The conservative Church's desperation to stop the liberal tide ...

The conservative Church's desperation to stop the liberal tide ...
Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom –

By Jonathan Wynne-Jones

Last Updated: 4:01pm BST 23/06/2008

 

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It's five years since Gene Robinson became the Anglican Church’s first gay bishop and yet the wounds appear as fresh as ever. The American bishop has accused Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, of dehumanising gays in his refusal to endorse the appointment, while African leaders provocatively claim they risk being "enslaved" by the liberal agenda of the West. There have been countless threats of schism, but the war of words seems to be stepping up a gear as around 250 conservative bishops meet to discuss the future of the Anglican Communion.

By Jonathan Wynne-Jones

 

It's five years since Gene Robinson became the Anglican Church’s first gay bishop and yet the wounds appear as fresh as ever. The American bishop has accused Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, of dehumanising gays in his refusal to endorse the appointment, while African leaders provocatively claim they risk being "enslaved" by the liberal agenda of the West. There have been countless threats of schism, but the war of words seems to be stepping up a gear as around 250 conservative bishops meet to discuss the future of the Anglican Communion. For them, acceptance of homosexual clergy and lifestyles in the Western Churches marks a point of no return. They have chosen to meet in Jerusalem rather than be tarnished by association with the "apostates" as they call them, who will be meeting in Canterbury next month for the Lambeth Conference. Yet only a few miles from where they meet, the bereaved families of Palestinians and Israeli victims gather together in a bid to bring reconciliation to the region. Putting aside their pain and grief, members of the Parents Circle are striving to achieve a breakthrough in peoples’ attitudes towards the other side. "They have found that there is more that unites us than divides us, that we are all members of one family, the human family," said Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Many church leaders on the conservative wing feel that the Archbishop's hold just as much meaning for the current war in the Church. The Bishop of Jerusalem, Suheil Salman Dawani, had asked the organisers not to meet in the city: "We don't agree with what happens in the Episcopal Church but this doesn't divide us. Unity is at the heart of the gospel of Christ." Which to many makes it all the more baffling to understand why Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester has decided to boycott the Lambeth conference. He has become a champion of traditional Christianity in Britain, yet his action - along with that of the other 250 bishops - will be seen as a direct challenge to the authority of Dr Williams; as fermenting division rather than bringing healing. Rather than promoting a Church that has a message of hope and love, they seem to be reinforcing views that it has now come to stand for intolerance and bitter recrimination. Yet this would be to misunderstand Bishop Nazir-Ali. Well-respected and valued in the Church, he is a man of deep conviction, but his decision is borne out of desperate frustration that the liberals have been able to advance their agenda - from electing a gay bishop to carrying out homosexual blessings - without any real attempt made to keep them in check. The fact is that the conservatives feel powerless to stop the liberal tide, and their statements betray this desperation. There is in effect little that they can do, and also little that Dr Williams can do because of the autonomous nature of the various churches in the worldwide Communion. But their boycott of this summer's conference and their attacks on the pro-gay moves in the Church have pushed them to the fringes of the communion and damaged their image in the eyes of wider society. They need to find a more positive, embracing language if they are to gain influence in this never-ending debate. If families of victims from both sides of a conflict that has taken their children and parents are able to come face to face, it seems strange that church leaders are not able to do the same.