose virtues have not been forgotten;Their wealth remains in their families,their heritage with their descendants;Through God's covenant with them their family endures,their posterity, for their sake. And for all time their progeny will endure,their glory will never be blotted out. Responsorial PsalmPs...

Dunstan was born near Glastonbury in the southwest of England about the year 909, ten years after the death of King Alfred. During the Viking invasions of the ninth century, monasteries had been favorite targets of the invaders, and by Dunstan's time English monasticism had been wiped out. In its restoration in the tenth century, Dunstan played the leading role. He was born of an upper-class family, and sent to court, where he did not fit in. At the urging of his uncle, the Bishop of Westminster, he became a monk and a priest, and returned to Glastonbury, where he...

Pete Carnley lets the cat out of the bag: With its composition still in the planning stage, the Panel of Reference envisioned by the primates will help people deal “eye-to-eye,” rather than through the media, according to its chairman, the Most Rev. Peter F. Carnley. “That’s been one of the problems of our Communion over the last decade or so,” Archbishop Carnley said. “We’ve been communicating to each other by talking about one another through the media rather than speaking with one another. I see mediation in those terms: encouraging conversation.” Anglicans are going to solve all their problems by...

Ancient Easter pages return to Canterbury Stephen Bates, religious affairs correspondent Saturday March 26, 2005 The Guardian (UK) A 1,000-year-old manuscript outlining readings for Holy Week has been returned to Canterbury Cathedral after five centuries, just in time for Easter. The double-page spread, called a bifolium, which was part of a devotional book owned by the cathedral in the middle ages, was recently bought for £7,000 from a London bookseller who had found it in Germany. The cathedral has two further pages from the same book, which may be all that survives. Its travels over the last 500 years are...

Cricket's famous lime tree stumped after 200 yearsBy David Sapsted and Ben Fenton (Filed: 11/01/2005) The famous 90ft lime tree at Kent County Cricket Club's Canterbury ground has been stumped after more than 150 years of being battered by balls. It fell at the weekend to a combination of heart-wood fungus and a howling westerly gale. "We had not expected Mother Nature to take a hand in quite this way," David Robertson, the honorary curator of the club, said last night. The tree, which had stood at deep midwicket (or wide third man) since the days of Nelson, has been...

The leader of the Anglican Church says Christians should stop openly criticizing homosexuals, out of concern for their lives. In a letter targeting the world's Anglican churches, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said harsh language about homosexuals can lead to murder, according to a BBC report. Although many traditional Anglican leaders oppose homosexuality, since it is unambiguously condemned in both the Old and New Testaments, Williams reportedly said in his letter: "Any words that could make it easier for someone to attack or abuse a homosexual person are words of which we must repent. "Do not think repentance is always...

Just in case you missed it . . . A Statement by the Primate of the Traditional Anglican Communion on the Windsor ReportFr Geoffrey Kirk examines what the Windsor Report says about the ordination of womenFrom the November New Directions: Who’s Sorry Now? John Richardson on an apology for a report From the November New Directions: Fr. Michael Heidt: Never mind the truth, here’s the Windsor Report

A major battle is looming, if it is not already underway, between the two most powerful men in the Anglican Communion - the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams and the Archbishop of Nigeria Peter Akinola. The two men are light years apart on most major issues ranging from understanding the nature of the faith, ecclesiology, sexuality issues, crossing jurisdictional boundaries and the role of the Anglican Consultative Council. The skirmishing and shots fired on both sides has been going on for several months now, but the guns are growing bigger and louder and there are every indication that it...

Rowan Williams apologises to Freemasons By Chris Hastings and Elizabeth Day (Filed: 20/04/2003) The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has been forced to apologise to Britain's 330,000 Freemasons after he said that their beliefs were incompatible with Christianity and that he had rejected them from senior posts in his diocese. Dr Williams has written to Robert Morrow, the Grand Secretary of the United Grand Lodge of England, in an attempt to defuse the row prompted by comments he made last year. In his letter, the Archbishop apologises for the "distress" he caused and discloses that his own father was...

July 25, 2004 Sunday Anglican leader to make September 11 speech at Egyptian mosque LONDON, July 24 The head of the worldwide Anglican Church, the archbishop of Canterbury, is to mark the third anniversary of the September 11 attacks in the United States by praising Islam in an address from the pulpit of an Egyptian mosque, the Sunday Times said. Rowan Williams has accepted an invitation to speak at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, considered by many to be the Muslim world's most important centre of learning, the newspaper said. He will speak to his Muslim congregation of the common ground...

Anglican leaders' summit for Ulster By Alf McCreary A major international conference of world leaders of the Anglican Church under the chairmanship of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, is scheduled to meet in Northern Ireland next February. The Belfast Telegraph has learned that primates from all 38 provinces of the Communion will meet in Newcastle, Co Down, to make crucial decisions on the future of the worldwide Church following the report of the Anglican Commission on the divisions caused over sexual issues within Anglicanism. The historic Primates Meeting in Newcastle is likely to be one of the most...

ACNS 3850 | ACO | 7 JULY 2004 Interview with Most Revd Robin Eames on the work of the Lambeth Commission In recent weeks, ACNS has received a large number of queries about the progress of the Lambeth Commission on Communion (LCC). ACNS managed to catch up with the Chair of the Commission, the Most Revd Robin Eames, as he passed through St Andrew’s House this week. He agreed to give some personal reflections on the work of the Commission, given that it is impossible for him or the Secretary of the Commission to respond to the large number of...