Global South Anglican

The Rt. Rev. Robert W. Duncan, Bishop of Pittsburgh and moderator of the Anglican Communion Network, lauded a covenant agreement involving, among others, the Rt. Rev. Vincent Warner, Bishop of Olympia, and two congregations whose clergy and members voted to leave the diocese and The Episcopal Church to affiliate with an overseas Anglican province.

As Christmas approaches, preparations continue to be made for the Primates’ Meeting in February in Tanzania. A provisional outline of the programme is almost ready – but I am particularly glad that we shall have opportunity to celebrate in the cathedral in Zanzibar the anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade in 1806, another great sign of God’s faithfulness and of what can be achieved by Christ’s disciples when they resist the powers of this world.

A Pastoral Letter for the new CANA Congregations

The writing and publication of ‘A Covenant for the Church of England’ was intended to draw attention to problems in the wider church that need addressing and to offer a constructive response. It has itself now become a problem, especially among evangelical Anglicans. The reasons for this tragedy are revealed by answering five questions –- Who? What? How? When? Why? -– in the light of which we can ask Where now?...

Update: The Fulcrum link to the article is here.

The Bishop of Durham was both angry and devastating in an essay which tore into the Covenant line-by-line. In the first place, this wasn’t a Covenant, in a legal sense, which implied an agreement between two sides, nor in a theological sense. 

“The signatories to “A Covenant for the Church of England” are now being made public together with some background explanation.  Although it was our original intention to publish the list of signatories and the “Questions that may be Asked” at the same time as the Covenant, we have withheld them for one week at the request of Lambeth Palace. We are publishing them now in the hope that they will help people to understand the full context in which these conversations have been begun.” - Anglican Mainstream

“There is no question that the clergy and people of The Falls Church, Truro Church, Church of the Apostles, Christ the Redeemer, St. Stephen’s, Church of the Word, St. Margaret’s and Potomac Falls remain fully and faithfully Anglican,” said Bishop Duncan. “Their deliberate decision-making process and patient efforts over the last two years to chart a peaceful and prayerful course forward should be an example to all those contemplating their future relationship with The Episcopal Church. It is now up to the leadership of the Diocese of Virginia to choose between embracing a charitable parting of ways or pursuing destructive litigation. I pray they can see their way to selecting the first course,” he added.

A Press Release from The Falls Church and Truro Church.

CANA was birthed as a pastoral response to the crisis in The Episcopal Church. It was designed to provide safe harbor for those who could no longer find their spiritual home there. But now it is much more. CANA allows us to get on with the work of mission without apology. CANA is not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ and the unchanging truth of the Scriptures. CANA is a gift for all orthodox Anglicans in America and it comes with no strings attached. It is a gift that allows us to stay firmly connected to the rest of the Anglican Communion, and the heritage that we treasure, while responding to the particular challenges of mission and ministry in our own context.

Tom Wright, the Bishop of Durham, has written a magisterial article

“A Confused ‘Covenant’: Initial comments on ‘A Covenant for the Church of England’.

It is now online at Fulcrum

Talks with the Archbishop were said to be positive and ‘ongoing’ after the meeting on Tuesday. It is believed that further negotiations will be held in January after the meeting of the House of Bishops. Evangelical leaders were this week playing down accusations of creating a schism in the Church of England. They believe that theirs is the only way forward for preventing parishes seeking alternative Episcopal oversight from overseas and splitting the Anglican Communion.

Fulcrum Initial Response to the ‘Covenant for the Church of England’, which some evangelicals presented to the Archbishop of Canterbury on 12 December 2006.

We are also praying about whether our House of Bishops should attend and participate in the Lambeth Conference of Bishops in 2008.  Every ten years, the Archbishop of Canterbury invites all the bishops of the Anglican Communion together for prayer and mutual consultation on matters of mission and our common life together as Anglicans throughout the world.  The next conference is planned for 2008.  However, the Archbishops of Africa and the Global South have received a report and a recommendation that we not participate in the next Lambeth Conference if ECUSA, and especially their gay bishop, are also invited to the conference.  The House of Bishops of the Church of Uganda has not yet made a decision about this, but I wanted you to know that we are praying and asking the Lord to give us the mind of Christ on this matter.

A small group met with the Archbishop of Canterbury on Tuesday December 12 and presented A Covenant for the Church of England on behalf of a wide group of Evangelical and Charismatic members of the Church of England with the support of a number of Anglo-Catholic leaders.

The Covenant is the fruit of an ongoing process reacting not to a few local or immediate difficulties but responding to widespread concerns in the national and global church.

The group were listened to carefully and as a result of the meeting it was agreed that there would be further discussion of the issues raised in the Covenant to find a way to maintain the unity of the Church of England.

Rev Paul Perkin
Canon Dr Chris Sugden

The Covenant was drafted by a group under the following leadership:

Rev David Banting, Chair of Reform
Rev John Coles, Director of New Wine Networks
Rev Paul Perkin, Member of General Synod
Rev David Phillips, Director of Church Society
Rev Vaughan Roberts, Rector of St Ebbes’ Oxford
Canon Dr Chris Sugden, Executive Secretary, Anglican Mainstream
Rev William Taylor, Rector of St Helen’s Bishopsgate
Rev Dr Richard Turnbull, Chair of the Church of England Evangelical Council
Rev Dr Simon Vibert, Chair of the Fellowship of Word and Spirit

The House of Bishops of the Anglican Church of Tanzania (ACT) issued a statement December 7 saying that its “communion with the Episcopal Church (USA) is severely impaired” in light the 75th General Convention’s response to the Windsor Report. The statement is posted at the Province of Tanzania Website site.

Update: It is also on the ACNS site.

Here is the statement from Tanzania in 2003.

The belief among conservative Christians that some behaviour is sinful does not amount to an expression of hate…

Part of the Pope’s public message to the Archbishop was sombre. He spoke of “serious obstacles to ecumenical progress” thrown up by liberal attitudes to homosexuality, and the prospect of women bishops in the Church of England. But he also underlined the “reconciliation and friendship” between Anglicans and Roman Catholics which has evolved over the past 40 years, and confirmed that the work of ARCIC (the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission) is to be resumed. At a press conference last Friday, Dr Williams said that his aims for the visit had not only been met, but exceeded.

More at Church Times (some great pics there)

Orombi says he looks forward to key Anglican meetings, like one of worldwide Anglican leaders coming up in Tanzania in February, even though they are likely to turn into showdowns. “Many of us in the global south want this whole sexuality thing to be thrown out, to be finished,” he said. “It is exhausting and debilitating.” It is also painful. “If your brother decides he is not going to move, you are sad and pained and you are walking away. Not because you love it. You are walking away painfully, bleeding.”

The Church of England Newspaper reports on its front page.

An apology is in order - Andrew Carey comments and gives further details of the ‘banning’ of Archbishop Akinola.

“And please don’t think I’m talking to you from a great distance and sitting comfortably. If you weep, I weep too. If your heart is broken, my heart is broken. If you struggle, I struggle. And that’s why we’re doing this together. Because we are all out of the same fragile, sinful mold, and we are all walking our way towards the wonderful future that God has for us.”

We are posting a transcript of Archbishop Greg Venables’ speech to the Diocese of San Joaquin . The video is already released to the public earlier this week. It was a sermon for the Eucharist Convention in San Joaquin, done by video because Abp Greg was not able to attend the service. He was not asked about its release to the public. Do hear his pastoral message in it’s context. 

“...as the center of gravity of the Christian world moves ever southward, the conservative traditions prevailing in the global South matter ever more.”

An excerpt from Philip Jenkins’ new book, The New Faces of Christianity: Believing the Bible in the Global South, produced at Christianity Today.

LIKE the biblical mustard seed bursting with growth potential, the Anglican Church here has been a mover and shaker in helping the destitute, debilitated and disabled since it took root as a church mission in 1856. 

The following is a series of articles and comments on the Global South Anglican site linked together. The series shows interesting interaction and interlearning earlier in the year between Michael Poon and Ephraim Radner concerning the Global South Response to the General Convention of The Episcopal Church and other Communion issues…