Global South Anglican

An Interview with Archbishop Peter Akinola

Up to 10 Church of England bishops could boycott next year’s Lambeth Conference of more than 800 Anglican bishops and archbishops from around the world because of the row over gays. 

This letter was published in the Church of England Newspaper July 26 2007.

Some ministry news from the Diocese of Eqypt. Prayer requests towards the end. 

For the second time in 18 months an attempt has been made on the life of Bishop Benjamin Kwashi, the Bishop of Jos, Plateau State in Northern Nigeria. Early on the morning of Tuesday July 24 at 2.15 a.m. a gang of men, more than five in number bound the two security guards at the gates of his compound and locked up the four domestic staff…

More here

The Archbishop of York has warned conservative Anglican leaders that they will effectively expel themselves from the worldwide Church if they boycott next year’s Lambeth Conference.

Update (27th July): Living Church report

Updated info in respond to various inquiries.

The Global South Steering Committee (GSSC) comprises:

President: Most Rev’d Peter J. Akinola, Nigeria
General Secretary: Most Rev’d John Chew, Southeast Asia
Treasurer: Most Rev’d Mouneer Anis, Jerusalem and the Middle East.

Most Rev’d Emmanuel Kolini, Rwanda
Most Rev’d Drexel Gomez, West Indies
Most Rev’d Bernard Malango, Central Africa
Most Rev’d Gregory Venables, Southern Cone

Secretariat:
Assoc Secretary: Bishop Martyn Minns
Asst Secretaries: Canon Wong Tak Meng, Canon Terry Wong

Other Global South Primates do participate in some of the meetings as and when the need arises. The Most Revd Henry Orombi (Uganda) participated in the recent meeting in London.

Update: 24th July - Ed: Abp Malango, Abp Venable and Abp Gomez were not present at attend this meeting with apologies.

A public statement arising from the latest Global South Steering Committee meeting held in London 16-18 July 2007. 

Posted here in full for easier reading. Original source at ACI

Some good responses and discussions over at T19

Prof Stephen Noll provides a evangelical perspective of the Draft Covenant. 

Few would deny that the Anglican Communion is in crisis. The nature of that crisis, however, remains a question. Is it about sexuality? Is it a crisis of authority—who has it and who doesn’t? Have Anglicans lost their commitment to the via media, epitomized by the Elizabethan Settlement, which somehow declared a truce between Puritan and Catholic sentiments in the Church of England? Is it a crisis of globalization? A crisis of identity?

An insightful article with a different perspective. Read the rest here

From The Living Church: Church of England Endorses Anglican Covenant

A good round up at Thinking Anglicans here

TitusOneNine has an unofficial transcript of the speech made by the Bishop of Durham in Sunday’s debate. The link to that transcript is here.

Bishop Ben Kwashi, Bishop of Jos in Northern Nigeria, chairman of SOMA (Sharing of Ministries Abroad) and co-ordinating Bishop of CANA (The Convocation of Anglicans in North America) spoke at the Anglican Mainstream Fringe meeting at the General Synod of the Church of England held in York on 9th July 2007. This was attended by almost a quarter of members of General Synod who were present at the sessions that day. 

Archbishop Drexel Gomez, who chairs the Covenant Drafting team, speaks to the Church of England General Synod.

Bp. Michael Nazir-Ali’s speech to the CoE General Synod on the Anglican Covenant

More reports here

Ed: A very good interview. Abp Peter Akinola speaks his mind and heart. Read it.

Ruth Gledhill has more on her blog.

There are various responses to and comments on the Covenant Draft in England as the Covenant is being considered and debated at COE General Synod:

‘The Anglican Covenant: Background and Resources’, a resource complied by Andrew Goddard is an excellent starting point for those who want to follow the process or to comment/debate the issues. It contain many links to the important papers and various responses around the Communion.

The Anglican Communion Network welcomed news today that the Anglican Province of Kenya has elected the Rev. William Murdoch suffragan bishop of All Saints Cathedral Diocese in Nairobi. Bishop-elect Murdoch will join Bishop-elect Bill Atwood in supporting Kenyan clergy and congregations in the United States. As he takes on this new responsibility, Murdoch will continue to serve the Network as dean of the New England Convocation.

On one level, the current crisis in the Anglican Communion seems to demand an Anglican Covenant if the Communion, as it currently is ordered, is to hold. On the other hand, the order of the Communion is in
many ways only “apparent” and is, in any event, already ruptured.

Read it all here

The Archbishop of Canterbury’s office has released a statement on the status of the Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson’s invitation to the 2008 Lambeth Conference, saying “there is no change to the Archbishop of Canterbury’s decision not to invite the Bishop of New Hampshire to the conference as a participating bishop.”