Church must be safe for gays, Williams says

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has said that the churches of the Anglican Communion must be safe places for gay and lesbian people. His comments come in a welcome to an interim report on the Anglican Communion’s Listening Process, a commitment to listen to the experience of homosexual people. Archbishop Williams warns that the challenge to create the safe space for their voices to be heard and for their dignity to be respected is based on a fundamental commitment of the Communion.

Listening Process Summaries now on-line

The culmination of months of work on what is known as “The Listening Process,” a process begun in response to the mandate of Lambeth Conference 1998 Resolution 1.10, and subsequent Primates Meetings, is now set out on the Anglican Communion website for use around the Anglican world. The Anglican Consultative Council, at their meeting in Nottingham, requested the appointment of a facilitator for this work.

The Anglican Communion: crisis and opportunity

Far too many preachers and speakers find themselves in the position of having too much material and too little time in which to deliver it. One such preacher began his sermon with: “My dear friends, I feel somewhat like a mosquito in a nudist camp. There is so much to do and I don’t know where to begin.”

General Synod 2007: IN PLENARY

Welcome to the next article of IN PLENARY, a feature that we hope will help Anglicans to appreciate and understand the complex issues that will be before General Synod in June, and also allow you to comment on those issues and to converse with other Anglicans from across the country.

Response to the Windsor Report

In 2003, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams established the Lambeth Commission on Communion to advise him and the churches of the Anglican Communion on how they could maintain “the highest degree of communion that may be possible” in light of actions by The Episcopal Church (US) and the diocese of New Westminster in Canada, and of some primates and bishops who intervened in the affairs of some parishes. The result was the publication of The Windsor Report in Oct., 2004.

General Synod 2007: IN PLENARY

Welcome to the next article of IN PLENARY, a feature that we hope will help Anglicans to appreciate and understand the complex issues that will be before General Synod in June, and also allow you to comment on those issues and to converse with other Anglicans from across the country.

Vision and principles of communications

The following document was prepared by General Synod’s Communications and Information Resources Committee and endorsed at its meeting in February. The document is being forwarded to the Council of General Synod with a request that it also adopt the document as the basis for the communication practices and policy of General Synod and that it commend it to the church at all levels.

Reflections on the Primates’ Meeting

What follows are two edited reports published by the Anglican Communion News Service.

The first features Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams making a statement and then responding to questions after the release of the communiqué prepared by the Primates.

The second document is a short interview with TEC Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori conducted by Matthew Davies of Episcopal News Service.

Lenten reflection podcast available for download

The Anglican Church of Canada has created a series of reflections available for download during Lent, February 21st through April 8th, 2007. These meditations give you a chance to consider questions you might otherwise not think about: Are you taking care of yourself? Are you being truly open and caring with your loved ones? What is important to you? Are you finding meaning in your day to day life?