The Wardman Wire

My latest post (’More Women, Vicar?’)was an attempt - probably in vain - to explain in layman’s terms what the Church of England is up to over women bishops, and to reflect on whether taking time over big decisions is an expression of Christian love, or just faffing about to delay the inevitable.

Thunderdragon has picked up on the post, and compares Rowan Williams to Gordon Brown, in a not very flattering way. I don’t think Williams is a ditherer of Brown proportions, I think he’s trying his best to keep everyone together (which is what Jesus prayed for), and to slow down people who are in a mad rush to purge the church of everyone who disagrees with them.

I ditched the normal sermon last night to talk with the evening congregation about the Synod vote and the events surrounding it. Some of the folk there were strong supporters of women bishops, some adamantly opposed, but we have the choice of whether to be the kind of church which can discuss these things, or whether we sweep them under the carpet.

The most common observation was that we seemed to be wasting time talking when we should be sharing the gospel.

The problem is that the media don’t report the gospel work, they only report stuff which relates to disputes or decline in the church. That’s the danger of taking the secular press as your guide to what the Church of England is doing. By the time we’d set the record straight, everyone seemed a lot happier, and less unsettled.