Frank T. Griswold
A Letter to the Editor of The New York Times
Bishop John Spong’s ringing indictment (Anglicans Get Literal, Op-Ed, Thursday, August 13, 1998) of what he calls the Anglican Church, which is in fact not a church but a communion of largely self-governing national churches in communion with the See of Canterbury, sounds similar to voices heard some years ago when the ordination of women […]
A Letter to the Editor of The Wall Street Journal
As the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, I am moved to comment on Review and Outlook for Friday, August 14, 1998, and its assessment of the Lambeth Conference of Anglican Bishops recently held in Canterbury, England. It is, of course, easy to pit liberal against conservative and end matters there. The truth is that […]
Anglican Spirituality
We experience around us a yearning for meaning in the face of lifeâs precariousness. The signs are everywhere. This yearning is variously addressed in ways both healthy and unhealthy, more and less effective. Attention to the life of the spirit is among them. Unfortunately, some of this attention is in the nature of a passing […]
Ascension Day – May 21, 1998
The Ascension is in some ways a cruel event. For a period of forty days after the resurrection the Apostles and the community of faithful followers enjoyed the assuring and strengthening presence of the risen Christ. He appeared to them, ate with them, instructed them, and in large measure healed the terrible memory of his […]
Pastoral Letter
Canterbury Cathedral My brothers and sisters in Christ: As your Presiding Bishop and Chief Pastor I write you as the Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops has just concluded in Canterbury, England. On one of the final days of the conference, I called together our House of Bishops for a time of prayer. Our chaplain, the […]
Easter Season 1998 Message
Resurrection is profoundly unsettling, because it is an overturning of reality as we perceive it and an entrance into what St. Paul can only describe as dying and rising in union with Christ, which is tantamount a "new act of creation." In the Eastern tradition the mystery of resurrection is celebrated in an icon which […]
Sermon at the Service of Investiture of the XXV Presiding Bishop
Grace and peace to those of you who are present in this sacred space representing the Episcopal Church, our world-wide Anglican Communion, the ancient churches of the East and West, the churches of the Reformation, and the two other faith communities — Judaism and Islam — who, together with us, call Abraham our father in […]