AngCath
14th June 2006, 09:48 AM
Message for General Convention from Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams
Greetings to you all in Christ's name as you meet to pray and
deliberate
about the life and witness of your church and the demands of God's
Kingdom.
May God grant you discernment as you meet and listen to each other in
patience and love.
As all those involved will be acutely aware, this General Convention
takes
place in a climate of intense and perhaps rather oppressive attention
worldwide. At the meeting last week of the Bishops of the Church of
England,
we recognized the pressure under which you meet, and committed
ourselves to
praying more deeply and more constantly for all of you during these
days.
Please be assured of our loving concern for the Episcopal Church and
our
hopes that we in the Anglican Communion may learn again to walk with
each
other more trustfully.
The recommendations of the Windsor Report will be much in your minds
and
your deliberations, and I appreciate the work your Commissions and
Committees have done in responding to the Windsor Process. I hope that
the
theological vision there set out in the Report of the ground and
character
of our communion in Christ will be clearly before you. We cannot
survive as
a Communion of churches without some common convictions about what it
is to
live and to make decisions as the Body of Christ; Windsor is not the
end of
the story, but it sets out a positive picture of what that might imply
as
together we strive to serve the mission of God.
We thank God for all that the Episcopal Church has contributed over the
years to our fellowship and commend you to the One "who is able to
establish
you according to...the proclamation of Jesus Christ" (Rom.16.25).
Grace be with you all.
------------
Greetings to you all in Christ's name as you meet to pray and
deliberate
about the life and witness of your church and the demands of God's
Kingdom.
May God grant you discernment as you meet and listen to each other in
patience and love.
As all those involved will be acutely aware, this General Convention
takes
place in a climate of intense and perhaps rather oppressive attention
worldwide. At the meeting last week of the Bishops of the Church of
England,
we recognized the pressure under which you meet, and committed
ourselves to
praying more deeply and more constantly for all of you during these
days.
Please be assured of our loving concern for the Episcopal Church and
our
hopes that we in the Anglican Communion may learn again to walk with
each
other more trustfully.
The recommendations of the Windsor Report will be much in your minds
and
your deliberations, and I appreciate the work your Commissions and
Committees have done in responding to the Windsor Process. I hope that
the
theological vision there set out in the Report of the ground and
character
of our communion in Christ will be clearly before you. We cannot
survive as
a Communion of churches without some common convictions about what it
is to
live and to make decisions as the Body of Christ; Windsor is not the
end of
the story, but it sets out a positive picture of what that might imply
as
together we strive to serve the mission of God.
We thank God for all that the Episcopal Church has contributed over the
years to our fellowship and commend you to the One "who is able to
establish
you according to...the proclamation of Jesus Christ" (Rom.16.25).
Grace be with you all.
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