Anglican Unscripted 48: Kevin Kallsen & George Conger

http://geoconger.wordpress.com/2012/08/18/anglican-unscripted-episode-48-august-18-2012/

Anglican Unscripted Episode 48

August 18, 2012 August 18, 2012Posted by geoconger in 77th General Convention, AMiA, Anglican Church of North America, Anglican.TV, Archbishop of Canterbury, Archbishop of York, Canon Law, Church of England, Church of the Province of Uganda, Church of the Province of West Africa, South Carolina.
Tags: Crown Nominations Committee
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Not a week goes by (even in August) when the Unscripted team can’t dig up some interesting news. Kevin and George discuss the “new thang” with AMiA and the turmoil at Pawley’s Island. They also reveal some Crown Commission secrets, Anglican Job Postings and Affinity Dioceses. Peter Ould talks about an Englishman trying to sell more books and Allan gives some interesting history about leaving and staying in TEC at the same time.

Telegraph: ABY: Anyone But York for Archbishop of Canterbury

Riazat Butt of the Telegraph writes at:

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/riazatbutt/100143662/aby-anyone-but-york-for-archbishop-of-canterbury/

By Riazat Butt

Could Sentamu replace Williams? (Photo: Eddie Mulholland)

No sooner did the Archbishop of Canterbury announce that he was retiring than speculation started on who would replace him. Everyone's talking about John Sentamu being the obvious successor – but he is the wrong person for Lambeth Palace. Let me explain why.

The bookies favour the Archbishop of York because he is the only other cleric in the Church of England known to the public and the media. He is famous for his stance on Robert Mugabe (he cut up his collar in protest at the despot’s regime and has sworn not to wear it again until Mugabe quits), throwing himself out of aircraft for British service personnel and, most recently, writing for The Sun on Sunday.


But the Church of England – and the Anglican Communion – needs someone with a pastoral touch. It needs a man – and it will be a man, because the Church of England is years away from appointing a female bishop let alone a lady archbishop – who can be fair to all points of view rather than imposing absolutes on difficult issues, and someone who can put their personal beliefs aside for the greater good.


Sentamu has come out fighting on the issue of gay marriage and has become the darling of conservatives inside and outside the Church of England. But his views alienate and polarise: there are clergy and parishioners who would love to see same-sex relationships registered in places of worship. An archbishop is not a spokesman or a pundit to be wheeled out to comment on the hot topics of the day. His job, in fact, is an impossible one: to accept that some Anglicans will never agree on the issues of gender or homosexuality while at the same time holding everyone together on common issues such as the Millennium Development Goals and the persecution of minority Christian communities around the world.


Rowan Williams’s strength and weakness was his attempt to be fair to everyone, regardless of his own personal feelings. It was why the traditionalists liked him and the liberals hated him. Rather tellingly, the conservative evangelicals and Anglo-Catholics issued statements praising Williams and his legacy within hours of his retirement hitting the headlines. I’ve yet to receive anything from the liberals.


Williams was nuanced and even-handed, so he was doomed from the start. His proclamations on public life were balanced and elliptical, frustrating reporters and subs alike, although he did occasionally issue strongly worded statements that took everyone by surprise.


Sentamu, as Archbishop of Canterbury, would indeed provide the decisiveness and leadership that some crave – but his force of personality would also alienate many others.
The beauty of the Church of England is that it is a broad one. Under John Sentamu, it would become considerably narrower.

Archbishop of York's Statement on Anti-Gay Bill in Uganda

http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=15631

Archbishop of York's Statement on Anti-Gay Bill in Uganda
From the Office of the Archbishop of York - Dr. John Sentamu http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/news.cfm/2012/2/24/ACNS5051
February 24, 2012

The Archbishop of York has today repeated his opposition to David Bahati MP's Private Members Bill in Uganda which seeks to prosecute gay people. The Archbishop previously issued a statement in 2009 when the Bill was first brought before the Ugandan Parliament.

The Archbishop said: "The Anglican Church in Uganda submitted its views on David Bahati's Private Member's Bill formally when it was first tabled, and made clear that they were not in favour of introducing a death penalty for homosexuality. I completely support that position.

"It is important that across the world we stand in solidarity with people, flesh of our flesh, who are being in many cases victimized or demonized because of their sexual orientation.

"The Dromantine Communiqué in 2005 issued by the Primates of the Anglican Communion said that we wish to make it clear that our discussion and assessment of moral appropriateness of specific behaviours would continue unreservedly to be committed to the pastoral support and care of homosexual people.

"The victimisation or diminishment of human beings whose affections happen to be ordered towards people of the same sex is an anathema. Homosexual people are children of God, loved and valued by Him and deserving the best we can give - pastoral care and friendship. That is where the Communion stands.

"Sadly, this particular high, extreme, sentencing already exists in Uganda in relation to other practices. For example, the penal code in cases of rape (what they call "aggravated sexuality") or if you have sex with a girl under the age of 18, you are liable to suffer the death penalty. As a matter of principle, I am totally opposed to the use of the death penalty in any instance.

"No-one should have to live under the threat of violence and death, or live in fear because of the bigotry of others. Such violence has been consistently condemned by the Anglican Communion worldwide, and by myself - particularly in the Primates of the Anglican Communion statement in Dublin in 2010 issued following the murder of former York resident David Kato in Uganda.

"Every person has the right to enjoy safety and security regardless of their beliefs or sexual orientation - we are all created in God's image and likeness. That image is in all of us and not just in some of us.

"We are all created by the God of love, and are of infinite worth in his sight. Homosexual people in Uganda deserve the best we can give in pastoral care and friendship, and I am quite sure that the response the Church of Uganda will make will have to take account of all these realities."

The Dromantine Communique from 2005 can be found here - http://www.anglicannetwork.ca/dromantine.htm

The Primates of the Anglican Communion Statement from 2010 can be found here - http://www.aco.org/communion/primates/resources/downloads/prim_davidkato.pdf