Sunday, May 10, 2009

PERFIDY!

A letter to the The Most Rev. and Rt. Hon. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury:

Your Grace,

A statement released today by Professors Christopher Seitz, Philip Turner, and Ephraim Radner, and Attorney Mark McCall states: "Friday’s session of the Anglican Consultative Council is an embarrassment to Anglicans everywhere, and a sad display of procedural confusion."

I would go further than saying "procedural confusion." It is, as reports from Professor Stephen Noll and others are calling it: PERFIDY. It is a betrayal of every Anglican who has looked to the Covenant process to bring desperately needed order to our life as a Communion.

I urge you to take note of the two recommendations made by Prof. Seitz, et al in their statement:

(1) This issue must be re-visited immediately by the ACC and voted upon in a lawful and proper manner during this meeting. The alternative is moving forward with lasting questions as to the legitimacy of the entire process.

(2)An explanation must be offered by those in charge of these proceedings, including the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Chairman of the ACC, as to how such manifestly improper procedures were permitted to unfold from the outset of Friday’s session and, indeed, of ACC-14 itself.

If lawful and proper action on the Covenant is not forthcoming from this meeting of the Council, the only appropriate response is for the Churches of the Communion to begin themselves the process of adopting the Ridley Cambridge Text."

It is painfully obvious to observers in many quarters that the continuation of the Communion depends on your actions in this matter.

Respectfully yours in Christ,

The Very Rev. Robert S. Munday, Ph.D.
Dean and President
Professor of Systematic Theology
Nashotah House Theological Seminary


NOTE: Let the Archbishop of Canterbury know your opinion! You can do it here: http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/1531?navid=102&formid=10.

7 comments:

Thomas O. Scarborough said...

This one has me baffled, though -- a surfeit of Anglican jargon and acronyms and context.

Perhaps, in much the same way that ontology so famously recapitulates philology, perfidy solicits imprecation?

Robert S. Munday said...

Thomas,

If you follow the links in my post and read the articles dealing with Friday's debacle at the Anglican Consultative Council meeting in Jamaica, all will become clear.

David Turney said...

Thank you for your live blogging in Jamaica and for this bold letter. FWIW, I took your suggestion to send feedback to Lambeth palace inbox. First time I've done that. They sent me a non-automated, relevant reply this AM, which I appreciated.

Robert S. Munday said...

David,
Thank you for your kind words. Alas, I did not do any live blogging from Jamaica. But the proceedings I saw via live video and the reports I read convinced me that letters to ++Rowan were urgently needed.

Fr. Darin Lovelace+ said...

Good sir,

Now that the pleas of the ACI have been manifestly ignored by +++Williams...

Fr Darin Lovelace+
Durant, Iowa
(glad to be Church of Uganda)

Robert S. Munday said...

In breaking news, ++Rowan was heard to say regarding those who were eagerly awaiting the Covenant: "Let them eat cake!"

Journeyman said...

I take great comfort in knowing that God does not vote. Let us pray for those opposed to God's will, they shall not carry the day.

In Christ's love