Rowan Williams to step down in 2012

Rowan Williams will step down as Archbishop of Canterbury at the end of 2012 to become head of Magdalene College at Cambridge.

Lambeth Palace has a news release. An extract:

"It has been an immense privilege to serve as Archbishop of Canterbury over the past decade, and moving on has not been an easy decision. During the time remaining there is much to do, and I ask your prayers and support in this period and beyond. I am abidingly grateful to all those friends and colleagues who have so generously supported Jane and myself in these years, and all the many diverse parishes and communities in the Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion that have brought vision, hope and excitement to my own ministry. I look forward, with that same support and inspiration, to continuing to serve the Church’s mission and witness as best I can in the years ahead."
Dr Williams will continue to carry out all the duties and responsibilities of the Archbishop of Canterbury, both for the Church of England and the Anglican Communion, until the end of the year.
The Crown Nominations Commission will consider in due course the selection of a successor.

HERE are some of the posts that I have had about Rowan Williams

Choosing forgiveness

Choosing Forgiveness

Bud Welch

Bud Welch's 23-year-old daughter, Julie, was killed when the Murrah Federal Building was bombed in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995.

All my life I have opposed the death penalty. Friends used to tell me that if anyone ever killed one of my family members, I would change. But I always said I'd stick to my guns. Until April 19.

The first four or five weeks after the bombing I had so much anger, pain, hatred and revenge, that I realized why, when someone is charged with a violent crime, they transport him in a bullet-proof vest. It's because people like me would try to kill him.

By the end of 1995 I was in such bad shape, I was drinking heavily and smoking three packs of cigarettes a day. I was stuck, emotionally, on April 19. I just couldn't get over it. But I knew I had to do something about it. That's when I went down to the bombing site.

It was a cold January afternoon, and I stood there watching hundreds of people walking along the chain link fence that surrounded the lot where the Murrah Building had stood. I was thinking about the death penalty, and how I wanted nothing more than to see Timothy McVeigh, and anyone else responsible for the bombing, fried.

But I was also beginning to wonder whether I would really feel any better once they were executed. Every time I asked myself that question, I got the same answer: No. Nothing positive would come from it. It wouldn't bring Julie back. After all, it was hatred and revenge that made me want to see them dead, and those two things were the very reason that Julie and 167 others were dead....

Forgiveness is a struggle, but it's one I need to wage. Forgiving is not something you just wake up one morning and decide to do. You have to work through your anger and your hatred as long as it's there. You try to live each day a little better than the one before.

Source: The Plough Reader Spring 2001

Lent 4 Sermon - beginning thoughts - forgetting God in our lives

Some beginning thoughts for this week's sermon:

The Lord works in mysterious ways, we often say.  When we set out on a journey, a plan, it is very very likely that things will not go “as planned.”  We still make plans, and move forward in faith, but the reality is that there are bumps along the way.  As we move through life, we find that we become more and more aware of the ways that everyone is moving along a journey that is not always smooth, not always as expected, and not always straight and narrow. 

When the Israelites were brought out of Egypt into the wilderness, it is likely that they had no idea that they would spend 40 years out there in that tough transitional time.  Did God, or Moses, let them know how long the journey would be…? Most likely not, and one can hardly blame them that they got kinda gripy along the way, even though the story doesn’t give them the benefit of the doubt.  
. . . The people spoke against God and Moses, and longed for the time in Egypt, though they were suffering from forgetfulness.  They had forgotten God in their lives, they had forgotten that God is the one who saves, and that God works in mysterious ways.  “Your ways are not my ways says the Lord.”  So the Lord found this strange way to remind the people that God, himself, was the one who saves, and was the one on whom trust and faith should be placed.  God sent poisonous snakes and then gave Moses the means to save the people when they looked at the bronze snake on a pole.  The story shows the people that God is the one who saves, and also the one who sent them into the wilderness, and ultimately, will bring them to the land of promise.

Out of clutter, find simplicity

Out of clutter, find simplicity.

From discord find harmony.

In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.

~Albert Einstein

Beautiful Sunday at #Emmanuel #Episcopal Church - #Lent 3 - #Crozet #CVille #Afton

See the full gallery on Posterous