The doctrines of a turbulent priest

WHILE he is considered very much a forward thinker, the beard seems a throwback to a bygone age, before clean-shaven priests became the norm. But it is not just at first sight that the new Archbishop of Canterbury seems a mass of contradictions.

Orthodox on religious doctrine, Dr Rowan Williams believes in the truth of the virgin birth and the resurrection, miracles famously doubted by the former Bishop of Durham, Dr David Jenkins.

But when it comes to social issues, the 52-year-old current Archbishop of Wales is very much seen as a liberal, supporting the ordination of women, opposing war against Iraq without United Nations backing, and supportive of gay rights.

Not afraid of controversy - news of his appointment coincided with publication of accusations against the Disney Corporation of exploiting children - he seems unlikely to follow the low profile of his predecessor, Dr George Carey, who steps down in October.

But while his views on doctrine make him a reassuring choice as the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, there are already concerns among some branches of the church over some of his more controversial stances. And one in particular may have the potential to lead to widespread divisions in the church, perhaps even surpassing those surrounding the ordination of women priests ten years ago.

"There is a substantial number of people who feel very strongly over the issue of homosexuality in the church," says Norman Dennis, a religious sociologist and Visiting Fellow at Newcastle University. "I think he is going to be in a lot of trouble with the more conservative elements over this issue."

In the past, Dr Williams has admitted ordaining practising gay clergy, contrary to the Church of England's official stance, reaffirmed at the Lambeth Conference four years ago. And this puts him at odds with many of the 70 million members of the Anglican Communion around the world, says Mr Dennis.

'There are very few people in the Church of England who condemn homosexuality as such, what they condemn is the activities homosexuals engage in," he says.

"Some people will not be able to accept the church's approval of active homosexuals as priests, and I think there is some danger there will be a split in the church over this."

Not surprisingly, the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement has been among the most enthusiastic of voices in welcoming Dr Williams' appointment. According to general secretary the Reverend Richard Kirker, gay and lesbian Anglicans feel they have a friend in the church's top job for the first time.

"No longer will we need to feel shut out of the heart of the Church. For too long, the Church of England has marginalised lesbian and gay people. It has been responsible for legitimising prejudice, discrimination and injustice.

"Dr Williams has made it clear time and again during his ministry that human rights and justice for all are non-negotiable. As the new spiritual and pastoral leader of the Anglican Communion, it is clear that he will have no truck with discrimination practised in his name," the Rev Kirker says.

But what has delighted lesbian and gay Anglicans, has dismayed others, including the Rev David Holloway, vicar of Jesmond in Newcastle and a trustee of both the Christian Institute and the Anglican evangelical group, Reform.

He admits to being disappointed with Dr Williams' appointment, and says it is the willingness to ordain sexually active gay priests which could prove the crunch issue for the evangelical wing of the church.

"It is inevitable that he will not have the confidence of the vast majority of Anglicans in the world, who are in the developing world. There are lines in the sand, and I'm afraid this is one of them," Rev Holloway says.

Unlike the issue of women priests, which is largely seen as settled by most within the church, gay priests could prove to be an unbridgeable fracture, with much of the opposition coming from the church in Africa, which accounts for more practising Anglicans than Britain and the United States combined.

"In one sense, it is a small problem, but it does reflect on how you treat the Bible," says Rev Holloway. "Why it is important is that gay rights have been the catalyst for the revision of sexual ethics, which has led to the break-down of the family, and the consequences of that have been dire.

"Once you allow gay sex then you allow every other sort of sexual coupling. I'm praying that he will change his mind, but if not there are bound to be problems. That is wrong as far as evangelicals are concerned, and that is significant because of the numbers of them."

But John Smith, UK director of the Evangelical Alliance, says there is hope in the fact that Dr Williams has not been outspoken on the ordination of gay priests during his tenure as Archbishop of Wales.

"One of the things we would be concerned to see is to let the man speak for himself," Mr Smith says. "He seems to be a wise man and a gracious man, a man of strong convictions and a man of integrity.

"He is not coming into this job to push personal agendas. He moves into an almost impossible job with a worldwide constituency that needs to be united and confident in his leadership."

He says that, while those pushing for the ordination of practising gay clergy are flying the face of clear Biblical teaching, it may be that Dr Williams was responding to a particular situation in ordaining a gay priest.

"Our issue is not with the ordination of homosexuals, it is that we cannot reconcile the ordination, or even the acceptance, of homoerotic practice as compatible with Biblical teaching.

"While I would agree with his views on allowing children to be children and on not exploiting them, when we are singing from the same page in the hymn book, on the homosexual issue we may be on a different book."

Among all the challenges facing the new Archbishop of Canterbury, which range from falling attendances to relations with other churches, it is the issue of gay clergy which seems likely to provoke the deepest divisions and create the most serious prospect of a split.

In the end, it may require Dr Williams to reconcile what seems to be his personal beliefs, with the needs of the church as a whole. Even for a man already seen as a contradictory figure, that is likely to be no small task.