Liberal Burblings

Archive for the ‘Anglican Church’ Category

I am declaring today, or what’s left of it, as “Rowan Williams Day”.

First there were his welcome remarks to the Spectator about church disestablishmentarianism (sorry I can’t put an “anti” at the beginning of that and win an award for the longest word on this blog since….since….oh well since since).

Now he’s popped up again on Radio Four.

He’s trying to drag religion into Christmas isn’t he? Nit wit.

Anyway, on Radio Four he gave us some refreshing home truths on the recession:

The credit crunch is a welcome “reality check” for a society that has become driven by unsustainable greed, the Archbishop of Canterbury said.
Rowan Williams also hit out at Gordon Brown‘s plans to combat recession by boosting spending, likening them to an “addict returning to the drug”.
The head of the Church of England’s outspoken comments came as he delivered a scathing assessment of “moral” failings in Britain’s economy.
Interviewed on BBC Radio 4′s Today programme, he insisted the country had been “going in the wrong direction” for decades by relying on financial speculation to generate wealth quickly rather than “making things”.
The UK had backed itself “into a corner”, and must now rediscover “patience” and re-think the way it viewed material gain, he said.
Asked whether that meant the global financial crisis wracking the economy had been beneficial, Dr Williams replied: “It is a sort of a reality check, isn’t it – which is always good for us.
“A reminder that what I think some people have called fairy gold is just that – that sooner or later you have to ask: ‘What are we making or what are we assembling or accumulating wealth for?’.”
Dr Williams went on: “I would like to think that in this sort of crisis people would be reflecting more on how you develop a volunteer culture, how you develop a culture of people willing to put their services at the needs of others so that there can be a more active, a more vital civil society.”
The archbishop called on the Government to give more of a lead on “how the civil society is created”. He expressed concerns over the Prime Minister’s “fiscal stimulus” package, which included cutting VAT to get the public spending again.

No, this isn’t another ball-aching post about Leonard Cohen.

It is a paean of praise to our Venerable Archbishop of Canterbury who, drawing on his experience as a priest and a bishop of the disestablished church in Wales, has said:

…it would not be the end of the world if the established church disappeared.

What’s more, in an interview with this week’s New Statesman, the Archbish argues there is a “certain integrity” to a church free from state sanctions. Good Lord! Wonders never cease!

I’ve waited years to hear that from an AofC.

Well done Rowan Atkinson!

Three Weddings and a funeral anyone?

When I read that the Archbishops of Canterbury and York were criticising “short selling”, I did wonder if they might rue the day they brought up the subject. The Church of England have a very large investment portfolio, which is carefully managed.

Indeed, now Ekklesia have highlighted some interesting points:

Ekklesia weighed into the debate on the ethics of financial investments and stock market speculation in response to comments made by senior clerics in the wake of the recent banking crisis.

Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu branded the traders who cashed in on falling share prices in troubled bank HBOS as “bank robbers” and “asset strippers”, while Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams called for fresh scrutiny and regulation of the financial world.

But the religion and society think-tank Ekklesia claimed that in 2006, the Church Commissioners, which manages the Church of England’s investments, set up a currency hedging programme that hedged against a fall in the value of sterling, effectively short-selling the British pound to guard against rises in other currencies. The think-tank also criticised the Church for its shareholdings in oil and mining companies.

… A spokesman for the Church of England denied it was involved in any short-selling and said the currency hedging programme was aimed at protecting its investments rather than speculating on them.

He said: “The Commissioners do not short equities, nor have they delegated any shorting powers to their external equities fund managers. They do not have any exposure to hedge funds that short stocks, either. The currency hedging programme, set up in 2007, is designed to protect the sterling value of the Commissioners’ foreign currency denominated assets.

“The Commissioners invest in a wide range of equities, including those of mining, oil and financial companies, as part of a broadly diversified asset base and in compliance with the ethical investment policy as recommended by the Church of England’s Ethical Investment Advisory Group.”

Whenever I recall Archbishop Runcie, I find it hard not to see a picture of him in my mind. He’s painfully sitting on a fence and getting to the stage where he needs preventative surgery because he has been sitting on the fence so long and with such determination.

That was over women priests.

Such is the role of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Sit on the fence. Pour oil on troubled water. Occasionally issue statements so impenetrable that no one except for theology dons have a clue what you are on about.

I have to say that Archbishop Rowan Williams genuinely gets my full admiration for continuing in this fine tradition and for hosting a very successful Lambeth conference. He is learning and will need the preventative surgery in a few months. Good on him.

But here we have a little fly in the ointment from the Guardian: Gay couples reflect the will of God.

I have to say that I agree 100% with the gist of the things which Williams wrote a few years ago when he was the Archbishop of Wales. But they seem rather different from his bullish declaration at the end of Lambeth, (via a paper called How do we get from here to there? ) that:

Until a consensus is reached, the American and Canadian churches must refrain from consecrating more homosexual bishops and carrying out blessing services for same-sex couples….

Ah well. Trying to lead, or at least gently encourage, the worldwide Anglican church seems to be an altogether different kettle of fish than leading the dear old church in Wales.