wfn.org | ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY URGES CHURCH TO MOVE IN NEW DIRECTIONS

[Audrey Whitefield <a.whitefield@quest.org.uk>]

Oct. 21, 1997
ANGLICAN COMMUNION NEWS SERVICE
Canon Jim Rosenthal, Director of Communications
Anglican Communion Office
London, England

[97.10.3.4]

ENGLAND: ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY URGES CHURCH TO MOVE IN NEW DIRECTIONS

(Lambeth Palace) The Archbishop of Canterbury this week urged the Church
of England to continue to adapt and innovate in order to connect more
effectively with the spiritual needs of millions of people who feel
estranged from organised  religion.  The Archbishop used his Ashe
Lecture in St Helen's Church, Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire, to set
out an agenda for continuing change around the themes of confidence,
mission and unity.

"Let me stress again that I am not advocating the wholesale rejection of
the traditional and well loved from the past", said the Archbishop, "But
I do plead for a vigorous diversification as we try to make the glories
of the faith accessible to people where they are, now, and not where we
might prefer them to be."

Drawing heavily on lessons from "the humbling, astonishing reaction to
the death of Diana, Princess of Wales", the Archbishop argued that the
decline in formal religious observance in Western Europe clearly did not
imply wholesale abandonment of belief in the religious and spiritual
significance of life.  He praised the manner in which Westminster Abbey,
and many other cathedrals and churches, had made themselves available in
a sensitive and inclusive way to so many people in their grief and
perplexity.  Many people wanted to participate in simple rituals such as
lighting candles, laying wreaths or praying quietly on their own way. "I
hope many churches will take this much further, in imaginative new
ways.  We must make more space for people to open their hearts to God
and express themselves - and not be content simply to offer our own
established rituals on a take it or leave it basis." The Archbishop
praised the creative use of special services touching people at points
of joy or sorrow or concern, and helping them to come nearer to Christ.
Nor, he stressed, should the effort to engage estranged people be
confined to church services.

In producing revised liturgies for worship, the Church should aim for
simplicity, beauty and brevity, with space left for spontaneity and
variation within a firm framework.  Whilst for many people, "the great
cadences of the Book of Common Prayer or the tradition of religious
poetry" had a special power and should remain as an important, live part
of the Church's tradition, it was also possible for modern and simple
ways of talking about out faith to be beautiful: "let us bring to our
aid novelists, poets, musicians and artists who from their explorations
touch the world of the spirit."

Further key agenda points in reaching  out to people in modern society
were  
*renewed commitment to dynamic Christian social action and ministry to
marginalised and needy people

*developing more confidence, skills and good practice in mission and
evangelism

*reaffirming the importance of living out the Gospel in all aspects of
life, not just in church on Sundays

*fresh emphasis on the Church's role in serving all parishioners, not
just regular worshippers, and sustaining the strength of our
comprehensive parochial system

*embracing the diversity of different people within and beyond the
Church, but also searching constantly to uphold what binds us together -
as Christians, and more broadly as human beings made in the image of
God.

The Archbishop pointed to signs of growing confidence within the Church
of England, with ordinations up by fifteen per cent this year. "And our
capacity for reform and self-renewal has been demonstrated again and
again. Profound changes in patterns of ministry. The empowerment of lay
people. Burgeoning numbers of non-stipendiary ministers. The reforms in
the Church Commissioners and our national institutions.  The ordination
of thousands of women to the diaconate and priesthood.  Dynamic
evangelising initiatives and church planting.  "The Church of English is
on the move", declared the Archbishop, "trusting not in our own
capacities alone but in the radical power of God's Holy Spirit." (full
text in features section)