Archbishop Williams: American Church has 'Pushed the Boundaries'

From The Living Church:
08/22/2006

The Archbishop of Canterbury is under growing pressure to respond in a
meaningful way to dioceses and parishes alienated by recent stands on
sexuality enacted by the General Convention. Shortly after announcing a
mid-September summit to find a way to resolve the divisions within The
Episcopal Church, the Most Rev. Rowan Williams said in an interview with a
Dutch newspaper the Anglican Communion is capable of avoiding a future in
which lawsuits over property are all-consuming.

"In terms of decision-making, the American Church has pushed the
boundaries," Archbishop Williams told Nederlands Dagblad. "It has made a
decision that is not the decision of the wider body of Christ. In terms of
the issue under consideration: there are enough Christians of good faith in
every denomination - from evangelical to Roman Catholic - to whom it is not
quite so self-evident, who are not absolutely sure that we have always read
the Bible correctly. They are saying: this is an issue we must talk about.
But if we are going to have time to discuss this prayerfully, thoughtfully,
we really don't need people saying: we must change it now. The discussion
must not be foreclosed by a radical agenda."

Archbishop Williams described the situation in The Episcopal Church as
highly complicated and said he has delayed responding to the dioceses which
have requested alternate primatial oversight because he does not want to
"make up church law on the back of an envelope." He also has "great concern
for the vast majority of Episcopal Christians in the U.S. who don't wish to
move away from the Communion at all, but who don't particularly want to join
a separatist part of their Church either. I want to give them time to find
what the best way is." He is aware, however, that the Anglican Communion
Network won't "hold out" under the present circumstances indefinitely.

"If Canterbury doesn't help, there will be other provinces that are very
ready to help," he said. "I don't especially want to see the Anglican Church
becoming like the Orthodox Church, where in some American cities you see the
Greek Orthodox Church, the Russian Orthodox Church and the Romanian Orthodox
Church. I don't want to see in the cities of America the American Anglican
Church, the Nigerian Anglican Church, the Egyptian Anglican Church and the
English Anglican Church in the same street."

A split in The Episcopal Church would likely have repercussions for the
Church of England, according to Archbishop Williams as clergy and
congregations are forced to decide where their loyalties lie.

"My nightmare is that action is now going forward that will tie us up in law
courts in 10 years, in disputes about property," he said. "That would take
so much energy from what we're meant to be doing. We can prevent those
endless lawsuits, I think, if there is enough co-operation in the central
mission of the Church. If that work continues it may also help us in finding
those structures."