CIVILITY
Somebody recently asked an Episcopal priest named Tom Ehrich what the effect of Rowan Williams’ retirement would be. Same old same old, he replied:
Although anti-female and anti-gay tensions at Lambeth are said to have subsided in recent years, I told my questioner that Williams’ retirement after 10 tears in office probably would start a new war.
Look for right-wing clerics like those of Uganda and Nigeria to seize the moment to marginalize women, gays and denominations that affirm them. As Anglican numbers dwindle in the West and soar in Africa, the communion’s racial balance is shifting, and with it the balance of power.
Ehrich thinks John Sentamu is pretty much a lock for Lambeth Palace and that his elevation bodes ill for Tom’s most cherished dream. Officially turning Anglican Christianity into the house chaplains of the secular left.
It’s likely, I said, that the new archbishop will be a man of color, perhaps John Sentamu, the Ugandan-born Archbishop of York. The question is whether he will pursue a conservative agenda centered in gender and sexuality, or lead the church to tackle issues that truly matter: rampant greed, predatory corporations, widening gaps between haves and have-nots, and the terrifying rise of religious extremism, including church-backed legislation in Uganda to make homosexuality a capital crime.
But Ehrich’s a hopeful guy and thinks that things will be fine as long as the Episcopalians keep on doing what they’re far and away the best in the world at. Thanking God that they are not as other men are.
What will come of this war? My crystal ball is hazy on such matters, but I said Episcopalians aren’t likely to turn conservative. Nor, in my opinion, do we have any appetite for continued battles over gender and sexuality. We are looking at income inequality, joblessness, and growing intolerance as far more worrisome than the she-ness or gay-ness of church leaders.
If the global communion turns to the right and demands that we adopt bigotry as policy, I said we probably will just walk away. It’s just as likely that African bishops will lead a movement to kick us out.
At the pew level, meanwhile, where my questioner probably isn’t alone in not knowing the Archbishop of Canterbury’s name, Episcopalians are talking more about growth, new life, young leadership and casting their lot with the 99 percent.
“Growth, new life, young leadership?” Really? In the Episcopal Church? Either Tom Ehrich recently got hold of some really high-grade Humboldt County chronic, he counts empty pews as Episcopalians or he’s got an “Episcopal Church” of his own hidden away somewhere that he’s not telling anyone about.
Although anti-female and anti-gay tensions at Lambeth are said to have subsided in recent years, I told my questioner that Williams’ retirement after 10 tears in office probably would start a new war.
Look for right-wing clerics like those of Uganda and Nigeria to seize the moment to marginalize women, gays and denominations that affirm them. As Anglican numbers dwindle in the West and soar in Africa, the communion’s racial balance is shifting, and with it the balance of power.
Ehrich thinks John Sentamu is pretty much a lock for Lambeth Palace and that his elevation bodes ill for Tom’s most cherished dream. Officially turning Anglican Christianity into the house chaplains of the secular left.
It’s likely, I said, that the new archbishop will be a man of color, perhaps John Sentamu, the Ugandan-born Archbishop of York. The question is whether he will pursue a conservative agenda centered in gender and sexuality, or lead the church to tackle issues that truly matter: rampant greed, predatory corporations, widening gaps between haves and have-nots, and the terrifying rise of religious extremism, including church-backed legislation in Uganda to make homosexuality a capital crime.
But Ehrich’s a hopeful guy and thinks that things will be fine as long as the Episcopalians keep on doing what they’re far and away the best in the world at. Thanking God that they are not as other men are.
What will come of this war? My crystal ball is hazy on such matters, but I said Episcopalians aren’t likely to turn conservative. Nor, in my opinion, do we have any appetite for continued battles over gender and sexuality. We are looking at income inequality, joblessness, and growing intolerance as far more worrisome than the she-ness or gay-ness of church leaders.
If the global communion turns to the right and demands that we adopt bigotry as policy, I said we probably will just walk away. It’s just as likely that African bishops will lead a movement to kick us out.
At the pew level, meanwhile, where my questioner probably isn’t alone in not knowing the Archbishop of Canterbury’s name, Episcopalians are talking more about growth, new life, young leadership and casting their lot with the 99 percent.
“Growth, new life, young leadership?” Really? In the Episcopal Church? Either Tom Ehrich recently got hold of some really high-grade Humboldt County chronic, he counts empty pews as Episcopalians or he’s got an “Episcopal Church” of his own hidden away somewhere that he’s not telling anyone about.
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