In a June 20 presidential address that spoke at different points to many of the factions represented among the Anglican Consultative Council, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams urged everyone to give consideration to the kind of message about the “good news” of God that the world will from this gathering of Christians.

“I want only to point out where and when we are meeting and thus the way in which what we say may well be heard,” he explained. “I point this out also so that we can ourselves remember the background to our debates on these matters - since they are not just about morality and biblical authority but about perceptions of how power is used in the church and world, how agendas are set.”

Archbishop Williams efficiently described two of the most common interpretations of what the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada have decided with respect to homosexuality and suggested the present situation lent itself to “patient study” of the following two questions: “What is the nature of a holy and Christ-like life for someone who has consistent homosexual desires? And what is the appropriate discipline to be applied to the personal life of the pastor in the Church?”

He acknowledged that the present teaching of the Anglican Communion did not agree with what had been done while acknowledging that the North American churches’ claim to prophetic action is plausible and therefore the matter was not likely to be resolved quickly. Equally important is that no person should prove a stumbling block to another.

“We can’t guarantee anything at this point,” he concluded. “We can’t ignore the seriousness of what divides us. But if there is no easy solution, and there is not, we can at least think about this simple suggestion. If it is difficult for us to stand together at the Lord’s Table as we might wish, can we continue to be friends? Its sounds so weak, doesn’t it? But, I actually think it is of great significance. It is a way of saying that we do not know how to go on being visibly full brothers and sisters, that we can find no clear visible way of expressing any sense of being together in the Body of Christ.

“Friendship is something that creates equality and mutuality, not a reward for finding equality or a way of intensifying existing mutuality. That’s why we can talk - astonishingly, when you think about it - of friendship between us and God, the friendship Jesus speaks of. It is why St Teresa of Avila can write about friendship as the most radical mark of Christian community, as we find our common ground simply in God's invitation to us to be his friends. And so, alongside the wearisome and saddening divisions of the Church, common ground stubbornly persists.”

To read the text of the Archbishop of Canterbury's presidential address, click here to link to the Anglican Communion News Service.

For an Episcopal News Service audio link of the address, click here

Full Coverage From the ACC Triennial:

· Council Somber After Vote to Exclude North Americans

· ACC Suspends North American Churches

· Vote on Resolution to Expel North Americans Scheduled

· Communion's Spotlight is on Presentation Panels

· Archbishop Says Common Ground Still Exists

· Status Quo at ACC Holds on Second Day

· Withdrawn Status of North Americans Noted

· ACC Opening Session Surprise

· ACC Meeting Opens with Dinner and Orientation

· Bishop Roskam to Serve in Two Capacities at Nottingham

Photos from Nottingham

· U.S., Canadian representatives seated apart

· The Rev. Canon Kenneth Kearon, ACC secretary general

· The Rev. Canon Michael Burrows of Ireland

· New Zealand Bishop John C. Paterson, chairman of the ACC

· Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams

· Bishops Moxley and Roskam

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