Thanks be to Lord Habgood
YOU had an excellent article by David Behrens on the late Lord Habgood, and you also included a comment in the Editorial column (The Yorkshire Post, March 8).
May I be permitted to refer to another much-valued aspect of Lord Habgood’s ministry when Archbishop of York?
He played a crucial role in the creation of new ecumenical instruments for the British Isles in the late 1980s and then chaired key meetings in the early years of the Council of Churches for Britain and Ireland (CCBI). It was a delicate feat of ecumenical diplomacy to bring together a very wide range of churches, but Lord Habgood did it with wisdom and never-failing courtesy.
He chaired the inaugural meeting of the CCBI in Liverpool Anglican Cathedral and then led the procession down Hope Street to a service in the Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral.
He chaired the CCBI Church Leaders’ meeting helping those who had previously been outside the structures of the former British Council of Churches to find ways to contribute to the new way of ecumenical cooperation and mission.
He was also a key leader of the Northern Church Leaders’ meeting and chaired the annual meetings of the sponsoring churches of Christian Aid.
The questions from those who had lost their way in the whole ecumenical agenda were always addressed with responses from the chair marked for their clarity and sound judgement. Lord Habgood knew his stuff and how to deal expertly with everyone from Irish Cardinals to Welsh charismatics!
The ecumenical community in these islands has much to be thankful to God for as we remember Lord Habgood.