Updated Thursday evening
Only a month ago, GAFCON issued an appeal for funds. The costs involved are estimated in this official GAFCON page.
Now, it seems, the response has been such that at least in Nigeria all the costs will be met from outside the dioceses. According to this Pastoral Letter (original as PDF here) signed by The Most Rev Peter J. Akinola, Archbishop, Metropolitan and Primate of All Nigeria (emphasis added):
GAFCON
The Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) was introduced in our earlier pastoral letter written from the Bishops retreat in January. The planning of this conference, coming up in Jerusalem in the month of June, has reached an advanced stage. The choice of Jerusalem as the venue is to take us back in a pilgrimage to the biblical and historical roots of our faith to draw inspiration in the face of major attempts to undermine the sufficiency of Scripture by some of our brother and sisters in the West. Knowing that this is not merely a cultural or theological struggle alone, but more importantly a spiritual battle, we urge earnest and concerted prayers that the Spirit of the Lord will show us the way ahead for our beloved Anglican Communion.When the proposal was first discussed in January, we were staggered by the enormity of the cost, but we trusted that if God[’s] hand was in it, He would provide. Indeed the Lord has gone beyond our expectations by raising up from among us those who have felt sufficiently committed to the need to preserve the sanctity of our historic faith that they have committed huge resources to cover all the cost of the conference. May our gracious God reward these people abundantly and may they never be confounded as they continue to trust in Him and give themselves to His glad service.
The Bishops also resolved that Dioceses that had paid the required amount but have an outstanding balance in their Endowment Fund commitment should have their accounts credited with the money meant for the travel costs. This should enable us to make further progress in our desire to resource our Seminaries and other major projects in our vision. This will be a tremendous blessing to the seminaries where our clergy are trained. We have made resources available to meet their most critical needs so that our candidates for ordination and the future shepherds of our church will be well prepared for their ministry without being subjected to the usual handicaps in their training. We hope our postulants and the staff of the seminaries will reward this gesture.
This Pastoral Letter has also been published as a web page by both ACNS and ENS.
In a Communique of the Standing Committee of the Church of Nigeria issued at the same time (PDF original here), there is further material about GAFCON:
GLOBAL ANGLICAN FUTURE CONFERENCE
10. The Primate addressed the proposal for the Church of Nigeria to take part in the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) and Pilgrimage in Jerusalem from June 22nd through June 29, 2008. The goals of this conference are to:a. Provide an opportunity for fellowship to continue to experience and proclaim the transforming love of Christ.
b. Develop a renewed understanding of our identity as Anglican Christians within our current context
c. Prepare for an Anglican future in which the Gospel is uncompromised and Christ-centered mission a top priority.
11. This decision to participate in GAFCON received unanimous support from the Standing Committee and also from the Mother’s Union Executive. It is a decision that has a long history and we were reminded that it has arisen out of a decade-long struggle within the Anglican Communion. Ten years ago at the 1998 Lambeth Conference a decision was made concerning the teaching of the Church as it applies to issues of human sexuality. The essential elements of the teaching have been enshrined within Resolution 1.10. An overwhelming majority of the bishops adopted this resolution. It led, however, to a very negative and defiant response from the leadership of the Episcopal Church in the USA – now known as The Episcopal Church (TEC). This led to their decision to approve the consecration of Gene Robinson, a homosexual priest living in a same-sex partnership, as bishop of New Hampshire. This, in turn, led to the unprecedented meeting of all the Primates of the Anglican Communion in October 2003 at which they called for what became known as “The Windsor Report”. Sadly the ominous words of their final communiqué, that ECUSA’s intransigence would “tear the fabric of the communion at its deepest level,” have proved to be true.
12. We were reminded again of the enormous efforts undertaken by the Primate and many of his colleagues to find a way to bring the necessary healing and reconciliation to our beloved Communion. These efforts have included innumerable meetings that have been held around the world and countless communiqués that have been issued at an enormous cost in both time and money. Time and time again TEC was given the opportunity to repent and embrace the scriptural teaching of the Communion but to no avail. One report, “The Road to Lambeth” commissioned by CAPA and endorsed by the Standing Committee of the Church of Nigeria concluded that: “We Anglicans stand at a crossroads. One road, the road of compromise of biblical truth, leads to destruction and disunity. The other road has its own obstacles because it requires changes in the way the Communion has been governed and it challenges our churches to live up to and into their full maturity in Christ. But surely the second road is God’s way forward. It is our sincere hope that this road may pass through Lambeth, our historical mother. But above all it must be the road of the Cross that leads to life through our Saviour Jesus Christ.”
13. It is this second road that is leading us to Jerusalem and the call by Primates and senior leaders of the Communion, representing more than thirty million active Anglicans, for the bishops and their wives together with clergy and lay leaders to meet for prayer, study and pilgrimage in the Holy Land. It is the shared conviction of the GAFCON leadership team that this will provide a unique opportunity for those who hold to the historic teachings of the Church to meet and discern God’s call for our common future as Anglican Christians. The Primate reported that in the last few days God has shown his favor on these plans by sovereignly providing the funds necessary for all of the Bishops, their wives, the clergy and lay delegates of the Church of Nigeria to attend.
Thursday evening update
Some further articles related to the above:
Martyn Minns has written a Report on CofN Standing Committee Meeting 2008. It includes this paragraph:
He talked about the Global Anglican Future Conference (affectionately known as GAFCON) that he is leading in Jerusalem later this year. He carefully explained the long history behind the decision to gather with other provinces of the Anglican Communion that refuse to spend any more time agonizing about sex but instead want to get on with the work of the Gospel and celebrate transformed lives. He announced that everyone going from Nigeria has already been paid for – and here’s another funny thing – paid for by generous Godly people in Nigeria! They have raised all the money from inside their own country!
Ruth Gledhill has republished on her blog the article she wrote for the Church of England Newspaper which is about GAFCON. See Anglicanism’s hectic summer.
And for those who want to understand Nigerian culture better, this article in the Guardian yesterday, though it does not mention religion at all, may nevertheless be illuminating, see Nigeria’s immorality is about hypocrisy, not miniskirts by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
11 CommentsUpdate Wednesday evening
The vote was lost. Official report of the results here.
Ruth Gledhill has comment from Archbishop Barry Morgan here. And also here.
——-
The Church in Wales is voting today on whether or not to allow women priests to be ordained as bishops.
See the official press release here, and the agenda of the Governing Body here.
The presidential address of the Archbishop of Wales, Barry Morgan, is here.
The article he wrote for the Guardian today is titled At odds with the gospel:
21 CommentsIn an age when women have broken through the glass ceiling in most professions in Britain, it is strange that they still face discrimination in a church that believes there is “no male or female” in Christ. Women can become judges, surgeons, chief executives and heads of state, but in the Church in Wales – which waited until 1997 to ordain women as priests – they are as yet unable to become bishops.
I do not see how, having agreed to ordaining women to both the diaconate and priesthood, the church can logically exclude women from the episcopate. That is why I and my fellow bishops will be asking members of the church’s legislative body today to vote in favour of a bill to allow women clerics to become bishops. It’s a move that Anglican churches have made in other countries – Scotland, Ireland, New Zealand, Canada and the US, though not yet England. I believe Wales is now willing to embrace this important change too…
Earlier, I posted a note titled whither the Network?
Now, The Rev. Canon Daryl Fenton, Chief Operating Officer of the Anglican Communion Network has written this article entitled Who is “in” the Network?. Here’s his explanation of numbers, emphasis added:
… By our latest figures, the Anglican Communion Network has 828 affiliated parishes.
To arrive at that number, we are counting the parishes of the nine affiliated Network dioceses of Albany, Central Florida, Dallas, Fort Worth, Pittsburgh, Quincy, San Joaquin, Springfield, and South Carolina. (Rio Grande took a number of steps towards affiliation, but had not finalized its status when its bishop resigned to join the Roman Catholic Church.) We do not count the parishes in each of those dioceses who have asked to be removed from the Network’s database. For instance, that means that we don’t include the five parishes in the diocese of San Joaquin that have clearly thrown their lot in with The Episcopal Church.
To speak very frankly, we don’t expect all of these dioceses to maintain their Network affiliation indefinitely. However, we are not in the business of kicking people out. Affiliated parishes and dioceses can change their status as they wish, and we honor their decisions.
We are also counting the 105 parishes under the pastoral care of the Anglican provinces of Kenya, Uganda and the Southern Cone. These parishes, and the bishops that oversee them, look to the Network to provide their connection to Common Cause, as well as to other orthodox Anglicans, whatever their jurisdiction. With them, the Network’s system of convocations continues to operate. There are currently 136 parishes primarily connected to Network convocations. The vast majority of these remain within The Episcopal Church.
A smaller group of Network parishes have also decided to come under the jurisdictional authority of our Common Cause Partners. These include the Convocation of Anglicans in North America or the Reformed Episcopal Church. We are happy for these parishes to maintain their relationship with us…
I interpret this to mean that the 828 total includes all the CANA and REC parishes.
See the CANA figures here (62 at 20 March.)
4 CommentsRegular readers of TA will recall that in the past it has been hard to get confirmation of the number of congregations belonging to CANA.
This situation has now been remedied. CANA has published this list of congregations as an Excel file.
The copy of the file from which this html copy was taken contains 62 entries and is dated Thursday 20 March.
There is also a new (12 February 2008) version of the Frequently Asked Questions file, now as a PDF.
In other CANA news, tippet seals are now available.
24 CommentsGlobal South Anglican has published Statement from the Global South Primates Steering Committee, London, Mar 13-15, 2008.
Five Primates – Abp Peter Akinola, Abp Greg Venables, Abp Kolini, Abp Mouneer Anis and Abp John Chew – met together for some heart to heart conversations from 13th to 15th March in London. They released this statement…
The first three listed of these primates also attended the GAFCON meeting reported here:
We met in England as the leadership team of the Global Anglican Future Conference and Jerusalem Pilgrimage from March 10-12, 2008…
See picture here of the latter group, and the caption lists them:
41 CommentsLeft to Right, Rt Rev Nicodemus Okille, Uganda, representing Archbishop Henry Orombi, Rt Rev Don Harvey, Anglican Network in Canada, Canon Dr Vinay Samuel (India), Rt Rev Chuck Murphy (Anglican Mission in America) Consultant, Rt Rev Wallace Benn, Lewes, England, Rt Rev Martyn Minns, CANA, USA, Mr Hugh Pratt, England, Treasurer,Archbishop Nicholas Okoh, Bendel, Nigeria, Rt Rev David Anderson, CANA, Consultant, Rev David Pileggi, Christ Church Jerusalem, Consultant, Canon Dr Chris Sugden, England
Front Row – Rt Rev Bob Duncan, Moderator, Common Cause, USA, Archbishop Greg Venables, Southern Cone, Archbishop Peter Akinola, Primate of all Nigeria, Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini, Rwanda, Archbishop Peter Jensen, Sydney, Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi, Kenya
Global South Anglican has published Bishop Mouneer Anis Reflections on the Joint Standing Committee (JSC).
Among the comments there, this from Tunde Popoola:
12 CommentsSadly, this Godly Archbishop sound prepared to face more disappointments at Lambeth. I admire his determination in speaking up. What I do not like is the way his participation is used to legitimize questionable decisions only for him to shout foul afterwards. I pray he soon realizes that continued participation with those he believes are wrong, who listen to him but are not ready to repent is a tactic encouragement for what he believes is wrong to continue.
Posted by Tunde on 03/18 at 05:56 AM
Global South Anglican has published a Statement by the Synod of The Province of the Anglican Church in South East Asia (2008).
29 CommentsThe choice of Victoria Matthews as Bishop of Christchurch in New Zealand has been confirmed:
Official diocesan announcement: Eighth Bishop of Christchurch announced
Episcopal News Service NEW ZEALAND: Canada’s Victoria Matthews named bishop of Christchurch
7 CommentsThe House of Bishops of The Episcopal Church issued this House of Bishops statement on the Lambeth Conference.
It includes this:
20 CommentsEven though we did not all support the consecration of the Bishop of New Hampshire, we acknowledge that he is a canonically elected and consecrated bishop in this church. We regret that he alone among bishops ministering within the territorial boundaries of their dioceses and provinces, did not receive an invitation to attend the Lambeth Conference.
Michael Poon has published an essay on Global South Anglican which is titled The Global South Anglican: its origins and development.
Several bloggers, including Ruth Gledhill here, have drawn attention to his comments on GAFCON:
There is however a persistent undercurrent within “Global South Anglican” that defines itself doctrinally against the wider Anglican Communion, and posits itself against “liberal leadership” in the Church of England and the Episcopal Church. The primates of Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda are at the centre stage of the transatlantic conflicts in the Communion. Strictly speaking, they are true to the “global South” spirit (and methodologies). The GAFCON movement that suddenly erupted in late December 2007 brought this undercurrent to the surface. Doctrinal matters are not central to GAFCON. It is telling that Archbishop Peter Jensen did not clarify what “Biblical Anglican Christianity” entails. (He was silent on whether such biblical Anglican beliefs, for example, include particular views on ordination of women and lay presidency at the Holy Communion.) The central issue is in fact the restructuring of the Communion. It would be reconfigured by the geopolitics of globalisation and of the “global South”. Transnational alliances – with the aim in expanding interests through border crossing – replace geographical dioceses and historic ties as the building blocks of the Communion, and with the same stroke dethrone Canterbury as the focus of unity. This of course is in line with Hassett’s earlier analysis.
GAFCON holds before the Communion a new and unfamiliar utopia that is post-modern to its core. Webmasters and web bloggers render synodical processes irrelevant. They preside over web blogs in the virtual worlds of their own fabrication. Its power in shaping public opinion on ecclesiastical authorities simply cannot be ignored. A communion that is no longer dependent on patient face-to-face encounters and governed by geographical proximity: it is a Gnostic gospel that renders the Cross in vain.
Dr Poon refers repeatedly to the work of Miranda Hassett. See here for details of her book, Anglican Communion in Crisis: How Episcopal Dissidents and Their African Allies Are Reshaping Anglicanism, which as I have said elsewhere is essential reading.
Reviews of this book can be found in the Christian Century by Sam Wells, see Anglican maneuvers, and in the Church Times by Mary Tanner, see How a new global network spread. Also see Alan Wilson’s comments here.
The original PhD thesis Episcopal Dissidents, African Allies: The Anglican Communion and the Globalization of Dissent is here as a 1.1 Mb PDF file.
36 CommentsEpiscopal News Service carries a report titled Lambeth invitation ‘not possible’ for Robinson. It links to two word processing files, but see below.
The House of Bishops was informed March 10 that full invitation is “not possible” from the Archbishop of Canterbury to include Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire as a participant in this summer’s Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops.
Robinson, addressing the House, urged the other bishops of the Episcopal Church to participate fully in the conference, and thanked all who are willing to “stay at the table.”
Robinson told the House that he respectfully declined an invitation to be present in the conference’s “Marketplace” exhibit section.
Robinson confirmed for ENS that he plans to be in Canterbury during the July 16-August 3 once-a-decade gathering, but not as an official conference participant or observer…
Episcopal Café carries more information here in Full invitation for Robinson “not possible” including the full text of:
Report from Bishops Ed Little, Bruce Caldwell and Tom Ely to the House of Bishops regarding conversations about Bishop Gene Robinson’s participation at the Lambeth Conference.
And also, here in Bishop Gene Robinson responds, the full text of his remarks to the House of Bishops.
See also Daily Account from the House of Bishops for Monday, March 10.
52 CommentsSt Deiniols Library is publishing a book with this title.
The aim of this book is threefold: firstly, to provide a brief Who’s Who and What’s What on the recent history of sexual orientation and Anglicanism; secondly, to give voice to gay and lesbian people from around the Anglican world; thirdly, to reflect on the present crisis and offer new possibilities for learning from areas such as human rights legislation, the African concept of ubuntu and conflict resolution in Bosnia.
Read a fuller description of the book here, and there is a list of contributors.
The Introduction to the book is also online here. It begins:
Dear Bishop,
Thank you for your comments and concerns about the Rebuilding Communion conference and book. Let me reassure you about what we hope to achieve.
No one can deny that homosexuality is a key issue in contemporary Anglicanism; it is one of the causes of the present fracture in the worldwide Communion. St Deiniol’s has a tradition of providing a space for the discussion of issues confronting church and society. On one level, that is all we are doing. I hope we can approach the issue in new ways. For instance, the final section of the book looks at the issue from the perspective of human rights legislation, the African concept of ubuntu, conflict resolution in Bosnia and pastoral need in Canada.
All the contributors to the book are committed Anglicans, not all of us are gay. We all want to see Anglicanism renewed and revived – we are passionate about this. Most of us are Anglicans because we are attracted to its inclusive nature and its careful sifting of scripture, tradition and reason. For many of us, the ‘untidiness’ of the Anglican Communion is part of its attraction. We know that the health of our planet depends on the maintenance of our biodiversity. The same may well be true of Anglicanism. Our tradition is one of expressing faith through the cultures of our people. Consequently, our theology and ethics have often been shaped by pastoral care and concern. In a worldwide Communion, this is bound to lead to diversity and to suppress this diversity is to inflict a high cost on the freedom of the human spirit…
Recently, the library also held a conference related to the book Rebuilding Communion – Who Pays the Price? and you can still read the announcement about it here.
Some reports of the conference, including pictures and even some video, can be found at this blog, starting here.
22 CommentsSubject: Opportunity to support a Bishop to Jerusalem
Date: Fri, 7 Mar 2008
From: Chris Sugden
To: Chris Sugden
Dear Colleague
We are writing to request your help in securing financial support to enable the participation of Bishops and their wives from Africa, Asia and Latin America in the Global Anglican Future Conference and Pilgrimage (GAFCON) in Jerusalem June 22-29.2008. Details are on www.gafcon.org.
GAFCON is organised to enable the Anglican Orthodox to think, discuss and pray about the future of the Anglican Communion.
Many Anglican Orthodox leaders have come to the conclusion that the 2008 Lambeth conference as it is structured and led is fundamentally compromised and will not provide the environment and process to struggle with the challenges threatening the future of the communion.
The GAFCON gathering does not mean schism. It seeks to set out a clear biblically faithful and orthodox vision for the future of the Anglican Communion, share with the rest of the communion in all available forums and work towards shaping the communion towards that end.
The Conference and Pilgrimage will identify the biblical and theological truths that unite and empower us, work on ways of equipping the whole church for ministry and mission, identify approaches and resources for the economic empowerment of the Church in the Global South, share experiences and resources of churches in their work addressing poverty, HIV/Aids, human rights, engagement in advocacy and policy and ministry in contexts of religious hostility and plurality.
Your support will enable Bishops and with their wives to join with others not only in addressing the issues facing the future of orthodox witness in the Communion but particularly to chart a new path for developing enterprise solutions to poverty with its important implications for their future well being
The cost of hotel, board, local travel, visits to holy sites and conference registration is set at £1300 for a couple. Each participant is encouraged to provide their own travel costs but in some cases help will be needed also for travel costs that will average £1100 per couple.
As many as 300 Bishops with their wives are expected to attend. A small number will need full subsidy of costs. Most will need up to 50% subsidy, so we are seeking a significant total in all. Do not hesitate to be in touch if we can provide any further clarifications – 01865-883388.
Cheques may be made to: Anglican Mainstream ( a charity), 21 High Street, Eynsham, 0X29 4HE. Please designate your gift to GAFCON.
Sincerely in Christ
Canon Vinay Samuel
Canon Chris Sugden
for the Leadership Team
Archbishops Peter Akinola (Nigeria), Emmanuel Kolini (Rwanda), Donald Mtetemela (Tanzania), Benjamin Nzimbi (Kenya), Henry Orombi (Uganda), Greg Venables (Southern Cone),
and
Archbishop Peter Jensen (Sydney) , Archbishop Nicholas Okoh (Nigeria) , Bishop Bob Duncan (Anglican Communion Network and Common Cause USA.), Bishop Martyn Minns (Convocation of Anglicans in North America), Bishop Don Harvey (Canada) , Bishop Bill Atwood (Kenya) Canon Dr Vinay Samuel (India), Bishop Michael Nazir Ali (Rochester, England) and Bishop Wallace Benn (Lewes, England), Canon Dr Chris Sugden (England).
The Melbourne Anglican has a major article this month about Bishop Suheil Dawani’s recent visit to Australia, titled Bishops’ meeting will send ‘wrong signals’.
Another senior bishop has signalled his intent to be involved in the controversial Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) gathering to be held in the Diocese of Jerusalem before the Lambeth Conference this year. This surprising participant is the Bishop of Jerusalem himself, who pleaded with GAFCON organisers last month to hold the event elsewhere.
“It’s happening, they are coming,” said Bishop Suheil Dawani during a visit to Australia in February. “I will be there. I cannot ignore such a gathering. But I’ll give them our message of unity, of how the church must also be united, and of the importance of our ministry in Jerusalem and all over the world.”
Bishop Dawani told TMA that he is nervous about the impact of such a controversial conference in an area which is already beset by violent disputes and hardship. The Diocese of Jerusalem, made up of twenty-nine parishes, covers five countries – Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine, all of which are familiar with division and hostility. Thirty-four institutions of the Anglican Church provide vital health care, education, aged care and disability care to the region, as well as care and hope to people who are traumatised by the uncertainty and violence around them, par-ticularly in Palestine…
…The GAFCON gathering, he believes, may undermine the Anglican Church’s credibility in setting this example, and he said he was disappointed that the GAFCON organisers did not seem to listen to his concerns, although GAFCON organisers have since split the conference between Jordan and Jerusalem, with the Jerusalem component called a “pilgrimage”.
“In Jerusalem, we face so many problems, we are challenged on a daily basis to be with each other, and that’s why we are so involved in ecumenical and interfaith activities. These things [at GAFCON] will be misunderstood by people, and will give the wrong signals to people in Palestine and Jordan. It is very controversial, it is the wrong time and the wrong place.”
“I hope that at Lambeth we can witness a new era of coming together and put our differences aside,” he said. “If we have differences, we have to discuss it internally in good spirit, because our people are looking to us. If our people see division, and we are not coming with a good spirit, it will affect their spirit, and their lives. We don’t want to be an obstacle for our people. I hope that Lambeth will get a new spirit for Anglicans all over the world.
See also Arrogant Archbishop’s protest conference ignores own advice from the Canberra Times.
4 CommentsThe Archbishop of Dublin John Neill has written an article in the Church of Ireland Gazette entitled Drafting an Anglican Covenant which is now available in full. Part of what he says:
…In working with the Covenant Design Group, I learnt a great deal, but I would mention one or two insights that I gained, or gained afresh.
The first was that, in spite of the hyping of differences within our Communion, there is a deep determination to stay together, and that we really experienced a deep unity around prayer, the Bible and sharing in the Eucharist.
The second was that the role of Synods comprising bishops, clergy and laity varies greatly around the Communion. In some parts of the world, what the Primate says on almost any question is regarded as the voice of the Church, even though there has been no work done on the question at synodical level, whereas, in America and Europe, the voice of the Church requires a great deal of consultation before it is articulated.
This explained for me part of the reason for the entirely different perceptions of the power of the Primates’ Meeting, and, indeed, of the Lambeth Conference itself. Those Churches which have a high regard for the role of Synods (such as our own) are very reticent to cede power to a Primates’ Meeting.
The third thing that I discovered when we examined all the responses to the Covenant was that, sadly, there were few responses from those Churches which have been most outspoken about threats to the Communion. Many of them have other very important agendas of their own, but the sad thing is that if a Covenant is there to restore the fractures in the Anglican Communion, everybody needs to own the process, and especially those who feel alienated…
Last week’s Church Times contained a further article by the Bishop of Dudley David Walker. (See also his earlier article here.) The new article is titled Why the new Covenant creates hope. Here is his concluding section:
8 Comments…A number of commentators focus on the workability of the procedure, and try to determine its acceptability according to how it would apply to the presenting issues of sexuality and territorial incursions. Both poles of the debate take a pessimistic stance: liberals feel it would exclude them; conservatives call it toothless.
Some commentators try to explore how the Covenant procedures would work to prevent new disputes reaching the impasse of the sexuality debate. The Design Group needs to decide whether its proposals are essentially about avoiding future conflicts, or if it intends them to be able to resolve matters that are already rancorous…
In keeping with the spirit of the St Andrew’s Draft, it is worth ending on an upbeat note. I believe that the Covenant is less a reaction to a particular divisive issue than a natural consequence of the Anglican Communion having grown beyond being the Church of England writ large.
The challenge is for us to see this as a sign of maturity rather than a symptom of failure, and to use the text in the first part of the draft as a positive tool for our mission. Slowly, the Design Group is edging towards a confident statement of what Anglicanism strives to be, for God and the world.
Updated Wednesday morning
Several commentators, including Andrew Brown in the Church Times have drawn attention to this article in the Atlantic Monthly by Eliza Griswold titled God’s Country. The magazine describes it this way:
Using militias and marketing strategies, Christianity and Islam are competing for believers by promising Nigerians prosperity in this world as well as salvation in the next. A report from the front lines.
The website of Atlantic Monthly also has a related slideshow, an interview with the author, and an audio file.
Episcopal Café has an article, Archbishop Akinola owes the world some answers which discusses this, and has useful links to the reports on the Yelwa massacre from Human Rights Watch.
Fr Jake has more, and also here.
Wednesday update
AkinTunde Popoola has responded to the article (see comments below):
Eliza Griswold’s recent attempt to demonise the Archbishop of the Church of Nigeria by publishing an article raising issues of religious violence is most unhelpful. As CAN president, one of the challenges the Archbishop faced was that of persuading youthful Christians to stop revenge attacks.
While the very sad ethnic/religious Yelwa incident took place in 2004, his statement about no religion having a monopoly of violence was made in 2006 when Nigerian Christians were being slaughtered because of some cartoons published in Denmark.
About Ms Griswold’s article, Archbishop Akinola has commented: “It is a pity that I have again been quoted out of context by the Atlantic Monthly two years after the event and the interview. The incident of the Danish Cartoons started off a crisis in Northern Nigeria. As president of the Christian Association of Nigeria I had to prevail on Christians not to retaliate. If we had not done that there would have been chaos. It was in the context of prevailing on Christian youth not to retaliate that I said what I said”
His statement was made not to encourage violent retaliation from Christian youth, but to recognise the reality of the possibility of such retaliation in the context of extreme provocation.
What is not reported so well, or known so widely is the many efforts that were initiated for peace-making. In February 2007 for example, Abp. Akinola (along with many Anglican bishops) was in the palace of the Sultan of Sokoto, Nigeria’ s overall Islamic leader on a friendly visit. ( http://www.anglican-nig.org/sokoto_surprise.htm ) Abp. Akinola has not and does not encourage violence but continues to maintain peaceful cordial relationships with every peace loving Nigerian irrespective of tribe, creed or gender.
The Western press should learn from the Danish cartoons that articles they publish, whatever the motive might be, can be responsible for the death of many innocent lives hundred of miles away.
Reactions to this response can be seen at Fr Jake here and at Episcopal Café here.
27 CommentsMartyn Minns and Gene Robinson both appear to have received the same letter concerning fund raising for the Lambeth Conference.
Read George Conger Traditionalist bishop inadvertently invited to Conference.
Read Jim Naughton Dear New Hampshire, Send your money, not your bishop.
8 CommentsUpdated again Monday evening
George Conger reports on Religious Intelligence that Presiding Bishop backs US deal:
US Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has endorsed a programme of alternative Episcopal oversight brought to her by a group of conservative American bishops.
The “Anglican Bishops in Communion” seeks to meld the Primates’ Dar es Salaam pastoral council scheme with the “Episcopal Visitor” programme created by Bishop Schori in a bid to hold the fissiparous elements of American Anglicanism together until an Anglican Covenant is agreed.
“This is a step forward, albeit a small one,” the Bishop of Central Florida, the Rt Rev John W Howe noted, that permits freedom of conscience for traditionalist while preserving good order in conformance to the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church.
However, critics charge there is nothing in the plan to compel a liberal bishop to permit alternative oversight, while spokesmen for the dioceses of Pittsburgh and Fort Worth told The Church of England Newspaper they were unable to comment on the merits of the plan as they had not been consulted in its creation and were unaware of the details…
…Bishop Stanton of Dallas, working with leaders of the Anglican Communion Institute and the Primate of the West Indies, Archbishop Drexel Gomez, took the Episcopal Visitor programme forward. Led by Prof Christopher Seitz, the team sought to meld the needs articulated by traditionalists with the structures suggested by the Primates and the Presiding Bishop.
On Jan 31 Dr Williams met with Archbishop Gomez, Bishop Stanton, Prof Seitz and Dr Ephraim Radner and gave his backing to the emerging “Anglican Bishops in Communion” project, agreeing to issue invitations to the primates of the West Indies, Burundi, Tanzania, the Indian Ocean and Jerusalem and the Middle East to offer primatial pastoral oversight to the Episcopal Visitors.
The Presiding Bishop was briefed by Bishops Stanton of Dallas, Smith of North Dakota, Howe of Central Florida, and Bishop Bruce MacPherson of Western Louisiana on Feb 21, giving her “nihil obstat” to the Communion plan, one participant reported…
There is also a report in the Daily Telegraph by Jonathan Petre Secret plan to avoid church gay split which presumably also refers to these events, albeit in less detail.
Update Saturday evening
Bishop John Howe of Central Florida has issued a further letter, which has been published earlier today on several blogs, e.g.
titusonenine Bishop John Howe responds to the Telegraph article Alleging a Secret Plan
Stand Firm Bishop John Howe responds…
Episcopal Café A new plan emerges
And also, see at ACI The Communion Partners Plan by Christopher Seitz or the copy of it at Covenant and there is also Response to Various Queries Regarding the Communion Partners Plan.
Update Monday evening
George Conger has published a further report on Religious Intelligence Bishop endorses new traditionalist programme:
43 CommentsUS Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has endorsed a programme of alternative Episcopal oversight brought to her by a group of conservative American bishops.
The ‘Anglican Bishops in Communion’ seeks to merge the Primates’ Dar es Salaam pastoral council scheme with the ‘Episcopal Visitor’ programme created by Bishop Schori in a bid to hold the fissiparous elements of American Anglicanism together until an Anglican Covenant is agreed…
Updated again Monday evening
According to Stephen Bates in the Guardian’s People column:
Interesting times beckon in Antipodean Anglicanism, where the former Canadian bishop Victoria Matthews – narrowly beaten to become Canada’s primate last summer – has been elected Bishop of Christchurch, New Zealand, a place she has never visited. She is a theological conservative who nevertheless voted that gay partnerships do not violate core church doctrines, which should bring her into interesting relations with the arch-conservative Archbishop of Sydney across the Tasman Sea, Peter Jensen, who does not believe that women should be put in charge of anything, least of all a church. The defeated candidate for Christchurch was the combative dean of Southwark cathedral, Colin Slee, who will thus remain a thorn in the flesh of C-of-E conservatives.
Updates Sunday evening
Two further reports, from New Zealand:
Gay-supporting bishop could split Anglicans from stuff.co.nz
Canadian woman tipped to be bishop from the New Zealand Herald
Update Monday evening
Anglican Journal reports from Canada that New Zealand diocese chooses Matthews as bishop:
65 CommentsCanadian bishop Victoria Matthews has reportedly been chosen bishop of the diocese of Christchurch in the Anglican Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, according to church sources and published reports.
The news was communicated to the Anglican Journal by church sources and also reported in the Guardian newspaper in Great Britain. Bishop Matthews, who served as bishop of the diocese of Edmonton for 10 years until she stepped down last year, declined to confirm news of her selection until the New Zealand church made an official announcement.
Lloyd Ashton, the Auckland-based media officer for the province, also declined to confirm the report. “What has happened is there has been a leak to a U.K. newspaper and it is quite regrettable that confidentiality has been breached. The election is still in process.”
George Conger reports on Religious Intelligence Gafcon conference ‘rearranged’:
The Gafcon organizing committee, which is arranging an alternative to the Anglican Lambeth Conference, has announced that the dates and venue of the Jerusalem conference have been changed.
Following consultations with the Bishop in Jerusalem, the Rt Rev Suheil Dawani, the conference will now be broken into two parts: a consultation for church leaders in Jordan from June 18-22 and a pilgrimage to Jerusalem from June 22-29.
“We are very grateful for the feedback that we have received on the many complex issues that confront us,” the Archbishop of Sydney, Dr Peter Jensen (pictured) said on Feb 19…
For the details, see the GAFCON website: Jerusalem Pilgrimage plans for the Global Anglican Future Conference and the Pilgrimage Brochure is a PDF file here (265K).
After consultation with a number of church leaders in Jerusalem, and around the world, the pilgrimage of the Global Anglican Future Conference will now take place from June 22nd through June 29th. An important Consultation in Jordan from 18-22 June will include the conference leadership, theological resource group, those bishops serving in majority Islamic settings and other key leaders. The Jerusalem pilgrimage will focus on worship, prayer, discussions and Bible Study, shaped by the context of the Holy Land.
“We are very grateful for the feedback that we have received on the many complex issues that confront us,” said Archbishop Peter Jensen, Archbishop of Sydney and a member of the leadership team. “The emphasis of our time together will be our future in the Anglican Communion and the reformation and renewal of our common life rooted in the Holy Scriptures and our common faith in Jesus Christ.”
Participants will include bishops and their wives, key clergy and laity.
Update The Nigerian website describes this change as “GAFCON repackaged”.
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