On not saying anything significant – a response to GS 2346
by Martin Davie:
Back in the days when I used to work at Church House, London, I was told a story about a visit by a former Archbishop of Canterbury to an Anglican province in Africa. During this visit, the archbishop gave a sermon in English with a translator provided to give the archbishop’s message in the local language. According to the story, the archbishop gave his sermon in four sections, and it was noted that after each section the translator gave a single short sentence and then stopped. Curious about this, a member of the archbishop’s staff enquired as to what the translator had said. Eventually the embarrassed locals explained that the first time the translator said, ‘He hasn’t said anything,’ the second time he said ‘He still hasn’t said anything,’ the third time he said ‘He isn’t going to say anything,’ and the final time he said ‘I was right, he didn’t say anything.’
I was sadly remined of this story when I read GS 2346, Bishop Martin Snow’s new paper from the House of Bishops for General Synod, ‘Living, in Love, Faith and Reconciliation.’ [1]
The paper is in four parts.
The first part ‘outlines ten draft commitments through which the whole Church can continue to pursue the implementation of the motions previously passed by Synod on Living in Love and Faith.’
The purpose of these commitments is: ‘1) cultivating unity as far as possible; 2) enabling as many as possible to stay within the Church of England; 3) equipping the Church’s mission to the nation.’
The commitments are as follows:
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