Ruth Gledhill reports that J I Packer has suggested Rowan Williams should resign. When questioned as to what Packer would say if given 5 minutes with the AoC he said:
‘Well if I said to him all that I think, and I might and I might not, I would have to say to him, look sir, you are not qualified just at the moment to lead the Anglican Communion, for on this issue of whether or not people should yield to homosexual temptation, you are over a barrel. 'Before you became Archbishop, you went in to print cautiously approving gay relationships. It is known, and you don’t deny, that you have ordained at least one person who is a practising homosexual. Now you say that you are seeking to uphold the Anglican consensus of the Lambeth conference of 1998 which says that homosexual behaviour is absolutely off limits, but when asked whether you have changed your own mind on this matter, you say no. I cannot pretend to believe what I don’t believe and all of this of course is documented. He has been asked that question and that is the answer he has given. 'I would say with great respect Archbishop, I believe that the way of wisdom is for you to resign. Now that of course is very bold and tough talk and if I wasn’t in my 80’s, I might not feel that I had the gall to answer your question in the direct way that I have done, but that is what I would like to say to the Archbishop and I believe that it would be the kindest thing to say to him. He really is over a barrel on this matter.’
I'll be honest and say I share some of the frustration Packer expresses concerning the ambiguity of Williams' position (although from the opposite side). Viewed generously it seems to me to be a choice between conviction (the grace of Christ is not synonymous with social conservatism) and the desire to affirm the catholicity of the church (prevent schism). I do not envy Williams' position.
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