Latest Reflections
LAMBETH WALK
Canon Jeremy Davies, Precentor (Friday 1st August 2008)As I write this (as it happens on the thirty-sixth anniversary of my ordination) at the end of June, the Gaflon Conference of dissident Anglicans, rebelling at the perceived un-biblical liberalism of the Anglican communion in the west, is coming to an end in Jerusalem. And as you read this, the Lambeth Conference is well under way at Canterbury. Some of the Gaflon bishops have said they will not attend Lambeth in protest at the presence at the latter conference of bishops who, for example. colluded in the consecration of Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. Visitors to Salisbury Cathedral quite often ask is this a Catholic Church as they recognise liturgy and ceremony and order reminiscent of what they are used to at home. My answer is always yes, this is a Catholic Church – and then follow this with an explanation that the Church of England (if not the Anglican communion) is both Catholic (though not Roman) and reformed. Even Pope John 23rd and subsequent Popes have recognised that 'Anglican' doesn't fit easily into any of the available ecclesiological models. It is sui generis – while also having characteristics that link it to orthodox, catholic and protestant understanding. It has been that breadth of sympathy, that generous inclusiveness, that willingness to talk, share and listen across denominational boundaries, that has made me (and many others) glad to be an Anglican. Others have scoffed at us for "not believing anything, but doing it very well"; have derided our lack of doctrinal definition, our fudges on the great moral questions; our lack of theological coherence. I don't believe we are a church of easy compromise and compromised doctrine (though I recognise how frustrating the Church of England must be to move hard-edged traditions – including sister Churches within the England communion). But the Church of England, true to its theological centre going back beyond the Reformation, and expressed by Richard Hooker in the sixteenth century, and constantly re-expressed by Anglican divines up to and including our own Archbishop Rowan, has always recognised the importance of scripture, tradition and reason. All these are important, and need to be held as constant dialogue, even if that often means constant tension. It will need another article, sermon or lecture, to unpack how those three legs of the tripod interact with each other. But at Lambeth the future of the Anglican Church is a stake, and what the Church of England (much vilified by other parts of the communion) brings to the table, is a sense that without the three strands of the tripod the soul of Anglicanism is lost, and our distinctive contribution to the wider ecumenical scene is lost as well. Lambeth will help us decide whether we are truly Catholic – or not.
A SIGNIFICANT MONTH
Canon Mark Bonney, Treasurer (Tuesday 1st July 2008)
This is going to be a significant month both for the Cathedral and the Anglican Communion. I won’t list all the events and the people we are hosting, they will appear elsewhere in this edition; nor will I spill ink over the tensions within the Communion because I’m sure that many others will do that with alacrity in the press and elsewhere.
Rather let me tell you a little about Canon Ezra Baya Lawiri, whose statue will be placed on the West Front in the course of celebrations on Saturday 12 July which begin with a pilgrimage from Old Sarum. This will be the Diocese’s principal involvement with our 750 celebrations and attended by 22 or more Sudanese bishops.
Canon Ezra was born in Moruland in 1917 and educated at a local missionary school where he qualified as a teacher. He was clearly very bright, and having been ordained in 1946 he served in two parishes before becoming vice-principal of Bishop Gwynne College. In 1959 he spent a year at the London Divinity School and then returned, becoming Principal in 1963. In 1965 civil war began in the Sudan and Ezra fled on foot, with his students, into exile in Uganda where he continued teaching and committed himself to translating the Bible into the Moru language. He returned from exile in 1973 and continued his work of translation and education through the many troubled years ahead. He was widely respected as a man of peace, of wise counsel and a great reconciler during a difficult time for the Episcopal Church of the Sudan. In March 1991, during intensified fighting in Southern Sudan, Canon Ezra was amongst a group escaping from Mundri to Juba, and was caught in crossfire by an artillery shell. He was severely injured, and died the next day - his last reported words being “I have completed my work of the Moru Bible translation. The Lord has saved me and now I am going to heaven”.
When I had the privilege of visiting the Sudan in December 2006 I asked numerous people whether Canon Ezra was a suitable person to be commemorated in Salisbury, as a symbol of our link with the Sudan and of the Christian witness there. I received constant support for the proposal and it will be a very special moment when the statue is dedicated. Standing in the derelict town of Rokon, a few hundred yards away from where he died (we couldn’t go closer because of unexploded mines) remains etched in my heart and in my prayers – it puts so much else into a very different perspective.