Abstract
This issue has an important interview with Rowan Williams, five stimulating papers from emerging parish-based theologians on ‘New directions in ministry’, and a fascinating interpretation of a really ‘Difficult Text’, Colossians 3.22: ‘Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything, not only while being watched and in order to please them, but wholeheartedly, fearing the Lord.’ A rich feast.
Dr Marion Carson uses her experience as a member of the European Baptist Federation Anti-Trafficking Network to re-interpret this challenging text from Colossians, arguing that human trafficking in the world today is a form of slavery. She suggests that we can still learn much from the eighteenth-century abolitionism debate about how to interpret the Bible contextually.
In an interview with Kirsty Jane McCluskey, Lord Williams reflects upon the relevance of the sixteenth-century mystical theologian Teresa of Avila. He sees this in her connections with (and differences from) St John of the Cross and uses both mystics as profound but edgy guides for those today who are seriously concerned with the spiritual life.
The five articles, edited and introduced by Dr Justin Lewis-Anthony, need no further introduction from me. They originated from a conference from Canterbury (where Justin was recently a parish priest before moving to Virginia Seminary) on Anglican parish ministry today (a full set of the papers can be obtained from davidmunchin@talk.net). At about the same time, in Canterbury, another conference was being organized on Anglicanism by Dr Abby Day (a former colleague of mine at the University of Kent) and Dr Adrian Stringer. Abby hopes to edit a collection of the papers that emerged from this conference next year. However, an unpublished summary of the papers already indicates that it will have new insights to offer on contemporary issues in the world-wide Anglican Communion.
The key-note speaker at the Day/Stringer conference was the sociologist Professor Simon Coleman (University of Toronto and formerly at Sussex University). He presented material that questioned the durability of the parish structure for the Anglican Church. In contrast, he argued, pilgrimage is flourishing. Among other contributors, Dr Anderson Jeremiah (Lancaster University) outlined the progress of Christianity, including Anglicanism, in South Asia, and Professor Grace Davie (Exeter University) described the robust maintenance of Anglicanism within Melanesia. Abby herself drew attention to the dependency of British Anglican memberships upon the oldest of age groups. Dr Sylvia Collins-Mayo (Kingston University) described how a family’s connection to a church has a significant affect upon a young person’s religious orientation. Dr Michael Kennan (Nottingham Trent University) presented the results of his interviews with twenty-nine, sexually active, Anglican gay clergymen, and Dr Andrew McKinnon (University of Aberdeen) reported on his interviews with different Anglican leaders around the world on this issue. Dr Anna Strahn (University of Kent) and others detected interesting changes happening among Anglican evangelicals. It is really good to see just how much research is now focused upon church ministry and engagement. This bodes well for the future.