In a service to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Church of North India
(CNI), the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams preached a sermon on the theme of unity and, in particular, unity in the face of oppression.
He spoke yesterday, Oct 15, about the significance of listening to others in the search of unity because if "we stop listening to one another, we stop listening to Christ. And whether this happens in the name of nationality or tradition or pride of achievement or purity of teaching, the effect is the same tragedy".
Dr Williams explored the value of unity and how the call to unity can sometimes be heard from unexpected places. He drew on the example of the Confessing Church, a body which was made up of different Protestant churches in Germany in the 1930s, to resist the Nazi movement: " Through the terrible challenge of this tyranny, the voice of the Good Shepherd summoned his people to be faithful not only to him but to each other".
The Archbishop also used the more recent example of those who had suffered violence in Orissa, telling the congregation about an encounter in Kolkota a few days earlier: "I had the privilege of meeting with a small group of people from Orissa who spoke directly to me about their experiences over the last two years; their stories were heartbreaking, but they were also a deeply moving witness to the profound faithfulness of the Gospel – and this is one of the gifts that the church in India has given to the whole country."
Full text at : www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/3013
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