London Times-The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams has called for the schism-torn Anglican Communion to embrace forgiveness, reconciliation and justice.
Dr Rowan Williams said the Church must put itself in order so it can turn outwards and help the needy, the hungry and those nations struggling with conflict and debt. To move forward meant "letting go" of what felt safe, he said.
The Archbishop was preaching before a crowd of about 8,000 Jamaicans in that country's National Arena at the start of an Anglican conference that will prove crucial in determining the future unity of the worldwide Anglican Communion.
Senior bishops, clergy and laity from the 14th Anglican Consultative Council, the Church's central policy-making body, will discuss the third or "Ridley" draft of a new covenant which all 38 provinces will be asked to sign up to in a bid to prevent further splits and damaging disputes over matters of faith, doctrine and order.
Before the Anglican worshippers in Jamaica offered each other the symbolic "peace" - a smile, handshake, hug or kiss depending on which wing of the church a worshipper attends, and done this time to the singing of Bob Marley - Dr Williams urged Anglicans to ask themselves: "Is ours a community in which there are still people in need?”
He said: "Sadly we’re still on our way to becoming a church that God wants us to be.”
He asked for prayers from the Jamaican church so that “in all we do, we may assist our Anglican family to become more deeply a community shaken by the Holy Spirit…Where we seek to create a community in which there is no needy person.”
The needs of the world go beyond food and other material things, added Archbishop Williams. “We need forgiveness. We need reconciliation. We need justice,” he said. “We need to hear from one another words of forgiveness.”
More here-
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article6221171.ece
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