jellybean said:
what has skin color and nationality got to do with it?
as long as he's a decent bloke..
One of the jobs an Archbishop is to connect with the people of the area they are responsible for. This includes Anglicans, other Christians, other faiths and secular people. Most people in the north of England are not black. Most people in the UK do not come from a culturally African background. Therefore there could be some difficulties with him connecting with some parts of society. However the other hand his appointment is very representative of the huge African/black Christian community in the UK.
Please dont misunderstand me. I am
for his appointment, I just have one small concern that he probably shares himself. In fact I have heard he is particually concerned about reaching white secular people.
We must remember that as much as we want to treat people the same, it is problematic to be completely colour-blind. Modern western missionaries are discovering that it is more effective for the gospel to appoint pastors of the local nationality,language,culture and race; rather than appoint English-speaking white westerners. This is because things such as language, race and culture can be barriers between people. The closer an evangelist/pastor is to their flock (or the people they are trying to reach) the fewer barriers there will be between them. Obviously the church want as few barriers for the gospel as possible. So it makes sense for the Pastor/evangelist to be 'from' the group they wish to reach because they can relate to them better.
However this doesnt mean that a black man can never relate to a white person or visa versa. After all throughout the history of missions many people succesfully reached and shared Christ with people that were very different from themselves. For all the wrongs that the Europeans did to the Africans, they did(from a Christian POV) do a good job in sharing the gospel and starting up the church there. And then theres St Paul. He was a man with a very strong Jewish identity, and yet he was called to be a witness to the gentiles. He travelled much outside of his own country and managed to relate to people of many different nationalities,cultures, races and languages.
He was well recieved by Greeks and Romans. He was brilliant in relating to these pagan people. In fact he was that successful that it wasnt long before Christianity came to be dominated by gentiles rather than by Jews.
We should also bear in mind the diversity there is even within non-Christian white people. A black bishop might appeal very strongly to a white New Ager whos strongly into multiculturalism. Such an appointment could convince them that Christianity isnt so narrowminded and institutional.
But the white Chav on a council estate in Darlington might have problems in relating to a black bishop. However the same white Chav would probably struggle to relate to an elderly middle-class bearded white bishop.
However from what I have read this new archbishop might have the character to reach across human divides. He has critcised type of multiculturalism that celebrates minority culture but frowns upon any celebration of traditional ethnic English culture. In other words he shares the concerns many white people have over p.c liberalism. That will go down really well with many people.
Being a person of colour he may also relate better to Asian people, as well as African.
I really hope he manages to do this. He seems really led-by God. I will really pray for him.
- he has the right theology, attitude to worship, attitude to outreach and social justice.
