From The Living Church:
Posted on: February 5, 2009
High marks have been awarded to Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and the 2009 primates’ meeting by conservative archbishops, who report that consensus was reached following four days of intense talks in Alexandria, Egypt.
“Archbishop Peter Akinola is pleased, I’m pleased, Henry [Orombi] is pleased” with the outcome of the meeting, the Presiding Bishop of the Southern Cone, the Most Rev. Gregory Venables, told The Living Church.
“Something like the freshness of the Holy Spirit” descended upon the meeting, Bishop Venables explained. There was “something different here, something special,” he said. “Without a doubt there was a lot of anger and tension,” he added, but the “orthodox had a calmness and peace” that Bishop Venables attributed to divine intervention.
While the divisions over doctrine and discipline that have led to an impairment of Eucharistic fellowship remain, Bishop Venables felt the Feb. 1-5 meeting featured honest conversation between the liberal and conservative camps that recognized a division exists.
“There is the recognition that this whole thing is falling to bits,” Bishop Venables explained. Past agreements had left him wondering “is this just pushing the ball forward” to be decided later. In Alexandria, he said, the primates agreed “this is a broken communion. Let’s start with that and see where we go.”
The closing communiqué recognized the “mistrust” within the Communion, reaffirmed Lambeth 1.10 as the agreed statement on human sexuality, continued the moratorium on rites for the blessing of same-sex unions and the consecration of same-sex bishops. It also affirmed the call for a halt to cross-province violations. The meeting agreed that the members of the breakaway groups in the United States and Canada are Anglicans, but did not define their status.
“John-David Schofield [of San Joaquin] is a bishop in the Communion,” Bishop Venables said. He and other bishops “may be been deposed by the Episcopal Church,” but the meeting agreed they remain part of the Anglican Communion.
The Archbishop of Uganda, the Most Rev. Henry Orombi, lauded the leadership of Archbishop Williams, saying he “chaired the meeting very wisely” and was “very sensitive.”
Both primates agreed that a legislative or legal solution would not resolve the splits as two different faiths were in contention. “A liberal expression of Christianity is not Christianity [as we know it],” Bishop Venables said. Addressing this gap needs to take place before structural or legislative solutions are imposed on the church.
ACNA Recognition Premature
The question of recognizing a parallel province in North America was premature, both primates said, because the underlying theological differences had not been addressed.
“Being an Anglican without knowing Jesus” conferred membership “in a club” and not in the true church, Archbishop Orombi said. Before a vote on a third province is taken, he said, “we have to see what happens to the Communion.”
Archbishop Orombi said he hoped that a theological council would be called by Archbishop Williams that could devote the time and expertise to engage in these issues.
“My proposal is, let’s have two sets of theologians and debate these things,” he said. “Primates don’t have the time,” and the primates’ meetings are not the proper venue for these issues.
Both primates supported the Anglican Covenant process as it would clearly define where the parties stood.
“It will be another way of describing we are not in Communion,” Archbishop Orombi said.
The two primates urged traditionalists in the United States to take heart from the agreement and both pledged the support of their provinces until a “safe place” had been established for them. Archbishop Orombi urged traditionalists to make their case to Archbishop Williams, as to why they needed a province. Traditionalists must “hold together, remain together” and persevere in their fight, “for we are standing with you,” he said.
(The Rev.) George Conger
No comments:
Post a Comment