wfn.org | ACNS3498 Archbishop of Canterbury's response to Jeffrey John's

["Anglican Communion News Service" <acnslist@anglicancommunion.org>]

ACNS 3498     |     LAMBETH PALACE     |     6 JULY 2003

Archbishop of Canterbury's response to Jeffrey John's withdrawal

[ACNS source: Lambeth Palace] As most of you will know already, Canon
Jeffrey John has announced his intention of withdrawing from his appointment
as Bishop of Reading. The road that has led him to this point has been
extremely arduous; and I must pay the warmest public tribute to the dignity
and forbearance he has shown throughout, often under the most intrusive and
distasteful personal scrutiny. The Bishop of Oxford and the people of the
diocese have also had to endure difficult times, and there too has been much
patience and graciousness in the heart of the controversy. All involved will
need our prayers.

The announcement must give us all pause for thought. I hope that there will
be proper opportunity to reflect on all this in depth. We have to grasp that
Canon John's appointment has brought to light a good deal of unhappiness
among people who could by no means be described as extremists, many of whom
have willingly testified to their personal respect for Canon John. They are
convinced, however, that there is a basic issue at stake relating to the
consistency of our policy and our doctrine in the Church of England - and
that this issue has arisen in this particular case in a way for which there
are no obvious parallels. Such unhappiness means that there is an obvious
problem in the consecration of a bishop whose ministry will not be readily
received by a significant proportion of Christians in England and elsewhere.

For the divisions we have seen do not exist only at diocesan and national
level but internationally as well. The perspective of the Anglican Communion
demands careful consideration here. The estrangement of churches in
developing countries from their cherished ties with Britain is in no-one's
interests. It would impoverish us as a Church in every way. It would also
jeopardise links with other denominations, weaken co-operation in our shared
service and mission worldwide, and increase the vulnerability of Christian
minorities in some parts of the world where they are already at risk. Any
such outcome would be a very heavy price to pay.

Much of the doubt expressed over the appointment was in terms of
accountability to biblical teaching. Two weeks ago, I warned against
interpreting the appointment as an illegitimate attempt to 'short-circuit'
the Church's continuing obedient engagement with that teaching. I must be
equally clear now. Canon John's withdrawal should not be taken to mean that
the Church can now stop being concerned about how it discerns the will of
God in this area of ethics. Later this year, a significant study guide to
the debate in the Church of England on Issues in Human Sexuality will be
published. I hope that this will be fully used to deepen our understanding.
Whatever the difficulties, we cannot afford to ignore or foreclose the
necessary work. And this will involve people at every level in the Church's
life.

Let me add that some of the opposition expressed to Canon John's appointment
has been very unsavoury indeed. A number of the letters I received displayed
a shocking level of ignorance and hatred towards homosexual people. Our
official policies and resolutions as Anglicans commit us to listening to the
experience of homosexuals and recognising that they are full and welcome
members of the Church, loved by God. Not everyone, it seems, takes equally
seriously this element in the teaching of the Anglican Church; and some
letters that came from non-believers suggest that the level of foolish and
hurtful prejudice in our society is still uncomfortably high. Christians who
collude with this are simply not living out their calling.

This has been a time of open and painful confrontation, in which some of our
bonds of mutual trust have been severely strained. As I said earlier, we
need now to give ourselves the proper opportunities honestly to think
through what has happened and to find what God has been teaching us in these
difficult days.

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