Archbishop of Canterbury says: 'Now we must work out what is really important'

From The Times
July 23, 2008
Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent

Anglicans stand in the middle of “one of the most severe challenges” to have faced the Church in history, the Archbishop of Canterbury said last night.

Dr Rowan Williams, addressing 650 bishops at the ten-yearly Lambeth Conference, at the University of Kent in Canterbury, set out his vision for the Church. He said that there had never been a golden age for Anglicans and the Church because its very foundation was divided by dispute.

He said that the Church was at a “deeply significant turning point” and that the controversies over same-sex blessings and gay consecrations demanded a new approach.

Advocating the path of council and covenant, meaning the agreement of a unifying set of doctrines and principles to help to prevent discord, Dr Williams said: “We cannot ignore the fact that what is seen to be a new doctrine and policy about same-sex relations, one that is not the same as that of the vast majority at the last Lambeth Conference, is causing pain and perplexity.” the rest