Vicar sees ‘God’s love, not wrath’ in English floods

Posted by Kendall Harmon

The way tens of thousands of ordinary people have banded together to fight rising floodwaters and help the poor, elderly and ill has revealed God's love, not his wrath, says a Christian leader in England's medieval town of Tewkesbury.

Much of central and southern England has recently suffered the effects of flooding following intense rain.

Tewkesbury's 12th century abbey is surrounded by floodwater, yet the vicar in charge, Canon Paul Williams, speaks only of the amazing love shown by local people to one another.

He praises the way ordinary inhabitants have responded to one of the worst natural disasters to hit Britain in recent years.

"What I see is divine intervention among ordinary people, and it is revealed in their community spirit," Williams told journalists visiting parts of devastated Gloucestershire, in central England, with church and civic officials last week.

Read the whole article.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of England (CoE) • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry

4 Comments
Posted July 29, 2007 at 4:58 pm [Printer Friendly] [Print w/ comments]



1. Rev L F Nowen wrote:

I see CT has been drawn into the poor journalism that misrepresented the Bishop of Carlisle’s views on the floods and divine judgment.  He made no such simplistic statement.

July 29, 5:29 pm | [comment link]
2. KAR wrote:

Hey, we should all be grateful the Bishop of Carlisle said something! The last thing time he gave any indication on this was to ban all his clergy from stepping foot in a none TEC-expression of Anglicanism in the US after Truro & TEC voted ... this probably effect very little of his diocese except our family! So it nice he made some indication, even if a tad odd.

(Though IMO, happy-clappy evangelism and liberal theology do tend to break down on the theodicy questions, so this article is about as lacking as the Bishop of Carlisle statements (we know God judges sin, but are the flood victims any worse sinners than me?)).

July 29, 9:29 pm | [comment link]
3. driver8 wrote:

It’s the sort of stuff Vicar’s say in English newspapers day in day out. The Derek Nimmo school of soundbites.

July 30, 6:14 am | [comment link]
4. Pageantmaster [KJS to Coventry] wrote:

Very funny Driver8

July 30, 8:29 am | [comment link]
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