Global South Anglican

The leader of the Orthodox Church in North America has re-kindled the oldest ecumenical relationship in Christian history. Addressing delegates and attendees of the inaugural assembly of the Anglican Church in North America, His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah, said, “I am seeking an ecumenical restoration by being here today. This is God’s call to us.” This significant gesture represents the possibility of full communion being exchanged between the churches…

The Anglican Communion’s 39th Province-in-waiting was formed this week, as the Anglican Church of North America (ACNA) held its founding convocation at St Vincent’s Cathedral in Bedford, Texas....The break with the Episcopal Church was now complete, Bishop Duncan said. “There is no one here who will go back.”

Dallas/Fort Worth – Delegates to the inaugural Provincial Assembly gathered in Bedford , Texas , ratified the constitution of the Anglican Church in North America today, officially constituting the Church.  The constitution is posted to the Assembly website. Following ratification at 4:23 pm Central Time, Archbishop-designate Robert Duncan said, “We have done the work, dear brothers and sisters.  The Anglican Church in North America has been constituted.”

An Anglican Church in North America NEWS RELEASE.

Unfortunately, the Episcopal Church in America (TEC) and a few other churches were strongly opposing the idea of the Covenant especially section 4. Their excuse was that this section is new and has not been studied enough by the Provinces as the other sections have been. They have forgotten that this particular section of the Covenant is in fact the outcome of many deliberations and responses that came from dioceses as well as bishops who attended the Lambeth Conference in 2008. In addition to this, section 4 was already present in the commentary of the St. Andrews draft of the Covenant that was sent to the provinces after the Lambeth Conference. I personal believe that we will never have a perfect Covenant that could be accepted by all, even if we spend another 10 years working in it. TEC also described section 4 as “punitive.” In response to this, it was clarified that the Covenant gives guidance to the Provinces which are responsible for making their own decisions. The Covenant also does not require any changes in the constitutions of the Provinces. In addition to this, section 4 allows Provinces to make amendments to the Covenant after it is accepted. In fact, it is because that section 4 is not strong enough many conservatives described the Covenant as very weak and useless…

The Most Rev. Drexel Gomez said at a press conference that if GC2009 rescinds Resolution B033 and removes any barriers to persons involved in same-sex relationships, it will imperil the work of the Covenant (in its final draft) and will have an impact on the rest of the communion because of the responses others will need to make.

As it turned out, the ACC was granted a perceived power to order the Covenant’s actual content that it simply does not and should not hold. It is a consultative body whose purpose is to coordinate common mission and to advise: it is neither the guarantor nor the originator of Communion doctrine and polity. To be sure, even the proposed Covenant indicates that the ACC has authority to “initiate and commend a process of discernment and a direction for the Communion and its Churches” [3.1.4], a section the Council approved. But the larger context of this authority is one that takes acutely into account the common service of the Communion’s members. As I will point out below, such a common service has been potentially compromised in a significant way…

We have taken part in the whole process of discernment and decision-making at ACC-14. We wish to share with our own provinces and the wider Communion our observations and initial conclusions from the meeting…

There’s no absolute measure for achievement.  In critical times quite small things may be quite large achievements.  And so, if we reflect on what we’ve done in the last ten days, then it may be that even some apparently very routine things are real achievements.  We’ve got up every morning; and we’ve prayed every morning; we’ve read scripture together; we’ve affirmed our will to stay in relation; and we’ve done some planning.  We have sent forward work on the aid and development alliance, on theological education, on evangelism and church growth, on the Bible in the Church.  We’ve agreed on the follow-up to the work of the Windsor Continuation Group.  We’ve even agreed on the substance of the Covenant, including, and we should remember this, the timescale for that work…

Archbishop Williams said that Anglican provinces are “a bit reluctant” to engage the proposed Anglican Communion Covenant in greater detail because it “does underline for us that the possibility of division is there, the possibility at least of certain kinds of division.” He said people have spoken of the future of the communion as a federation, “an association within which some groups are more strongly bound to one another and some groups less strongly bound.” He added, “I suspect that will be more inevitable if not all provinces do sign on to the covenant. And I hasten to add that’s not what I hope. It is what I think we have to reflect on as a real possibility.”

The Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) will not endorse the Anglican Covenant, and has voted to send it back to committee for further review. The vote comes as a major defeat for the Archbishop of Canterbury who had championed the covenant as the one way to keep the Anglican Communion from splitting. However the defeat was self-inflicted, as Dr Rowan Williams’ ambiguous intervention in the closing moments of the debate led to the loss. Delegates adopted a compromise resolution, whose provisions Dr Williams had rejected at the start of the May 8 debate but backed by its end, to appoint a committee to review and revise section 4 of the covenant and report its recommendations to the Joint Standing Committee of the Primates and the ACC for adoption. A process, the ACC’s secretary general Canon Kenneth Kearon said would likely take up to year to bring to fruition.

Kondo, sudan: I want to add my voice and thank the cdg...it seems to me section 4 is the most important...to accept this resolution is to mean we will debate this issue again and again…

Anis: without section 4..we can not call the covenant a covenant..it is section 4 that makes the whole covenant a covenant...the crisis we are going through now is because of the absolute autonomy that this covenant with 123 and 4 affirms the interdependence...we are a communion with autonomy...i would appeal that you would vote against this b/c 1. if we accept this we will lose a great chance to be united...i assure you that there are churches that affirm the whole covenant...and the communion will be divided...if we don’t approve 1234 together...if we wait 10 years we will never get a perfect covenant...the cdg has worked for 3 years very hard..they have broght us a good covenant...we can not undermine the work of the cdg...section 4 is from lambeth and the responses of the diocese/provinces...all that has been done is the commentary has been brought in..its not truet that it hasn’t received any study...it is the outcome of a lot of study…

SE Asia, Stanley Isaac. I want to say that this resolution a should be rejected because it would be disastrous to send to the provinces the text of the covenant without 4 because it would mean nothing for all the rest of us who have been waiting for this document to find a ray of hope for a problem that has divided the communion and embarrassed the churches. This is a defining moment for the communion, We grab it or we dont. It would be a way of united the communion once again in the bond of Christ and truly regard ourselves as one body. That will be a unity only in the past if we do not pass section 4...We have not been taken by surpruse by section 4. I want to express the appreciation of my province we feel disappointed that the concerns to tighten up the appendix, was watered down. We think it is a weak provision of measure for achieving a soluton to the problem. Allow this full text to go forward..

Read the rest here

This was Archbishop Drexel Gomez’s presentation to the Anglican Consultative Council this morning. In it he warns that “the Communion is close to the point of breaking up. If we cannot state clearly and simply what holds us together, and speak clearly at this meeting, then I fear there will be clear breaks in the Communion in the period following this meeting. Many of our Churches are asking to know where they stand – what can be relied on as central to the Anglican Communion; and how can disputes be settled without the wrangle and confusion that we have seen for the last seven years or more.”

Opening plenary reports, including Archbishop of Canterbury’s welcome speech

Archbishop Drexel Gomez’s presentation to the Anglican Consultative Council on 4th May

Report from ACC-14 Day Three (by Canon Chris Sugden): The Anglican Communion Covenant and Uganda’s right to choose its delegate

A helpful guide to the background of the Anglican Covenant and related resources can be read here

ENS gives a helpful report with links here

Archbishop Gomez, who recently retired as primate of the Church of the Province of the West Indies, warned that while at least three provinces have questioned whether there was a need for a common covenant among Anglican churches worldwide, “I have to say to you in all seriousness, the communion is close to the point of breaking up.” He did not identify which provinces are cold to the idea of a covenant, which was recommended by the Lambeth Commission on Communion as a way to address deep fissures among Anglican churches worldwide triggered by the issue of homosexuality.

The Rev. Prof. Stephen Noll, Vice Chancellor, Uganda Christian University, gave a detailed comment on the draft. 

Eliud Wabukala of Bungom was elected by the 158-member electoral college at the All Saints Cathedral in the country capital, Nairobi, and he becomes Kenya’s fifth Anglican archbishop.

The GAFCON Primates’ Council has the responsibility of recognizing and authenticating orthodox Anglicans especially those who are alienated by their original Provinces. We are also called to promote the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (FCA) in its stand against false teaching and as a rallying point for orthodoxy. It is our aim to ensure that the unity of the Anglican Communion is centered on Biblical teaching rather than mere institutional loyalty. It is essential to provide a way in which faithful Anglicans, many of whom are suffering much loss, can remain as Anglicans within the Communion while distancing themselves from false teaching.

Read the rest of the Communiqué from the GAFCON/FCA Primates’ Council here

The Covenant Design Group (CDG) met under the chairmanship of the Most Revd Drexel Gomez, former Primate of the Church in the Province of the West Indies, between 29th March and 2nd April, 2009, in Ridley Hall, Cambridge, at the invitation of the Principal, the Revd Canon Andrew Norman, former Representative of the Archbishop of Canterbury to the Covenant Design Group. We are grateful for the warm welcome received.

The main work of the group was to prepare a revised draft for the proposed Anglican Communion Covenant which could be presented to the fourteenth Meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council, and commended to the Provinces for adoption. The CDG now presents the third "Ridley Cambridge" draft for the Anglican Communion Covenant.

This text has been developed in the light of responses received in the twelve month consultation period requested by the Joint Standing Committee since the production of the Saint Andrew’s Draft in February 2008. The CDG has worked with the twenty or so Provincial responses which have been received to the St Andrew’s Draft, and which are listed in Appendix One of this Report. We also received a large number of responses from individuals, diocesan synods and other institutions, including ecumenical partners, which were also circulated among the group. All these responses are in the process of being published now on the Anglican Communion website.

The Ridley Cambridge Draft (RCD) of the Covenant text follows the pattern established in the St. Andrew’s Draft, of an Introduction, a Preamble, three Sections (to which a fourth is now added), and a Declaration. “We recognise the importance of renewing in a solemn way our commitment to one another, and to the common understanding of faith and order we have received, so that the bonds of affection which hold us together may be re-affirmed and intensified.”

The members present in the meeting in Cambridge were:

Drexel Gomez, Chair
Victor Atta-Baffoe
John Chew
Katherine Grieb
Santosh Marray
John Neill
Rubie Nottage (unable to be at the Cambridge Meeting)
Ephraim Radner
Eileen Scully

The complete text of the draft and other resources are found at:

http://www.aco.org/commission/covenant/index.cfm

Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali has announced his intention to step down as Bishop of Rochester as from 1st September 2009. He will have been Bishop in the Diocese for nearly 15 years and during this time has played a major part in the life of the church.

Bishop Michael is hoping to work with a number of church leaders from areas where the church is under pressure, particularly in minority situations, who have asked him to assist them with education and training for their particular situation. Details of this arrangement are still being worked out.

Bishop Michael, who will be 60 in August, is the 106th Bishop of Rochester. He is originally from Asia and was the first non-white Diocesan Bishop in the Church of England. He was appointed to Rochester in 1994. Before that he was the General Secretary of CMS from 1989-1994 and before that Bishop of Raiwind in Pakistan and theological Assistant to the Archbishop of Canterbury. Since 1999 he has also been a member of the House of Lords where he has been active in a number of areas of national and international concern.

Bishop Michael says, “We thank God for his blessings and for friends we have made in the Diocese in the past 15 years. I am so grateful to God for the friendship and loyalty of those around us and ask for people’s prayers as we take this step of faith ‘not knowing where we are going’ (Heb 11:8).

Read the rest here

Ed: Apart from the the Sudan crisis, Abp Deng also made some comments on the recent Primates Meeting towards the end of the report.

The Anglican Church of Melanesia has a new Archbishop. He is the Rt Rev David Vunagi who is currently the Bishop of the Diocese of Temotu in Solomon Islands.

A Letter from Alexandria to the Churches of the Anglican Communion

Anglican primates to discuss “two-tier” communion - (London) Times:

The 2009 Primates’ Meeting in Alexandria, Egypt, has opened in a fog of confusion with little expectation the five day meeting will resolve the Anglican crisis - George Conger. Religious Intelligence

Pope Shenouda receives Anglican primates in Alexandria - ACO

The Primates of the Anglican Communion will meet for the next of their regular meetings at the Helnan Palestine Hotel Alexandria Egypt, between 1st – 5th February.

The meeting will be chaired by the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Rowan Williams and hosted by the President Bishop of Jerusalem & the Middle East & Bishop in Egypt with North Africa and the Horn of Africa, The Most Revd Dr Mouneer Hanna Anis. The Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, the Revd Canon Kenneth Kearon will act as the meeting’s secretary.

Primates’ Meetings are held in private session. As is customary it is expected that a communiqué will be issued at the close of the meeting.

More info here

And hence the concern we need to have about the welfare of children. As we look around the world, there is plenty to prompt us to far more anger and protest about what happens to children than we often seem to feel or express. In the UK this year there have been several public debates about childhood, as research has underlined the lack of emotional security felt by many children here, the high cost of divorce and family breakdown, the disproportionate effect of poverty and debt on children, and many other problems. We look forward to the publication here in the New Year of a nationwide survey about what people think is a ‘good childhood’ – sponsored by the Children’s Society, with its long association with the Anglican Church.

The Archbishop of Canterbury will not block the creation of a third Anglican province in North America, sources familiar with Dr. Rowan Williams’ Dec 5 meeting with five traditionalist archbishops, tell The Church of England Newspaper. However, the archbishop will not give it his endorsement either, arguing his office does not have the legal authority to make, or un-make, Anglicans…

Primates of the GAFCON Primates’ Council meeting in London have issued the following statement about the Province of the Anglican Church in North America: We welcome the news of the North American Anglican Province in formation. We fully support this development with our prayer and blessing, since it demonstrates the determination of these faithful Christians to remain authentic Anglicans. 

North American Anglicans have been tragically divided since 2003 when activities condemned by the clear teaching of Scripture and the vast majority of the Anglican Communion were publicly endorsed. This has left many Anglicans without a proper spiritual home. The steps taken to form the new Province are a necessary initiative. A new Province will draw together in unity many of those who wish to remain faithful to the teaching of God’s word, and also create the highest level of fellowship possible with the wider Anglican Communion.

Furthermore, it releases the energy of many Anglican Christians to be involved in mission, free from the difficulties of remaining in fellowship with those who have so clearly disregarded the word of God. 

6th December, 2008 AD

The Anglican Coalition in Canada is pleased to announce its full participation in the emerging Province called the Anglican Church in North America. 

National Post reports: Conservative Anglicans take step in forming new church

CANA reports

click here for the text of the new constitution of the emerging Anglican Church in North America
click here for the text of the new canons of the emerging Anglican Church in North America

The Primate of Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) Archbishop Peter Akinola, has urged government to fish out the perpetrators of the crisis that trailed Thursday’s local government election in Plateau State. Scores of people had been killed since violence erupted in Jos on Friday even before the election results were announced.

Ed - Keep the crisis in Jos (Nigeria) in your prayers.

Subtitle: On Doing What it Takes to Get What You Want

Read the full article here. 

A report on the Missions Consultation Roundtable 2008, hosted by the Diocese of Singapore on 6th - 9th October 2008, Bangkok, Thailand. 

There is an on-going discussion on the formation of a new Province in USA, anticipating an announcement or launched on 3rd Dec (ACN).

A New “Province” in North America: Neither the Only Nor the Right Answer for the Communion - Ephraim Radner

A response to Ephraim by Rev Robert Munday

For more discusisons on the new ‘Province’, head over to Standing Firm here

For a reflection on parallel in the UK and Us situation, read ’Allusions and Illusions: Advent Reflections by Graham Kings. And also The Restoration of Evangelicalism: Differences without Division.

Report by Church Times: Province plan to be unveiled Next Week

Charles Alley: Anglican Conservatives – Different Strategies or Different Goals?

Also, an earlier article by former Archbishop, Maurice Sinclair is worth noting: Why support an Anglican Province of North America in process of formation?

Ed notes: It should be obvious that various approaches are necessary and evangelicals should honor and support each other. The Jerusalem Declaration is a helpful document (as already mentioned by some Primates) and should be supported. Likewise the work on the Covenant etc. If we are able to embraced all the various strategies and recognise them for the part they play in serving Anglican diversity worldwide (within orthodox limits), we will be serving the Church a lot better. Debates and discussion are still necessary to clarify our thinking but not at the expense of our bonds in Christ.

A Statement from the Standing Committee of the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa (CAPA).

Ed - An encouraging read. This version is reformatted for easier reading.