Church of England welcomes Obama inauguration

Wednesday, 21st January 2009
By Matt Cresswell

The Inauguration of Barack Obama this week has been hailed by Church leaders in the UK.

The Church of England’s Committee for Minority Anglican Concerns hailed his election as a ‘truly redemptive moment’ for the USA.

The group’s chair, the Rev Rose Hudson Wilkin, said: “The election last November of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the USA, culminating in his inauguration this week, is a most momentous occasion.

“His election was a truly redemptive moment and one of pride and aspiration for many people. It was a particularly redemptive moment in terms of the legacy that African Americans have endured for over two centuries -- and this was not lost on the President elect, Barack Hussein Obama.”

Addressing the current tensions in the Anglican Communion she said that the election of Obama was a prophetic pointer to “the possibilities which open up if hearts and minds have the confidence to change by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

She added: “The Archbishop of Canterbury has used the term ‘Kairos Time’. This is truly a ‘Kairos Time’ when we urge the Church to begin to nurture a leadership that can engage and function at all levels within it – across all ethnicities – but this must be done intentionally.” the rest