Biography
Rowan Douglas Williams was born in Swansea on 14 June 1950. He was educated at Christ's College Cambridge, where he read Theology. Later he made research in Oxford (on Christianity in Russia ). From 1977, he spent nine years in academic and parochial work in Cambridge . From 1986-1992, Dr Williams was Professor of Theology at Oxford . He was enthroned as Bishop of Monmouth in 1992 and Archbishop of Wales in 2000.
Dr Williams has written a number of books on the history of theology and spirituality and published collections of articles and sermons ¨C as well as two books of poetry. His interests include music, fiction and languages. Since 1981, Dr Williams has been married to Jane Paul. They have a son and a daughter.
He was elected as Archbishop of Canterbury on 23 July 2002, confirmed as 104th Archbishop of Canterbury on 2 December 2002 in St Paul 's Cathedral, London and enthroned as the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury on 27 February 2003 in Canterbury Cathedral.
¡°May God's Glory Be among You¡±
¡°Ye Watchers and ye holy ones, bight seraphs, cherubim and thrones, raise the glad strain, Alleluia! Cry out, dominions, princedoms, pow'rs, virtues, archangels, angels' choirs, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!......¡±
October 9 th , 2006
Archbishop Williams and his company were invited to visit the headquarters of CCC/TSPM and had a discussion meeting with 10 vice-chairmen and vice-presidents including Rev. Hua Yaozeng, Rev. Su Deci, Rev. Shen Cheng'en and Rev. Jin Wei.
Presbyter Ji Jianhong, Chairman of TSPM, presided the meeting. He extended his warm welcome to the distinguished guests. Rev. Cao Sehngjie , President of CCC, shared with them the recent situation of the Church in China and the various ministries carried out. Archbishop Williams was deeply impressed by the attention paid by the Church in China to spiritual training of the Christians.
He expressed his agreement that the Church in China should not only pursue the increase in the number of Christians, but also improve their qualities and spiritual life. He pointed out that in the aspect of training ministry of great importance, the Church in China had excellent experiences to share with the overseas churches.
He also said that currently the main problem facing the Church in England is that of social justice. In the Church in England , preaching took the post-denominational form. As to the people who do not believe in God, we do not stress on his religious background but that he did believe in Christianity. They joined in the church, not seeking to unite the church, but viewing all churches as a whole group. The trouble of the Church in England lies not in the religious problems but the tension among the small groups and groups of new types. He was pleasant with the condition of the relations between Church in China and the overseas churches.
October 10, 2006
Archbishop Williams and his company visited the Nanjing Union Theological Seminary and was welcomed by Presbyter Ji Jianhong, standing vice-principal of the Seminary, Rev. Gao Ying, vice-principal of the Seminary and all faculty members and students. The former two Archbishops of Canterbury , George Leonard Carey and Robert Alexander Kennedy Runcie , had been to the Seminary since its restoration. For Dr. Rowan Williams, It was his first time to have been to the Nanjing Union Theological Seminary.
8:00
Archbishop Williams was invited to share in the morning service of the Seminary. He said that the disciples of the Lord shall propagate what God made us see and share what we received from Him. As servants of God, we shall be humble. What we see and what we know were from God. As servants of God, we shall have faith in God's creation, mercy and power. May God update our knowledge continuously and let us share these with the congregation, making them our friends. This kind of devotion characterized by updating and sharing is filled with God's great love.
9:00
He addressed the topic of ¡°theology, not as an academic subject¡± in the speech hall in Nanjing Union Theological Seminary. He called for the Christians and non-Christians to give more concern to theological study. He pointed out that we should use God's logic and theology to think about His nature. The focus of theological thinking should be put in God himself and should be based on Bible. At present, many Christians and non-Christians are studying Theology, but the key problem is how to view oneself and raise questions about oneself continuously. Meanwhile we shall be acquainted with the surrounding world and look at our thought and belief seriously. We can use theology to deal with the relation between belief and life, relations between nations and communities, erase misunderstandings to co-existent and harmonize mankind and Nature.
He believed that to study Theology, one should ask questions about the society, which is made up of individuals. Thus one should made research on what a role God's decree play in social community. The church should care for the marginalized weakness. At the same time, theology study shall give concern to world peace, as to how societies and nations shall get on well with one another and how to make the world be in peaceful co-existence. Peace not only means there are no wars but also how to achieve better communications. In the current international context, one shall show concerns on the Nature, human crisis and God's creation. Human beings should achieve a deeper understanding of themselves and the context they are in.
At 10:50, Archbishop Williams had a discussion meeting with the teachers and students. He shared on the context and development of the Church in China , the relation between Church in China and the ecumenical church, the church concepts of the Seminary and some other questions. In the Seminary, Ms. Hilary Jane Williams, the wife of Archbishop Williams, discussed with the female teachers and students on the topic of ¡°Women's Ministry in British Context¡±.
October 12, 2006, P.M.
Bishop K. H. Ting, the Principal of the Nanjing Union Theological Seminary, received Archbishop Williams in his residence. The Archbishop expressed that the Anglican Church in England would like to strengthen their support to help the Chinese theological education and they will provide more theological books.
He said that, we have connection with the people around us. God shows His concern not only for communities but also for individuals.
This is another way to the community. Church is the body of Christ. Jesus' death, which made the church be restored, had enabled us to have such a common faith and life. God' life should be shown in one's contribution. The speech was held jointly by the Nanjing Union Theological Seminary and the Nanjing University . Mr. Zhang Daobin, Vice-president of the Nanjing University and some professors, teachers and students of the Religious Department and Philosophy Department of the Nanjing University attended the speech. Archbishop Canterbury said that his works are all theological ones, but he also liked watching such programs as The Simpson . ¡°What I most want to see is Christianity can draw from our thoughts the greatest force¡±. In the eyes of the reporter, it seems that how theology should face straightly the church and the society has become a high lightened point of the current ecumenicalism. Just as what was said by Presbyter Ji said, the Church in China is to be one receiving the revelation directly from God. It needs no intermediary. The church in China which strengthens life is one with morality, rationality, proprieties and love. The ¡°Three-self Principle¡± attaching great importance to independence, yet that does not mean self-closure. The ecumenical world shall learn from each other.
October 13 to October 18, 2006
The Archbishop and his company visited the churches in Hubei and Shaangxi Provinces and held discussion meetings with the teachers and students in Zhongnan Theological Seminary and Shaangxi Bible School .
13-16, October,
At 15:00 on October 13, the Archbishop and his company went to the Training Center in Hubei Province and discussed with the pastors and colleagues from Hubei CC/TSPM and Wuhan CC/TSPM. The meeting was presided by Pastor Wang Zhenren, Chairman of Hubei provincial CC/TSPM, Who introduced the current situation and main ministries of the Hubei CC/TSPM. After their introduction, the Archbishop said humorously, ¡°The growth rate of the Hubei Church is like that of the Church of England, Which gives me a feeling of home.¡± The Archbishop was quite moved when hearing that the churches provided free lunches for the poor. He was also grateful for so many training, church and social ministries carried out when the material and human resources are so limited.
October 14, 2006, 8:00
The Archbishop attended the morning service in Zhongnan Theological Seminary. He shared with the speech titled ¡°Go with the Lord¡±. He said that as Jesus was with two disciples on his way to Emmaus, he is also with us today. Jesus leads us to come back to the community to face the difficulties and he gives us the force to serve. At 9:00 the Archbishop discussed kindly with the students in the graduate class, encouraging them to make Jesus their reliance in any environment. He also visited the library, classrooms with electric devices, dormitories and clinic. At 10:00, Archbishop's wife, Ms. Hilary Jane Williams, shared with representatives of the female pastors, teachers and Christians. The sharing was presided by Pastor Zhang Shuilian. Ms. Hilary Jane Williams gave a speech titled ¡°women's understanding of the praying¡±. Rev. Cao Shengjie , president of CCC and Ms. Chen Meilin, Executive Associate General Secretary of CCC also attended the speech.
October 19, 2006
Mr. Jia Qinglin, the Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, received the Archbishop and his company in Beijing . Chairman Jia said that the Chinese government has been attaching great importance to the relation between China and UK . After establishing a strategic partnership in 2004, the two countries kept close communications and coordinated with each other in major international and regional issues, which has obtain outstanding achievements in the key areas. To strengthening the cooperation is in accordance with the benefits of peoples of the two countries, and is beneficial to promote world peace, stability and development. Ever since the reform and opening up 28 years ago, China has made an overall development both in economics and in society. Policies concerning religious freedom have been implemented rather well. Chairman Jia also said gladly that, ¡°Christianity in China and in UK has a rather long history of association and the former few Archbishops of Canterbury have played an active role in enhancing the friendliness of the two countries. We will continuously support the Church in China to exchange and cooperate with churches in other regions and countries including that of UK on the basis of equality and friendliness.
October 22, 2006, 8:30
The Archbishop of Canterbury went to the Chaoyang Church in Beijing , and preached the sermon titled ¡°Jesus as the Servant¡±.
He said that, ¡°As the society changes so fast, some become much more prosperous; as the nature of community alters it is very important that there are people in this country with that kind of freedom; And if growing prosperity meant that some, the elderly or the very young or the sick are left behind, the church needs to have the freedom to say ¡®No, there are the real needs.' The church must have the freedom to say, ¡®there is no harmony without truthfulness about these things'. ¡®There is no harmony without truthfulness about these things'. ¡Al l over this country there is a new culture growing. In recent years attitudes have changed enormously, it seems, to the work of NGOs and of charitable organizations. And some of the most moving and important experiences we have had have been to see how people have responded to the needs of children, especially of orphans. We have seen wonderful work being done with children whose parents are in prison or who have been executed. ¡It seems that there is recognition by many people that harmony does not mean the absence of tension or difference, and I'm told that there is a Chinese proverb to that effect. Harmony is difference working together and in a healthy and flourishing society there will be what I shall call ¡®responsible disagreement' ¨C people who are thoughtfully exploring different solutions to problems and choices that are around. Here is the possibility of real, vital service for the sake of truth and harmony. The church has the vision and the capacity and the energy to move into this new phase of the country's life.¡±
October 23, 2006
At the end of the Archbishop's visit in China , the reporter of the Tianfeng Magazine of CCC/TSPM had an opportunity to interview him.
Q: Since this is your first visit in China , what impressed you most during your visit in China ?
A: I was impressed by the way at which the speed of the church growing. I can hardly believe the speed of the growth that we see and I thank God very much for this. This is wonderful. But I also be impressed by the different, the many different kind of work that the church is doing here to serve all of the people in China , believers and non-believers. And as I said several times in the last two weeks, the church is able to memorize people that others forget.
He also mentioned that the Ecumenical Movement at the moment is not in a very easy position. There are many difficulties. But what we see happening is more and more encounters between Christians of different traditions and congregations. When a Christian meets a non-Christian, the person they meet, first of all, is not a non-Christian, an outside stranger. First of all, they are somebody that God loves. They are something that I am called to love and to make friend of. I think wherever we go and whenever we meet, that is still true.
Q: During your visit in China , you have been to many grassroots churches and have preached, discussed with the pastors and heard the witnesses of the local Christians. How do you think about your experience in these churches?
A: This has always been a very touching experience, very moving, the seriousness of people's commitment to Christ and church. And the joy of people's witness has been a great aspiration and I see that in quite a large country church. Last week visiting one of meeting points in Beijing we see lots of people sharing the study of the Bible. There is a great quality of prayer and seriousness there.
Q: The churches in our two countries have been valuing the friendship all along. What is your outlook of further developing the relations between the Churches in China and in UK ?
A: We have already begun to do this with discussing possibilities. I hope it will be possible for parishes and congregation in China and in UK to develop relationship. And I hope we can be able to assist this in some of the very practical projects of the churches that ever doing.
