The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, showed one of his more decisive moments on Tuesday by announcing that he would not invite two bishops — Gene Robinson of the Diocese of New Hampshire and Martyn Minns of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America — to the Lambeth Conference next year in England. The significance of his decision is captured well in reports by Laurie Goodstein of The New York Times, Julia Duin of The Washington Times and Rachel Zoll of The Associated Press.
Each reporter brings illuminating details to the story. Duin makes the connection that Williams has declined to invite not only Minns, the U.S.-based bishop consecrated by the Church of Nigeria, but also the bishops of the Anglican Mission in the Americas. Williams’ predecessor, George Carey, repudiated the consecration of AMIA’s first two bishops, but AMIA has continued under the care of the Archbishop of Rwanda.
All three reporters have background remarks from the Rev. Canon Kenneth Kearon, the Anglican Communion’s secretary-general, who stresses that neither the Archbishop of Canterbury nor Kearon’s office recognizes CANA as a member church of the Anglican Communion. Goodstein writes:
[Kearon] said there was “no parallel” between Bishop Robinson and Bishop Minns, a rector who was installed as a bishop in Virginia this month by Archbishop Akinola, a crossing of boundaries that the archbishop of Canterbury criticized.
Bishop Minns heads a consortium of churches that have left the Episcopal Church, the Convocation of Anglicans in North America. Canon Kearon said the convocation was not a recognized body of the Anglican Communion.
Zoll does a fine job of reviewing the recent history that brings the archbishop to this decision, and of the next scenes in this drama:
Anglican leaders have given the U.S. denomination until Sept. 30 to step back from its support of gays or risk losing its full membership in the communion. The Episcopal bishops will meet next on Sept. 20 in New Orleans.
“This decision places the vast majority of American bishops along with others throughout the world in an embarrassing position,” said the Rev. Martin Reynolds of Britain’s Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement. “If they accept their Lambeth invitations this might appear to support bishop Robinson’s victimization, while if they reject the invitation they will abandon our communion to the homophobes.”
Activists on both the left and the right have trash-talked the Archbishop of Canterbury with astonishing frequency in recent years. It seems that both sides are all for being part of the Anglican Communion, except when it requires sacrifice for the sake of their theological counterparts. Both sides invest time and money in sending activists, lobbyists and writers to the Lambeth Conference, although one of the most constant refrains about Lambeth is that its role is advisory rather than legislative. (Like any good Anglican meeting the Lambeth Conference plows through reams and reams of paper and the bishops vote on many resolutions — or at least they have in recent decades. That may change in 2008.)
With his action this week, Archbishop Williams has demonstrated that he’s able to play as good a round of Anglican chess as any American. He has shown resolve. He has shown, above all, that groups of Anglicans cannot always expect their actions to be free of consequences. All three reports mention the response of both the left and the right that a lot can change in the 14 months between now and Lambeth. Whether it will change for the better now depends in large part on whether they respond to Williams’ well-played hand with wisdom and charity or simply with more demands.
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Comments (14) |
May 24, 2007, at 6:52 am
For those looking for the actual documents in some of these exchanges, it appears that the Rev. Canon Kendall Harmon’s massive TitusOneNine site has moved to a new location.
Check out:
http://www.kendallharmon.net/t19/index.php/t19/2007/05/23/
May 24, 2007, at 7:57 am
Doug—I like the chess metaphor. Now the question: Is this a Queen’s pawn first move?
Wait—I really was thinking of Queen Elizabeth. Honestly.
But what does a savvy reporter think when you add “honestly.”
Best wishes,
Jim Workman
May 24, 2007, at 8:48 am
As always, good thoughtful note and analysis/summary.
On one point, where you write this,
I would like to point out that Martyn Minns has always been very supportive of +++Williams (not that you imply otherwise). I know when +++Wms. was named as the new ABC, I was very dismissive and it was +Minns who turned me around. He has known Rowan for years, having both been active in similar circles. Martyn has pointed out that Rowan has always had a ministry to the least, the last and the lost.
I don’t think you will see a change in either of these men who do seem to admire and esteem one another. Moreover, I think an intrepid reporter (maybe Ruth Gledhill?) will delve into their relationship.
-Wm. Sulik
May 24, 2007, at 10:11 am
Perhaps the title of this post should be changed? When I first read it, I thought you meant the G-7 (and G-8) of the economic type.
May 24, 2007, at 10:27 am
[…] Archbishop Rowan has announced that Gene Robinson is not welcome at the next Lambeth Conference. Posted by: Michael Spencer @ 10:27 am | Trackback | Permalink […]
May 24, 2007, at 11:09 am
Glad you enjoyed the chess allusion, Jim, and thanks to William for the further background on Bishop Minns and Archbishop Williams.
These are the most direct links to the relevant documents:
Archbishop Williams’ announcement.
Bishop Minns’ statement.
Bishop Minns’ letter (with greater detail than his statement).
Bishop Robinson’s statement.
May 24, 2007, at 11:51 am
How is this about religious reporting? It reads like a lot of biased crowing.
May 24, 2007, at 2:16 pm
Dear Charlie,
I know that GetReligion is a blog about religion journalism, not a blog about religion, but nowhere do we promise that you are entering a zone free of opinion or bias. This is, after all, a blog.
This is the first time one of my posts has attracted the label of crowing, however. Thank you for putting me in touch with my inner rooster.
May 24, 2007, at 2:39 pm
Williams issues his invites
A great post and analysis by Anglican right insider Douglas LeBlanc on the Archibishop of Canterbury’s non-invitations to Bp. Gene Robinson and Bp. Martyn Minns. LeBlanc has long ties to the dissident movement, but objectively acknowledges the impact …
May 24, 2007, at 7:44 pm
“but nowhere do we promise that you are entering a zone free of opinion or bias. This is, after all, a blog.”
Right- but how is this about journalism, and not about “ha ha, he sure showed those gay marriage lovers?”
May 24, 2007, at 9:31 pm
Charlie:
You seem to have read one-half of Doug’s post and not the other.
Would you also say that ABC sure “showed those Nigerian gay-marriage opponents?”
May 24, 2007, at 11:18 pm
Following the chess analogy, what makes the ABC think that the Convocation of Anglicans in North America will continue to push for “recognition?” Put another way, they are growing, the trend is their friend.
Williams can move his pawns anywhere he pleases, but his successors may be check-mated. The loose alliance that has been Anglicanism is breaking up and Williams is only encouraging more independence. Silly and short-sighted.
May 25, 2007, at 5:07 am
This post is about journalism because I praise reporters for three major newspapers for getting the story right, and for offering different layers of important details.
No post I write will be media criticism alone. If you think this post was about crowing over the Archbishop of Canterbury treated proponents of gay marriage, I ask that you read it again.
May 29, 2007, at 2:00 pm
[…] What does she think has been going on since 2003 (and earlier, even)? This “conversation” has been going on for years, if not decades. Lambeth isn’t a junior high youth group sitting around singing Kum Ba Yah. These are people responsible before God for the spiritual well-being of their flocks. They’re fighting for the future of Anglilcanism itself. Better analysis (and better sense) is being demonstrated by other journalists: […]