Gay community's hopes
 
Canterbury cathedral
Hope that Canterbury will ring changes
 
Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Wales, has been officially named to succeed George Carey as the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The Reverend Richard Kirker, General Secretary of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement (LGCM), reflects on what he hopes to see from the new archbishop.

This news is as astonishing as it is welcome.

Lesbian and gay Christians have many good reasons to believe that Rowan Williams will be our friend and an unapologetic ally rather in the way that South Africa's inspiring Desmond Tutu has become.

For over 20 years Rowan Williams, a noted theologian, academic and author, has eloquently advocated that Christianity and homosexuality should be viewed as wholly consistent with each other.

God's gift to human beings includes, for some, homosexuality as well as for others, heterosexuality.

To him lesbian and gay people should not be made into a 'problem' nor, of course, should they be stigmatised, demonised or marginalised.

Neither should clergy be expected be celibate just because they are gay or lesbian.

Clear principles

These may already seem self-evident truths to most people in Britain and the Western world but sadly, in the Churches and other religious traditions, the opposite is all too common and the new archbishop is not going to find it easy to win over all those who disagree with him on these fundamental matters of doctrine, church order and justice.

He has made these points in the way he knows best, as a theologian. This was a radical position to adopt in the 1980's and marked him out as person prepared to put principle before career.

Rowan Williams
Rowan Williams: An ally for the gay Christian community?
 

His close personal friendships with gay people over 30 years marks him out as the first Archbishop of Canterbury who is entirely at ease, publicly and privately, with a section of society that the Church has often either tried, at best, to ignore or patronise and at worst to openly discriminate against.

In fact his integrity and honesty made him deeply unpopular with the leadership of powerful sections of the Church of England - including George Carey - who remain to this day antagonistic towards self-affirming lesbian and gay people as well as towards those who stand with us as friends.

International profile

Rowan Williams has already made several working overseas visits this year, a clear sign that large swathes of the Anglican Church in Africa, Asia and America have been increasingly viewing him as their preferred choice for the Canterbury post.

Fluent in five languages and engagingly approachable because at heart he is a pastor as well as a teacher, the archbishop will be fully aware that there are those who will be aghast that the nations' highest-profile and most influential religious leader has made no secret of his support for lesbian and gay people.

How this translates into new policies is, of course, yet to be seen.

However, new policies are exactly what is required if the Church is to make any sense of its claim to be inclusive.

Racism and misogyny have long since been declared unacceptable and the Church must now be prepared to take one further step towards humanising itself.

Rowan Williams will be judged, over time, by the extent to which he is able to present homophobia as equally unchristian and by how long it takes to carry the Church with him.

 
 

 

 

Liberal to head Church of England
 
Dr Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Wales
Dr Rowan Williams is outspoken and controversial
 
A liberal and often controversial bishop has been chosen as the next Archbishop of Canterbury, religious leader for 70 million Anglicans worldwide.

The Archbishop of Wales, Rowan Williams, has been confirmed as the successor to Dr George Carey in the Church of England's top post.

Prime Minister Tony Blair chose Dr Williams from a shortlist of two names, put forward by the Church after months of debate.

Dr Williams said he approached the job with a sense of awe but hoped to give the Church a renewed confidence in the 21st century.

"If there's one thing I long for above all else, it's that the years to come may see Christianity in this country able again to capture the imagination of our culture, to draw the strongest energies of our thinking and feeling," he said.

Paying tribute to his predecessor, he said Dr Carey had provided a "fine model of listening and interpreting", shaping the position as a "ministry of reconciliation and mission".

Dr Carey, who is currently in the United States, said Dr Williams had "great abilities" and he greeted his appointment "with joy".
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, head of the Catholic church in England and Wales, welcomed the appointment of Dr Williams in what he called "challenging times" for Christian leaders.


 
The Church is in for an exciting ride with someone who is... open and engaged with contemporary issues


 
Synod member Christina Rees

"As a theologian of distinction, a man of deep spirituality and a gifted communicator he will, I have no doubt, prove to be a force for great good in this country and throughout the Christian world," he said.

The Prime Minister's spokesman said Dr Williams had been chosen because of his "wisdom, intellectual stature and deep spirituality".

Some Anglicans have warned that Dr Williams' appointment could split the Church, with many conservatives strongly against some of his views - in particular on the ordination of women and gay priests.

Frank Knaggs, a member of the conservative evangelical group in the church's synod, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We do have problems with his radical agenda.

"We would like him to clarify some of these issues, so we are arranging an early meeting hopefully to clarify some of these fundamental concerns."

Christina Rees, a synod member and former member of the Archbishop's council, told Today Dr Williams could prove a great unifier for the Church.

"He's got one of the finest theological minds, he's already been shown to be a tremendous unifying force for the Church in Wales... and he prefers to lead by consensus rather than diktat.

"I believe the Church is in for an exciting ride with someone who is not defensive, and who is open and engaged with contemporary issues of today."

Dr George Carey
Dr George Carey stands down in October
 

Dr Williams, 52, has backed the separation of church and state in England.

In other controversial stances he has also been critical of the war on terrorism in Afghanistan, and earlier this month signed a letter condemning proposed American action in Iraq.

In a book republished in the Times on Tuesday, he tackled schooling and the "corruption and premature sexualisation of young children" in a consumerist society.

Dr Carey is due to retire in October after 11 years and Dr Williams will become the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury.

Dr Williams, who is married with two children, is the first Archbishop of Canterbury to have been chosen from outside the Church of England in modern times.

 
Church must 'capture the imagination'
 
Dr Williams and his wife Jane at Church House, London
Dr Williams and his wife Jane at Church House, London
 
This is the full text of the address given by Dr Rowan Williams on the announcement that he is to be the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury.

Recent months and recent weeks have been a very strange time.

It's a curious experience to have your future discussed, your personality, childhood influences and facial hair solemnly examined in the media and opinions you didn't know you held expounded on your behalf.

But in spite of the haze of speculation, it's still something of a shock to find myself here coming to terms with an enormous trust placed in my hands and with the inevitable sense of inadequacy that goes with it.

But the primary job for me remains what it has always been:

'Challenge and comfort'

I have to go on being a priest and a bishop. That is to celebrate God and what God has done in Jesus and to offer in God's name whatever I can discern of God's perspective on the world around, something which involves both challenge and comfort.

I've loved being a diocesan bishop and I look forward enormously to working with the clergy and people of the dioceses of Canterbury.

Because even with the responsibilities of the Archbishop of Canterbury it is important, I believe, to be grounded in the hopes and concerns of ordinary local Christians.

But I now have to learn a good many new things as well.


 
I don't come to this task with a fixed programme or agenda


 

How to speak of God in this very public position in the middle of a culture which, while it may show a great deal of nostalgia, fascination and even hunger for the spiritual, is generally sceptical of Christianity and the Church.

And also how to speak for and with the worldwide Christian family, an Anglican communion that currently faces its share of challenges.

But I have happy recollections of working with other members of the Primates Meeting and I will be writing to all the Primates in the next 24 hours to greet them and to ask for their prayers.

Now I don't come to this task with a fixed programme or agenda.

Gift of God

I'm a theologian by training and I've been a teacher of theology for a lot of my ministry and teachers of theology tend to have views on all sorts of things and they have to engage with colleagues and students who hold very varied opinions.

But no pastor or bishop holds a post in which their first task is to fight for the victory of their personal judgements as if those were final or infallible.

My first task is that of any ordained teacher which is to point to the source without which none of our activity would make sense - the gift of God as it is set before us in the Bible and Christian belief.


 
The present Archbishop of Canterbury has provided a fine model


 

And within the boundaries set by that, to try and help members of the Anglican family make sense to each other and to work together for the honest and faithful sharing of our belief.

I hope though, that some of my experience as a theologian might be helpful and I've also greatly valued conversations over the years with those rather on the edges of the church.

Ministry of reconciliation

People in the worlds of the arts, medicines, psychology and so on, who are eager to explore what Christian faith means.

There can be all sorts of gifts and surprises in such meetings and I hope they will continue.

The present Archbishop of Canterbury has provided a fine model of such listening and interpreting, though he has also shown how deeply demanding this vocation can be if it is followed consistently.

I'm genuinely grateful for all he has done in shaping the ministry of the Archbishop of Canterbury as a ministry of reconciliation and mission.


 
I long to see Christianity in this country able to capture the imagination of our culture


 

And I hope to follow him in this as best I can.

It's also, I think, a calling to nourish a sense of proper confidence in the church and more widely.

This could be an unhelpful confidence that suggests the church has all the answers and that refuses to pay real attention to other faiths and other convictions.

But there is also a confidence that arises from being utterly convinced that the Christian creed, the Christian vision, have in them a life and a richness that can embrace and transfigure all the complexities of human life.

This confidence can rightly sit alongside a patient willingness to learn from others in the ordinary encounters of life together in our varied society.

And it's this kind of confidence that saves us from being led by fashion, by the issues of the day.

The truth for and about human beings isn't something that can be decided by the majority vote of our culture - whether on war, or sex, or economics, or ecology or anything else.

And if there is one thing I long for above all else is that the years to come will see Christianity in this country able to capture the imagination of our culture, to draw the strongest energies of our thinking and feeling into the exploration of what our creeds put before us.

'A theologian of distinction'
 
Dr Rowan Williams
Some have expressed concerns at his "radical" views
 
Religious leaders and politicians have welcomed the appointment of Dr Rowan Williams as the next Archbishop of Canterbury.

The current Archbishop of Wales, 52, has been hailed as a unifying force by some.

But more conservative voices within the Church have expressed "fundamental concerns" over his support for the ordination of women and gay rights.

The current Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey, who is in America, greeted Dr Williams' acceptance of the role "with joy".

He said: "Rowan will bring to this demanding office great abilities as a theologian and as an experienced Primate of the Anglican Communion."


 
We do have problems with his radical agenda


 
Frank Naggs
Conservative evangelical group

Archbishop of York, Dr David Hope, said: "The relationship between the two Archbishops of Canterbury and York has traditionally been important.

"I hope that together we may develop a creative and collaborative partnership in the service of the whole church and for the fulfilment of the ministry and mission entrusted to us all."

'Fundamental concerns'

But Frank Knaggs, a member of the Conservative evangelical group on the Synod, said there were concerns about Dr Williams's support of homosexuality and women priests.

"We do have problems with his radical agenda, but in the Christian way we would like to have him clarify some of these issues, so we are arranging an early meeting hopefully to clarify some of these fundamental concerns."


 
He will, I have no doubt, prove to be a force for great good


 
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor
Archbishop of Westminster

Prime Minister Tony Blair said the archbishop's "wisdom, intellectual stature, and deep spirituality" would be invaluable.

Chief Rabbi Professor Jonathan Sacks said: "Rowan Williams is a quite exceptional thinker and man of God, and I look forward to the same warm friendship that I had with his predecessor, which did so much to improve Jewish-Christian relationships."

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, the Archbishop of Westminster and leader of Roman Catholics in England and Wales, warmly welcomed the appointment of Dr Williams.

He said: "As a theologian of distinction, a man of deep spirituality and a gifted communicator he will, I have no doubt, prove to be a force for great good in this country and throughout the Christian world."

'Human sexuality'

The Evangelical Alliance said they hoped to "engage in constructive dialogue" with the new archbishop.

But they hinted at the need to maintain traditional teachings on key doctrines such as "human sexuality".


 
We hope and pray the new archbishop will work hard to sustain these important traditions


 
John Smith
Evangelical Alliance

The group's UK director, John Smith, said: "The Evangelical Alliance welcomes what is a significant and imaginative appointment."

He said George Carey had "served the Church well" during his term as archbishop.

"In particular he kept intact the Church's historic teachings, both on key doctrines such as the resurrection and the uniqueness of Christ, as well as the moral imperatives of the Christian faith, for example on human sexuality and family life.

"We hope and pray the new archbishop will work hard to sustain these important traditions."

Archbishop 'must grasp nettle'
 
Women clergy still face many obstacles
 
Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Wales, has been officially named to succeed George Carey as the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The Reverend Mary Robins, of women's clergy group Gras, reflects on what she hopes to see from the new archbishop.

A future leader of the Church of England needs to grasp the nettle that has been scrupulously avoided for at least ten years.

In a desperate attempt to keep everybody happy it has 'soft-talked' the most reactionary groups in the Church, and has inadvertently given them huge power to block any kind of creative change - particularly in the areas of gender, race and sexuality.

What this leads to is gross injustice to some of the most vulnerable members of our churches, and the very real humiliation of women priests properly ordained within the Church.

Full integration is still a long way off, say critics
 

This does not commend the Church to a society that already has higher standards as it works on these issues.

Whatever became of 'daring to be a Daniel?' The Church needs to sign up to the Sex Discrimination Act and Human Rights legislation and also to rescind the Act of Synod [which deals with the issue of women priests].

Reflecting reality

The wider leadership of the Church ie. the bishops, is hopelessly unrepresentative of modern society.

"Male, overwhelmingly white and the product of a limited range of educational institutions and social backgrounds," as Lady Justice Hale recently said of the British judiciary.

It has to change in order to be more sensitive to what is needed.

The Church of England behaves badly to its women clergy, virtually excluding them in several dioceses, underemploying them in others, and failing to recognise the gifts of some of the most able in suitable jobs.

After eight years of employing them it has strikingly failed to integrate them fully into itself, largely for fear of annoying the small minority who disapprove of them.

It needs to give the women much more recognition and support.

Time for change

It is not easy to see how, if ever, the Church will appeal to a larger number of people than it does at present, though the minority who still attend Church - supposedly about as many as actively follow football - do a remarkable amount of unpaid work in the community among many groups who need their help and often get great joy from their Church association.

But for the Church to be seen to be neglecting women, black people and gay people in a society learning to show more generous attitudes to all three groups, works to put further nails in its coffin.

Perhaps what the Church and its leaders need is courage, in the place of the present chronic timidity and desperate wish to please everyone.

 

 

 
Canterbury choice - Rowan Williams
 
Dr Rowan Williams, archbishop of Wales
Dr Williams had the endorsement of Desmond Tutu
 
 
By Alex Kirby
BBC News Online correspondent

In choosing the Most Reverend Rowan Williams as the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, the Church of England may be in for a lively ride.

Dr Williams, who published his first book at the age of 29, was only seven years older when he was appointed professor of divinity at Oxford - the university's youngest professor.

He is the first Welshman - indeed he is a fluent Welsh speaker - to be selected for the Church of England's top job for at least 1,000 years.

Dr Williams is an outstanding theologian, a discipline the Church has increasingly neglected.

Rowan Williams' views
Liberal socially but conservative theologically
Backs separation of church and state
Accepting of homosexuality
Backs ordination of women priests
Has criticised any invasion of Iraq
Has criticised the war on terror
Says divorcees can remarry in church

One observer says Dr Williams' address to the 1998 Lambeth Conference, the meeting staged each decade of all the worldwide Anglican church's bishops, "was seen as the most erudite, though the least understood".

The archbishop is regarded as a liberal, even a radical.

He is sympathetic to the proposal that the Church of England should lose its established status, and become a church on an equal footing with the Catholics, the free churches and all the other Christian denominations.

This is not a view likely to endear him to traditionalists.

Dr Williams also refuses to stigmatise lesbian and gay clergy in the way some of his fellow Anglican bishops have done.

Raising hackles

He has acknowledged knowingly ordaining a practising gay priest, something which raises Anglican hackles as few other issues do.

The archbishop has also criticised Western policy since 11 September, describing the military action in Afghanistan as "morally tainted", and the bombing campaign as morally equivalent to the terrorism it sought to defeat.

Dr Williams has some heavyweight support, notably the endorsement of the former archbishop of Cape Town, Desmond Tutu.

Dr Rowan Williams, archbishop of Wales

Reverend Tutu said his Welsh colleague "towered head and shoulders" above all the other candidates, and had an incredible capacity to communicate, as well as a deep spirituality.

Rowan Williams is seen as a man of breadth and vision, capable of lifting the Church out of its timid introspection and enabling it again to play a useful part in national life.

Whether he can do so depends above all on two things - the Church's ability to forget its hang-ups over sex, and the establishment's willingness to trust somebody prepared to challenge it.

Source: BBC, London.