Prodigal Kiwi(s) Blog

Interesting Conversations: Two Episcopalians and a Catholic

I used to be a regular listener to The Forum conversations during Alan Jones’ tenure as the Dean of Grace Cathedral. He retired in 2009. 

Since then the new Dean (Jane Shaw) has put her own spin on The Forum and it’s been nice to listen again, in recent weeks, to some of the back-catalog of fascinating interviews. 

Three in particular stood out. The first two stood out because I’ve regularly read and been deeply challenged by the books they have written over the years. While the third was a person I’d not come across before: 

First up, Alan Jones himself, in conversation on the 22^nd April 2012. The conversation was recorded under the title, The Church in the World. 

Secondly, James Alison, talking on the 13^th November 2011. The conversation was recorded under the title, Broken Hearts and New Creation: Intimations of a Great Reversal. 

And thirdly, Stephanie Spellers, talking on the 30^th October 2011 under the title: Anglicanism Remixed: Embracing our Traditions and Embracing The Other. 

Pursuing No Career, and a Perspective on Ordination – William Stringfellow

“I had elected then [in my early student years] to pursue no career. To put it theologically, I died to the idea of career and to the whole typical array of mundane calculations, grandiose goals and appropriate schemes to reach them…. I do not say this haughtily; this was an aspect of my conversion to the gospel…. 

“[Later] my renunciation of ambition in favor of vocation became resolute; I suppose some would think, eccentric. When I began law studies, I consider that I had few, if any, romantic illusions about becoming a lawyer, and I most certainly did not indulge any fantasies that God had called me, by some specific instruction, to be an attorney or, for that matter, to be a member of any profession or any occupation. I had come to understand the meaning of vocation more simply and quite differently. 

“I believed then, as I do now, that I am called in the Word of God … to the vocation of being human, nothing more and nothing less…. Within the scope of the calling to be merely but truly human, any work, including that of any profession, can be rendered a sacrament of that vocation. On the other hand, no profession, discipline or employment, as such, is a vocation.”
 


—William Stringfellow, A Keeper of the Word: Selected Writings of William Stringfellow (Eerdmans, 1994), pp. 30-31. 

“I would be damned if I would be a priest. That was what I decided. I would not be a priest and, moreover, I would spend my life refuting any who suppose that to be serious about the Christian faith required ordination. I would be a Christian in spite of the priesthood, in spite of all the priests” 

– William Stringfellow, A Second Birthday, p. 82).

The Spiritual and the Religious

“…To discover who I am I need to discover the relation in which I stand to an active, prior Other, to a transcendent creator. I don’t first sought out who I am and then seek for resources to sustain that identity…” 

- Rowan Williams, 2008. 

More here. 

The Wideness of the Sea: Women Bishops in the Church of England – A Review by Steve Taylor

My pre-order should just about be here. My friend Maggi Dawn’s latest publication – Like the Wideness of the Sea: Women Bishops and the Church of England (2013 / 96 pages) – a very timely and “classy” publication written against the backdrop of the Church of England’s decision that women priests in it’s church cannot be Bishops; a deeply sad decision made all he more sadder for me because in this country, in this part of the Anglican Family, women can be, and are serving as bishops. 

I can’t speak highly enough of Maggi’s writing – she has a wonderful gift – and I’m very much looking forward to this latest addition to the books she’s written; all of which are compulsory reading for me. 

Meantime, another good friend, Steve Taylor (who’s books / articles are also a compulsory read for me), has penned a very positive review from England. 

Here’s an excerpt: 

“…[Maggi] outlines a theology of waiting, as a spiritual discipline embedded in the life and liturgy of the church. She argues persuasively that waiting includes times when God waits for us to act. She mounts a cultural critique of English ‘niceness’ and the damage done when truth and justice are smothered in platitudes. In other words, at times waiting is the most sinful response to a situation of injustice.

Third, it tells a story, of being a woman in ministry. It is a story Maggi Dawn is eminently suited to write, being one of the first woman priests to train in the Church of England. It is harrowing to read, a story of a church that has found ways to behave badly, in deeply sexist patterns, and the damage this has, and is, causing. It made me ashamed to be a male and should mean some corporate Anglican work at Colleges and denominationally on safe workplace environments. One result is the loss of enormously gifted people from the church and the reduction of the full flourishing, both of individuals and churches. The body of Christ is being harmed.

It is wonderfully written, concise and cohesive. It moves smoothly between theology, literature, spirituality and experience. The title is a case in point, elegantly referencing the books key interpretive metaphor, the struggles in the Church of England, place in Maggi’s sense of call and her current location. It is very classy writing…”

You can read Steve’s complete review here. Also, a short video of Maggi talking from Yale about Women Bishops and the Church of England. 

Priestly Presence in Contemporary Culture

Today I want to feature Rowan William’s thoughtful epilogue the interesting collection of essays published under the title Praying for England: Priestly Presence in Contemporary Culture. For a number of reasons I have an interest in the role of the priest in the midst of priestly community in the midst of a wider culture and context; indeed in particular places. 

On might hope that Williams, in the coming years, might reflect more on the role of the priest, and of priestly communities in the midst of contemporary Western Culture. And these themes in relation to contemplation / spirituality and mission in Western Culture. 

Williams begins, “All societies have maps; they give you messages about where you fit in; in relation to each other and in relation to the landmarks that are scattered around the territory of social life…”

Later he writes: 

“…Priesthood is over and sacrifice is now unnecessary. That is what the Christian gospel says, at first sight: Jesus has offered his life ‘once, only once, and once for all’ and the distinctive anxieties of religion are behind us for ever. More specifically, this is what the Reformation reaffirmed, with some violence, in the belief that the Church had in effect reinstated a system of priesthood where none was needed, thus compromising the uniqueness of the action and suffering of Jesus in his crucifixion… 

But in fact this represents a damagingly limited reading of the gospel. It is not that the categories of priesthood and sacrifice have been evacuated of meaning: they have been drastically reimagined…” 

The full epilogue (PDF) is attached below, courtesy of this site.

Download Rowan Williams - Epilogue to 'Praying for England' - 2007

Times Are a Changing – Rome and Wellington

Yesterday morning the featured guest on Radio New Zealand’s Nine to Noon show was Justin Duckworth. 

Justin Duckworth's is a journey from a radical lifestyle serving marginalised people on society's fringes, to being ordained the Anglican Bishop of Wellington. You find the podcast link to the interview here (scroll down until you find it). 

It’s an interesting story, one that offers interesting possibilities for the future. 

Interesting times ahead for the Anglican Diocese of Waikato & Taranaki as it thinks about its future, and its needs of the Episcopacy. Long-serving Bishop of Waikato and Archbishop of New Zealand, David Moxon has recently resigned to take up an appointment in Rome on behalf of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the wider Anglican Communion. He will be missed, but it’s a wonderful opportunity for him, and an oppotunity for the Diocese to prayerfully reflect on it's future - its sense of God's invitations within a much changed context since David's consecration on the 13th August 1993. 

New Zealand’s New, Dreadlocked Anglican Bishop

In case you missed it, 44-year-old Anglican Priest Justin Duckworth was installed as the Anglican Bishop of Wellington on 30^th June 2012. 

“…On a freezing cold Wellington afternoon, Justin Duckworth and his trademark bare feet are ascending to one of Anglican Church's most revered roles. 

And inside Wellington's Saint Paul's Cathedral, 1600 faithful gather to see him ordained as a bishop. 

Mr Duckworth is a man who has spent much of his life working to help the needy and those who live in the margins of society. 

“I've got to be honest, I probably felt more comfortable there yesterday at Rimutaka Jail than I do here. I confess that now that you have made me a bishop, because it's too late for you to pull out,” he jokes…” 

And you’ll get to see Andrew Jones, The Tall Skinny Kiwi, make a few comments. 

You can watch the TV3 news clip here. 

Justin, and Jenny his wife co-wrote a really interesting little book in the New Monastic Library series (resources for Radical Discipleship) published by Cascade Books with a foreword by Charles Ringma. The title is: Against the Tide, Towards the Kingdom. 

“…Against the Tide, Towards the Kingdom is the story of the Urban Vision community in New Zealand. This book recounts the story of a group of young Christian adults who over the last fifteen years have relocated to the colorful ends of their city to share life with those who are struggling, homeless, sick, poor, neglected, or otherwise marginalized. The community has grown over time to seven neighborhoods where on any given day you may find "Urban Visionites" growing vegetables amidst the concrete, teaching English to refugees, offering alternative education programs to out of school teenagers, fostering children, doing church with the homeless, offering friendship to the mentally ill, roasting fair trade coffee, running kids clubs, moms groups, tenant meetings or just sharing yet another cup of tea with their neighbors. In fact sharing is a good summary of the whole shape of this exciting movement. They share homes, food, money, vehicles, jobs, prayers, dreams, conversations, fun, tears, pain, hope, healing, transformation . . . they share the whole of life with each other and with their neighbors. They live the gospel, this good news of Jesus…” 

Plus, an interesting article in NZ’s Anglican Taonga online ‘magazine’ – Back to the Community  - Everyday. Great to see the campaign "Back to Church Sunday" dropped!

Rowan Williams: Kiss and Tell

I’ve been listening to Rowan Williams these last few days – well actually one 2002 talk several times. I’ve listened a lot to him over the years, but his 2002 Greenbelt talk – Kiss and Tell: Intimacy and Mystical Experience - is one of the very best talks I’ve heard him deliver, and as I’m discovering it benefits from repeated listening, not because its technical (and in that sense complex), but because its simultaneously accessible, profoundly human, and yet also deep – it’s content circling around the profundity of God’s love for us, and love for God, and the importance of human love and loving. He explores why we turn so often to the language of human love, loving, and intimacy to talk about and explore our experience of God.    

For me I couldn’t but help hear St. Paul and his letter to the churches in Corinth (1 Cor. 13:1-7). I’m glad too that over the years I’ve had the likes of Williams, the Christian Mystics and many other wise persons walking along side me, helping me change and deepen my experience of what it means to be fully human; what it means to be alive; and what it means to truly love. But, the journey is still not over, the unfolding continues. 

Other strands woven through the fabric of his talk:

• The importance of the Christian mystics, in particular: St. John of the Cross & St. Bernard of Clairvaux.
• The Song of Songs and the very human acts of yearning, passion, and hunger for another person – for love, and to be loved and wanted for who we are.
• Human loving, relating, and intimacy.
• The absence and withdrawal of love.
• The importance of love maturing and deepening.
• The mystery and depth of our humanity – there is always more; we’re always more than can be seen and experienced. The multi-dimensional, multi-layered realities of being fully and wholly human.
• The importance of the longevity of love and loving – love as something that matures and enlarges – enlarges our relating to self, others, and God. Love as a journey of unfolding.
• The inevitability that to truly love will also, as a consequence, entails the experience of pain. To feel no deep, wordless pain in our human relating and within the context of human intimacy is, as a corollary, not to have truly or deeply loved. Love hurts, but love is the source of the most profound and sublime joy, peace and deep contentment. 

If you haven’t heard Williams start with this talk (downloadable here), and then carry on with this Holy Week talks: here (the Narnia stories from 2011) and via here (on growing in prayer from 2009). 

Getting Out from Under the Mitre: Archbishop Rowan Williams Stepping Down as Archbishop of Canterbury

“…The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams has today revealed that he is to step down from his role at the end of the year. 

His decision comes after 10 years in the post and after accepting the position of Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge. 

In a statement issued from Lambeth Palace, the Primate of All England said, “It has been an immense privilege to serve as Archbishop of Canterbury over the past decade, and moving on has not been an easy decision. During the time remaining there is much to do, and I ask your prayers and support in this period and beyond… 

…Archbishop Rowan’s announcement means that ACC-15 in New Zealand during the last quarter of this year will be his last as President of the ACC…” 

Greenbelt’s Paul Northrop, had this to say about the resignation. It captures several of his ‘hidden’ qualities: 

Personally speaking, during Rowan’s tenure as Archbishop, I have been saddened to all-but lose sight of that wonderful priestly poet and theologian who I was so excited to see first come into office, as he has struggled under the sheer weight of the institution that is the Church of England. 

As a post-grad theology student in the 90s, I remember Rowan, as Archbishop of Wales then, coming to a Theology Reading Group I was part of. There, he sat with just six of us around a table and genially answered our questions to him about his book On Christian Theology. He had time for us. I was then, and have been ever since, a fan of his theology, his poetry, his thoughtful integrity as a person – and, yes, his godliness. 

My hope for Rowan as he readies himself for the move to Cambridge at the end of the year, is that there he will find the space and time to recover his vocation as poet, priest and teacher. The Church still needs to hear his voice and pay attention to his witness. And, who knows, perhaps the playful and prophetic dimensions of his artistry might again regain their power at the margins. In other words, my hope is that this change in his role might, oddly, give Rowan more not less influence…” 

As a recent reviewer of Ben Myers’ new book on Rowan Williams’ theology (which is outstanding, by the way. I recommend it highly) wrote: 

“One of the few missing features – perhaps weaknesses – of the book is a lack of notice that +Rowan usually speaks far more clearly than he writes. Williams’ writing can often seem a difficult, dry, protracted and sometimes depressing exercise in spiritual renunciation of the fantasies of the heart and mind. By contrast his presence in person is attentive, humorous and kind. There is a self-forgetfulness (literally a forgetfulness of self) to the archbishop that is very attractive…”

Update - 25th March 2012

Ben Myers (author of book to the right) offers a few thoughts on what kind of an academic William's will be at Cambridge. You can find it here. 

Rowan Williams: Not Victory, But Instead, Understanding and Depth

A few lines/themes from recent addresses (this one, for example) by Rowan Williams have remained with me, having application not just to interfaith religious dialogue, but all to relationships, and to ‘non-religious’ conversations with we are in as we go about our everyday and very ordinary activities: 

“The Archbishop of Canterbury and Sri Shruti Dharma Das Ji launched the Hindu Christian Forum at Lambeth Palace, at an event which featured addresses from Andrew Stunell MP, Baroness Richardson and Lord Popat. 

In his address, the Archbishop said "The conversation of interfaith dialogue is always one where we look eagerly and expectantly for enrichment. We're not playing for victory, we're seeking understanding from one another... by learning the depth of one another's commitment and vision - dialogue and depth is what we all hope for." 

And from another recent address on an interfaith theme: 

"To belong is to know that there is somewhere where you don't have to earn your position – it's guaranteed; you are at home and you don't have to work in order to be there. That level of belonging is one of the crucial things which our religious identity gives to us." 

A useful question I’ve used and adapted in various ways for specific contexts is: “What are you willing to be wrong about in relation to the other; one or two things that open up possibilities for new ways of relating and of new understanding and perspective?”