Ducklings, ran into this again today:
“For the Church does not exist just to transmit a message across the centuries through a duly constituted hierarchy that arbitrarily lays down what people must believe; it exists so that people in this and every century may encounter Jesus of Nazareth as a living contemporary. This sacrament of Holy Communion that we gather to perform here is not the memorial of a dead leader, conducted by one of his duly authorised successors who controls access to his legacy; it is an event where we are invited to meet the living Jesus as surely as did his disciples on the first Easter Day. And the Bible is not the authorised code of a society managed by priests and preachers for their private purposes, but the set of human words through which the call of God is still uniquely immediate to human beings today, human words with divine energy behind them. Easter should be the moment to recover each year that sense of being contemporary with God’s action in Jesus. Everything the church does – celebrating Holy Communion, reading the Bible, ordaining priests or archbishops – is meant to be in the service of this contemporary encounter. It all ought to be transparent to Jesus, not holding back or veiling his presence.” – Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, Easter Sermon excerpt, (2008?)
Oh, such a lovely sentiment, and I knew you should have it for yourselves.
The ABC’s web site says this is from his April 16, 2006 sermon at Canterbury Cathedral. http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/365
As a former attorney, I guess I can be fussy about cites; yes, I footnote my sermon manuscripts with references. [ I do, too, dear. I do, too. And so do many of the colleagues I know. Nothing fussy about it; it’s the right thing to do.- PB]
All that said, it is a terrific quote and I thank you for sharing it with us!