On the power of the primates..

It’s not a question of central authority. The primates do represent their churches. And although people have said this is prelacy as opposed to democracy the fact is every primate of the Anglican Communion works within a synodical and consultative system. Every primate within the Anglican Communion is elected. My own experience as I travel round the Communion--as I speak with people on the ground--it’s not as if their primate doesn’t represent what they are saying. Second point: the primates cannot make decisions for any province. Where we’ve come to is the primates’ meeting felt it needed to spell out possible consequences of continuing division or diversity in practice and to suggest some ways in which the unwelcomed consequences might be avoided. Those proposals are there on the table but they can’t be imposed, of course.

A weekend of prayer, reflection, and study of environmental sustainability and God’s mission has engaged the Episcopal Church’s House of Bishops as its members have prepared to respond to the Primates’ Communique and the proposed Anglican Covenant.

It is the faith expressed in a common order that binds us all in the one, holy, catholic and apostolic ecclesial community. Decisions on the ecclesiastical order are best left to Primates and bishops.  Their provisions are necessary; but they are at best like the gracious provision of fig leaves that hide our shame for those who live in the East of Eden. Deeper and wider than we imagine are God’s love for the whole People of God.  To deeper wrestling with our souls and wider fellowship with all his saints he has called us, that we may together enter his rest.  The surprisingly unpolemical draft from the Global South is a concrete gesture for restoring trust.

The present does not merely call for a refreshed study of the methods of interpreting scripture...To obey Christ today, Global South churches need to submit themselves to the Scripture in a more radical manner. ... The crisis is not out there in the West, but at the home front. The challenge before the churches is in translating their formal confession of the authority of the Scripture into practice: What does it mean in concrete terms for Christian communities to live under the authority of God’s Word? 

Based on a talk to the clergy of the Diocese of the Rio Grande, February, 2007

I was joined in Dar es Salaam by Bishop Bruce MacPherson of Western Louisiana from the wider Windsor Coalition (a coalition of some two dozen diocesans that includes all the Network diocesans among its members). We were given the opportunity to provide testimony and entreaty as to how the situation in the United States could be addressed.

“This could have been the meeting that could have broken the whole thing apart,” he said, instead it was marked by “a general atmosphere of congeniality and friendship across party alliances.” He said the prescriptions offered to The Episcopal Church “and the willingness of the presiding bishop to take that proposal back to the House of Bishops” was what “saved the day.”

ACN: Anglican Communion Network Expresses Gratitude for Primates’ Work

Fulcrum:
Fulcrum response to the Communiqué of the Primates’ Meeting February 2007
& Fulcrum response to the Covenant for the Anglican Communion.

Telegraph: Anglican Church leaders give liberals ultimatum

BabyBlue: Quote From Bishop Minns

Ruth Gledhill: TEC put on notice

Times: Church deadline to curb gay rights

Independent: Anglican leaders: US Church must bar gay bishops

Washington Post: Anglicans Try to Avoid Split in Church

Worth reading - Ed

Bishop Bruce MacPherson of Western Louisiana and president of the Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop’s Council of Advice; Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh and head of the Anglican Communion Network; Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, Primate of the Episcopal Church; and I were asked to address some 38 Primates (heads of the various worldwide Provinces of the Anglican Communion) at the start of their meeting in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, last week.

The 38 provinces of the Anglican Communion are grouped together into five regional districts, and each district elects its own candidate.

The Communique is also available as a PDF Document here

The draft copy of the Covenant is further down the page.

PDF download of report
PDF download of draft covenant text only

The Living Church: Divisions Remain as Deadline for Communique Approaches

Timesonline - Bitter Fudge

The Telegraph: Anglican Church on verge of schism

Kendall Harmon: An Appeal for Calm

Michael Poon - Reconstructing GC2006

By inventing a new history rather than speaking out the truth, the Sub-group would make reconciliation more difficult. - Michael Poon

Revd Dr Andrew Goddard (ACI): Commentary on Sub-Committee’s Report at ACI and Fulcrum
“...This is clearly an accurate summary of the heart of the report. However, its release – five months later at the Primates’ Meeting itself, thus giving no time for serious weighing of its claims and leading to instant reactions – has revealed that it take a more positive interpretation of the ‘mixed response’. Crudely speaking, it gives TEC a score of “2 out of 3” rather than the “barely 1 out of 3” many such as ACI and the Bishop of Durham expected and still believe to be more realistic. Hence the joy of some and the anger and despair of others.”

The Living Church: Inside the ‘Ring of Steel,’ Primates Under Intense Pressure to Reach Agreement
Participants have confirmed that the primates and staff are working under intense pressure to pull together a large quantity of data and incorporate disparate views into a single statement. Archbishop Williams faces the challenge of his ministry in building a document that satisfies the demands of the Global South coalition while not endangering the historic integrity of Anglicanism or creating new fissures in the Church of England and other divided provinces. 

Primates explain absence at Holy Eucharist:

“We each take the celebration of the Holy Eucharist very seriously. This deliberate action is a poignant reminder of the brokenness of the Anglican Communion. It makes clear that the torn fabric of the Church has been torn further. It is a consequence of the decision taken by our provinces to declare that our relationship with The Episcopal Church is either broken or severely impaired.”

The Communion Sub-Group has released their findings. The Primates who will have to make a decision, bearing in mind that the Windsor Process was set up to ‘heal the tear in the fabric’ of the Communion. We can have every trust in the Primates to make a right one. I wont name them here, but those who have been privileged to know some of them up close will know that they are godly, wise and astute in their judgment and leadership. Their commitment to orthodoxy and what is best for the Church is unquestioned. Up till now, we should notice that none has made their opinions known in public, safe for this outcry from ++Hutchinson (Canada). If I can say it respectfully, to throw the issue of poverty (or any other ills for the matter) into the discussion is strange indeed. The Primates are still deliberating and the best kind of work are often done quietly. Let’s keep on praying. I believe it is not about which side is losing or winning. It is about coming out of this mess a stronger, biblical and more orthodox Anglican Communion, a hope which many of us share.  - TW

Other analysis, responses and comments on the report can be found here:

A statement by American Anglican Council

The Sub-Group Report: The Battle Broadens:
Greg Griffith (Standing Firm)

Matt Kennedy (Standing Firm)

Ruth Gledhill: TEC ‘regret’ ok, says Gang of Four.

From Sarah Hey (Standing Firm): Victories & Defeats on the Fields of “Process" (A helpful analysis but *sigh* - when will we stop categorising the Primates? I find that misleading and unhelpful as there is a deeper unifying thread running through some of our Primates, upholding and working towards a stronger Communion. - TW)

From UK Guardian: Anglican leaders avoid church split over homosexuals (This piece I think is inaccurate and pre-mature. - TW)

Canon Kendall has this to say, over at Titus One Nine:
"How can a province which supposedly complies with the calls of the Windsor Report have, since General Convention 2006, more dioceses than ever allowing for the blessing of same sex unions and more dioceses than ever nominating people for bishop who are in non-celibate same gender relationships? The Windsor called a halt to both of these until and unless a new consensus emerges, but instead of stopping, is not the Episcopal Church still moving even further apart?” Indeed - TW

ENS’ Matthew Davies: Primates engage in ‘intense listening,’ discuss Windsor response.

And some nice photos here from ACNS

From Living Church:
• On Day 1, Spotlight on The Episcopal Church (14 Feb)
• Primates’ Official Opening Session Likely to Be Contentious
• UN Anglican Observer May Brief Primates
• Primates’ Session with Episcopal Bishops Changed to Thursday
• Alternate Primates’ Meeting Agenda Proposed
• Global South Will Propose Two-Province Solution
• Elections and Politics Part of Tanzania Meeting
• Large Class of New Primates in Tanzania

Rev. Canon David Anderson, AAC(Tues 13 February)
Security Goes Tight Around the White Sands Special Compound

BBC Anglicans face difficult summit

Daily video updates from Standing Firm
Wed Feb 14

Ruth Gledhill
Time for Anglicans to divorce