I have, by God’s grace, learned as a member of the Christian community what is the nature of God’s mercy, which does not leave me to overcome my sin by my own effort, so I have something to say to the fellow-sufferer who does not know where to look for hope. And what I have to say depends utterly on my willingness not to let go of that awareness of myself that reminds me where I start each day—not as a finished saint but as a needy person still struggling to grow.
Rowan WilliamsReligion has always been a matter of community building; a matter of building precisely those relations of compassion, fellow feeling and - I dare to use the word - inclusion, which would otherwise be absent from our societies.
Rowan WilliamsHow do we live in a way that shows an understanding that we genuinely live in a shared world, not one that simply belongs to us?
Rowan WilliamsFriendship is something that creates equality and mutuality, not a reward for finding equality or a way of intensifying existing mutuality.
Rowan WilliamsInstitutions develop because people put a lot of trust in them, they meet real needs, they represent important aspirations, whether it's monasteries, media, or banks, people begin by trusting these institutions, and gradually the suspicion develops that actually they're working for themselves, not for the community.
Rowan Williams