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Support for Archbishop from The United Reformed Church
The United Reformed Church has expressed its support for the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, amid the furore prompted by the reporting of his comments regarding Sharia Law. This follows support also from the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.
Posted on Feb 12, 2008
Monday 11th February 2008
Release: immediate
Support for Archbishop from United Reformed Church
The United Reformed Church has expressed its support for the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, amid the furore prompted by the reporting of his comments regarding sharia law.
Deputy General Secretary, the Revd Ray Adams, said: “It is an important debate and we welcome the Archbishop's initiative in raising the issue. We regret the extent to which his comments have been misrepresented and misunderstood. It is clear that he was not calling for the incorporation of sharia law into the English legal system”.
Ray Adams added: “Clearly this is an issue for society, given our increasingly plural religious make-up. How do civil secular law and religious plurality engage with one another, especially with regard to matters of religious conscience? This goes to the heart of the debate about the place of religion in the public arena”.
This follows similar support from Revd Sheilagh M Kesting, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, as reported in the Sunday Herald, 10 February 2008, in writing a letter to the Archbishop in which she said that his intention of initiating debate on the issue had been "wilfully misconstrued."
Revd Kesting wrote: "I am appalled by the way in which the response to your lecture has become a personal witch-hunt calling for your resignation.
"I consider it fortunate that we have a Christian leader in this country who is prepared to initiate deep and thoughtful consideration of sensitive issues and I am alarmed at the way in which your intentions can be wilfully misconstrued."
She said that colleagues within the Church of Scotland acknowledged the need for debate on what is a sensitive issue, and wrote: "To this end we want to take some time to giove the issues you raised our more considered reflection."
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The United Reformed Church
Through a series of unions over the past 35 years, the United Reformed Church has brought together English Presbyterians, English, Welsh and Scottish Congregationalists and members of the Churches of Christ. One hundred thousand people make up 1600 congregations, with more than 700 ministers, paid and unpaid.
Although one of the smaller mainstream denominations in Britain, the United Reformed Church plays a dynamic and challenging part in the country’s Christian life. It seeks to work with Christians of all traditions, believing that all God’s people should be one. It is committed to theological and cultural diversity.
Worldwide, more than 70 million Christians are members of the Reformed family of churches, the largest Protestant tradition. We call ourselves Reformed because our churches began to emerge with reform movements in the sixteenth century.
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