11/30/2007
Archbishop of Canterbury Holds "Secret" Eucharist for Gay Clergy
Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, held a "secret" eucharist for gay and lesbian clergy yesterday, according to the Times. The service focused on "present realities and future possibilities for lesbians and gay men in the Church," inspiring sharp remarks from the conservative branch of a church divided over homosexuality.
The Times reports: "Dr Williams was criticised by evangelicals, who believe that his actions will be interpreted as an endorsement of the Church’s liberal wing. The Rev David Phillips, general secretary of the Church Society, said: 'This is not something that should be happening. There is serious doubt in our mind about some of the people present and their standing because of being in homosexual relationships. We came to the conclusion a long time ago that [Dr Williams] was not really fit to be Archbishop.'"
They report that "secrecy was so tight that a list of names attending was sent to Lambeth Palace with orders that it be shredded as soon as Dr Williams had read it."
Earlier this month, Archbishop Desmond Tutu slammed the church, calling it "extraordinarily homophobic" and criticized Williams for failing to demonstrate that the Anglican church's God is one who is all-loving.
Said Tutu: "If God as they say is homophobic I wouldn't worship that God...It is a perversion if you say to me that a person chooses to be homosexual. You must be crazy to choose a way of life that exposes you to a kind of hatred. It's like saying you choose to be black in a race infected society. Why doesn't [Williams] demonstrate a particular attribute of God's which is that God is a welcoming God."
Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams, at ‘secret’ gay ceremony [times online]
Posted 10:02 AM EST by Andy Towle in Anglican church, News, Religion | Permalink
Like it?
Subscribe to FREE Towleroad daily headlines with our RSS feed!
RECENT STORIES:
Comments
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
Ankinola does not want to compromise. He is just making a power grab to create a strong centralized heirarchy that would be derailed if the "liberal" Provinces remained within the Communion. He wants to set himself up as the new Anglican Pope so he can control what everyone does, thinks, and says.
The AC is going to split. Ankinola will try to blame the American EC for failing to compromise in order to deflect attention from the fact that it was AC Global South that was delivering uncompromising ultimatums.
Posted by: Aggiecowboy | Nov 30, 2007 10:41:37 AM
For the sake of clarity, it should be emphasized that the "secrecy" was actually for "confidentiality". Not all that participated are out or serving in places where it would be safe to be so.
Posted by: KJ | Nov 30, 2007 11:56:41 AM
Sadly the serving of Holy Communion to the marginalized and the different has always been a very powerful and also a very political act. How sad the some in the Church would deny others the sacraments of God's mercy and grace over political/social differences. I am sure that somewhere the loving God I know must be royally pissed!
Posted by: JonathanF | Nov 30, 2007 3:10:20 PM
Dr Williams is coward. Archbishop Tutu is completely on spot when he says the church is homophobic. He's also correct in saying that the Archbishop of Canterbury needs to step up to the plate and show that God isn't a bigot or a waffler(like the archbishop).
The position of Archbishop of Canterbury screams for him to be a man and stand up for what is right. Former Archbishops have died for defending what they felt was right, this one faces only losing church's that are bigot's anyway.
Posted by: Joshua | Nov 30, 2007 5:48:01 PM