Global South Anglican

We come as Anglican theologians serving churches in the Anglican Communion outside Western cultural frameworks.  Our face-to-face discussions at the Lambeth Conference 2008 have deepened our trust and understanding of one another.  We celebrate our bonds of affection in Christ and commit ourselves to take fresh initiatives together for the sake of God’s mission.  The Global South Anglican Theological Network is a personal initiative borne of friendship and vocation. We are neither commissioned nor aligned with any organisation or official body in the Communion. 

ESPRIT: So where from here?

+JMS: It depends much on the will of the Communion. Bishops acting unilaterally do not help this. The future of the Communion depends on those who are willing to forgo what they perceive to be their rights and their prerogatives and agree to live with and for others. We’ve been deaf to that call. It just depends on the will of those who are in leadership and who say, you know, the time has come to work together in unity. As far as I’m concerned as diocesan bishop, we have strong ties and relationships with the Anglican Communion, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Global South. The Global South bishops invited both Bishop Paul and me to a meeting with them. We cherish those relationships, and we will continue to witness and carry out our part in the Anglican Communion.

+PEL: I don’t know how I can expand upon that. We need to be faithful to the Scriptures and our Lord’s command to go forth into the world, but one of the things I’m trying to live into is what it means to be faithful to the vows I took when I was consecrated. There are some significant vows there. I think the House of Bishops and all bishops would do well to read those every day.

The first meeting of the GAFCON Primates’ Council has taken place in London on Wednesday 20th to Friday 22nd August. The twofold task of the Council is ‘to authenticate and recognise confessing Anglican jurisdictions, clergy and congregations and to encourage all Anglicans to promote the gospel and defend the faith.’ The Primates have therefore laid the basis for the future work of both the Council and the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (FCA). The GAFCON movement continues its advance…

Read the rest here

Recently, a pastoral response was released from the Diocese of Singapore in the light of an article in the Strait Times (Singapore) on the past and expressed views of the Archbishop of Canterbury on the issue of homosexuality as reported in UK Times on 7th August 2008. 

Their depressing and urgent situation in The Episcopal Church becomes ever clearer over time, despite all of the efforts of their liberal church leaders to try and persuade the rest of the Anglican Communion that really we’re just like you. Close watchers of the US, and readers of this newspaper, will be more aware than most of the state of that Church. Heterodoxy is never punished, whereas orthodox impatience is the subject of lawsuits all over the country. And the amount of heterodoxy uttered in The Episcopal Church is truly astonishing…

This open letter, a response to Bishop’s Duncan ’leaked letter‘ is worth reading, including the discussions by commenters over at the Covenant site. 

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has today sent a letter to the bishops of the Anglican Communion, setting out his personal reflections on the Lambeth Conference. 

Graham Kings, Fulcrum: Patience and urgency came together in the substance and context of the Lambeth Conference. The Windsor Process and the Anglican Covenant, the GAFCON shadow conference in Jerusalem, and the three Presidential Addresses by the Archbishop of Canterbury, including the announcement of the Pastoral Forum, were all closely related. Read the rest here

David Anderson, American Anglican Council: May I submit, from my own position far down the ecclesial food chain, that there is no longer theological space to be an orthodox bishop of the church and privately believe that which is contrary to what the Church teaches on core doctrine and moral discipline. To do so becomes, in the most benign situation, a form of mental illness where the individual experiences a bifurcation of mind, and in more extreme form, a spiritual illness representing a foot in each Kingdom. This time in the life of the Christian and Anglican Church calls for a clear mind aligned with and fully embracing the core teachings of the Christian faith, reformed and catholic. Full Stop. Read the rest here

Paul Richardson, Religious Intelligence: Even if the Communion overcomes the immediate causes of division it will be important to address the underlying factors. Part of the problem is that, while bright young Catholic students, whether they be Thomists, liberation theologians, or Augustinians, all flock to Rome to study, Anglicans study in different parts of the Communion and, for the most part, read different texts. Read the rest here.

THE ANGLICAN Communion must prepare for “an orderly” separation if differences cannot be healed, claims the Bishop of Winchester. In a report addressed to his diocese relaying his reflections on the 2008 Lambeth Conference, the Rt Rev Michael Scott-Joynt said that the Archbishop of Canterbury had three realistic options ahead of him after the next Primates meeting in 2009.

In view of today’s letter from Deborah Pitt in the Times, we unreservedly apologise for the remarks we made in our last issue of Editorial Comments that might be considered unfair or inaccurate. 

We have also made some necessary changes to the article in question.

No matter how profound the documents and formularies produced by these Provinces may become, the real test for the strength of this “Communion” is the indwelling Spirit of God. It is only when that Spirit of the Living God is dwelling in us collectively as well as individually, that we can fully share this Communion with one another. Then other aspects such as our institutional loyalty, our nationality, our culture or even our cherished church traditions, become secondary as we experience “O Blest Communion, Fellowship Divine” as the hymn writer expressed it in a somewhat different context.

Read the rest here

One of those who have been touched by the Word of God is Ms Liu Yali, a member of the China national women’s soccer team. Yali came to faith after experiencing peace through prayer and the reading of the Bible.  She found that every word in the Bible was speaking to her personally.  She said, “God’s Word gives me strength to live.”

A Report to the Diocese of Winchester.
“Notwithstanding Archbishop Rowan’s magnificent final Address, I continue to see a negotiated “orderly separation” as the best and most fruitful way forward for the Anglican Communion. The experience of this Lambeth Conference, underlined by that final Address, has again convinced me that the Anglican Communion cannot hold in tension convictions and practices that are incompatible, and so not patent of “reconciliation”, without continuing seriously to damage the life and witness of Anglican Churches as much in “the Global South” as in North America and in other provinces that have followed the lead of TEC..If this may be the future under God of the Anglican Communion - a large “orthodox” majority continuing to look to its historic roots (I pray and hope) in the See of Canterbury yet maintaining some defined relationship with a “separated” and more “liberal” Communion of Churches centred on TEC – much now depends on the GAFCON Primates and the rest of the “Global South” quickly mending the relationships between them that have been put at risk, and on all of them together reacting positively to the Archbishop of Canterbury’s stated intention to call a meeting of the Primates of the Communion early in 2009.”

The full letter can also be downloaded here

Dr Bryden Black is a clergy from Christchurch, New Zealand. This article first appeared in the comment section. He raises some important questions here which we thought deserve more attention. 

Some insightful responses can be read here. 

To the Editor, The Times

Sir, As bishops in the Church of England, we wish to protest in the strongest possible terms at what we regard as a gross misrepresentation of the Archbishop of Canterbury…

Ed: The Archbishop of Canterbury has also released a statement here

Kevin Francis Donlon, a corresponding member of the Global South Anglican Theological Formation and Education Task Force, contributed his thoughts on this paper.

“The Covenant as an instrument by itself fails to address the fullness of the conciliar tradition that needs to be regained by Anglicans.  A church rooted in the catholic heritage is called to be church rooted in the claims a deposit of faith that includes a canonical and conciliar tradition that is one of the marks of the church since the Apostolic Period.  Anglicanism abandoned a conciliar and canonical understanding of the church when Henry Tudor ascribed all legislative responsibility to the Parliament at the Reformation. A draft of a Covenant without a canonical and conciliar structure illustrates once again that Anglican leaders seem unable to grasp the conciliar nature of the Church. A new model for a new day is required where conversations about Canons and Covenants are not simply the speculation of non-binding conferences that insure autonomy over and above authority. The blending of covenant and canon is a way to embrace the conciliar model where matters of faith and practice at all levels of the Church come into an expression of praxis that is framed in a theology of the church that is biblical, Christological, salvific historical and ecclesiological in character consistent for the ages.”

Download the PDF copy here

ACNS: Sermon by the Archbishop of Canterbury at the Concluding Eucharist of the Lambeth Conference

Lambeth: Final press conference in text or audio.

The 3rd Presidential Address by the Archbishop of Canterbury is also available here.

The final version of the Reflections document is now available at Lambeth Indaba Reflections.

A Statement from Global South Primates can be read here

This is the transcript of Archbishop Rowan Williams final press conference at the 2008 Lambeth Conference.

Where will the work be done? Before the ACC meeting next year - which will be a significant element in implementing our vision - I intend to convene a Primates’ Meeting as early as possible in 2009. I shall look within the next two months for a clear and detailed specification for the task and composition of a Pastoral Forum, and I shall ensure that the perspectives of various groups looking at the Covenant and the Windsor process, as well as the Design Group for this Conference help to shape the implementation of the agenda outlined in the Reflections document, and are fed into the special meeting in November of the Joint Standing Committee of the Primates and the ACC. We may not have put an end to all our problems - but the pieces are on the board. And in the months ahead it will be important to invite those absent from Lambeth to be involved in these next stages. Much in the GAFCON documents is consonant with much of what we have sought to say and do, and we need to look for the best ways of building bridges here.

“We rejoice that the fellowship of orthodox episcopal leaders continue to grow in maturity in common faith and witness. Early in the Conference we, some 200 bishops, were greatly blessed when we met at a special gathering on Jul 22 for fellowship and sharing, co-hosted by 17 Global South Provinces…

Read the rest here

Updated: List of undersigned Primates

Rt Rev Michael Scott-Joynt, the Bishop of Winchester, said that the Archbishop’s plan to maintain unity lacked a sense of urgency and was unlikely to work. “The Lambeth Conference is required to do something rather than live down to the worst expectations of the bishops who stayed away,” he said. “We need to negotiate a separation in the Communion sooner rather than later, to leave the strongest possibility of remaining in some kind of fellowship.”

WE, the bishops of the Diocese of Egypt, North Africa and the Horn of Africa, wish to express our appreciation and thankfulness for the Lambeth Conference now ended. It has been a great joy to experience the fellowship, mutual support and counsel of fellow bishops from around the world. This conference has been a most valuable opportunity to express our thoughts and concerns and to listen to the concerns of others.

I am glad I came to this conference. It has given me a great opportunity to learn, listen to others, debate and share my views openly. It has been a great joy to meet many friends and to make new friends who love the Lord and are committed to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ by word and deed. I have heard many inspiring stories from colleagues who put their lives at risk and suffer in order to stay faithful to God and His Church. I cannot describe the encouragement we received from, and the fellowship with, our ecumenical partners, especially the Coptic Orthodox. The conference has provided the Global South Bishops as well as other orthodox bishops from the UK, NZ, USA, Canada and Australia to meet and support each other. It has been a blessing to us all.

Those who are quick to judge the Lambeth absentees need to know that these very same ones have worked tirelessly to heal the torn fabric these past five years. Leadership means sticking your necks out, being misunderstood and criticised, and this is the price which many of them have paid. Some have felt that they are now relegated to the category of those who ‘are deeply exercised over matters which they have no control.’ And so, they stayed away.

So, it was appropriate, after the American decision in 2003, that the Archbishop of Canterbury convened an emergency meeting of the primates to address the biblical and ecclesiastical crisis into which the Americans had plunged the Anglican Communion. The primates, including the American primate, unanimously advised that the consecration should not proceed. Nonetheless, two weeks later, the primate in America presided at the consecration as bishop of a man living in a same-sex relationship. This was a deep betrayal

An Observation on the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Second Presidential Address to Lambeth 2008.

- Cardinal Walter Kasper is a German prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He currently serves as President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity in the Roman Curia, and Cardinal Deacon of Ognissanti in Via Appia Nuova. Here follows the address from Cardinal Kasper to the Lambeth Conference, delivered on July 30, 2008

‘What is Lambeth ‘08 going to say?’ is the question looming larger all the time as this final week unfolds.  But before trying out any thoughts on that, I want to touch on the prior question, a question that could be expressed as ‘Where is Lambeth ‘08 going to speak from?’.  I believe if we can answer that adequately, we shall have laid some firm foundations for whatever content there will be.

And the answer, I hope, is that we speak from the centre.  I don’t mean speaking from the middle point between two extremes — that just creates another sort of political alignment.  I mean that we should try to speak from the heart of our identity as Anglicans; and ultimately from that deepest centre which is our awareness of living in and as the Body of Christ.

The WCG’s observations, can also be read in a pdf copy here

On Tuesday 22 July, approximately 200 bishops and several primates gathered to discuss issues which concern the Global South, especially that of the faithful Anglicans in the United States. Bishop Bob Duncan of Pittsburgh spoke, along with Bishop Michael Scott-Joynt of Winchester and Bishop N.T. Wright of Durham. We had a wonderful time with the bishops from Africa, Asia, Latin America, UK, Australia, New Zealand and USA. We were all encouraged and ended the meeting by singing “He is Lord.”

Ed: Some hopeful observations.

A continuation from Part One

After 21 years of war, in which more than 2 million people lost their lives and more than 4 million people have become refugees or internally displaced, we are greatly encouraged at thenew future offered by the CPA. However, we remain deeply concerned that the conflict in Darfur, in Western Sudan, continues unabated, and at the localized conflict in several places which threatens stability and the sustainability of peace. We therefore wish to share with you the following concerns…

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