Sunday Social Hour
We are approaching 3,200 fans on Facebook! Overwhelming. Thank you one and all!
Given the week's posts about the Archbishop of Canterbury and backlash about his Pentecost letter, it's probably not surprising to see a group on Facebook pop up called The Archbishop of Canterbury hath no jurisdiction in this Realm. But comments on some of the related posts help keep things in perspective, such as someone invoking the Serenity Prayer to remind us that it's not so much the ABC that matters as listening for (and to) the Spirit. (Thanks, John A.)
On Twitter, you may have noticed that search was down a lot this week. Well, it seems like there's a new functionality in place, that when you search on "episcopalcafe" as one word, that any shortened links that point to the blog appear in the search. As a result, we're seeing more of your comments, such as @PastorDan's recasting of the headline on the Virginia ruling to "Virginia Supreme Court to schismatics: Consider yourself WARNED!!" and another reader's observation on the to baptize or not to baptize post: "This is the silly part of TEC, and why I don't read blogs." This new search functionality is pretty nifty, but it still kicks back an "older posts are not available" error after a few pages. Feh, we say.
When one is trying to make a statement to advance a cause or a position, it's always nice to be noticed, so many thanks to the Episcopal Café for taking note of the Facebook page entitled "The Archbishop of Canterbury hath no jurisdiction in this Realm . . ."
But as the person who set up the page, I confess I'm not quite sure what to make of this: "...comments on some of the related posts help keep things in perspective, such as someone invoking the Serenity Prayer to remind us that it's not so much the ABC that matters as listening for (and to) the Spirit."
For the record, the page was set up precisely because, "keep[ing] things in perspective," the ABC *does* *very much* matter, albeit some of the ways in which he matters of late have to do with his exercising the "primus" part of his job description while seeming to forget the "inter pares" part -- and in the process seeking to intervene in and even interrupt the listening for and to the Spirit in provinces such as TEC, Canada, Brazil, etc.
More basically, in the ABC-driven rush (ever since the Windsor *Report*) toward an Anglican Covenant, even with weakened teeth, it does seem that ++Rowan, ++Drexel, et al. -- all those who would now centralize and make uniform the Communion -- do indeed seem to forget that the statement from which the name of this page is derived -- "The Bishop of Rome hath no jurisdiction in this Realm of England" -- is absolutely *fundamental* and *foundational* to Anglican ecclesiology and to the Anglican ethos.
He, and they, have been reminded of this for years now, but to no avail. Sadly, when more diplomatic phrasings fail, sometimes the only way to be heard is to state the truth *bluntly*:
"The Archbishop of Canterbury hath no jurisdiction in this Realm . . ."
++Rowan, sadly, has become perceived by many - on bot sides of the Anglican culture wars, and in places in between - as frequently not letting his Yes be Yes and his No be No. Let us not do the same, and let our voices be clear and firm -- as indeed was the first Anglican voice that proclaimed that "The Bishop of Rome hath no jurisdiction in this Realm of England."
Posted by David Cornell![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/nav-commenters.gif)
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June 14, 2010 10:35 AM