LEADING evangelicals in the Church of England have written an open letter to the Prime Minister warning him of a split in the Church of England if the Archbishop of Wales, Dr Rowan Williams, is appointed the next Archbishop of Canterbury.
Their warnings came after The Times disclosed yesterday that Dr Williams, 52, is the first choice of the Crown Appointments Commission to succeed Dr George Carey when he retires in October.
Conservative evangelicals from Britain, America and the Third World were all quick to register their protests. They are concerned that if Dr Williams is appointed the work done by Dr Carey during his 11 years in office will be irrevocably undermined. Dr Carey reversed the liberal, catholic trends established by his predecessor, the late Lord Runcie. The evangelicals claimed that Dr Williams’s support for the ordination of homosexuals flew “in the face of Holy Scripture” and would lead to the split in the Anglican Communion only narrowly averted by Dr Carey four years ago.
Signatories to an open letter of protest included Prebendary Richard Bewes, Rector of All Souls, Langham Place, a leading evangelical church in London, the Rev David Holloway, Vicar of Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne, and the Rev William Taylor, Rector of St Helen’s, Bishopsgate, in the City of London.
The letter, sent to Tony Blair and Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, the chairwoman of the Crown Appointments Commission, protested that Dr Williams had admitted ordaining a man who he knew had a homosexual partner. They wrote: “Such actions and views fly in the face of the clear teaching of Holy Scripture.”
They continued: “Rowan Williams would not have the confidence of the vast majority of Anglicans in the world, who are now in the Third World and who, as loyal Anglicans, take the Holy Scriptures as their supreme authority. His appointment would lead to a major split in the Anglican Communion.”
In the US, David Virtue, editor of Virtuosity, an online news service for evangelical and traditionalist Christians, said: “This will be like throwing gasoline on the liberal and revisionist fires that already rage unchecked and seemingly unstoppable.” The choice of Dr Williams showed that the pleadings of African and Asian bishops had been ignored.
The choice of Dr Williams was welcomed by the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement as “for the good of the whole Church of England”. Father David Houlding, chairman of the Catholic Group on the synod, also pledged support.