Ask the Archbishops your question, blog readers...

During this week I will be interviewing the Archbishops of Canterbury and York. I have many questions of my own that I would like to ask them, of course, but this is a chance for the blog-world to put their questions to the Archbishops.

So, whether you are a blogger, a lurker, or a regular commenter, just send your questions (preferably in the comments below), and I will ask the ABC and the ABY as many of your questions as I have time for. I'll blog their replies over the following days.

Comments

[Adam Copeland]

As an American serving a church in Scotland, I'm fascinated by the relationship between the church and state. I'm struck by the required religious education in schools and the staggeringly low church-attendance rate. Is it time, for the good of the Church and the State, for the Church to begin divesting in its historic position as a national church?

(or something like that)

[Tom Allen]

For +Rowan
How does it feel when the adjective "academic" is used as a term of abuse or derision by fellow Christians?

[James Henley]

What positive and negative effects do you think that web 2.0, facebook and blogging have had / will have on the way the church operates?

And given that church practice seems to be in a big transitional period, how much different do you think that the Church of England will be in twenty years time? Will the foundations of the CoE be drastically different or remain essentially the same?

[sally]

What did he make of the Christmas Eve service in Canterbury when he was "bobbing up and down on the top of the open top bus"? To me it was very symbolic of the problems of secularisation that people are happier engaging with Christianity as light-hearted entertainment in a shopping centre than they are encountering institutional Christianity in churches. How does he feel the church is changing / will have to change in order to address this general attitude towards Christianity in England?

Thanks Sally

[Mark Bennet]

How can the Church bridge the gap between the nuanced discourse of the Divinity Faculty at Cambridge University, and a culture in which many people seem only to be able to fit soundbites, single line summaries, and immediate responses into their increasingly busy lives?

[susan]

For ++York, “Have you resumed wearing your collar?” If so, why?

Susan

[ED]

I'm not sure if this is what you're looking for, but I'd love to hear an answer to this question from either of the gentlemen you're interviewing:

"I am sure in my mind that Jesus wasn't wrong, but I find it really hard to live like I believe that. How do you do life the Jesus way, so that if he was living your life, he'd do the same things you do?"

Thanks.
ED.

[byron]

How does being a creature affect our spirituality? Is it true to say that being 'godly' is more about being truly human than being like God?

[Pseudonym]

This is a very big question, and an interview probably won't be able to do it justice, but here goes anyway.

The largest religious group in the English-speaking world, and one of (if not the) fastest-growing, appears to be people who self-identify as Christian but who do not regularly attend a place of worship. Spirituality and faith seem to be on the rise, but Church seems to be on the decline.

So... what is the future of organised religion? Is the very idea something that needs a re-think?

[Clark West]

For Archbishop Rowan,
Have you changed your own personal theological views regarding same-sex relations from your earlier theological explorations as found in "The Body's Grace"? Ephraim Radner, a prominent American Anglican theologian, has suggested that he has seen signs of a possible change in your views based on some recent writings of yours, and for many of us, your theological work in this area is quite important.

[Peter M. Carey]

Archbishop, thank you for taking the time for these questions.

I wonder what biblical and theological sources give you (and perhaps all of us in the Anglican Communion) guidance and strength in our current times? Are there particular biblical figures, episodes, parables, that speak to you in our present time of tension and debate?

Thank you for your leadership and your writings they have meant a lot to me as I begin my ordained ministry.

Peter Carey+

[Peter M. Carey]

my questions were for ABC, primarily, but I am curious about the ABY's answers also...thanks.
Peter Carey+

[Marc]

For +Rowan Williams

How likely do you think it that during the comming Lamberth Conference the tension in the Anglican Comunion regarding woman and gay issues will increase instead of starting to be solved?

[Eleanor Burne-Jones]

What key lessons are being learned about conflict resolution/transformation and church governance in the development of fresh expressions? How do we enable new expressions of church to be 'free' and informal given the lack of handed-down hierarchy and governance then gives rise also to a lack of the safety nets developed in established church?

[Neale]

Archbishop, with respect, are the qualities that make you such a fine scholar and public intellectual (fairness, balance, subtlety, nuance) the same that might make you a less effective leader than you might be, as some people have suggested? See
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0220/p07s01-woeu.html

[Ashley]

Do you think there is a problem with preaching in Anglican churches (and indeed across Christian denominations) and that this contributes to a limited ability among Christians to reflect theologically on issues like the plural society?

(I ask as a Baptist Minister who often despairs of the limitations of preaching / preachers - myself included - within our Baptist family)

[Dave Belcher]

Archbishop Williams,

In your experience and conversation with other church leaders and congregations, do you believe that it is still possible for the church catholic to give itself over to the dispossession only the Spirit can grant and be joined together in a true unity--that is, a unity of praxis? And if so, how do you think this could come about?

[Phil Green]

Hi Maggi

By the time you receive this it may be too late. By way of introduction my name is Phil Green, and our paths have crossed before, albeit about 20 years ago. I was with a team from Greyfriars Church in Reading with the then curate Tim Mullins as team leader and the CPAC evangelist Dennis Shepherd as speaker with your good self providing the musical/creative input. If I've got it wrong please forgive me but I know I was on a mission team with you at some point round about that time. I also think you trained at Ridley Hall with a good friend of mine, Irene Cowell who is doing really well in the Liverpool Diocese.

To bring things up to date I am now a Reader - of some 14 years - in a tough urban UPA (St John & St James Orrell Hey, Bootle, 4 miles north of Liverpool) and am currently on the 1 year Mission Shaped Ministry Course along with four others from the church. It is quite simply the best course I have been on since I was licensed and I strongly sense that my Reader ministry is to change direction significantly in the future.

Anyway...sorry to go on....and on..here is my question.

Please could you ask Archbishops Rowan and John -

"your genuine support for FE/Emerging church is issues is genuinely appreciated, but when is the focus going to switch from asking the right questions to addressing the issues and making tough decisions? At best I would estimate that the resources balance between inherited church and emerging church is at best 95%-5% - to get the imbalance addressed to say 80%-20% will take years, if at all, let's be honest about it. When will the Archbisops seriously start to insist that resources - time,staffing, buildings.equipment, finance etc be diverted, and be seen to be diverted as a serious sign of intent, away from those areas of inherited church which have been unfruitful/ineffective for quite some time, towards sustaining and developing Fresh Expression work."

I guess I am too late, but if the Archbishops can't address this issue hopefully you can provide your 'take' on the subject along with others in MaggiBlog land.

Great to catch up with you again.
Keep up the great work at Robinson
College.

Very best regards

Phil

[Rhys]

To ++ Rowan
Pam na ddewch chi yn ol i Gymru?

Dealing with the Windsor Report or Sylvia Scarfe and Hendrick at 39 Cathedral Rd ??? Surely a no brainer!

On a more sensible level for both ++ - What are you currently reading for leisure?

[Jim Naughton]

Why should provinces not interested in excluding other provinces from the Communion support the current draft of the Anglican covenant?

[mary]

I'd like to ask Rowan Williams what would move him to cut up his dog collar.

I'd also like to ask both of them, if they had the opportunity to ask every christian in the UK to commit to doing something every day for 40 days (initially at least), what would it be?

[nathaniel carlson]

Some really excellent questions here. You couldn't go wrong with any of these. As to my own: What was your response to Tony Blair's conversion? Did you see it as significant or representative of any larger shifts or changes?

[David Keen]

Dear Archbishops

Please tell us your favourite joke.

And then, in the light of the projected increase of the UK population to 70m in the next 20 years, with many massive housebuilding projects in the pipeline, where will the church find the resources to put into mission and establishing a vibrant Christian presence in these new communities?

many thanks
David Keen, Deanery Missioner, Yeovil.

[Peter M. Carey]

Do we have any answers to these questions yet?