The many faces of dialogue

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Oct 04, 2003

Thanks to Amy Welborn for the link to this story on dialogue in the hands of professionals.

A prominent Birmingham theologian said he was given documents that show a plan to stifle conservative dissent on homosexuality when the world's Anglican archbishops meet in London this month. ...

Zahl said he was accidentally given an agenda and strategy memo by the staff of the Anglican Consultative Council of London that lays out a plan for dealing with conservatives who opposed approval of the U.S. Episcopal Church's first openly gay bishop. ...

Zahl said the two secret documents were a tightly scripted agenda for the meeting and a memo to Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, advising him how to avoid allowing conservatives to effectively voice their opinion about Robinson. The memo to the archbishop of Canterbury argued that it was imperative to frustrate the will of archbishops from Third World countries who are generally conservative and strongly opposed to the U.S. church's stance on homosexuality, Zahl said. The document expressed fear that conservatives would argue for a parallel jurisdiction set up for conservatives in the United States that would allow them to opt out of liberal dioceses. The memo urged that such an outcome would be disastrous and must be fought, according to Zahl. ...

"It included a blow by blow, down to the 15-minute schedule of the meeting of the primates," Zahl said. "It was set up so there would not be any decision made or time for deliberation."

Impressive. Did someone mention the name "Bernardin"?