From The Living Church:
Posted on: February 2, 2009
If the meeting of the primates of the Anglican Communion in Alexandria fails to address the issues of same-gender blessings and homosexual bishops this week in Egypt, some of the archbishops of the Global South may not participate in future meetings.
Global South primates affiliated with the GAFCON (Global Anglican Future Conference) movement told a reporter that they see little merit in continued calls for dialogue when past undertakings of the primates’ meeting are ignored. The primates must be consistent, the Most Rev. Peter Akinola, Archbishop of Nigeria, said to his colleagues in an informal conversation outside St. Mark’s pro-Cathedral on Feb. 1, and their past statements must be honored.
However, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has signaled his continued desire for conversation rather than action. In a sermon delivered Feb. 1 at St. Mark’s, the archbishop said the church must be open to a diversity of views.
The primates’ gathering opened Sunday with an informal Eucharist in a hotel conference room followed by a session of prayer and informal conversation. The primates also participated in a session devoted to introducing the seven new archbishops as well as an overview of the week’s agenda from Archbishop Williams.
Late in the afternoon, they moved to St. Mark’s, where they met the dean and students of the Alexandria School of Theology, a four-year-old theological school established by the diocese to train ordinands and provide lay theological education for Egypt’s protestant churches. A tour of the school and presentations from the dean and Archbishop Williams was followed by a service of consecration for the colonial-era British garrison church as a pro-cathedral of the Diocese of Egypt, North Africa and the Horn of Africa.
Speaking without a script, Archbishop Williams described the city’s history in the life of the church, and touched upon some of the theological controversies of the past, alluding to the relevance of the Arian controversy in the present day. Christians should pursue stillness, quietness and diversity, he said, and not be quick to condemn those who hold opposing theological views. He urged the primates, and the congregation, to extend Christian charity to those with whom they disagree.
A question that has yet to be answered to the satisfaction of all the primates is what they hope to achieve in Alexandria. The Rev. Canon Kenneth Kearon, general secretary of the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC), said the primates have come at the invitation of Archbishop Williams to “review the work of the Lambeth Conference…explore issues of common interest, [and] prepare for the gathering of the ACC” in Jamaica in May.
The contrast in visions between an activist primates’ meeting as envisioned by the 1988 and 1998 Lambeth Conferences and supported by a majority of primates, and an indaba-oriented meeting of discussion, where all points of view hold equal weight and no decisions are taken, may make Alexandria the last united primates’ meeting. None of the primates have threatened to boycott future gatherings, but archbishops on both theological sides share similar frustration with the current environment because “no one is listening anymore,” one primate said.
Monday’s morning and afternoon sessions included discussions of the proposed Anglican Covenant and presentations from various provinces on the impact that the current difficulties have had upon mission. The Most Rev. Thabo Makgoba, Primate of the Church of the Province of Southern Africa, was to lead an evening session on the situation in Zimbabwe.
The deputy general secretary of the ACC, the Rev. Canon Gregory Cameron, objected to characterizations that the agendas of the primates’ meetings “had sought to avoid the main issues.”
While there had been “discussions about the agendas before the meetings, agendas had been developed and followed to give opportunity for all perspectives and issues to be heard,” he said.
(The Rev.) George Conger
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