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 Journal Number One - Autumn 1994
LettersSCOTTISH EPISCOPAL CHURCH DIOCESE OF EDINBURGH Bishop's Office, Diocesan Centre, Walpole Hall, Chester Street, Edinburgh EH3 7EN Telephone 0312263359 Fax 0312253181I have been immensely cheered to hear about the formation of Affirming Anglican Catholicism in North America and even more excited to discover that you propose to publish a new quarterly journal to be called "The Anglican Catholic". Many of us who were formed by the Catholic tradition have been immensely saddened by its plight in recent years, both in Britain and in North America. There has always, of course, been a conservative, not to say a reactionary strand within Anglican Catholicism. Bishop Charles Gore came in for much abuse from many card carrying Anglo-Catholics for his approach to scripture and Church order and was always viewed as being suspect by those who claimed to be followers of "the full faith". Similar criticisms were levelled at Archbishop Michael Ramsay, though in a more temperate way. The fact remains that this strand of embattled conservatism within Anglican Catholicism, which had a genuine place within the plural nature of the Catholic movement, achieved a dominant role in the politics and theology of the movement on both sides of the Atlantic and converted what had been a movement of renewal into a form of ecclesiastical defensiveness that has fed on the insecurities and prejudices of many. For some of us the Catholic movement's reaction to the ordination of women was the breaking point, but this, in fact, was as much symptomatic as causal. Affirming Catholicism struggled into existence in Britain ("launched" is too certain and strong a word to describe what happened) in order to offer troubled Anglican Catholics a way of working within the tradition that was also open towards culture and the best thinking of the day. Affirming Catholics on both sides of the Atlantic seek to be true to the God who speaks through tradition and to the God who speaks to the times. This has always been a difficult tension to hold but it seems to me to be an honest one. A truly incarnational theology reverences the tradition but listens to the voice of God spoken through history and culture. I hope that Affirming Anglican Catholicism in North America will be a brave movement which is prepared to take prophetic risks as well as cherishing the richness of the Catholic tradition. I personally owe much to the American Church and I salute this new excitement in her midst. Warm good wishes Yours sincerely +Richard Holloway
Affirming Catholicism is an educational charity involved in various initiatives: publications, seminars, shared worship, retreats, pilgrimages, conferences. Most dioceses have their own local groups to undertake similar projects themselves. Address: St Giles Church, No. 4 The Postern, Wood Street, Barbican, London EC2Y 8BJ. Telephone enquiries to+44 [0]171-638 1980; fax: +44 [0]171-638 1997. Registered Charity No. 1007291
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