wfn.org | Episcopalians: Archbishop of Canterbury-designate Williams facing criticism from evangelical

[dmack@episcopalchurch.org]

October 10, 2002

2002-233

Episcopalians: Archbishop of Canterbury-designate Williams 
facing criticism from evangelicals

by James Solheim

(ENS) Even before he officially becomes the 104th archbishop of 
Canterbury on November 1, Rowan Williams of Wales is being 
subjected to harsh criticism from those who are questioning his 
position of issues of sexual morality.

The conservative evangelical group Reform has asked Williams 
to resign unless he can affirm "the received teaching of the 
church that all its members are to abstain from sexual relations 
outside holy matrimony" and "the need for appropriate 
discipline" for those who disobey, including those who seek 
ordination. Williams acknowledges that he has ordained an openly 
gay candidate for the priesthood and questioned whether celibacy 
should be an absolute requirement for gay and lesbian clergy.

In response, Williams wrote to Reform and said that sexual 
morality "should not be a defining issue," adding that he was 
prepared to "state what is the majority teaching of the church, 
as I am bound to do. But I can't go beyond this and say that I 
believe what I do not believe. Nor do I want to set a precedent 
of publicly affirming more than what the canons require in terms 
of allegiance to the Scriptures, the Articles and the Creeds."

Williams added that "my personal views are on record and I 
have not found reason to change themEqually, the decision to 
accept this nomination, not sought by me and not welcome to me, 
was not taken without reflection and consultation--including 
consultation with those who broadly believe as you do. The 
answers were unanimous," he wrote.

Serious distortion

Another evangelical group, the Church Society, warned that 
Williams was "leading people astray" with his liberal stance on 
sexuality issues and several members met with him to ask that he 
change his views or renounce his appointment. General Secretary 
David Phillips said, "We had to tell him that he should not 
accept the post and it was clear that he is going to so we had 
to say that we could not accept his authority." Phillips warned 
that a schism was possible.

Allegations by some that Williams condoned extra-marital or 
pre-marital sexual relations were refuted by his office as a 
misinterpretation that "directly contradicts what he has written 
and taught throughout his ministry." The statement said that the 
archbishop "has in the past raised questions about the ethical 
status of certain same-sex relationships, and this was the point 
that Reform had raised in their correspondence with him. To read 
his response as attacking the central points of Christian 
teaching about sex and marriage is a serious distortion."

With about 800 members, the Church Society is not a major 
force in the life of the church, although it does have broad 
support from the Church of England's Evangelical Council and the 
Anglican Evangelical Assembly which represent thousands of 
clergy, according to press reports. Both organizations have 
supported Reform's call for Williams to renounce his more 
liberal views.

"The evangelical wing is also coming under mounting pressure 
to take strong action from like-minded Anglican bishops in 
Africa and Asia," according to an article by Jonathan Petre in 
the Daily Telegraph. Evangelicals in the worldwide 
Anglican Communion have expressed strong support for the stance 
by the 1998 Lambeth Conference of bishops that condemned the 
ordination of non-celibate gays and lesbians and the blessing of 
same-gender relationships.

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--James Solheim is director of Episcopal News Service.